scoa maia

Culturally diverse migrant and refugee communities significantly contribute to Australia’s civic life through various forms of engagement and support. Their engagement often begins within their own communities, not due to segregation, but because these are the spaces where social
gaps are most apparent and where they are well placed to make valuable and practical contributions. However, these contributions are frequently unseen, overlooked, and underappreciated because they occur within diaspora and faith communities.

The Bi-Cultural Health Navigator program led by the settlement team at Whittlesea Community Connections (WCC) trains people with refugee and migrant backgrounds interested in working in the health sector to understand and better and navigate Australia’s health system. Bi-Cultural Health Navigators gained employment delivering COVID-19 formation and support to multicultural communities in Whittlesea and Hume. 

The role of Australia’s migration system in supporting economic growth, workforce productivity and social cohesion is a contemporary policy consideration. The recently released Migration Strategy sets out a roadmap for a once in a generation reform of the system, which seeks to raise living standards by boosting productivity, to meet skills shortages, to build stronger Australian communities and to develop a faster, fairer, and more efficient system for migrants and employers. These policy reforms are presented against a backdrop of escalating geopolitical tensions (most recently in Ukraine, Sudan, and Gaza), which are driving an increase in the number of displaced persons internationally and is also driving change in the demographic characteristics and types of need among those who are granted Australian humanitarian visas.

The Settlement Council of Australia (SCOA) welcomes the opportunity to make a submission to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee on the Migration Amendment (Removals and Other Measures) Bill 2024 (the Bill).

The Settlement Council of Australia (SCOA) welcomes the opportunity to make a submission to the Senate Select Committee on the Cost of Living.