Refugee Advocacy Service of South Australia Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission in 2003. Refugee Advocacy Service of South Australia Refugee Advocacy Service of South Australia Inc. (RASSA) is a non-profit Community Legal Centre in South Australia. It was set up in 2002 to represent asylum-seekers in the Federal Court of Australia. From about 2007, it was de-funded and ceased to exist. It has, however, now began functioning again in order to assist asylum-seekers in the community in South Australia whose applications are still being processed. In April 2002, a group of lawyers from the Woomera Lawyers' Group set up and established the Refugee Advocacy
Immigration detention in Australia in place. The Liberal-National Party Coalition led by John Howard defeated the Keating Government in the 1996 federal election. In 1999 the Howard Government created the temporary protection visa category for asylum seekers whose claims for refugee status had been accepted. These visas were granted only to unauthorised arrivals and were criticised because they left the refugee in limbo indefinitely. These people did not have rights to work, to family reunion, a right to return to Australia if they left, and their status was to be reviewed every three years. Australia's immigration policies towards asylum seekers were a significant issue