Overview

This quick guide provides statistics on the number of asylum seeker boats that have arrived in Australia since 1976 when the first wave of boats carrying people seeking asylum from the aftermath of the Vietnam War began to arrive. The guide also includes the number of boats that have been ‘turned back’ since the practice of removing unauthorised maritime arrivals in Suspected Illegal Entry Vessels (SIEVs) from Australian waters was introduced by the Howard Government in 2001 and reintroduced by the Abbott Government in 2013.

It reproduces and updates the appendices of a more detailed Parliamentary Library Research paper, Boat arrivals in Australia since 1976. The full Research paper includes an overview of the historical and political context surrounding the arrival of asylum seekers by boat, details of Australian Government policy responses since 1976, and trends in public opinion.&nbsp

Janet Phillips

English

Analysis and Policy Observatory (APO)

 ISSN 2203-5249 
 
 
 
 
RESEARCH PAPER SERIES, 2015–16 11 SEPTEMBER 2015 
Boat arrivals and boat ‘turnbacks’ in Australia since 1976: 
a quick guide to the statistics 
Janet Phillips 
Social Policy Section 
This quick guide provides statistics on the number of asylum seeker boats that have arrived in Australia since 
1976 when the first wave of boats carrying people seeking asylum from the aftermath of the Vietnam War began 
to arrive. The guide also includes the number of boats that have been ‘turned back’ since the practice of 
removing unauthorised maritime arrivals in Suspected Illegal Entry Vessels (SIEVs) from Australian waters was 
introduced by the Howard Government in 2001 and reintroduced by the Abbott Government in 2013. 
It reproduces and updates the appendices of a more detailed Parliamentary Library Research paper, Boat 
arrivals in Australia since 1976. The full Research paper includes an overview of the historical and political 
context surrounding the arrival of asylum seekers by boat, details of Australian Government policy responses 
since 1976, and trends in public opinion.   
It is important to note that, while every effort has been made to ensure consistency, the statistics provided in 
this guide have been compiled by Parliamentary Library staff over a period of many years from a variety of 
sources. For example, since 2008 our financial year boat arrival figures have been compiled from ministerial or 
departmental media releases and transcripts. As not all media releases specify the number of crew members 
versus passengers, and some boat arrivals may not be subject to ministerial or departmental media releases at 
all, these figures may differ slightly from other sources. While we are confident our financial year figures 
accurately reflect available government data, due to the inconsistency of the sources over the years these 
figures should be regarded as an estimate. However, our calendar year figures between 2009 and 2014 were 
compiled from a single source—advice provided to the Parliamentary Library by the Australian Customs and 
Border Protection Service in 2014. As a result, we can have confidence in the consistency and accuracy of that 
data. Similarly, we are confident that the boat ‘turnback’ details included in this guide between December 2013 
and July 2014 are accurate as the information was compiled from an official document tabled after Senate 
Estimates hearings in October 2014. However, details of individual ‘turnbacks’ after that date are incomplete—
the Government has released the total number of ‘turnbacks’ since then on a few occasions, but dates of the 
individual incidents are not usually included. 
Statistics in this guide include: 
Table 1: Boat arrivals since 1976 by calendar year 
Table 2: Boat arrivals since 1976 by financial year 
Graph 1: Boat arrivals by calendar year since 1979 and financial year since 1989–1990  
Table 3: Boat ‘turnbacks’ 2001–2003 
Table 4: Boat ‘turnbacks’ 2013–2015 
  
