Australia’s history is inherently linked to the ocean, with migrants arriving on the country’s shores for hundreds of years. It’s a colourful history that was introduced to a group of people who are seeking asylum in Australia earlier this month, courtesy of a group of SSI volunteers.

The world is facing many challenges as unprecedented numbers of people flee their homes in search of somewhere safe to settle: how we treat fellow human beings should be a top priority.

Settlement Services International (SSI) case worker Nedhal Amir has been recognised as a finalist in the 2015 Migration and Settlement Awards for her ongoing commitment to supporting new migrants and refugees living in Australia.

Migrants from Western Europe who arrived in the "50s and "60s in Australia were seen with hostility and suspicion by many in the local community. These are now well-settled communities but as new comers, they struggled to fit in. 

Settlement Services International (SSI) has joined forces with the Women Empowering Refugee Women (WERW) volunteer group to organise a social event at Sydney’s Opera House for a number of SSI clients and their families.

From January 1, 2016, SSI will be the designated National Community Hubs Program (NCHP) Support Agency in NSW, enabling the organisation to extend its existing humanitarian settlement work supporting migrant and refugee families.

SSI has come a long way as an organisation since, April 2011 when we had just one staff member. Just how rapidly the organisation had grown and developed was very clear on July 1, when we officially began work in three new contract areas.

Today marks the first day of the new Settlement Services Program (SSP) for newly arrived migrants, humanitarian entrants and refugees, delivered by the 22-member consortium NSW Settlement Partnership (NSP).

SSI and partner organisations are in Geneva at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees consultations with NGOs. Over two weeks, NGOS from around the world will discuss best practice, lobby for support and plan to ease the global refugee crisis. Here are the top posts from the consultations.

A Refugee Week event organised by two Sydney immigration lawyers has raised about $9,000 for SSI’s Ignite Small Business Start-ups initiative. The fund-raising event organised by Adriana Mercado and Marina Brizar, of Playfair Visa and Migration Services, featured a photo exhibition of former refugees who now live in Australia, as well as speeches, drinks and canapés.

Settlement Services International (SSI) today announced it is the lead organisation in a consortium selected to deliver settlement services for refugees and migrants in NSW. This follows yesterday’s announcement by the Department of Social Services of the service providers chosen to deliver the three-year national Settlement Services Program.

During Volunteer Week, on May 12, SSI held a lunch to celebrate and express its huge gratitude to the wonderful volunteers who help the organisation support its clients every day. SSI has about 170 volunteers who have provided a great range of support.

SSI was honoured last November to be invited to join the committee of the International Metropolis Conference (IMC) after we participated in the event for the first time in Milan. Metropolis has a global network of 68 partner organisations in 23 countries. The network is composed of universities, think tanks, governments, service provider agencies and international organisations that work to enhance Metropolis’ collaborative approach on bridging research, policy and practice on migration and diversity. 

Refugees feel like "members of the world" in Australia The world is a proverbial oyster for Arsalan, 23, and his sister Asina, 18. But it wasn’t always so. Growing up in Iran as members of a minority religion, Baha’i, meant they, and their parents, were used to being told ‘no, you can’t’. “There is nothing in law saying that you can’t be Baha’i, but in Iran, if you are Baha’i, people can do anything against you,” Arsalan said.

Sydney Children’s Hospital Foundation’s first of four “seasonal” exhibitions, the Summer Art Exhibition, features work by the Arts West collective of artists that includes former refugee Bassam Jabar. The hospital’s Foundation Art Program provides opportunities for young creative talent and supports the recovery of patients, some of whom spend many months in hospital.

After months of hard work since its inception in July 2014, the start of 2015 saw almost 20 launches of the Ability Links NSW program, culminating in the major Parramatta and Wollongong events. SSI is proud to be funded by the NSW Government to implement this program in partnership with UnitingCare and St Vincent de Paul throughout NSW; a program that will help change the lives of people with disability, their families and carers.

SSI began searching for a suitable office in the Bankstown area in September 2014, to accommodate staff and service needs of the SRSS program, the Multicultural Foster Care Service and Ability Links NSW, along with meeting, interview, training and function rooms. “(SSI General Manager) Peter Zographakis suggested that we check out a brand new site called Little Saigon Plaza, which was so good that we assumed it would be too expensive for SSI to lease in,” said Janine Stainer, SSI Facilities and Operations Manager.

NSW Minister for Citizenship and Communities, Victor Dominello, donned an apron to cook up a free lunch for up a group of asylum seekers at the SSI Community Kitchen in Auburn. Mr Dominello, whose grandparents migrated to Australia from Italy, said he was honoured to meet with asylum seekers, SSI employees and volunteers, and to have the opportunity to share his love of cooking with them.

Thank you Premier Mike Baird. Your comments at a recent Australia Day function in support of refugees and asylum seekers were positive reinforcement for all of us who work to help these people make the most of their lives in Australia. I had the pleasure of hearing Mr Baird say emphatically that NSW was in a position to support more refugees and asylum seekers and that the state would welcome them.

News that the distinguished demographer Professor Graeme Hugo lost his battle with cancer this week has saddened many staff at Settlement Services International (SSI). SSI CEO Violet Roumeliotis said Professor Hugo was considered one of Australia’s most respected and valued researchers of population, international migration and discrimination of migrants.