12 August 2022
Ashiana recently contributed to consultations which underpinned joint submissions by the Refugee Council of Australia and National Refugee-Led Advisory and Advocacy Group to the Department of Home Affairs on how to improve settlement and integration of refugees in Australia.
Ashiana’s director, Farid Popal, is a regular contributor to the National Refugee-Led Advisory and Advocacy Group and Ashiana recently became a member of the Refugee Council of Australia to strengthen its network and improve its capacity to support refugees, asylum seekers and humanitarian entrants in Australia.
Among other things, the submission highlights the importance of the role performed by refugee-led organisations, like Ashiana, the importance of fostering stronger links and support from the general community, the need to expand support to include housing and employment pathways, and the need to learn lessons from and improve Australia’s response to those fleeing Afghanistan. All of these areas form critical parts of Ashiana’s focus over the next few years.
“The vital role that refugee-led organisations play in the settlement journey needs to be recognised, supported and funded. Specific funding should be set aside to strengthen refugee-led organisations and to support the work they do. Likewise, further funding should be provided to enhance wider community involvement in the settlement journey in order to increase community awareness and support for the humanitarian program and achieve better integration outcomes.” (at 1, NEXT STEPS TO IMPROVE AUSTRALIA’S SETTLEMENT AND INTEGRATION OF REFUGEES, RCOA & NRAAG, July 2022)
You can read the full submission here.
Contact us today if you would like to become involved in or support Ashiana’s work.