 
Boat arrivals and boat ‘turnbacks’ in Australia since 1976: a quick guide to the statistics 2 
Table 1: Boat arrivals since 1976 by calendar year 
Year Number of boats Number of people 
1976  111 
1977  868 
1978  746 
1979  304 
1980  0 
1981  30 
1982–88  0 
Year Number of boats Number of people  (excludes crew) 
1989 1 26 
1990 2 198 
1991 6 214 
1992 6 216 
1993 3 81 
1994 18 953 
1995 7 237 
1996 19 660 
1997 11 339 
1998 17 200 
1999 86 3721 
2000 51 2939 
2001 43 5516 
2002 1 1 
2003 1 53 
2004 1 15 
2005 4 11 
2006 6 60 
2007 5 148 
2008 7 161 
Year Number of boats Crew Number of people (excludes crew)  
2009 60 141 2726 
2010  134 345 6555 
2011  69 168 4565 
2012  278 392 17 204 
2013  300 644 20 587 
2014  1 N/A 160 
Notes: 2014—arrivals include 2 medical transfers on 31 January and 2 February 2014 from SIEV 879 (this boat was reportedly ‘turned back’ and not 
counted as an arrival); 157 people on board a boat from India intercepted on 27 July 2014 — the passengers were subsequently transferred to 
Curtin Detention Centre and then to Nauru for processing (this boat was counted as an arrival, but 41 people on board another boat intercepted at 
the same time were returned to Sri Lankan authorities at sea); and 1 Sri Lankan national on board a boat intercepted on 15 November 2014 who 
was referred for refugee determination and transferred  to Manus Island for processing (the 37 other passengers were transferred at sea to Sri 
Lankan authorities and the boat was not counted as an ‘arrival’). Unauthorised maritime arrivals from cruise ships are not included in these 
statistics.     
Sources: 1976–1988: K Betts, ‘Boatpeople and public opinion in Australia’, People and Place, 9(4), 2001, p. 34. Numbers of boats and crew members 
not specified. 1989–2008: Department of Immigration advice provided to the Parliamentary Library on 22 June 2009 (excludes crew members). 
2009–2014: Customs and Border Protection advice provided to the Parliamentary Library on 22 August 2014. 
   
  
 
Boat arrivals and boat ‘turnbacks’ in Australia since 1976: a quick guide to the statistics 3 
Table 2: Boat arrivals since 1976 by financial year 
Year Number of boats Number of people 
1975–76 1 5 
1976–77 7 204 
1977–78 43 1423 
1978–79 6 351 
1979–80 2 56 
1980–81 1 30 
1981–82 to 1988–89 0 0 
1989–90 3 224 
1990–91 5 158 
1991–92 3 78 
1992–93 4 194 
1993–94 6 194 
1994–95 21 1071 
1995–96 14 589 
1996–97 13 365 
1997–98 13 157 
1998–99 42 921 
1999–00 75 4175 
2000–01 54 4137 
2001–02 19 3039 
2002–03 0 0 
2003–04 3 82 
2004–05 0 0 
2005–06 8 61 
2006–07 4 133 
2007–08 3 25 
Year Number of boats* Number of people 
(excludes crew)* 
Number of people 
(includes crew)** 
2008–09  23  985 1033 
2009–10 117 5327 5609 
2010–11  89 4730 4940 
Year Number of boats Crew Number of people 
  2011–12 110 190 7983 
2012–13 403 423 25 173 
2013–14 104 198 7674 
2014–15 1 N/A 158 
Notes:  
• Data from 2001–02 onwards includes arrivals at both excised and non-excised places, but excludes boats returned from whence they came 
(boat turnarounds). 
• Deaths at sea in Australian waters may or may not be included in the figures provided by the Department of Immigration, but are included in 
figures compiled by the authors. Deaths include 5 deceased at sea 16 April 2009; 12 deceased at sea 1 November 2009; 1 crew member who 
allegedly drowned on 20 November 2011; and the estimated 48 who drowned during the boat tragedy on 15 December 2010 where a boat 
sank on approach to Christmas Island (42 people were rescued, 30 bodies were recovered and an estimated 18 people drowned). For further 
details see M Hutton, ‘Drownings on the public record of people attempting to enter Australia irregularly by boat since 1998’, sievx.com 
website, last updated 2 February 2014. 
• Arrival figures do not include: two arrivals in an ‘esky’ on 17 January 2009; four on Deliverance Island with no boat on 29 April 2009; and 78 on 
board MV Oceanic Viking intercepted in Indonesian waters in November 2009. 
  
