DIMIA Annual Report 2004-05
Output 2.1-Settlement services
HIGHLIGHTS
Migrant Community Services
A total of $27.44 million was provided for migrant community services grants in 2004-05 to support the settlement needs of migrants. The department supported the provision of settlement services to the migrant community through:
- the administration of 392 service agreements with organisations funded under 364 Community Settlement Services Scheme (CSSS) grants
- core funding to 28 Migrant Resource Centres (MRCs)/Migrant Service Agencies (MSAs).
Twenty of the CSSS grants were funded as six-month transitional grants until 31 December 2004, totalling $520 546, for organisations that primarily provide services to established communities.
Community Partners Program
In response to the Report of the Review of Settlement Services for Migrants and Humanitarian Entrants (2003) (the Review), $11.6 million was announced in the 2004-05 Budget for the Community Partners Program (CPP), a new program to be administered by the Department of Health and Ageing. The CPP began on 1 January 2005. It facilitates access to aged care services for culturally and linguistically diverse communities by funding established community organisations, among others. The 20 CSSS grants continued to be funded under the CPP until 1 July 2005, at which point grants announced in the CPP funding round began.
Rural and regional Australia
$4.9 million has been allocated over four years to provide additional funding for CSSS grants to help humanitarian entrants settle in rural and regional Australia. Of this, $688 525 was allocated to the 2004-05 funding year. This initiative is designed to increase humanitarian settlement in targeted regional locations, where community support can be enhanced and developed by providing new or increased grants funding.
Profile
Carla Tongun and her family are looking forward to a very different future to what they would have had in their native country of Sudan.
Now living in Australia, three of Carla's children are studying at university, two are in their final year of high school, and one has a career in IT and marketing. Carla feels they have been given a new future in Australia.
Carla Tungun
In Sudan her children would have spent most of their lives without a father. As a professional person he was seen as a threat to the Sudanese Government, and was imprisoned seven times in the years between 1981 and 1998.
"My children had to witness the shelling of their city, houses burning, and dead bodies everywhere. It's terrible for young children to have to go through that trauma," she said.
Carla decided to flee with her children to Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya in 1991. However, conditions in the camp were almost as dangerous as those the family had left behind so they applied for resettlement to Australia in 1995.
They arrived in Adelaide in May 2000. Their Australian proposer was there to welcome them, and took them to housing provided by the Lutheran Church of Australia. Soon after, the department provided assistance to enable the family to move into their own home.
Staff from the Migrant Resource Centre (MRC) in South Australia, which is funded by the department to provide settlement assistance, gave the family information about local facilities, set up medical appointments and helped them furnish their home.
Carla has worked in a range of voluntary and paid jobs, assisting migrants and humanitarian entrants to settle in Australia. Often Carla finds she not only provides health support, but also acts as a counsellor for the African community.
"There are different cultural norms in Australia, particularly around relationships between parents and children which can lead to instability within the community," Carla said.
"Here children have so much independence. In the African context you have to remain with your family and have less freedom, until you are strong and self-supportive," she said.
"But the government and the service providers did so much to make our lives easier. I want to say thank you to the government for supporting us, and for giving my children a new future. I am looking forward to when they finish their education and join the workforce, so that they can give something back to a country that has given us so much."
The Review recommended the development of a new grants program that combines CSSS funding and MRC/MSA core funding. This new program, called the Settlement Grants Program (SGP), will begin on 1 July 2006, replacing the current CSSS and MRC/MSA programs.
The department released a discussion paper on the SGP for community comment on 6 April 2005. More than 400 stakeholders attended community consultations held in every capital city in April and May 2005, and more than 100 written submissions were received. This input will inform development of the SGP.
