In partnership with Settlement Services International (SSI), the Refugee Council of Australia (RCOA) is highlighting food during Refugee Week (June 16-22, 2019) and asking everyone to ‘Share a meal, share a story’.

Volunteering attracts people from diverse backgrounds with a broad range of experiences. This adds to the richness and impact that SSI’s volunteers have across a wide range of roles and programs that support vulnerable people.

Australia’s annual celebration of people who have found a safe haven on our shores — Refugee Week — is occurring at a time of heightened individualism.

Welcome2Sydney provided an opportunity for nine new arrivals and four volunteer Sydney ambassadors to join an SSI group attending a Sydney Writers' Festival event at Carriageworks last month.

Sydney’s refugee communities are brimming with solutions for the challenges they face. With a helping hand from SSI, community leaders are being resourced to create projects that close gaps and capitalise on their communities’ strengths. 

Iraqi-born and award-winning filmmaker Ali Al Azeez is facilitating a series of filmmaking workshops for the general public in the lead-up to the SSI New Beginnings Winter Festival.

Reflecting on times of great pain, strength and resilience, Settlement Services International (SSI) staff and local community members gathered at SSI’s Community Hub at Colyton Public School, to walk down the long path of forgiveness in recognition of Sorry Day.

Serena Horton brought together two seemingly disjointed activities, mosaic and surfing, to unite a community of newly arrived refugees and people seeking asylum, around the creation of a unique piece of art - a surfboard adorned with mosaic.

The latest project, launched in Lidcombe last month, helps bring together and support young refugees and their carers through a weekly social soccer meet-up. 

For the second year running, Settlement Services International (SSI) is the official community partner for TEDxSydney.

Progressing towards a unified Australia — where inclusion and belonging are the rule, not the exception — requires us to create a space where we respect each other. Respect breeds acceptance, which in turn establishes trust. Only when all three elements are in place can we move forward and truly walk together.

Hear from SSI foster carers as they speak about their experiences and learn about the support they receive from our staff.

Operating for many years, SSI’s Turkish carers support group is a testament to their love and interest and support for each other, and support for the children they care for.

Singing, dancing, gift giving and the voices of strong women was all a part of the Mother’s Day event held at the Inner West Council’s Community Refugee Welcome Centre last week, celebrating the dedication of newly arrived refugee mothers.

SSI’s Welcome2Sydney program enabled two refugee families to enjoy an iconic Australian experience last month: the Sydney Royal Easter Show.

Australia is home to more than three million women from migrant backgrounds. In the upcoming Federal election on 18 May, we all have the opportunity to the shape our country’s future. But in order to do that, we have to participate. 

Budding entrepreneurs are challenging stereotypes about migrant and refugee women, with a helping hand from award-winning social entrepreneur Violet Roumeliotis.

Settlement Services International (SSI) is proud to announce that it has been selected as the provider of the Opportunity Pathways program for Western Sydney.

Confusing Australia’s humanitarian migration intake with the broader issues of border control and population policy harms our country’s reputation as a responsible global citizen. Earlier this week, as I heard about Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s proposed freeze on Australia’s refugee intake during an impassioned call for greater control over who calls Australia home, I couldn’t help asking, "Why now?"

The 63rd session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW63) recently took place at the UN Headquarters in New York. UN entities and NGOs from all regions of the world attended, including SSI youth advocate and delegate Rooan Al Kalmashi.