Around 20 thousand refugees on temporary or safe haven visas will now finally be granted permanent residency under a new Resolution of Status visa.
Sarah Dale is the Centre Director and Principal Solicitor at the Refugee Advice and Casework Service in Sydney.
She says while she welcomes the announcement, there is a lot of anxiety from those who have been denied security for years.
"I can't tell you the number of calls I've received since 10:30 lat night, and the first question being are you sure this is real? This community has had to ride so many roller coasters, they've been told repeatedly what they cannot do, what they will be denied, that they will not be staying in Australia. And whilst we celebrate today, that is quite difficult to accept and overcome 10 years of being told no."
There are 10 thousand refugees and asylum seekers who will be unable to apply directly for the protection visa.
Their only recourse will be to contact the Minister's office for intervention over their case.
Ian Rintoul is a spokesman for the Refugee Action Coalition and says Labor has failed to fulfill their election promise from eight months ago to abolish the 'Fast Track' process.
He says they must act to protect those rejected under the fast track application, as well as those still in detention in Manus or Nauru, or who have been relocated to Australia from those centres.
"The simplest thing is to provide temporary visas for all those people. I think the Labor is running scared of their own rhetoric, they're scared of the Coalition attacking them or the possibility of boats arriving. We've been through that kind of scare-mongering. Labor has got a majority in parliament, they've got community support for the changes that are needed. They should bite the bullet and provide the permanent protection that so many people need."
Opposition leader Peter Dutton pointed to concerns over further boat arrivals during Parliament's Question time.
