This comprehensive approach was adopted not to identify the precise number of stateless people in Australia but to uncover and highlight current practices, challenges and gaps regarding the legal and institutional protection framework for stateless people in Australia. We sought to understand how service providers, agencies and decision makers respond to the predicament of stateless people in the absence of a legislative framework and to understand the experiences of stateless people who navigate a system not explicitly designed to respond to their protection needs. Our comprehensive approach, involving analysis of hundreds of tribunal and court decisions, and 94 interviews with a range of stakeholders including with lawyers, health workers, policy experts, community workers, the UNHCR Multi-Country Office Canberra officers, government department officers and people with lived experience of statelessness9 represents one of the most comprehensive studies of statelessness globally. It thus provides a rich source of insight and understanding of statelessness in Australia and ensures that our findings and recommendations are robust, considered and defensible. 1.1.1 Statistical research The statistical research involved an extensive review of Australian government databases to extract, sort and analyse statistics reported on stateless people in Australia. This is the first project to review and unify statelessness statistics in Australia from all government databases. Data sources By reviewing Australian government databases to ascertain which of them include the data variable ‘stateless’, we identified the following primary data sources: • Administrative Appeals Tribunal Caseload Report • Immigration Detention and Community Statistics Summary (monthly update) • Senate Estimates • ‘UMA Legacy Caseload’ Reports on Processing Status and Outcomes • Onshore processing statistics: Department of Home Affairs • UNHCR statistics • Humanitarian Program Statistics reported on the website of the Department of Home Affairs • Temporary entrant statistics reported on the website of the Department of Home Affairs Secondary data source includes: • Freedom of Information Request(s) to the Department of Home Affairs • Statistics reported by the Refugee Council of Australia (collated from government statistics and Senate Estimates Hearings) • Access to past reports of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal • Questions and responses from officials at the Citizenship Policy and Legislation Branch, Department of Home Affairs • Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs Annual Report • Humanitarian Program Statistics on the website of the Department of Home Affairs • Settlement Reports • Yearbook Australia The research also reviewed national census data, and state and local and non-government databases. However, no statelessness statistics were reported in these sources. Data extraction Having reviewed Australian government databases to ascertain which include the data variable ‘stateless’, we recorded, in spreadsheets, the names of databases, how ‘stateless’ is defined in the data dictionary, and how data is extracted from this database. Then we extracted ‘stateless’ data from databases and, when possible, disaggregated data by variables of interest. During the process, when the data was not publicly available but known to exist, or any clarification needed, we sent requests to the relevant source or applied for access to data under relevant Freedom of Information legislation or guidelines. Data presentation and visualization Following data extraction, we performed descriptive analysis to summarize the key characteristics of the information and provided an overview of stateless people in Australia. Visualizations include tables, columns and stacked column charts, bar charts, line graphs, area charts and choropleth map. All visualizations were created in the program Datawrapper. Understanding Statelessness in Australia | Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness 11