DIMA Annual Report 1996-97

Sub-program 7.3: Community Affairs and Settlement

Objective

To provide settlement programs for recently-arrived migrants and humanitarian entrants, which complement services directed to all permanent residents.

Description

This sub-program provides resources for a range of settlement services that facilitate migrants' early settlement and equitable participation in Australian society.

It operates under the framework of the National Integrated Settlement Strategy (NISS), which aims to improve the provision of settlement services to migrants through coordination and cooperative action between agencies at all levels of government and in the community.

Services are provided through a mixture of strategies, directly and indirectly, through key partnerships with community-based and State/Territory and local government agencies.

The sub-program is delivered primarily by providing English-language tuition through the Adult Migrant English Program (AMEP) and its network of learning arrangements; on-site and telephone interpreting and translating through the nation-wide Translating and Interpreting Service (TIS); and financial grants to community organisations, some of which deliver ethno-specific services to migrants. Settlement planning mechanisms engage a range of Commonwealth, State, Territory, local government and community agencies.

Responsibility for program management and policy development lies with the Community Services Branch, elements of the Citizenship and Settlement Branch and Service Development Branch in Central Office.

Responsibility for service delivery lies with Multicultural Affairs and Settlement areas of the Department's State and Territory offices.

Financial and staffing resources summary

	1996-97 Budget and AEs $'000s	1996-97 Actual $'000s	1995-96 Actual $'000s
Budgetary (cash) basis
Components of appropriations
Annual appropriations
Running costs	32 917	28 419	35 118
Other program costs	102 801	102 382	102 344
Total appropriations	135 718	130 801	137 462
Less adjustments	6 793	7 209	6 647
Total outlays	128 925	123 592	130 815
Total revenue	9 588	9 225	8 129
Staffing
Staff years (actual)	383	326	421

Performance information

Outcomes are measured against the extent to which:

1. services are most effectively directed to the settlement needs of recently-arrived migrants and humanitarian entrants from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds and access is facilitated to Government and other services; and
2. settlement planning efforts focus on clearly articulated priorities, informed by community input.

Performance outcomes

(i) Services

Settlement needs are met through the AMEP, the TIS and the Community Grants Program.

Language services are critical to the successful settlement of recently-arrived migrants from linguistically and culturally diverse backgrounds and their equitable access to services available to the general community.

Recognising this, the Department provides language assistance through the AMEP and the TIS.

Adult Migrant English Program

The AMEP ensures that migrants have access to English language education soon after their arrival in Australia.

Clients receive tuition in a competency-based curriculum that helps them to develop the language and literacy skills they need to participate in the community, seek and maintain employment and undertake further education and training, as required.

Some 72.2 per cent (75.2 per cent in 1995-96) of adult migrant arrivals, who were perceived to be in need of English tuition, registered with the AMEP by the end of the first term of 1997. For each of the key migration categories, the registration rate was:

• Refugee and Humanitarian — 87.8 per cent (89 per cent in 1995);
• Preferential Family — 64.1 per cent (65.9 per cent);
• Concessional Family — 85.3 per cent (76.8 per cent); and
• Independent and Skill — 73.3 per cent (75.2 per cent).

Some 40 366 clients participated in the AMEP, an increase of 17.4 per cent from 1995. The proportion of females increased to 60 per cent (57 per cent in 1995).

Participation in the AMEP by clients with less than two years' residence in Australia remained constant at 80 per cent of the formal AMEP clients.

The number of AMEP clients with 12 or more years of schooling decreased by three per cent; and the number of clients entering at Certificate in Spoken and Written English (CSWE) Stage 1 increased by 31.2 per cent.

Some 33 per cent of clients were under 30 years of age, 47 per cent were aged 30-44 and 20 per cent were aged 45 and over (compared with 34 per cent, 49 per cent and 17 per cent, respectively, in 1995).

Preliminary CSWE outcomes and benchmarks were developed by the National Centre for English Language Teaching and Research to allow for language outcomes to be compared across a range of AMEP service providers.

Under the CSWE curriculum framework, on completion of a stage, students receive either the appropriate certificate (if they have achieved a sufficient number of the stated competencies) or a statement of competency (if they have completed an entire module within a certificate) or a record of achievement setting out which competencies they have achieved. Competencies relate to: learning skills and strategies; speaking and listening; reading; and writing.

Out of 16 523 clients exiting the AMEP:

• 55 per cent entered at CSWE Level 1 and, on average, achieved 12 competencies (maximum 13 competencies);
• 28 per cent entered at CSWE Level 2 and, on average, achieved 13 competencies (maximum 16);
• 17 per cent entered at CSWE Level 3 and, on average, achieved 10 competencies (maximum 14).

