Jesuit Social Services has welcomed the Federal Government’s plan to redesign Australia’s settlement grants, but warns that reforms must not come at a cost to those building new lives in Australia and the support they receive.
In its submission to the Department of Home Affairs consultation on Reforming Australia’s Settlement Grants Programs, the organisation draws on the work of its Settlement Program in Melbourne’s western suburbs. Most participants are from Afghanistan and the Horn of Africa, and around 85 per cent are women.
Jesuit Social Services CEO Julie Edwards says the first years after arrival in Australia shape everything that follows.
“When people are supported to find a home, learn English, get their children into school and connect with their community, they build lives that strengthen all of us,” she says.
“When they aren’t, the costs come later, for families, for services and for governments. Good settlement support is one of the smartest investments Australia can make.”
Research by Deloitte Access Economics found that people who receive settlement support in their first year have an 8.6 percentage-point employment advantage five years later, generating an estimated $135 million in additional wages over ten years.
Like many settlement services, Jesuit Social Services’ Settlement Program struggles to meet the needs of participants withing the available funding. Settlement staff estimate they spend up to 70 per cent of their time helping people find safe, affordable housing. Most participants need more support than the program is funded to provide. Settlement providers pay for interpreters, while real estate agents and many other private services can use the national interpreting service for free. And eligibility for support now ends at citizenship, usually about four years after arrival.
“Becoming an Australian citizen is a proud moment, but it doesn’t make the barriers disappear. Support should be based on what people need, not a date on the calendar,” Ms Edwards said.
“We support a simpler system that is focused on long-term outcomes. But integration must improve coordination, not reduce the diversity or intensity of support. Refugee-led, ethno-specific and community-based organisations hold relationships, language and trust that a one-size-fits-all model can’t replace.”
Ms Edwards said the national debate about migration too often overlooks what people bring.
“People who make a new home in Australia bring skills, languages, experience and extraordinary determination. Settlement is a two-way journey: it’s about people finding their place here, and about Australia making room for them to contribute,” Ms Edwards says.
“That’s why settlement is not an afterthought to migration policy. It is part of the infrastructure that allows Australia’s humanitarian commitment, workforce needs and social cohesion to succeed.”
“We categorically reject the claim that migrants are to blame for the housing crisis, which is the result of successive policy failures. Settlement is not an afterthought to migration policy. It is part of the infrastructure that allows Australia’s humanitarian commitment, workforce needs and social cohesion to succeed.”
Jesuit Social Services is calling on the Federal Government to:
- maintain or increase settlement funding, and cover the true cost of support, including interpreting, family violence support and work with family units
- measure success across housing, health, education, English language, safety and social connection, as well as employment
- keep a diverse network of local providers, with grants of at least five years
- base eligibility on assessed need, not citizenship or time since arrival
- work across portfolios and with the states on the housing and service barriers that settlement grants alone cannot fix.