 
Boat arrivals and boat ‘turnbacks’ in Australia since 1976: a quick guide to the statistics 4 
Sources:  
• 1975–76 to 2007–08: Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC), Supplementary Submission to the Joint Select Committee on 
Australia’s Immigration Detention Network inquiry, submission no. 32, Figure 2, p. 18, 1 September 2011. Numbers of crew members not 
specified or not included. 
• 2008–09 to 2010–11: *Ibid. (excludes crew members); and **figures compiled from ministerial and departmental press releases (includes crew 
members).   
• 2011–12: figures compiled from ministerial and departmental press releases. Figures include 10 Chinese asylum seekers attempting to travel to 
New Zealand by boat in April 2012 who were taken to Darwin after making a distress call and the 18 deceased recovered midway between 
Christmas Island and Indonesia by Australian search and rescue vessels on 21 and 27 June 2012. 
• 2012–13: figures compiled from ministerial and departmental press releases. Figures include: 1 deceased on board a vessel which arrived on 
15 November 2012; 2 deceased recovered from a vessel which capsized on 25 March; and 9 deceased confirmed, but not recovered, from the 
water from a vessel which capsized on 7 June 2013. 
• 2013–14: figures compiled from ministerial and departmental press releases. Figures include: 1 deceased infant male recovered from a vessel 
on 12 July 2013; and 4 deceased recovered from a vessel which capsized 16 July 2013. Figures do not include 5 people believed drowned but 
not recovered on 20 August 2013. 
• 2014–15: figures compiled from ministerial and departmental press releases. Arrivals include: 157 people on board a boat originating from an 
Indian port and intercepted on 27 July 2014 —the passengers were subsequently transferred to Curtin Detention Centre and then to Nauru for 
processing (this boat was counted as an arrival, but 41 people on board another boat intercepted at the same time were returned to Sri Lankan 
authorities at sea); and 1 Sri Lankan national on board a boat intercepted on 15 November 2014 who was referred for refugee determination 
and transferred  to Manus Island for processing (the 37 other passengers were transferred at sea to Sri Lankan authorities and the boat was not 
counted as an ‘arrival’). Unauthorised maritime arrivals from cruise ships are not included in these statistics.   
Graph 1: Boat arrivals by calendar year since 1979 and financial year since 1989–90 
  
Source: the statistics provided in this guide are represented in graph format above. 
  
0
5000
10000
15000
20000
25000
30000
19
76
19
78
19
80
19
82
19
84
19
86
19
88
19
90
19
92
19
94
19
96
19
98
20
00
20
02
20
04
20
06
20
08
20
10
20
12
20
14
20
16
Boat arrivals by calendar year 1979 to 2014 and 
financial year  1989-90 to 2014-15 
Financial year
Calendar year
  
 
Boat arrivals and boat ‘turnbacks’ in Australia since 1976: a quick guide to the statistics 5 
Table 3: Boat ‘turnbacks’ 2001–2003  
Date Boats Crew Number of people 
 19 October 2001 1 N/A 238 
29 October 2001 1 N/A 215 
13 December 2001 1 N/A 14 
20 December 2001 1 N/A 133 
8 November 2003 1 N/A 14 
Total  5 N/A 614 
Notes:  
The practice of removing unauthorised maritime arrivals in Suspected Illegal Entry Vessels (SIEVs) from Australian waters was introduced by the 
Howard Government in 2001 and reintroduced by the Abbott Government in 2013. Detailed information on the date of every incident since 2001 is 
not available, but statistics on the total number of boat ‘turnbacks’ over certain periods has been made public on occasion. During the Howard 
Government five boats were turned around. For more detail on boat ‘turnback’ policies since 2001 see J Phillips, A comparison of Coalition and 
Labor Government asylum policies in Australia since 2001, Research paper series, 2013–14, Parliamentary Library, Canberra, 28 February 2014.   
Sources: 
M Hutton, ‘Boats carrying asylum seekers returned to Indonesia under Operation Relex and Operation Sovereign Borders’, sievx.com website, last 
updated 19 March 2014; Andrew and Renata Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, Turning back boats, Fact sheet, University of New South 
Wales, 26 February 2015; and Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee, Answers to Questions on Notice, Defence Portfolio, Budget 
Estimates 2006–07, Department of Defence answers, Question W19, pp. 34–5, November 2006.   
 
Table 4: Boat ‘turnbacks’ 2013–2015 
Date Boats Crew Number of people 
 December 2013–July 2014    
19 December 2013 1 2 47 
24 December 2013 1 1 49 
28 December 2013 1 2 38 
6 January 2014 1 2 45 
8 January 2014 1 2 25 
15 January 2014 1 2 56 
5 February 2014 1 2 36 
24 February 2014 1 2 26 
4 May 2014 1 2 18 
4 May 2014 1 1 2 
20 May 2014 1 2 1 
6 July 2014 **1 1 40 
July 2014—August 2015    
27 November 2014 **1 N/A 37 
9 February 2015 **1 N/A 4 
17 February 2015 **1 N/A N/A 
22 March 2015 1 N/A N/A 
18 April 2015 ***1 N/A 46 
June 2015 1 N/A N/A 
July 2015 ***1 N/A N/A 
Total  
Total number provided in a ministerial press release  
on 6 August 2015  
20  
Details on 19 of the 20 are 
publicly available and 
included above 
N/A 633 
 
  
  