These clients received the following awards:

• Certificate/Statement of Competency, Level 1 — 23 per cent;
• Certificate/Statement of Competency, Level 2 — 21 per cent;
• Certificate/Statement of Competency, Level 3 — 19 per cent; and
• Record of Achievement — 37 per cent.

The AMEP provides child care support for eligible clients who have been unable to make their own arrangements for child care, and would not otherwise be able to attend English as a Second Language (ESL) classes.

Child care may be provided free in AMEP-specific child care centres or through mainstream child care services. Some 3 881 children were provided with child care (3 200 children in 1995).

The Government has pledged an additional $17.7 million for English language and literacy training under the AMEP. Spending of this additional funding will take place over four years, commencing in 1997-98.

Additional funding for the AMEP will operate through:

• Refugee and Humanitarian Program

Most of this money will be directed at Refugee and Humanitarian Program entrants with special learning needs.

Special preparatory programs will be delivered for this client group in community settings, in conjunction with case managers, other local service providers and professionals. The programs will be delivered as a preparation for mainstream AMEP tuition.

Refugee and humanitarian entrants will also be allowed up to five years to complete their 510-hour legislated entitlement to English tuition through the AMEP. This will allow for slower-paced learning in the initial stages of their settlement.

• The Home Tutor Scheme (HTS)

A proportion of the funding will be used to expand the role of the HTS. This will enable the HTS to support community agencies providing informal ESL tuition, for example, by training tutors, providing access to resources and advising on curriculum and other teaching issues.

This new role for the HTS will contribute to strengthening links between mainstream and community-based ESL providers. These initiatives are to be implemented in 1997-98.

The Department is introducing open competitive tendering for AMEP service provision to:

• optimise learning outcomes for clients;
• attract the highest quality service providers;
• allow clients to choose the service provider most likely to meet their needs;
• provide greater flexibility for the AMEP to respond to changing conditions; and
• ensure value for money.

The new service delivery arrangements will be implemented over two years, beginning in 1997-98 in Victoria and Western Australia, followed by remaining States and Territories in 1998-99.

Tenders for Victoria and Western Australia closed on 23 May 1997.

Contract negotiations will began in July 1997. This timing ensures sound planning for a smooth transition, minimal disruption to clients and adequate consultation with stakeholders.

An English language teaching resource kit aimed at fostering migrants' understanding of indigenous Australians and their cultures was initiated by the Department as part of its contribution to the process of reconciliation and launched by the Minister in May 1997.

The kit, entitled Wanyaarri — a word from the Yindjibarndi language in north-west Western Australia which means hear, listen, understand — comprises video and written materials for use in the AMEP curriculum.

The kit was developed for the Department by the NSW Adult Migrant English Service (AMES) in collaboration with indigenous communities.

It is designed to provide AMEP teachers with readily available resources to build indigenous studies into the ESL curriculum, thereby promoting a positive relationship and developing links between immigrants and indigenous Australians.

The NSW AMES was awarded a Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation Certificate for the development of Wanyaarri in February 1997.

Translating and Interpreting Service

TIS helps migrants with limited English skills to access services provided by government and community agencies.

The service offers varied employment opportunities to more than 2 000 independent contractors across more than 100 community languages.

TIS provides an around-the-clock telephone interpreting service on its national telephone number — 131 450. Face-to-face on-site interpreting and document translation services are available during local business hours.

To meet community service obligations, the Department is budget-funded to provide extract translations free of charge to new arrivals, in their first two years of settlement.

The Department also bears the cost of free TIS interpreting services provided to community-based non-profit organisations and for medical consultations covered by Medicare. Availability of free interpreting is rationed by applying resource quotas.

The TIS operating cost was $20.4 million, of which $13.2 million was met from the Commonwealth Budget and $7.2 million was funded from user-charges. Independent TIS contractors were paid $7.9 million in fees.

Revenue from user-charges increased by 10.8 per cent, compared with 1995-96. The rise can be attributed in part to considerable efforts made during the year to improve TIS's commercial effectiveness and to enhance revenue collection.

Table 12: TIS services delivered in 1996-97

Service	Community service obligation	Commercial activities (user-pays)
Telephone interpreting calls	71 000	104 000
On-site interpreting assignments	26 000	57 000
Translation
Tasks	35 000	18 000
Words	4 million	3 million

Compared with forecast activity levels, actual activity represents 91 per cent of anticipated telephone interpreting calls; 92 per cent of anticipated on-site interpreting assignments; and 84 per cent of anticipated translated words.

Highest demand languages included: Arabic, Mandarin, Vietnamese, Spanish, Serbian, Croatian, Russian, Cantonese, and Bosnian.

