Fact Sheet 92 - Settlement Grants Program

The Settlement Grants Program

The Department of Immigration and Citizenship, through the Settlement Grants Program (SGP), provides funding to assist humanitarian entrants and migrants settle in Australia and participate equitably in Australian society as soon as possible after arrival.

The SGP is targeted to meet the settlement needs of recently arrived humanitarian migrants and family stream migrants, as well as dependants of skilled migrants in rural or regional areas, with low levels of English proficiency.

For the 2007-08 financial year around $32 million will be made available under the SGP. Of this, approximately $19 million will be available to fund new projects and a further $13 million for ongoing settlement grant commitments.

Eligibility

The SGP is a discretionary, merit-based grants program which funds organisations to implement projects that:

• assist new arrivals to orient themselves to their new community
• help new communities to develop
• promote social participation and integration.

The SGP will fund projects delivering settlement services under the following service types:

Orientation to Australia - practical assistance to promote self-reliance
Orientation services promote self-reliance in individuals and families through the development of life skills and familiarity with the Australian community. Orientation projects equip clients with the skills and information they need to operate independently and access mainstream services (such as Centrelink and Medicare) and opportunities.

Developing Communities
Community development projects focus on building the capacity of newly arrived communities to work together towards common goals' promote their culture to Australian society in a positive way, and welcome and assist new humanitarian arrivals.

Integration - inclusion and participation
Integration projects aim to promote inclusion and participation in Australian society by encouraging partnership initiatives with mainstream community and government organisations. Integration projects should assist new arrivals in interacting with and understanding the broader community while also encouraging the broader community to be responsive to new arrivals.

Those eligible to receive settlement services under the SGP are:

• permanent residents who have arrived in the last five years as humanitarian entrants or as family stream migrants with low English proficiency
• communities which require assistance to develop their capacity to organise, plan and advocate for services to meet their own needs and which are still receiving significant numbers of new arrivals
• dependents of skilled migrants in rural and regional areas who have low English proficiency.

Organisations eligible to apply for SGP funding are:

• not-for-profit, incorporated, organisations
• local government organisations
• those currently funded to deliver services under the Adult Migrant English Program (AMEP)
• government service delivery organisations in rural and regional areas.

The SGP helps new arrivals access people and organisations who can assist them in finding jobs, accommodation, health care and other relevant services. The focus is on building individuals' self-reliance and fostering connections with mainstream services.

Under the SGP funding to organisations is made on a project basis, with funding priorities for particular regions and communities determined by an annual needs-based planning process. This planning process identifies the priority needs of new arrivals, ensuring that the SGP delivers services that are responsive to changing settlement patterns and needs.

New grants awarded under the 2007-08 SGP round will come into effect on 1 July 2007.

The SGP was developed following a review of settlement services by the Department detailed in the Report of the Review of Settlement Services for Migrants and Humanitarian Entrants (May 2003). The SGP combines funding previously provided to Migrant Resource Centres and Migrant Service Agencies and the Community Settlement Services Scheme.

Further information

Further information on the SGP is available on the department's website.
See: Settlement Grants Program

For information relating to specialist settlement services provided to refugees and humanitarian entrants in the immediate post-arrival period see Fact Sheet 66.
See: Fact Sheet 66 - Integrated Humanitarian Settlement Strategy

For information about language tuition see Fact Sheet 94.
See: Fact Sheet 94 - English Language Tuition for Adult Migrants

 

Further information is available on the department's web site.
See: www.immi.gov.au

The department also operates a national telephone service inquiry line.
Telephone: 131 881
Hours of operation: Monday to Friday from 9 am to 4 pm (recorded information available outside these hours) for the cost of a local call anywhere in Australia.

Fact Sheet 92. Produced by the National Communications Branch, Department of Immigration and Citizenship, Canberra.
Revised 30 January 2007.

© Commonwealth of Australia 2007.