Tender for services under the Integrated Humanitarian Settlement Strategy
The department conducted a national tender for the provision of services under the Integrated Humanitarian Settlement Strategy (IHSS) for the next five years from 1 October 2005. Industry briefings were held in each state and territory from 13-29 September 2004. Questions and answers and new information for tenderers were posted on our website. Changes and enhancements to the requirements for delivery of services under IHSS were introduced in the request for tender. These included:
- strengthened coordination of service delivery through a service delivery model based on Contract Regions, with one contract per Region. Services may be delivered by agencies in consortium or prime contractor/subcontractor relationship, or by single providers
- a central case coordination role
- enhanced support for Special Humanitarian Program (SHP) entrants and their proposers
- improved arrangements for the management of volunteer contributions to the delivery of IHSS services.
The tender process was guided by a Business Adviser (Cogent Business Solutions), a Probity Adviser (Acumen Alliance) and a Legal Adviser (Sage Legal Services). Cogent Business Solutions also undertook the financial evaluation.
The tender evaluation report was unanimously endorsed by the IHSS Tender Steering Committee, which comprised representatives from our department and the Department of Finance and Administration.
All tenderers were advised of the evaluation outcome on 1 June 2005. Contract negotiations began with preferred tenderers in early June 2005.
Phase-out arrangements for all current IHSS contracts are being developed to ensure a smooth transition for IHSS clients to new IHSS contractors on 1 October 2005.
Profile
There were days when Hafiza Azami felt the shudder of rockets exploding near her as she walked to the local store. "It was not easy I can tell you. When they exploded, I remember looking around and thinking: where are my children? I recall many nights when we couldn't sleep," Hafiza said.
Hafiza Azami
In 1998, after almost three decades of war and conflict, Hafiza fled Afghanistan with her husband and three children. The family spent many nights travelling over the mountains to Pakistan, where they settled temporarily. The following year they applied for resettlement through the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
In July 2003 the family began their new life in Australia. Flying into Brisbane airport they were met by staff from Assisting Collaborative Community Employment Support Services Incorporated (ACCESS)-an organisation funded by the department to provide assistance to new humanitarian entrants.
Staff from ACCESS took them to their new home and provided them with furniture, white goods, food and other supplies. In the following days ACCESS staff and volunteers helped the family settle into life in Australia.
"They were great, they helped us with everything," said Hafiza.
"They introduced us to the bank, the housing department, made sure our children were in school and even took us shopping. They gave us all the support we needed," she said.
Hafiza's husband began English classes under the Adult Migrant English Program (AMEP) soon after the family arrived, and is still improving his skills. Hafiza began voluntary work as a community helper and translator. A year later she commenced paid employment in the role of an Administration Officer in the Department of the Premier and Cabinet in Queensland.
Support from ACCESS staff and the AMEP made the difficult task of setting up life in Australia easier.
"I felt excited and happy, knowing I was coming to a country where I could have a secure life and a future for my children, but it was also sad because I was leaving my family and friends and coming so far away from my homeland," said Hafiza.
For Hafiza the best things about life in Australia are security and opportunities.
"My children have much better opportunities here. They can go to school; they have great teachers that help them, access to libraries, the internet, computers... Everyday they come home carrying one or two new books from the library. I would never have been able to provide these things for them in Afghanistan."
2.1.1 SETTLEMENT PLANNING AND INFORMATION DELIVERY
Figure 59: Performance information-Settlement planning and information delivery
Objective
To provide and facilitate access to information to:
- assist in the settlement of prospective and newly arrived migrants and humanitarian entrants, including identifying services to equip eligible migrants and humanitarian settlers to participate in society as soon as possible after arrival
- inform the planning process for the department's settlement services
- assist mainstream service agencies to plan the delivery of their services to meet the needs of migrants and humanitarian entrants.
Description
This output component supports the planning process for the department's settlement services. It also has an important role in supporting the provision of information to new migrants settling in Australia as well as those who provide mainstream or specialised settlement services to migrants and humanitarian entrants.
Analysis of performance
Needs-based settlement planning
A number of recommendations in the Report of the Review of Settlement Services for Migrants and Humanitarian Entrants 2003 (the Review) related to the department's settlement information and planning for the provision of settlement services. The department is developing new needs-based settlement planning arrangements to inform the targeting and coordination of settlement services and to help mainstream service agencies better meet the needs of new arrivals. The needs analysis will inform the development of funding priorities and advertisements for the new Settlement Grants Program beginning in July 2006.
