Raising desperately needed funds for Ballarat's refugees

David MacPhail, president of Ballarat Rural Australians for Refugees, said the fundraiser event was one of many which made it possible for the organisation to support refugees living in the community.

Most, if not all, refugees who arrived in Australia by boat in the last decade hold temporary protection visas, which impose onerous restrictions around their ability to study, work, travel and access government support.

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Mr MacPhail said the visa conditions made it impossible for refugees to meet rolling living expenses, such as rent, transport, education and health on their own accord.

"We have to keep fundraisers going all the time [because] some expenses, like spectacles or motor vehicle break downs, are hard to predict," he said.

"The people we support are embedded in and belong to our community, and do everything they can to contribute - but [because of their visas] are entirely dependent upon the discretion, goodwill and generosity of the people around them."

There are some 15 to 20 members of the Hazara community living in Ballarat, many of whom have held temporary protection visas for over five to ten years.

Kon Karapanagiotidis, chief executive of the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, said it was impossible to overstate the harm temporary visas visit on those who hold them.

"Imagine seeking asylum almost a decade ago, being accepted as a refugee in Australia and being on rolling three-to-five-year visas for the rest of your life and the harm that does," he said.

"Even apart from the restrictions, the message you're sent is: you're temporary, your freedom is temporary and your future is temporary."

Donations, not including furniture, for the refugee garage sale can be dropped off at 111 Skipton Street. Capacity for furniture has already been reached.

The garage sale will open 8am this Saturday at the same address (balloons out the front).

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