Settlement Services International (SSI) will take part in a world-first research project involving thousands of men that aims to end the embarrassment that stops them from getting help for conditions such as depression and anxiety.

Former refugee Hikmat Shah has been given a ‘CoAct Local Heroes’ award by CoAct Ambassador, Olympic and World Champion, Matthew Cowdrey alongside Federal MP Chris Hayes and nominator SSI representatives at a ceremony today at Parliament House, Canberra.

Sydney Alliance is currently running a Housing Affordability Campaign to highlight how the housing crisis affects Sydney residents. Settlement Services International (SSI) has joined the advocacy campaign to highlight how the crisis is compounded further for asylum seekers and refugees. Language barriers, the lack of rental history and skills to navigate the property market, social isolation, high unemployment and mental and physical health issues combine to make securing housing a problem for refugees and asylum seekers.

SSI began searching for a suitable office in the Bankstown area in September 2014, to accommodate staff and service needs of the SRSS program, the Multicultural Foster Care Service and Ability Links NSW, along with meeting, interview, training and function rooms. “(SSI General Manager) Peter Zographakis suggested that we check out a brand new site called Little Saigon Plaza, which was so good that we assumed it would be too expensive for SSI to lease in,” said Janine Stainer, SSI Facilities and Operations Manager.

Water safety for refugees The World Health Organisation (WHO) has released a report* revealing that drowning claims the lives of 372,000 people per year, making it the third leading cause of unintentional injury death worldwide. Australia’s statistics aren’t great, the latest figures† show 332 Australians drowned in one year. It is people from low- and middle-income regions, such as those that many refugees arrive from, who are most at risk of drowning.

The lives and settlement experiences of young refugees will be explored at the fourth and final Speakers’ Series event for 2014 hosted by Settlement Services International (SSI). Titled The strength of youth: young people and their refugee experiences, the event on Tuesday, November 11, will begin with three young people from refugee backgrounds sharing their stories.

Tony Podesta believes tennis is a ‘lifetime’ sport. So who better to teach tennis to then recently arrived refugees settling into their new lives in Australia?  A group of 8 to 12 children and adults has participated in a Tennis Australia Multicultural Tennis Program for Refugees at the Tony Podesta School of Tennis in Fairfield once a week for the past 10 weeks. 

Settlement Services International’s (SSI) third Speakers’ Series event for 2014 will explore the theme: Perception is reality: How do we form our perceptions of refugees and asylum seekers? The live panel discussion will approach the complex question from different angles following a presentation by Professor Andrew Markus, who heads the Scanlon Foundation’s Mapping Social Cohesion research program based at Monash University. The 2014 Mapping Social Cohesion report suggested that the majority of Australians support a humanitarian settlement program, which assesses refugees overseas but are negative towards asylum seekers arriving by boat. The predominant view is that asylum seekers are illegal economic migrants. Claims of persecution are often ignored as a push factor. These views have increased since 2011. 

The Ability Links program operated by the partnership of Settlement Services International, St Vincent de Paul Society NSW and UnitingCare has officially started today, July 1. The partnership was awarded the tender to deliver Ability Links across 23 local government areas in Sydney Metro North and Metro South and the Southern Region.   The Ability Links program contributes to the objectives of the National Disability Insurance Scheme to foster full and active participation of people with disability in their communities.

Settlement Services International in partnership with St Vincent de Paul Society NSW and UnitingCare has been awarded the tender to deliver Ability Links across 23 local government areas in inner Sydney, Metro Sydney South West, Sutherland Shire and Southern Highland region.  Ability Links is contributing to the objectives of the National Disability Insurance Scheme and is a new approach of the NSW Government to foster full and active participation of people with disability in their community. Sixty-four Ability Links Coordinators, known as Linkers, will be hired to provide information and support to people with disability, their families and carers, and their local communities. Linkers will work in connecting local communities in order to shape a more inclusive society for people with disability and their families. Settlement Services International CEO, Violet Roumeliotis said the missions of the organisations regarding social inclusion made for a highly compatible partnership focused on benefiting people with disability. Providing quality services and support for vulnerable communities, SSI is a leading not-for-profit organisation providing a range of services in the areas of humanitarian settlement, accommodation, asylum seeker assistance and foster care in NSW. “People with disability are the beneficiaries of this combined approach and the new model for full participation offered by Ability Links,” said Ms Roumeliotis.

Art Is Our Voice is an exhibition showcasing the creative work of refugees and people seeking asylum in Australia. The exhibition has been organised by Settlement Services International (SSI) in conjunction with University of Sydney Amnesty International and Amnesty International’s ARTillery project, with the support of Verge Gallery, run by The University of Sydney Union. SSI CEO Violet Roumeliotis said the exhibition would give artists from communities often marginalised in our society the opportunity to present their stories to the world. “The exhibition will give voice to people who are too often spoken for and about by others,” Ms Roumeliotis said. “By presenting their work to the community, these 15 visual artists from Iran, Iraq, Egypt and Sri Lanka can show their skills and express their creativity. “Most of these artists have worked professionally in their countries of origin in a range of media that include, painting, sculpting, photography, and as jewelers and engravers. “We hope this exhibition will not only showcase their talents but help the artists make new connections in the community that will help them pursue their art here in Australia.” Of special interest at the exhibition will be the work of ‘coffee artist’ Masoud Akhava Ghassabzadeh. Coffee art is practiced by artists who have spent time in detention centres. With no access to paints or other materials, asylum seekers in detention began using instant coffee mixed with water to paint with.  

Refugees resettling in Australia should benefit from greater cohesion between on- and off-shore programs after Settlement Services International’s Yamamah Agha took part in the Australian Cultural Orientation (AUSCO) Exchange Program to Iran. Ms Agha, the Humanitarian Settlement Services Service Delivery Manager at SSI, experienced firsthand the work done to help prepare refugees and humanitarian visa […]

Harmony Day, this Friday, March 21, celebrates Australia’s cultural diversity and coincides with the United Nations International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. To mark the occasion, Settlement Services International Case Manager Nedhal Amir tells her story of arrival in Australia.   Nedhal Amir came to Australia from Iraq with her husband and four […]

Harmony Day, this Friday, March 21, celebrates Australia’s cultural diversity and coincides with the United Nations International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. To mark the occasion, Settlement Services International Case Manager Oliver Maboreke tells his story of arrival in Australia.   Oliver Zvinaiye Maboreke worked for two United Nations-funded organisations in his homeland […]

Like most children, Noran Zahrooni was terrified of starting school today. But it wasn’t teachers or lessons that had him anxious. The six-year-old and his family arrived in Australia late last year after fleeing war-torn Syria. Father Farhan Zahrooni told SBS his son was traumatised by the conflict and struggled to understand he was now […]