Transcript

Music

Woman:
We get on a bus from the camp to Bangkok. Oh, such a big city, something I’ve never seen before. From Bangkok we caught a plane and arrived in Australia.

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Woman:
The majority of refugees in the world are women and children. Some people arrive in Australia with literally nothing, one suitcase between the family.

Man:
We were greeted by an Immigration Officer, a case worker.

Woman:
We had a Karen Case Worker so I was happy meeting someone who speaks my language.

Man:
She helped us fill in forms and those sorts of things.

Music

Woman:
When the United Nations does accept you as a refugee they will send those details through to the Settlement Services International and arrangements are made for those families to be met at the airport.

Man:
We flew to Australia, Sydney in 2012. There was a case worker waiting for us with my uncles and relatives.

Student:
Even though it was at night when we arrived here but it was like a dream and people who are accepting me as a person despite my religion, my background they’re accepting me as a human.

Music

Narrator:
Each year thousands of refugees make Australia their home. Settlement can be both rewarding and challenging.

Woman:
There were quite a lot of challenges that we had to face. We didn’t know places around us. We didn’t know the language. We didn’t know the culture.

Woman:
The first challenge would be for many of them, language and the other thing is the experience of trauma and the backlashes coming to them is when they settle here. It’s because now they are in a safe environment, then all the bad memories surface. That’s why you see a lot of students in the classroom they cannot concentrate. That’s part of the trauma.

Narrator:
There are a range of services and support available to assist refugees to settle in Australia.

Woman:
When they first arrive there is a program called Humanitarian Settlement Services Program which provides intensive on arrival assistance.

Woman:
Settlement services are offered to newly arrived refugees generally for six months, fairly intensive support to find suitable accommodation, get their children enrolled in school.

Woman:
My name is Aylyah from Settlement Services International. I have a new arrival here.

Woman:
Start English classes if you’re an adult and connect with other services including the Red Cross Tracing Services to maybe find other members of the family who are still scattered.

Woman:
They assist with registrations to Centrelink, Medicare. They also do a lot of their linking to schools, to finding long term accommodation for clients.

Man:
Welcome to Fairfield Public School.

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Man:
Alright, we just want to have a quick meeting so we can get some information about the boys.

Woman:
We have an orientation program to go out with the family and actually show them the use of public transport, it could be taking them for a walk to their local GP or their local medical centre, their school, Centrelink office.

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Woman:
The services that generally the clients really will be accessing in the next six months.

Student:
The second day here in Australia our Case Worker took us to Centrelink and Medicare and after three days my uncle took me to IEC and I enrolled myself there and I started school after one week.

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Man:
There a lot of support services that refugees can access, unfortunately it’s really difficult to navigate this system. So, I think it helps to take the time to show them how they can make a phone call or which place they can visit and to physically go with them.

Woman:
Good morning.

Man:
Hi, good morning.

Woman:
Welcome to Fairfield High School.

Music

Man:
My name is Abulla. I work for SydWest Multicultural Services. There are two programs. The first one is Humanitarian Settlement Program. After welcoming them from the airport take them to accommodation, get them food and at the same time also we take them to Centrelink so that they can get benefit. Take them to Medicare and if they have got children we link them with the school.

Woman:
Hello Martain, how are you? Welcome to Fairfield High School. We’re very happy to have you.

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Woman:
What we would like to do is make sure that we have everything in place for Martain so that we can give him the best possible opportunities at the school.

Woman:
Once that initial period of settlement is over the Settlement Grants Program kicks in.

Woman:
Once their clients are exited to the Settlement Grants Program the Case Workers that work at the Fairfield Migrant Resource Centre will get in contact with the clients about what services we offer and also link them into other services that they may need from health services to the taxation office, Centrelink.

Man:
With the Settlement Grants we help them with employment, English classes and sometimes also we help them with documents because most of them they don’t read and understand English therefore they bring all the documents from Centrelink, from Housing Department, we read it to them so that they can understand the content. Do you have any questions today?

Woman:
Yes, I want to be English class.

Man:
The other thing is empowerment. We are running information sessions where we invite different service providers to come and talk about what they are doing.

Woman:
We run a lot of community information sessions - nformation about police, the courts, the legal system.

Man:
And the aim is to help these people to be able to stand by themselves.

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Narrator:
Successful refugee settlement occurs when governments provide resettled refugees with access to housing, education, health and employment. Communities that welcome refugees with a spirit of hospitality play an essential role in the resettlement process.