A fork in the road: redefining settlement

‘Settlement’ is a term we hear often in reference to refugees. What is not often understood outside the settlement sector itself, however, is that this support is much broader, encompassing family reunion, skilled migrants and many other newcomers who come to Australia to build a new life.?

Last week, I joined representatives from across the settlement sector at a roundtable discussion with Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs Andrew Giles about the future of settlement services in Australia.?

It was a forum that left me feeling excited and motivated about the opportunity for change, while also grateful for the recognition of the expertise and incredible work that is done every day in our sector, both by professional settlement organisations like SSI and the many and varied organisations and groups we work with.?

In achieving strong settlement outcomes, SSI recognises the importance of working hand-in-hand with contributors from a wider settlement ecosystem that encompasses migrant resource centres to diaspora groups to community leaders, and more.?

In NSW alone this year, SSI has run more than 180 community engagement activities and events with close to 2,000 individuals from cultural and linguistic backgrounds ranging from Chinese to Afghan, Ukrainian, Iraqi, Syrian, Indian and more.?

When you look to our workforce, you can also see that SSI is not just working with diaspora communities – SSI is an extension of them. Our latest staff survey shows 71% of staff were born overseas, representing 76 different countries.?

We’re in community, we work with community and, perhaps most importantly, we were born from community – it’s in our DNA.??

In 2000, SSI was established by 11 migrant resource centres in response to a shift in our external environment that had seen government looking to engage larger NGOs over the smaller, community-based organisations that had traditionally supported refugees and new migrants to resettle in Australia.?

In the years since SSI was established as an umbrella organisation for these MRCs, we have diversified into other areas, but always retained a focus on maintaining local service delivery and safe-guarding the important role of community based organisations.?

Through this, we have created consortium arrangements like the NSW Settlement Partnership, which offers settlement support to new migrants and refugees. Twenty-one multicultural, diaspora and ethno-specific organisations deliver services locally, while SSI provides coordination and governance to ensure a streamlined, cohesive and consistent approach to service delivery.?

I shared these examples and more at last week’s roundtable. It was a heartening experience to hear from other colleagues in the sector about their experience and their thoughts on how we can build a robust settlement system that achieves that best outcomes for newcomers.?

It speaks to the collaboration and co-operation – from all contributors– that will lay the foundation for successful settlement. Working together, we can foster a whole-of community approach to achieving the best settlement outcomes for new arrivals.?