Australia's immigration debate is consistently dominated by the issues surrounding refugees and asylum seekers. Their plight is often at the centre of the debate, but few can claim to know what it's like to be in their shoes.
A new three- part documentary gives a group of Australians a first- hand experience of what it's like to be a refugee. It's been billed as a world first -- six ordinary Australians retrace the steps taken by millions of refugees and asylum seekers. But this is perhaps the most unlikely group of people to go on this reverse journey.
For 25 days, the participants live and breathe as refugees do, first in Australia, then in countries including Malaysia, Kenya and Iraq.
It's as much about revealing the conditions of asylum seekers, as it is about witnessing changes in some hard-held attitudes.
But the aim of the series isn't to preach to the participants or to the wider public.
"We don't take sides in the debate," says SBS commissioning editor Peter Newman. "And I guess the challenge to audiences is the same that we put to our participants: no matter what side of the debate you fall on, if you bring those preconceived notions to the show, you're going to be challenged.
Raye Colbey lives in the Adelaide Hills, just opposite the federal government's new detention facility in Inverbrackie.
She was a vocal opponent of the project and had no sympathy for asylum seekers.
Her hardened views were challenged throughout the journey, particularly during her visit to the sprawling Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya.
Back in the comfort of her home, she now has a new outlook on the very polarising issue.
"It opened up my eyes to what these people suffer and how they're forced to flee their country," she said. "I've become far more compassionate, I think, and I have far more empathy with the refugee situation."
The makers of the series say it isn't about changing hearts and minds, but more about shedding light on an issue that's often portrayed in a limited, political light.
The program is being launched alongside a website that puts users in the shoes of a asylum seekers, simulating an experience where people are forced to flee Australia.
Go Back To Where You Came From will be broadcast on SBS One over three consecutive nights starting tonight (Tuesday, June 21).
Watch an interview with SBS commissioning editor Peter Newman on YouTube:
