SSI

We recently hosted over 200 community members under sunny Queensland skies to celebrate the achievements of our refugee community during #RefugeeWeek. 🌟 The event, a collaboration between SETS, Community Relations, and Multicultural Sports Club teams, was a resounding success with activities like henna, face painting, jewellery making, sports, and drumming. We were honored to have Aunty Betty McGrady open the event with an Acknowledgement of Country, followed by inspiring speeches from Logan Mayor Jon Raven; Councillor Teresa Lane; Thereze Milburo, a stand-up comedian from Burundi; and Mu Kay, the secretary of Australian Karen Organisation. Families and community members of all ages enjoyed a variety of activities and performances, including a memorable dance by Woodridge State High School. Our community partners, including Services Australia, Ethnic Communities Council of Queensland, Multicultural Australia, and UnitingCare Queensland, provided information and engaging activities at their stalls. 🤝 Thank you to everyone who attended and supported this beautiful day. We look forward to many more events that bring our community together and continue to build a welcoming and inclusive environment for all. 🌏✨

We had a fantastic time celebrating the latest recipients of SSI Allianz Refugee Scholarships at a ceremony last week! Teams from SSI and Allianz Australia, along with donors, gathered with some of the 34 scholarship recipients in Sydney to celebrate the student's achievements and aspirations. It was a great opportunity to meet scholarship recipients like Ahmad, who is studying electrical engineering at TAFE, and Fariza, who will use her scholarship to support her second year of high school in Australia. This year's recipients represent 15 different cultural backgrounds, including Syrian, Ukrainian, Ezidi, Congolese, and Burmese. Since 2016, the program has awarded 286 refugee education scholarships, totaling more than $700,000, to support refugees and people seeking asylum in overcoming financial barriers to education. Read more: https://lnkd.in/gv-GBd2u #SSIAllianzRefugeeScholarships #InvestInEducation #AccessToEducation

NAIDOC Week 2024 🖤💛❤️ Staff from across our organisation are embracing National NAIDOC Week by celebrating the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples at events across Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Coffs Harbour and Armidale. This year's theme, Keep the Fire Burning! Blak, Loud & Proud, honours the enduring strength and vitality of the oldest living and continuing culture in the world. Beyond this week, we remain committed to keeping the fire burning. Fostering cultural awareness and education of First Nations history is part of both our inaugural and now second Reconciliation Action Plan, which will further support our reconciliation journey. #NAIDOC #NAIDOCWEEK #NAIDOC2024 #KeepTheFireBurning

Last month, members of the NSW Settlement Partnership (NSP) gathered in Sydney to celebrate nine years of shared achievements, as the consortium comes to an end. The NSP began life in 2015 through a guided co-design process. Over time, the consortium has evolved to include different settlement organisations, with a central aim being to support all partners to grow in their service delivery, probity and governance. Refugees and migrants require an ecosystem of support to ensure the best settlement outcomes. Through the NSP service delivery model, we provided efficiency, guidance and support.  The model also safeguarded local service delivery and the important role migrant resource centres, multicultural services and smaller community organisations play in the settlement journey of migrants and refugees. SSI’s NSP team had played an invaluable role in the success of the consortium, bringing extensive knowledge and experience that uplifted the capacity of partners and, ultimately, led to better settlement outcomes. Read more: https://lnkd.in/gxa7NA4N Dor Akech Achiek, Yamamah Agha

As the sun set over Sydney Harbour last Friday, our Refugee Week 2024 came to a spectacular close at the Sydney Opera House, as SSI's Homelands Arts Tour 2024 made its way to one of the world's most iconic performing arts centres. This unforgettable event offered this year's artists a unique opportunity to take the stage and share their experiences through art, music, and storytelling at Australia's most renowned venue. Their artwork was also displayed in front of the Sydney Opera House leading up to the event, reaching up to 25,000 people per day. Special thanks to our partners, CuriousWorks and BEMAC, for making this tour possible and to the Sydney Opera House for welcoming us to your beautiful venue. This special evening will remain in the hearts of our artists forever. Since 2019, the Homelands Arts Tour program has raised awareness and understanding of refugee experiences through arts, music, and storytelling, fostering social cohesion in settlement locations across Australia. Read more about SSI's Arts and Culture program here: https://lnkd.in/gBPR5uxh

