NSW Labor’s pledge of $158 million for frontline domestic violence services is a step in the right direction but risks leaving refugee and migrant women in the cold, according to a community organisation that supports newcomers to Australia.

People born in a non-English speaking country have similar rates of disability as other Australians but are about half as likely to receive formal assistance.

  SSI Ability Links participant Pip Smith has won the Blue Mountains City Council Visual Arts Prize, and this opened new opportunities for her.

Investment in accommodation alone is not sufficient to help women who are new to Australia safely escape domestic and family violence, according to a community organisation that supports refugees and other newcomers to Australia.

With NDIS now providing participants with more choice and control when they purchase the supports and equipment they need to achieve their goals and to live a better life, businesses providing disability services or interested in learning how to provide services for people with disabilities should be alert to the new opportunities this presents.

Seven projects supporting refugee communities in south-west Sydney have received a boost from not-for-profit Settlement Services International’s (SSI) $50,000 Community Innovation Fund.

Settlement Services International joins refugee and human rights advocates, football associations and concerned citizens around the world in calling for Thai authorities to immediately release Bahraini refugee Hakeem Ali al-Araibi and allow him to return to Australia.

One of the precious, and often fleeting, aspects of youth is fearlessness. We’re brave and invincible; we don’t know what we don’t know. And for the lucky few, life has not yet inducted them into its darker, dimmer corners.

Hello and welcome to the first edition of Settlement Services International’s (SSI) Coffs Harbour Community News! My name is Lisa Steward and I’m SSI’s Community Engagement Coordinator for the Coffs Harbour area.

The holiday season at SSI always brings to the fore the warmth and compassion that exists within our community. In contrast to the commercialism often intertwined with the gift-giving season are the actions of folk like the Blue Mountains Refugee Support Group and Ashfield Public School P&C ― just two of the many groups who, in recent weeks, have delivered gifts for the individuals and families SSI supports.

SSI staff made a positive difference in the lives of nearly 27,000 people who came through the doors of the organisation’s four primary offices during the most recent financial reporting period, SSI CEO Violet Roumeliotis told SSI’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Sydney last week.

A public letter to our parliamentarians Settlement Services International is among 34 organisations, including civic society peak bodies, international NGOs, community groups and faith-based organisations, signing a public letter calling on the Federal Government to adopt the Global Compact on Migration (GCM).

Since 2015, Settlement Services International’s (SSI) Friendship Garden in Auburn has welcomed people from many diverse backgrounds, however it was limited in what it offered to people living with disability. But this year, the garden has seen an unprecedented evolution.

At SSI, we are getting ready to celebrate International Day of People with Disability (December 3), a United Nations sanctioned day that aims to increase public awareness, understanding and acceptance, and recognises the achievements and contributions of people with disability.

The arts and culture festival that brings diversity to the fore — the SSI New Beginnings Festival in Spring — took place at the iconic Darling Harbour on Saturday, November 3, 2018.

SSI celebrated its annual fundraising event — the SSI Mosaic Gala — at the glamorous Merivale Ivy Ballroom on September 14, with entertainment by Lucky African Drum and Sirens Dance, guest speaker Matt Okine and the announcement of winners of the Ignite Multicultural Women’s Business Scholarship.

Canada’s refugee-turned-minister of immigration, Ahmed Hussen, was recently in Sydney during a multi-city visit to Australia, taking time to visit SSI Ignite Small Business Start-ups at the Addison Road Community Centre offices in Marrickville.

A group of young people newly arrived from Syria has met with Welcome2Sydney ambassador Kate to enjoy a beautiful day out playing rooftop basketball at Ultimo Community Centre.

Settlement Services International (SSI) welcomes NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian’s appointment of an expert panel to develop a population policy for NSW, especially if it brings balance, fact and data on Australia’s migration program and ensures Australia’s successful multicultural social fabric and community cohesion are not undermined.

Acclaimed social researcher Professor Stephen Castles says migrants are being used as scapegoats by politicians as they exploit their constituents’ increased feeling of vulnerability and frustration with infrastructure.