TIS's business planning was enhanced by focusing on four commercially-oriented goals: maintaining strategic directions and priorities in accordance with government policy; reducing costs; increasing revenue; and improving client-service delivery.

Examples of reforms include trials of new telephone systems, which may potentially lead to further innovations; streamlining work practices; and analysing TIS's market competitiveness.

Addressing the Government's pre-election commitment to guarantee continued operation of the Commonwealth TIS on a commercial basis, a review of the service was concluded.

The report was referred by the Department to the Minister for his consideration.

Community Grants Program

The Community Grants Program funds community organisations to provide direct settlement services and service coordination for migrants, particularly humanitarian entrants, with the aim of facilitating their early settlement and equitable participation in Australian society. Grants are awarded on the basis of identified need.

The grants program comprises:

• Migrant Resource Centre (MRC) Program;
• Grant-in-Aid (GIA) Scheme;
• Migrant Access Projects Scheme (MAPS); and
• Community Relations Agenda (CRA) Grants Scheme.

There were 32 MRCs in all States and Territories core-funded to plan, implement and manage services to individuals and communities to help with settlement services provided by the MRC network, including multilingual referral and information provision, outreach services, and service planning and coordination in the local area.

The GIA Scheme subsidises community organisations to employ workers who provide direct services as well as participating in service planning and coordination.

The MAPS scheme provides funding for particular projects, including a project to progress migrant youth issues, and contributions towards the cost of two conferences.

The Minister reviewed services provided through GIA and MAPS, focusing on the extent to which they meet priority needs.

To eliminate any possible duplication, the GIA and MAPS schemes are being streamlined into a single new Community Settlement Services (CSS) scheme from 1997-98.

In order to target priority needs more effectively, enhance accountability both in financial and service delivery outcomes, and provide greater flexibility in delivery of strategies, the Department introduced service agreements for MRCs that clearly specify their roles and responsibilities.

The new arrangements will assist the Department and the MRCs in addressing the high priority needs of identified client groups.

Service agreements will be introduced for CSS (formerly GIA) workers from 1997-98.

Funding priorities were revised to reflect outcomes of national and State and Territory needs-based planning processes linked to the NISS.

Compared with past funding rounds, there has been a greater emphasis on service delivery strategies, encouragement of clustering of projects, joint funding submissions and direct services rather than advocacy.

Some grants focus on assisting especially disadvantaged groups. The Department provided funding for 361 GIA workers (the equivalent of 321.5 full grants), targeted at humanitarian entrants, aged migrants and women as priority groups.

These grants have enabled individuals to access government and other services more effectively.

An estimated 800 000 information and referral services were provided to GIA and MRC clients. Key needs which were addressed included providing information about immigration/sponsorship, employment/training and income support services.

Some MRC and GIA workers delivered work programs aimed at improving systemic access to services and assisting mainstream service providers to be more culturally sensitive in service delivery. Key outcomes include:

• participation in planning forums and better service coordination;
• establishment of migrant support groups; and
• development of education and training courses and policy submissions.

Community Relations Agenda

Community Relations Agenda (CRA) grants were announced in March 1995, and in 1996-97 seven grant recipients continued to receive funding for projects promoting community understanding. CRA project outcomes during the year included:

• development of media skills among ethnic community leaders and workers;
• development of a training package for young journalists on cross-cultural and community relations issues; and
• better communication and partnerships between ethnic communities and the police.

CRA grants were awarded on a one-off basis and no further grants are to be awarded.

Settlement Database (SDB)

The Settlement Database contains data on all people issued with a migration visa overseas or permanent residency in Australia since 1 January 1991. It provides a powerful tool for planning and evaluating the provision of settlement services.

Major projects undertaken during the year included the provision of data on the geographic distribution of new settler arrivals to assist in settlement planning and the allocation of grants to community organisations; programming work on data comprehensiveness and accuracy; and the formulation of a SDB development plan which sets out future directions for the database during the next three years.

(ii) Settlement planning priorities

The National Integrated Settlement Strategy (NISS) is the key settlement planning framework for the delivery and coordination of settlement services at all levels of government and in the community.

In line with the 1995-96 evaluation of the NISS, there has been a stronger focus on the articulation of national settlement priorities.

At its March 1997 meeting, the Ministerial Council agreed that, while settlement priorities might be different from State to State and within States, they included:

• English language training;
• access to the labour market;
• settlement information;
• access to housing;
• translating and interpreting services;
• support from sponsors;
• a more integrated approach to the settlement needs of Refugee and Humanitarian Program entrants; and
• meeting the settlement-related needs of the ethnic aged.

State and Territory settlement planning committees have responded to issues raised by the NISS Evaluation, and have helped to meet national priorities.