"I kept running to show, yes, I am a refugee but I can do it, I can participate, I can be like anyone in the community." – Former Team SSI City2Surf participant City2Surf is just around the corner and Team SSI is back! 🎉 Join us on the 11th of August for the World's Largest Fun Run! Team SSI will bring together clients, staff, and supporters from all walks of life for a fun-filled day from Hyde Park to Bondi Beach. Whether you run, jog, or walk, lace up your runners and be a part of this incredible event. 🏅 All funds raised will support SSI communities, and registered fundraisers will receive an SSI running singlet! Sign up here: https://lnkd.in/gCMisXNB #City2Surf #LetsRunSydney

“When you get to talk to the right person, speak out about what happened, I feel lightened and find out solutions to my problems.” These are the words of one refugee woman who took part in a culturally tailored domestic violence screening and response intervention for women attending refugee settlement services, an Australian first. SSI is proud to have been the industry partner on the Safety & Health After Arrival (SAHAR) research launched today led by researchers at the University of Wollongong and supported by Australian Research Council. Domestic violence towards refugee and migrant woman often goes undetected, as they face multiple barriers to disclosing it and seeking help.    For most women, this study was their first experience of being directly asked about domestic violence and it demonstrated that screening at these services encourages women to speak up and seek help.    Refugee women ranked the care shown by the female settlement workers and talking to someone in their own language as the most important factors enabling a frank discussion of domestic violence.    Read more in The Conversation: https://lnkd.in/gzk2z6fe Or the full summary report here: https://lnkd.in/gEunZ7ns JO Spangaro, Nigel Spence, Jacqui Cameron, Kelsey Hegarty, Violet Roumeliotis AM, Yamamah Agha, Astrid Perry OAM and Tadgh McMahon.  

Come behind the scenes of the Refugee and Migrant Jobs and Skills Summit! Join Jordan Wise at the Maritime Museum as we unveil our latest Billion Dollar Benefit report and explore solutions for skilled migrants and refugees. Check out the report: https://lnkd.in/ge85zf5T

“Imagine the incredible creativity, ingenuity, and innovation that is currently locked inside the 621,000 migrants with skills, experience, and education going to waste. People we already call friends and colleagues but who have so much more to give.”   These were the reflections from one of our #BillionDollarBenefit ambassadors, Craig Foster AM, on #WorldRefugeeDay as we launched the latest report on the economic impact of unlocking the skills potential of migrants.   Over a hundred community, business, union and political leaders gathered alongside skilled professionals from refugee and migrant backgrounds at the Australian National Maritime Museum to discuss the report findings and find common solutions to address the skills mismatch.     The day involved insightful presentations and panel discussions, a press conference, live radio appearances, opportunities for people from refugee backgrounds to share their experiences, and for everyone to connect as a collective to work together towards tangible change.    Special thanks to SSI's partners in this landmark research and co-hosting the Refugee and Migrant Jobs and Skills Summit: Allianz Australia, LinkedIn, Business NSW and Business Western Sydney.   Read the report here: https://lnkd.in/guiANTu2

Juliana Nkrumah AM, SSI’s Manager of Gender Equality and Women’s Safety, recently joined Sally Sara on Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)’s Conversations podcast to discuss her incredible journey and advocacy efforts! Juliana is a celebrated advocate for women's equity and racial equality. She recently received the prestigious Human Rights Medal at the 2023 Australian Human Rights Commission Awards. Born and raised in Ghana, Juliana has dedicated over 30 years of her life to fighting for the human rights of women and refugees. Her groundbreaking achievements include being the first person employed by the Australian government to understand and ban female genital mutilation in Australia. Her unwavering belief in social justice, inspired by her school motto and Christian faith, has served as the driving force behind her impactful work towards a more equitable society in Australia. Listen to this captivating conversation on ABC Listen: https://lnkd.in/gqi_kH2w