IoNV Reflections on Settlement Conference

Article by Hannah Wright

IoNV was proud to be a partner and sponsor for the 2023 Settlement Council of Australia conference.?

A week after the Scanlon Foundation announced declining social cohesion in Australia, it was wonderful to be engaged in conversation with so many people supporting each other towards a vision of Australia?as 'a country where all people of migrant and refugee backgrounds belong, thrive and experience fulfilling lives.'?

So much of our strength?as an organisation comes from the support we have gained in our careers from the settlement and migrant sectors, and conferences like this remind us of the power of collaboration and mutual aid. They act as an antidote to some of the competitive, neoliberal, capitalist?environments we sometimes find ourselves in.

So many speakers reminded us of the diversity?within?Australian migrant and refugee communities, and the importance of attending to, and working across, that difference. In our work we are passionate about opening up discussion about cultural awareness, cultural competency and anti-racism to help people see past generic titles and to understand the individual experiences of the people we work with.??

Thanks to Jasmina Bajraktarevic-Hayward , John Buraho, Farzana Farzana , Samira Husic and? Joseph Youhana for reframing the value of?all of?our 'lived experience', not only our settlement stories, but how our professional skills can help us use this experience even more effectively. Reflecting on this, IoNV is proud to comprise a diverse range of professionals who combine their skill sets in social work, counselling, psychology, group facilitation and a range of technical capabilities, with our lived experiences of migration, resettlement, various forms of social and domestic violence, as well as an honest reckoning with our colonial past and our unearned privileges.?

Rebecca Griffiths , Louise Olliff ?and Aeoainu'u Dr. Loudeen M Fualautoalasi-Lam energised us with their ideas regarding how academia and practitioners can work better together. Michael Zgryza did a brilliant job at bringing out the panelists' wonderful co-design stories that have inspired us to lift our co-design game even higher!

One of the things that we are passionate about, and advocate for, in our work at IoNV is primary prevention. We commend Farhad Arian , Rana E. , Sam Matti and Shabnam Safa for reminding us that we should advocate for ourselves and not?by?ourselves, and that politicians and other organisations should engage with us at times of?no?crisis. Many people in the room were familiar with the sudden increase in calls from government and advocacy bodies for input and response when something was going wrong, and the vast majority agreed that their time and energy would be better used to build solutions with communities, before things go wrong.??

Maha K. ?challenged us to 'excel at co-existing', a notion that was welcomed by all. Maria Dimopoulos took us for a walk down memory lane remembering the last 40 years of work in Australia against family, domestic and sexual violence. She facilitated a great conversation about supporting women experiencing violence using an intersectional framework.?

Like the panelists who presented on family and domestic violence (FDV), we absolutely agree that men need to be part of the solution, which is why we are so passionate about supporting?practitioners who work with people, particularly men, who use FDV. It was heartening to see great examples of this type of work from Hajje Maha Krayem Abdo?and Constance Jones who shared about the Saving Face program, Linking Hearts and the Good Life Project. In addition, strong evidence was presented by? JO Spangaro supporting what many of us already know, that settlement services have a fundamental role in intervening in family violence.?

We shared in a beautiful and powerful performance by Bukjeh - Stories of Home and Having to Leave it. Led by Aseel Tayah and a talented crew who guided us to ensure that we were meeting 'on purpose' during the second conference day.?We honour their heartbreak and acknowledge how many of the migrant community connects to these stories of loss and grief. We bring these stories into our work as practitioners and trainers, making sure that we remind practitioners of the full context of the individuals they are working with.??

Fatima Payman shared energising and grounding words with a message that resonated strongly with that of Andrew Giles , Mary Ann Baquero Geronimo , Sandra Elhelw , Huy Truong and Pino Migliorino AM GAICD FCPRA - in that?we want to see more Australians, with recent experiences of migration and refugee status, in leadership and in the public sector, and we must increase workforce participation for humanitarian entrants to Australia.

IoNV supports these sentiments and we note, that a historical review of Australia's federal ministers for immigration shows that every single one of them has been of white European decent, and aside from Amanda Vanstone, a male. We reflect on the value of words spoken towards creating a pathway for more justice, equity and inclusion at leadership levels, and how these words can be fundamentally undermined if not followed through with aligned actions.

As an organisation, we know the power of effective and collaborative groupwork?and so we were delighted with the format of Day 2. We were delighted to be given the chance to be involved in the SCoA Strategic Planning Working Groups, and look forward to seeing the next iteration of this excellent work.

Congratulations to Sandra Elhelw and the SCoA team on such a wonderful event!?

#2023NationalSettlementConference #settlementservices #equityandinclusion #intersectionality #migrantsandrefugees #immigration #FDV #IoNV #InstituteofNonViolence