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.

SSI was busy throughout December–January celebrating the achievements of Ability Links NSW and introducing the program to local communities. Ability Links NSW (ALNSW) supports people with a disability, their families and carers to live the life they want, as valued members of their community.

Newington Gunners team mates arrived at the Asian Cup final between Australia and South Korea short of breath and sweating, having run from the station so as to not miss a minute. The team had just finished playing its own soccer game on Saturday, January 31, in the South Asia Cup final and had to scramble to make the big event at Stadium Australia.

With the AFC Asian Cup capturing the imagination of all soccer fans, some of SSI’s young refugee and asylum seeker clients will celebrate the sport at a “football festival”. To coincide with the Asian Cup, social development organisation Football United is co-hosting the Dream Asia Unity Football Festival  for youth at Sydney Olympic Park’s Hockey Centre, with the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

Multicultural NSW gifted Settlement Services International (SSI) 200 tickets to the 2015 AFC Asian Cup for our refugee and asylum seeker clients, who have so far enjoyed the tournament immensley.  A large majority of SSI’s clients are from soccer-loving nations, and this will be a great opportunity for people who feel far away from their families and old friends to watch a live game between world-class players.

SSI donated a pharmacy vaccine refrigerator to the Asylum Seeker Centre (ASC), so that the centre can provide free vaccines to those asylum seekers who are not covered by Medicare. During a meeting convened by Refugee Health and attended by David Keegan, SSI Manager Humanitarian Services, it was revealed that some groups of asylum seekers did not have access to important vaccinations, such as immunisations for children.

Opal Dental, Toongabbie, is a great friend of SSI that provides significant care to people from refugee backgrounds and people seeking asylum. Clinic manager Sinna Sathiakumar, or Sathia as he prefers, and his wife and principal dentist Dr Chelvi Sathiakumar, visited SSI offices in the lead up to Christmas to “put faces to the names” of SSI staff they had been in close contact with.

Students of Sydney Church of England Girls Grammar School (SCEGGS) Darlinghurst, and their families have dug deep and raised more than $4,000 for SSI’s refugee and asylum seeker clients, as well as food packages. SSI CEO Violet Roumeliotis said the generous donation was a boost that would benefit many people.

SSI CEO Violet Roumeliotis has added her voice to a call by NSW Police and the Premier for calm and vigilance in the aftermath of today’s sad events at Martin Place. “The tragic outcome of the hostage situation in Martin Place has shaken everyone in our community.

Settlement Services International CEO Violet Roumeliotis has been named in Pro Bono Australia’s Impact 25 list of the most influential people working in the not-for-profit sector in 2014. Ms Roumeliotis was chosen in the top 25 from 200 people working in the sector, by more than 3,600 Pro Bono Australia readers who voted.

A partnership between Legal Aid NSW and settlement services provider Settlement Services International (SSI) has been effective in providing free legal assistance to recent arrivals and migrants, especially in Sydney’s west, an independent review has found. Almost 2,200 services were provided to clients in the first year of the project and the partners today signed an undertaking to continue the successful collaboration.

Campbelltown-based SSI staff partnered with MacArthur Diversity Services Initiative (MDSI) in November, to take a group refugee and asylum seeker clients on a day trip to beautiful Fitzroy Falls in the Southern Highlands. The excursion was a chance for SSI and MDSI case managers to engage with the men outside the office environment, to give them an opportunity to meet others in similar situations, and to enhance their wellbeing through a fun and novel experience.

Jenny Yang and Joseph Cheung are an impressive couple, sharing their knowledge and experience with other people with disability in the community. Their energy, enthusiasm and drive are inspiring, and on this International Day of People of Disability they acknowledge and celebrate the many other inspiring people they have met in the community.

Water safety for refugees The World Health Organisation (WHO) has released a report* revealing that drowning claims the lives of 372,000 people per year, making it the third leading cause of unintentional injury death worldwide. Australia’s statistics aren’t great, the latest figures† show 332 Australians drowned in one year. It is people from low- and middle-income regions, such as those that many refugees arrive from, who are most at risk of drowning.

SSI client Pouya and the Asbati Family performed an eclectic set of world music to an enthusiastic audience in Ashfield on November 18. The performance was presented as part of Ashfield Council’s ‘Frolic in the Forecourt’ – a series of free concerts and activities at midday on Tuesdays in the council’s forecourt, on Parramatta Road.

A group of nine asylum seekers supported by SSI have spent six weeks learning video production skills so they can tell their stories as part of an SSI arts and culture initiative. The workshops, which were run by SSI and Curious Works, culminated on November 14, when the group presented six short films at a special showcase screening in Granville.

Thanks to a generous member of the Bankstown community, a 16-year-old refugee boy with cerebral palsy has been gifted a much-needed electric bed that has meant he no longer needs to spend 18 hours a day on his mother’s lap. The boy, whose family was originally from Iraq and is now living in Warwick Farm in western Sydney, previously spent most of the day in his mother’s arms because it was not safe for him to be in a normal bed.

“As I walked up the stairs I saw her joyfully dancing with the three children to African music that connected them so authentically to their culture – it was beautiful.” Tari, SSI caseworker. Settlement Services International (SSI) was today recognised for the innovation and positive impact of its Multicultural Foster Care Service on children and families in out-of-home care.

Cricket has been something of a saviour for Tamil asylum seeker Uthay, since he came to Australia. Uthay, his preferred name, is originally from Sri Lanka and is awaiting assessment for refugee protection. He is a Tamil man, 27 years old, and the potential consequences for men like Uthay in Sri Lanka are such that his full name and image can’t be revealed.

Staff involved in SSI’s Playtime program were given a guided tour of the Owl's House Early Education Centre at the University of NSW last month, to observe how the service operates. Owl's House is a specialist childcare centre with a focus on early education that has provided support to SSI’s Playtime program.