Consultation with a wide range of stakeholders, including the settlement services sector, key community groups and Australian state and territory service delivery agencies, will be a key element of the new planning arrangements. The department will analyse information gathered through this process, along with data from other sources such as our Settlement Database, to develop a national needs report that will provide a clearer picture of national settlement patterns and priority needs.
The Refugee Resettlement Advisory Council
An important aspect of the planning process is consultation with the community sector. One of the principal ways this is achieved is through an ongoing dialogue between the Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs and the Refugee Resettlement Advisory Council (RRAC).
The RRAC, now in its fourth term, continued to provide high-quality policy advice and input to the Minister on the settlement of newly arrived humanitarian entrants and migrants and the implementation of the recommendations of the Review. For example, RRAC was used as a reference group for the development of the new Settlement Grants Program.
Settlement information
The department published two updates of the Beginning a life in Australia booklets. The booklets welcome new and prospective migrants to Australia and provide information to them, their sponsors and service providers on the types of services available and advice on where to go to ask for assistance. Information is tailored for each state and territory and the booklets are published in English and 23 community languages. In 2004-05 the French language was included to meet the needs of some recently arrived refugees from Africa. The booklets are also on the department's website at www.immi.gov.au/settle/booklets
As part of a suite of activities funded by the Government to support and encourage settlement in regional Australia, funds were made available to incorporate 'regional Australia' information into the Life in Australia web pages on our website. The new section on Life in Regional Australia provides information on potential regional settlement locations to encourage prospective migrants to consider settling outside the major metropolitan centres. The section includes topics on information sources, visa categories and finding employment and housing in regional Australia.
It also identifies a number of regional locations seeking to attract migrants. The regional pages highlight 36 regional centres with an information page and photos of each town. To coincide with the introduction of the new regional pages, the department revised Life in Australia web information. The redeveloped web pages went live on our website on 30 June 2005 at www.immi.gov.au/settle.
The Settlement Database is a valuable tool for planning, targeting and evaluating settlement services and facilitates better service delivery for migrants. The database contains around 1.3 million records of visaed settler arrivals since 1 January 1991. Data includes country of birth, age, sex, migrant category, main language, English proficiency, location of residence in Australia, and many other variables. Departmental officers use this information to inform program planning and service delivery across Australia. Mainstream service providers and community-based users access this information through our Internet-based Settlement Reporting Facility (SRF).
The department is redeveloping and upgrading the technology of the database and its reporting facilities to improve the useability of the reports and the data.
2.1.2 HUMANITARIAN SETTLEMENT SERVICES
Figure 60: Performance information-Humanitarian settlement services
Objective
To provide Refugees and Special Humanitarian (SHP) entrants with settlement services to help them become fully participating members of the Australian community as soon as possible.
Description
This output component supports the provision of intensive initial settlement services to newly arrived refugees and SHP entrants under the Integrated Humanitarian Settlement Strategy (IHSS).
Thirty-nine contracted service providers delivered IHSS services across all states and territories. IHSS services included:
- initial information and orientation assistance
- accommodation support
- household formation support
- early health assessment and intervention
- proposer support.
Volunteers helped service providers and offered entrants friendship and social support.
IHSS services focus on the initial settlement period which is generally about six months. While the IHSS aims to promote the competence of entrants and discourage dependency, some entrants require more assistance from general settlement services such as Migrant Resource Centres/Migrant Service Agencies and organisations funded under the Community Settlement Services Scheme.
Analysis of performance
In 2004-05, 13 347 people were assisted under the IHSS, compared with 10 401 people in 2003-04.
Figure 61: Number of people assisted under the IHSS
The number of refugees assisted under the IHSS increased by 69 per cent, from 3141 in 2003-04 to 5318 in 2004-05. The number of SHP entrants assisted increased by 9 per cent to 7838.
