19 Stateless people experience significant access to justice issues and barriers to legal assistance (4.2.5). 20 The Migration Act functions as a ‘further tool of family violence’ placing stateless victims at increased risk of harm (4.2.6). 21 Lengthy delays in processing applications for visas and citizenship with no mandated timeframes or updates provided to applicants is detrimental to stateless people (4.2.7). 22 The experience of statelessness in Australia is heavily influenced by visa category and the entitlements (or lack thereof) that accompany them (4.3.1). 23 Statelessness is a secondary consideration to refugee protection (4.3.2). 24 Stateless people on Bridging Visas and ‘Transitory persons’ face particular legal uncertainty that impacts multiple aspects of a person’s life (4.3.3). 25 Different members within the same stateless family and/or community are subjected to different visas and conditions (4.3.4). 26 Stateless people are disproportionately impacted by visa cancellations and refusals (4.3.5). 27 Stateless people face a disproportionate risk of being detained for lengthy periods (4.3.6). 28 Conditions and restrictions imposed on stateless people in Australia can effectively replicate those experienced by people in their country of origin (5.1), including in relation to restrictions on freedom of movement (5.1.1), access to education (5.1.2), access to healthcare and disability support (5.1.3), access to employment (5.1.4), in terms of exclusion from belonging (5.1.5) and access to housing (5.1.6). 29 Stateless people live in limbo, particularly when they have a ‘transitory’ legal status with no prospect of resolution. This impacts every aspect of their life, including their family life (5.2). 30 Delays in processing and restrictions imposed on stateless people in Australia are having a negative impact on family life, with stateless families separated across borders for lengthy periods and people reluctant to start families while they await a decision on permanency (5.2.1). 31 The mental health impacts of statelessness are profound and exacerbated by protracted periods of legal uncertainty in Australia (5.3). 32 Parenting newborns and small children in immigration was observed to have a long-term detrimental impact on the mental health of stateless parents (particularly mothers), children and the family unit (5.3). 33 Stateless young people experience high rates of mental health challenges, compounded by the inter-generational trauma they witness their parents and grandparents struggle with (5.3). 34 A person’s statelessness status is intrinsically linked to the concept of ‘belonging’ (5.4). 35 Stateless people experience a complex and varied relationship with the term ‘stateless’; while some identify with the term, others strongly reject it, while others only discovered the term later in life (5.5). 36 Citizenship is not the complete answer to statelessness but holds significant weight and meaning for many stateless people (5.6). Understanding Statelessness in Australia | Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness 71