Protection visa refusals: where to get help
Protection visa reviews follow different rules from other visa reviews, and this site does not cover them in depth. Free specialist legal help is available, and this page points to it.
Free specialist legal services exist for people refused a protection visa, and this page points to them. This site focuses on other visa refusals and cancellations, and protection reviews work differently, so the page is short.
Free and funded legal help
The ART says people may now be able to receive free legal help from certain refugee and immigration legal assistance providers. It says funded providers may help with the Department application, ART merits review, and Federal Circuit and Family Court judicial review of a protection visa decision.
- Refugee Advice and Casework Service (RACS), based in NSW: RACS says it and the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC) are entirely independent of the Department of Home Affairs and that all assistance is free. Its client line is (02) 8355 7227.
- ASRC covers Victoria and detention, according to RACS.
- Legal Aid Commissions in every state and territory, and community legal centres, are listed on the ART's legal support page. In NSW the page also lists the Immigration Advice and Rights Centre (IARC).
A few facts about protection reviews
Protection visa refusals are reviewable protection decisions under section 338A of the Migration Act, except refusals relying on certain listed provisions of the Act, which follow a different path. The ART application deadline in section 347(3) covers protection reviews: 28 days after you are notified, or 14 days if you were in immigration detention that day. The ART cannot extend it. See the 28-day deadline.
You do not pay a fee when you apply. If the review is not successful, you must pay A$2,293 within 7 days after getting an invoice from the ART. You pay nothing, regardless of outcome, if the Department of Home Affairs referred your decision to the Tribunal.
The ART's processing times page says that of protection reviews finalised between 1 March 2026 and 31 August 2026, half were finalised within 2 years 1 month of lodgement and 95% within 4 years 11 months. These are past results, not a promise for a new application.
Other points
The Immigration Assessment Authority was abolished on 14 October 2024, when the ART replaced the AAT. Cases still active there moved to the ART, and past IAA decisions remain valid and final. RACS says refused Fast Track cases will not be reopened at the ART unless they fall within certain categories it lists; check its page.
After a refusal, section 48A restricts further protection visa applications while you are in Australia. Home Affairs says another visa is unlikely while you are here. See reapplying after a visa refusal. For how reviews work generally, see ART review explained and free and low-cost help after a visa refusal.
Services like those above can advise on a particular protection decision, subject to their own eligibility rules. This page cannot, and it is not legal advice or immigration assistance. The decision letter states the review rights and time limit that apply.
Where this came from
- ART, Legal assistance for refugee review applicants, 14 October 2024 (checked 16 October 2026).
- RACS, Refused by the Department (checked 16 October 2026).
- ART, Legal support for immigration and citizenship (checked 16 October 2026).
- ART, Immigration and citizenship (checked 16 October 2026).
- ART, Processing times (checked 16 October 2026).
- ART, Immigration Assessment Authority (checked 16 October 2026).
- Migration Act 1958, ss 338A, 347 and 48A (checked 16 October 2026).