191 temporary protection visa (TPV), temporary humanitarian visa (THV) and permanent protection visa (PPV) holders were assisted in 2004-05, compared to 46 in 2003-04, 453 in 2002-03 and 2047 in 2001-02.
Seventy-five per cent of people assisted under the IHSS in 2004-05 were from Africa, compared to 63 per cent in 2003-04 and 44 per cent in 2002-03. The other significant group assisted were people from the Middle East and South West Asia, who comprised 21 per cent of the IHSS caseload, compared to 30 per cent in 2003-04 and 39 per cent in 2002-03.
Figure 62: People assisted during 2004-05 by source region
The IHSS caseload continues to change in line with trends in previous years. The proportion of entrants unable to speak English continues to rise, with 84 per cent of people assisted stating they required an interpreter. Education levels of people assisted remain low, with clients reporting they had received, on average, only 5.3 years of schooling.* A total of 6001 (or 46 per cent) of all refugees and SHP entrants assisted in 2004-05 have lived in refugee camps, up from 21 per cent in 2003-04 and 15 per cent in 2002-03.
As a result of the 2004-05 Budget, SHP entrants became partially eligible for IHSS services that were previously only available to refugees-that is, partial provision of initial information and orientation and assistance to locate long-term rental accommodation.
The current IHSS contracts, progressively introduced from early 2000, will terminate on 30 September 2005. A tender for the delivery of IHSS services from 1 October 2005 to June 2010 was released on 4 September 2004 and closed on 10 January 2005. Details of the tender are provided under Output 2.1 Settlement services, 'Highlights'.
A contract with the IOM was signed in August 2003 to deliver a pre-embarkation cultural orientation program to refugees and humanitarian entrants in Kenya. The Australian Cultural Orientation (AUSCO) program provides an introduction to aspects of Australian life and aims to enhance entrants' settlement prospects, develop realistic expectations for their life in Australia and help them acquire information about Australian culture before they arrive.
* Excludes clients who have not yet reached school age (ie. clients aged 0-4 years).
An evaluation of the pilot program in June 2004 found it was delivering a significant and positive impact on entrants' early settlement experience and should be an integral part of Australia's settlement program. A number of recommendations have been implemented to enhance the program's effectiveness.
During 2004-05, the AUSCO program was expanded from Kenya to locations in Egypt, Uganda, Tanzania, Guinea, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Pakistan, Iran and Thailand. From its inception in September 2003 through to 30 June 2005, more than 379 courses had been held, assisting around 7570 entrants.
A number of improvements were made to the AUSCO program during 2004-05, including:
- the facilitation of exposure visits to Australia for several contracted trainers to allow them to gain first-hand knowledge of Australian culture and settlement services
- the enhancement of training materials, including the development of a new video/ DVD depicting Australian life and the settlement process. The video/DVD has been translated into Arabic, French and Dari
- the update and expansion of the program curriculum to better meet the requirements of course participants from different backgrounds and with different settlement needs.
2.1.3 SUPPORT FOR COMMUNITY SERVICES
Figure 63: Performance information-Support for community services
Objective
To support the delivery of settlement services through administration of community grants.
Description
This output component supports the administered item Grants for Migrant Community Services.
The department supported the delivery of Migrant Resource Centres (MRC)/Migrant Service Agencies (MSA) and Community Settlement Services Scheme (CSSS) services by helping funded organisations manage work programs and service agreements, reporting and financial accountability requirements and provision of a national training strategy. The national training strategy was aimed at management committees/boards and staff, to assist their delivery of settlement services consistent with the objectives of our grants programs, and to meet service agreement requirements.
A total of 392 service agreements were managed in the 2004-05 funding year. Of these, 28 were for MRC/MSA core grants and 364, including 229 new grants in 2004-05, were for CSSS projects.
For the 2004-05 funding round, the department received 328 CSSS applications, of which 229 were successful. Successful organisations were offered funding for one, two or three years, or nine, 21 or 33 months. The nine, 21 and 33-month grants allowed existing grants, previously funded on an October to September 12-month cycle, to align with the new financial year funding period. From 2005-06, all grants will be on a financial year basis.
