ABSTRACT
This chapter examines Australian government policy responses and implementations with reference to refugee children, and the period after 2012 to the present day is particularly looked at. Ideally, refugee children undertaking education in Australia should be enrolled in institutions that provide safe places for new encounters, learning opportunities and positive interactions. Australia’s neoliberal political environment, which has been a reality of life and to some extent dictates federal and state/territory government policies, has resulted in governments withdrawing resources from the public school system, whilst obligations are simultaneously placed on schools by federal departments in the form of standardised testing. Children and adolescents from refugee backgrounds encounter significant educational disadvantages due to what they have experienced, the pressures and vicissitudes of migration and having to learn a new language. School-wide curriculum must be re-examined by policy makers and educators to develop approaches to refugee education that recognise the special needs of Syrian refugee students.