• A number of committees have set up working groups to focus on improving community participation in settlement planning at the State and Territory and local level.
• New South Wales has run a series of community consultations identifying priority areas. The settlement planning committee has set up working groups to focus on some of these specific priority areas.
• A formal evaluation of the 1996 Victorian Settlement Plan, highlighting a range of achievements, was published. An important achievement was the joint production of a new settlement information kit for new arrivals to Victoria.
• Queensland's 1997 settlement plan has been agreed and will be launched soon.
• A number of regional planning committees have been established to ensure that local level settlement needs are addressed. For example, a regional network has been established in South Australia's Riverland.
• Western Australia is developing a new two-tiered settlement plan identifying on-going access and equity measures as well as specific settlement initiatives to be pursued in the next 12 months.
• Planning committees in Tasmania and the ACT are close to finalising settlement plans for 1997-98.

The Department has been working with the Department of Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs (DEETYA) to identify and work on the range of Portfolio concerns about implementation of the labour market reforms. The scope of the work with DEETYA included:

• participating in the development of arrangements for migrants in the employment placement market, and service to be provided by the Commonwealth Service Delivery Agency;
• facilitating appropriate links between specific areas of the Department and DEETYA; and
• ensuring a coordinated departmental response to the employment placement market and service delivery issues arising within DEETYA.

Refugee resettlement

In April 1997, the Minister announced membership of the new Refugee Resettlement Advisory Council (RRAC).

The Minister noted that: 'The establishment of the council reflects the priority the Government gives to the successful settlement of refugees and humanitarian entrants, and to continuing community consultation in the settlement process'.

The Council will advise on settlement priorities for both migrants and entrants under the Humanitarian Program and will enable on-going dialogue with the community. It replaces the former Settlement Advisory Council.

The new Council is chaired by Major General Warren Glenny AO RFD ED (Rtd), the Chief Executive of AUSTCARE. Major General Glenny had a distinguished career in the Army Reserve, spanning more than 40 years, and is a former General Manager of Coles Myer.

Council members, chosen on the basis of their individual expertise and commitment to the field of refugee settlement, are:

• Dr Mohammed Taha Alsalami, prominent leader in Sydney's Muslim community, involved in numerous Muslim community and cultural groups in NSW, and chair of a local Community Refugee Settlement Scheme (CRSS) group.
• Mr Paris Aristotle, Director of the Victorian Foundation for the Survivors of Torture Inc. Mr Aristotle is actively involved in numerous organisations and government committees dealing with refugee issues relating to rehabilitation of torture and trauma survivors, including the International Society for Health and Human Rights and the Victorian Government's Ministerial Multicultural Human Services Council.
• Mrs Ellen Goodman, senior lecturer at Macquarie University's Business Law Department. She has been involved in a number of committees examining anti-discrimination and ethical issues. Mrs Goodman came to Australia as a refugee fleeing pre-World War II Germany.
• Ms Carmel Guerra, Coordinator for the Victorian Ethnic Youth Issues Network. She has been a youth worker for 13 years and has extensive experience in program development and policy areas relating to both new and established ethnic communities and young people. Ms Guerra is also a member of the Victorian Government's Youth Suicide Prevention Task Force.
• Mr Kevin Liston, Director of the Australian Refugee Association since 1983. He has a long involvement with refugee organisations, including the Survivors of Torture and Trauma Assistance and Rehabilitation Services, SA Refugee Week Committee, SA Council of Churches Migrant Issues Committee and the Refugee Council of Australia. Mr Liston is also a member of COSMIC, the SA Settlement Planning Committee.
• Ms Kathryn Nguyen, President of the Movement of Support for International Committee for a Free Vietnam. She has worked extensively with the NSW Vietnamese community and is a member of the Asian Youth Business Council. Ms Nguyen is a practising solicitor.
• Ms Margaret Piper, Executive Director of the Refugee Council of Australia and a member of the boards of Uniya, the Refugee Advice and Casework Service, NSW and International Social Services, NSW. Ms Piper is a founding member of the Australian National Consultative Committee on Refugee Women.
• Mr Gerald Searle, Director of the WA Catholic Migrant Centre. He has had extensive involvement in WA refugee and community-based organisations, including the Refugee Council of WA, the WA Refugee Week Committee, and the Advisory Committee to the Australian Bishops Conference on Migrant and Refugee Interest. Mr Searle is also a member of the WA Settlement Planning Committee.

The Council met for the first time on 29 May 1997 and will meet again in early August to consolidate its work plan. The Council's work plan will focus on a range of issues that are significant in the development of an Integrated Humanitarian Settlement Strategy (details in sub-program 3.3).

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