Twenty of the 2004-05 CSSS grants were funded as six-month transitional grants until 31 December 2004, totalling $520 546, for organisations that primarily provide services to established communities. In response to the Report of the Review of Settlement Services for Migrants and Humanitarian Entrants (2003) (the Review), $11.6 million was announced in the 2004-05 Budget to fund a new Community Partners Program (CPP) to be administered by the Department of Health and Ageing.
Analysis of performance
The use of the online application for funding for Migrant Community Services streamlined the assessment and processing of applications. All 28 MRCs/MSAs applied online for core funding. Of the CSSS funding applications, 71 per cent were submitted online.
To improve program performance and accountability, a program of rolling audits of CSSS-funded organisations began in May 2004. The purpose of the audit program was to ensure that grant recipients were complying with the terms and conditions in the service agreement. At the same time, the audit program provided an opportunity to review the effectiveness of the reporting framework in supporting accountability requirements, and to identify areas for improvement in grant management practices for both the grant recipient and the department.
In 2004-05, 21 organisations were audited. The audit identified a number of opportunities to improve the performance accountability of the grants program, including clearer guidelines for grant recipients on their broad grant responsibilities and reporting requirements, more effective use of the work program in defining outputs and the development of a risk-based compliance framework for grant consultants. This is consistent with Recommendation 60 of the Review, which calls for the development of a risk assessment tool for use in the MRC/MSA and CSSS programs. Following piloting and refinement, the tool is expected to be implemented in 2006-07.
2.1.4 ADULT MIGRANT ENGLISH PROGRAM ADMINISTRATION
Figure 64: Performance information-Adult Migrant English Program (AMEP) Administration
Objective
To ensure the Adult Migrant English Program (AMEP) contract management regime accords with best practice in Commonwealth contracts management.
Description
This output component supports the AMEP administered item. The AMEP is administered through 18 major contracts for tuition and associated services.
The contracted services comprise the provision of tuition for English as a Second Language (ESL) across Australia through a range of learning options, programs and support services. These include: classroom, community-based, distance learning or home-based tuition, delivery of the AMEP citizenship course, provision of the Special Preparatory and Home Tutor Scheme Enhancement Programs, facilitation of fee-free translation requests, counselling and referral services, and childcare support.
Regular meetings with service providers are the main focus for contract management, enabling issues to be dealt with as they arise.
The contracts with service providers include a range of monitoring and standard accreditation mechanisms which include:
- a requirement for ongoing service provider accreditation from the National English Language Teaching Accreditation Scheme in relation to quality standards
- ANAO inspection of service providers
- quarterly reporting on key performance indicators (KPIs) and on any grievances received
- annual reporting on KPIs and a range of other matters
- completion of agreed action plans within set time frames, where annual reporting reveals deficiency in any KPI of the service provider
- the conduct of and full reporting on annual client satisfaction surveys by service providers, which includes assessment of client satisfaction with counselling and referral services and the level of client knowledge of grievance procedures
- the capacity for the department to undertake its own periodic surveys of aspects of national AMEP service.
Profile
When officers from the Sudanese Government knocked on his door, Mohamed Saliem had no idea they were there to enlist him in the army to fight his fellow countrymen.
"They told us that we were going to work in a local village to help the people living there. The idea was to serve the community. I thought, why not?"
Mohamed Saliem
Soon after, Mohamed was shoved into the back of an army truck, then flown to the south, where he was forced to begin his training to fight in the front line against southern Sudanese.
"It was all lies. They don't tell you that you're going to war," Mohamed said. Life in the army training camp was brutal. One night in the camp a riot broke out and in the chaos, Mohamed managed to escape and fled to Cairo where he applied for asylum and was accepted by Australia for resettlement as a refugee. He arrived in Australia in November 2001, when he was 23 years old.