 
Boat arrivals and boat ‘turnbacks’ in Australia since 1976: a quick guide to the statistics 6 
Notes:  
• The terms boat ‘turnbacks’, ‘take-backs’, ‘turnarounds’ or ‘pushbacks’ are often used interchangeably. Operation Sovereign Borders (OSB), 
established by the Abbott Government in 2013, defines ‘turnbacks’ as ‘the safe removal of vessels from Australian waters, with passengers and 
crew returned to their countries of departure’; and ‘take-backs’ as a transfer (often at sea) of passengers from one sovereign authority to 
another ‘where Australia works with a country of departure in order to see the safe return of passengers and crew’. Sources:  Senate Legal and 
Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee, Official committee Hansard, 25 May 2015, pp. 107–10; and Official committee Hansard, 
23 February 2015, p. 137.    
• **’Take-backs’ (transfers at sea) to Sri Lankan authorities; and ***’take-backs’ of Vietnamese nationals to Vietnamese authorities. Sources: 
Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee, Answers to Questions on Notice, Immigration Portfolio, Additional Estimates 
2014–15, Question AE15/175 and Question AE15/055, 23 February 2015; Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee, Official 
committee Hansard, 25 May 2015, op. cit.; and P Dutton (Minister for Immigration and Border Protection), OSB marks milestone—year with no 
boats, media release, 6 August 2015. 
• The Abbott Government announced its decision not to release details of ‘on-water’ matters conducted by Operation Sovereign Borders in 
November 2013—see S Morrison (Minister for Immigration and Border Protection), Operation Sovereign Borders update,  transcript of press 
conference, 8 November 2013. Although detailed information on each boat ‘turnback’ is not always available, there have been several 
ministerial or departmental statements providing total number of ‘turnbacks’ or ‘take-backs’. For example: 
– ’12 ventures, with 383 people on board have been turned back at sea’—S Morrison (Minister for Immigration and Border Protection), A 
year of stronger borders, media release, 18 September 2014.  
– ‘Up until today 15 ventures with 429 potential illegal immigrants aboard have been intercepted and returned’—P Dutton, (Minister for 
Immigration and Border Protection), Operation Sovereign Borders delivers six months without a successful people smuggling venture, media 
release, 28 January 2015. 
– ’Since Operation Sovereign Borders commenced on 18 September 2013 through to now 18 people smuggling ventures have been safely 
and successfully returned'— Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee, Official committee Hansard, 25 May 2015, 
p. 107. 
– ‘Since December 2013, OSB has safely returned 633 potential illegal arrivals aboard 20 ventures to their countries of departure’—P Dutton 
(Minister for Immigration and Border Protection), OSB marks milestone—year with no boats, media release, 6 August 2015. 
Sources:  
• December 2013—July 2014: Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee, Immigration Portfolio, Supplementary Budget 
Estimates 2014–15, 20 October 2014, Suspected illegal entry ventures removed from Australian waters, Tabled document 6. 
• July 2014—August 2015: Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee, Official committee Hansard, 25 May 2015, op. cit.; 
Official committee Hansard, 23 February 2015, op. cit.; Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee, Answers to Questions on 
Notice, Immigration Portfolio, Additional Estimates 2014–15, Question AE15/175 and Question AE15/055, 23 February 2015; 
ministerial/departmental press releases; and media reports.   
 
All links were accessed as of 4 September 2015. 
© Commonwealth of Australia 
 
Creative Commons 
With the exception of the Commonwealth Coat of Arms, and to the extent that copyright subsists in a third party, this publication, 
its logo and front page design are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Australia licence. 


2014: Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee, Immigration Portfolio, Supplementary Budget Estimates

All links were accessed as of 4

Operation Sovereign Borders commenced on 18

OSB has safely returned 633 potential illegal arrivals aboard 20 ventures to their countries of departure’—P Dutton (Minister for Immigration and Border Protection), OSB marks milestone—year with no boats, media release, 6

Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee, Answers to Questions on Notice, Immigration Portfolio, Additional Estimates 2014–15,

Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee, Official committee Hansard,

Boat arrivals and boat ‘turnbacks’ in Australia since 1976: a quick guide to the statistics

http://apo.org.au/sites/all/modules/pubdlcnt/pubdlcnt.php?nid=57253&file=http://apo.org.au/files/Resource/parliamentarylibrary_boatarrivalsandboatturnbacksinaustraliasince1976_sep_2015.pdf

Boat arrivals and boat ‘turnbacks’ in Australia since 1976: a quick guide to the statistics

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Analysis and Policy Observatory (APO)