PrintOutput 2.1 Settlement services
Overview
This output has five components:
2.1.1 Settlement planning and information delivery
2.1.2 Humanitarian settlement services
2.1.3 Support for community services
2.1.4 Adult Migrant English Program administration
2.1.5 Free translating and interpreting services
Highlights
Significant improvements to Australia’s settlement services were introduced in 2007–08. New initiatives were also implemented, aimed at assisting newly-arrived migrants and refugees settle quickly into their new communities.
A formal review of all aspects of the Adult Migrant English Program (AMEP) commenced in February and is expected to have been completed by October 2008.The review will inform the development of the next tender process and the continuing development of the AMEP as a contemporary English language tuition program.
The department conducted an open tender process to establish a panel of providers to deliver Complex Case Support (CCS) services. CCS services are scheduled to commence from August 2008 as a staged roll-out, and the program will be fully operational nationally by December 2008. CCS services will be tailored to meet the needs of individual cases and will complement existing departmental settlement services. CCS services are funded at $35.2 million over four years.
Grant funding of $11.6 million over four years has been provided for the Citizenship Support Grants Program (CSGP) to help applicants to prepare to sit the Australian citizenship test. The CSGP will run as a one-year pilot with a strong focus on evaluation and trialling of different service models in 2008–09. A total of 33 community based organisations across Australia have been offered funding to deliver CSGP services on a pilot basis.
The Sustainable Regional Settlement program was established to assist the settlement of humanitarian entrants by building capacity in regional towns. Under the program, regional organisations are able to apply for funding to undertake projects that address identified local settlement needs. In 2007–08, the department funded projects in Castlemaine, Victoria, and Mount Gambier and Murray Bridge, South Australia.
The department received funding of $300 000 over two financial years (2007–08 and 2008–09) to improve data capture and reporting capability of the Settlement Database. Work on developing the facility to report on internal migration and improving accessibility for external clients is progressing well.
In June 2007, a pilot project was undertaken in cooperation with the Pharmacy Guild of Australia that extended access to free telephone interpreting services to over 300 participating pharmacies. The department is evaluating this pilot with a view to establishing the service permanently.
Additional in-kind assistance in the way of rent and public transport tickets for humanitarian entrants in their first month after arrival was introduced under the Integrated Humanitarian Settlement Strategy. These initiatives deliver significant additional support to newly-arrived refugees.
The department also welcomed two new groups of humanitarian entrants into the Australian community last year with the arrival of the first Mauritanian and Bhutanese refugees.
