Mattress recycling social enterprise partners with SSI to help individuals seeking asylum into employment
More than 20 hardworking individuals seeking asylum in Australia have found employment after a mattress recycling social enterprise partnered with SSI to replace their machines with manpower.
From the Executive General manager: Employment support in settlement and beyond
Four years ago this month, our government made the historic decision to add an additional 12,000 places to Australia’s refugee intake for refugees affected by the war in Syria and Iraq.
Former refugee and Ignite® entrepreneur empowers audiences at TEDxSydney
An Ignite® entrepreneur who attended TEDxSydney as part of SSI’s community partnership has returned again this year — but this time as a speaker, sharing his incredible story with more than 5,000 people.
Resilient refugees raise funds for UNICEF Syria Crisis Appeal
Self-starter and culinary enthusiast Sophie Bejek recently joined some of the country’s most prestigious chefs at a Cook for Syria dinner to help raise vital funds for the UNICEF Syria Crisis Appeal.
Inner Sydney’s first low-cost grocer lightens the load for people doing it tough
Sydney’s ongoing housing affordability crisis and high living costs have hit low-income groups particularly hard, leading an innovative social enterprise to open up in an inner Sydney suburb with high homelessness rates. Not-for-profit Settlement Services International (SSI) has partnered with Mission Australia to open The Staples Bag Camperdown – inner Sydney’s first low-cost grocer that provides high-quality nutritious food staples, while also saving an average of two tonnes of food from landfill every week.
Multilingual hub breaks down language barriers for people with disability
People born in a non-English speaking country have similar rates of disability as other Australians but are about half as likely to receive formal assistance. Settlement Services International (SSI) has drawn on its expertise in working with culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities to address the need for culturally competent entry points to the disability service system to help marginalised groups gain access.
From the CEO: Listen, accept, acknowledge, support
At SSI, we talk a lot about providing support. But what does it actually mean to support someone? Sometimes it means offering assistance. Sometimes it just means being there to listen. Sometimes it means acknowledging someone’s challenges and showing that you accept them for who they are.
New book helps culturally diverse children in foster care maintain their identity
A new family resource for children and young people in foster care from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds will be launched by Settlement Services International (SSI) in Bankstown, Sydney, today.My Life and Me, a life story book with a cultural focus, was developed by SSI to address the loss of identity and belonging experienced by CALD children in care.
Where would Australia be if we listened to Trump on refugees?
When US President Donald Trump recently raised the idea of sending back a handful of congresswomen to the “broken and crime infested places from which they came”, he echoed a sentiment we hear far too frequently right here in Australia.
Furore over welfare figures misses the mark
High levels of unemployed welfare recipients losing access to their payments is indicative of a complex and inadequate system, not a proliferation of ‘welfare cheats’, according to community organisation and social business Settlement Services International (SSI).
SSI congratulates Senate on resoundingly defeating move for immigration plebiscite
Settlement Services International today congratulated the Australian Senate for rejecting Pauline Hanson’s move to hold a plebiscite on Australia's immigration levels.
Online program helps traumatised refugees overcome mental health stigma
Before the 'Tell Your Story' program, there was no intervention to specifically reduce mental health stigma in refugees. A world-first intervention for refugee men who suffer from PTSD has shown promise in a trial, encouraging them to get help.
SSI hands Friendship Garden to the community who built it
An olive tree has been planted to mark the transition of the Friendship Garden at the Auburn Centre of Community, from being an initiative owned and run by SSI, to a community run project.
Inaugural Homelands tour lights up Refugee Week 2019
Rhythmic vibrations, captivating performances and audience singalongs epitomised the first ever Homelands Tour as artists from refugee backgrounds came together in a musical collaboration to celebrate Refugee Week 2019.
Lived experience shapes the future for disability service providers
An innovative new approach to disability services education is using lived experience to help providers better understand the challenges facing people with disability from migrant and refugee backgrounds.
From the CEO: Acting with purpose
Earlier this week, I was uplifted to hear the news that sixteen-year-old climate change activist Greta Thunberg was awarded France’s inaugural Freedom Prize, which pays homage to people who are fighting for freedom.
Colyton’s generous community hub members cook for Indigenous elders
To honour the Indigenous community, women from Colyton Community Hub came together during NAIDOC to share their love in the best way they know: through delicious food and amazing hospitality.
New Beginnings Winter Festival forges connections between inner west locals and newly arrived communities
Marking Refugee Week 2019, the SSI New Beginnings Winter Festival attracted more than 300 inner west locals and newly arrived communities to the Community Refugee Welcome Centre in Lilyfield.
House to Home program provides reclaimed household goods to new arrivals
Settlement Services International (SSI) partner The Bower, has provided more than 200 families of refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds with free up-cycled household goods through their House to Home program.