"On the plane I was thinking, what will I do here? How will I start a new life? Will they accept me? Will I have difficulties with the language?"
At the airport he was met by workers from the New Hope Foundation Incorporated-an organisation funded by the department-who took Mohamed to his own fully furnished flat.
"I thought-wow! It was amazing. After Cairo it was a luxury life. Everything was there-a bed, hot water, food, electricity, and people to help you," he said.
Departmental staff also introduced Mohamed to the Adult Migrant English Program (AMEP).
"I spoke some English when I first arrived but I found the Australian accent really tough to understand. But when I joined the English classes, they helped me a lot and they were very understanding and helpful. They were very patient with us," he said.
Two and a half years after touching down, Mohamed is now working for the organisation that helped him settle into life in Australia-the New Hope Foundation, and also running his own trolley collection business.
He is grateful to the Australian Government for paving the way to a new life in Australia, and providing help when he arrived. "They gave me everything, showed me everything. It's like a new life. I consider myself lucky to have come to Australia."
Analysis of performance
A number of breaches or potential breaches were identified covering issues such as:
- less than the required minimum 80 per cent of surveyed clients indicating a knowledge of the process for hearing and resolving client grievances
- child care placements not made within the required three months for all clients needing this to access classroom tuition
- numbers of tutors trained or organisations assisted under the Home Tutor Scheme Enhancement Program not meeting the required targets.
Contract managers have worked with service providers to develop and implement strategies to rectify areas of deficiency in the delivery of services or where the service provider has not met required standards of performance against a key performance indicator.
These strategies are closely monitored by contract managers to ensure implementation within agreed timeframes is achieved. Service providers have been very responsive in addressing these issues.
2.1.5 FEE-FREE TRANSLATING AND INTERPRETING SERVICES
Figure 65: Performance information - Fee-free translating and interpreting services
Objective
To facilitate full participation of migrants from non-English speaking backgrounds in Australia's social and economic life through the provision of an effective means of communication.
Description
This output delivers fee-free translating and interpreting services to eligible individuals and organisations.
Fee-free interpreting services are provided to approved individuals and organisations to help them communicate with non-English speaking migrants and humanitarian entrants who are Australian citizens or permanent residents. The services are available to six broad groups of individuals and organisations:
- private medical practitioners providing services under Medicare
- not-for-profit, non-government, community-based health or welfare organisations subject to their funding arrangements
- members of parliament for constituency purposes
- local government authorities
- trade unions
- Emergency Management Australia.
Documents for fee-free translation include settlement-related personal documents, identity and relationship documents (for example birth and marriage certificates), facilitation documents (for example drivers' licences), and education and employment documents. Fee-free translations are provided to permanent residents and Australian citizens within their first two years of arrival or grant of permanent residence.
Analysis of performance
The number of fee-free interpreting services provided in 2004-05 was comparable with the number of services provided in 2003-04, but lower than projections of demand.
The department continued strategies aiming at more equitable access to services for eligible clients through the promotion of the telephone interpreting service to all client groups, liaison with private medical practitioners encouraging the use of the Doctors Priority Line, and raising awareness amongst community sectors to shift away from the more costly on-site to telephone interpreting. We achieved our objective of meeting demands on a more equitable basis within allocated funds.
A major focus was developing strategies for basic interpreting skills training to respond to the language needs of the humanitarian entrants from Africa and the Middle East in new and emerging community languages. Work in this area will continue in 2005-06.
In 2004-05, the number of fee-free translation services (8101 documents) decreased from 8642 documents in 2003-04, reflecting the changing composition of the humanitarian intake. In recent intakes, people from some communities, mainly African, have arrived without personal documentation, resulting in a decrease in demand for translations.
The high-demand languages for interpreting were: Arabic, Vietnamese, Mandarin, Serbian, Cantonese, Persian, Turkish, Spanish, Russian, and Korean. The high-demand languages for translation were: Arabic, Mandarin/Cantonese (Chinese), Russian, Persian, Spanish, Croatian, Serbian, Vietnamese, Ukrainian and French.