Information from: REFUGEE COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA (RCOA)
Who is a refugee?
The 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (and its 1967 Protocol), to which Australia is a signatory, defines a refugee as:
Any person who owing to a well founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his/her nationality  and is unable, or owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself/herself of the protection of that country.
 The important parts of this definition are:
•	that the person has to be outside their country of origin;
•	the reason for their flight has to be a fear of persecution;
•	this fear of persecution has to be well founded (ie they have to have experienced it or be likely to experience it if they return);
•	the persecution has to result from one or more of the 5 grounds listed in the definition;
•	they have to be unwilling or unable to seek the protection of their country. 
The United Nations body responsible for protecting refugees and overseeing adherence to the Convention is the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
The Convention definition is used by the Australian Government to determine whether our country has protection obligations towards an individual. If a person is found to be a refugee, Australia is obliged under international law to offer support and to ensure that the person is not sent back unwillingly to the country of origin
The term "refugee" is often used colloquially to refer to people who have been displaced due to a natural disaster (eg an earthquake or volcanic eruption) or environmental change. Such usage is not strictly correct.
Another term that one sometimes hears is "economic refugee". Again, this term is not correct. The accurate description of people who leave their country or place of residence because they want to seek a better life is "economic migrant".
Refugee Council of Australia(RCOA) at http://www.refugeecouncil.org.au