A panel of informed speakers has called on authorities to support community groups and to back more academic research in an effort to counter religious extremism in Australia. The current issue of the susceptibility of young people to extremist ideologies was discussed at the SSI Speakers’ Series Radical appeal: young people and religious extremism on March 16.
Much has been said about Malcolm Fraser’s courageous support of refugees, particularly Vietnamese refugees, since his passing on Friday. SSI’s own Thanh Nguyen, Manager Early Intervention & Capacity Building, gives thanks to Mr Fraser for granting him and his family protection in Australia in the 1970s. “He did Vietnamese families, including my own, a huge service,” he said. “He allowed my family to make a life here.”
Sydney Alliance is currently running a Housing Affordability Campaign to highlight how the housing crisis affects Sydney residents. Settlement Services International (SSI) has joined the advocacy campaign to highlight how the crisis is compounded further for asylum seekers and refugees. Language barriers, the lack of rental history and skills to navigate the property market, social isolation, high unemployment and mental and physical health issues combine to make securing housing a problem for refugees and asylum seekers.
Recently arrived refugees and asylum seekers from around the world came together with community members for a Harmony Day celebration held by Settlement Services International (SSI).
‘Art in the Hills’ is one of the longest running annual art exhibitions in Sydney. For 44 years, Oakhill College has hosted the exhibition to engage the community by inspiring and developing an appreciation of the arts. This year, the Hills District and beyond, will be inspired by the works of two artists of refugee background, Bassam Jabar and Victor Youssef.
SSI Youth Collective steering committee member Sarah Yahya added another award to her collection of accolades when presented with the Premier’s Multicultural Youth Award last week. Sarah, her mother and sister, came to Australia as refugees from Iraq in 2007. The family had spent seven years in Jordan after fleeing Iraq suddenly in the middle of the night when Sarah’s father was arrested.
Waking up to the voices of news broadcasts from three different radios, and sometimes also the television, is an almost daily ritual for Felix Bennett. Some mornings, Mr Bennett hears a sports story that he has submitted and he gets a rush of excitement. “It makes me happy for the day and makes me feel special,” Mr Bennett said about hearing his story on the radio.
Communities in Wollongong and Parramatta enjoyed free events to celebrate the "official" arrival of the Ability Links NSW (ALNSW) program and to meet their local ‘Linkers’. Both events incorporated great local musicians, inspiring speeches, and fun with selfies, chalk boards, hand print signs and henna.
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.
SSI hosted a morning tea on February 3, to bring together the four NSW service providers delivering the Federal Government’s Status Resolution Support Service (SRSS) program, which supports people seeking asylum in Australia. The four providers were selected by the government following a tender process in 2014.
The Youth Collective, a new SSI initiative to focus on the needs of multicultural youth and young people from refugee backgrounds, will participate in the inaugural Reid Community Cup. The event on Sunday, March 15, at Timbrell Park, Five Dock, will bring together eight local charities for a one-day, five-a-side soccer tournament.
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.
Celebrations as an SSI client was ‘Highly Commended’ was a highlight for a group of SSI staff and clients who attended the 2015 Zest Awards at ANZ Stadium on February 19. SSI was nominated in two categories for two Community Engagement initiatives, Community Kitchen and Playtime.
The 2015 program of the SSI Community Music Program for refugees and asylum seekers living within the community began in the last week of February. The sessions, which are based on creative music therapy, are facilitated by a registered music therapist (RMT) from Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy Australia.
It was a distressing event based on fear and miscommunication in 2010 that was the impetus for Sally Sussman to devise the show that is Origin-Transit-Destination. Ms Sussman is Australian Performance Exchange (APE) Artistic Director and over three performances her latest show will take participants on a journey in the company of extraordinary asylum seekers from Middle East warzones.
Whether playing a game of soccer or sharing a sausage sandwich and a cup of tea, more than 1000 people across 10 different locations joined to show their support for cultural unity at Standing Together events run by Migrant Resource Centres (MRCs) on Tuesday February 24. Throughout Sydney, and in Wollongong and Newcastle, MRCs hosted local community gatherings that were colourful and vibrant, and where people were happy to enjoy each other’s company.
Radical appeal: Young people and religious extremism Recent events have thrown a spotlight on religious extremism and its enactment through violent acts. Government, media and the public have shown concern at the vulnerability of young Muslims towards the influence of extremist ideology. This Speakers’ Series explores why young people in contemporary Australia might be attracted to an extreme religious ideology.
On Tuesday, February 24, 10 Migrant Resource Centres and Multicultural Services across NSW will host free events for the local community to come together in a show of solidarity. A united voice will be on display through activities such as forums, discussions, soccer games, sausage sizzles and performances by local musicians.
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.