The launch brought together staff, partners and community leaders, with support from Reconciliation Australia and contributions from key voices including Professor Nareen Young, Maria Dimopoulos AM, Uncle Colin Locke and the Giralang Guwal performers. The event recognised the role of First Nations colleagues, communities and partners in shaping SSI’s reconciliation journey to date. 

CEO Violet Roumeliotis said every day, SSI welcomes people to this country who are building new lives and we do that with a clear understanding that this is Aboriginal land, cared for by First Nations peoples for over 65,000 years. 

“We cannot separate inclusion for multicultural communities from justice for First Nations peoples. That’s why reconciliation is not separate from our work: it is core to it,” she said.  

“Reconciliation is not something that sits on the sidelines of our work. It is a shared responsibility across our organisation, our sector and our communities. And it is a shared journey that requires consistency, honesty and effort over time.  

“At SSI, we are committed to keep listening, learning and acting with purpose.” 

The RAP reflects a renewed focus on truth-telling and deep listening, shaped in part by the national conversation following the Voice referendum. It sets out how SSI will continue to strengthen understanding of Australia’s history, and ensure that this informs its services, advocacy and partnerships. 

Cass Best, SSI’s Cultural Safety, Engagement and Partnerships Lead, spoke to the importance of grounding reconciliation in practical action:

“Reconciliation matters here because the work we do with people from many cultures is strongest when it is built on truth-telling, respect, and relationships with the First Peoples of this land,” they said.  

“An Innovate RAP is about taking what we have learned, listening more deeply, and embedding reconciliation into how we operate — not as an ‘add on,’ but as everyday practice across our services, our workplaces, and our partnerships.”  

RAP focused on action 

SSI’s new Innovate RAP sets out practical actions across three key areas: 

Relationships : strengthening partnerships with First Nations communities 

Respect: building cultural understanding and safe workplaces 

Opportunities: increasing pathways through employment, procurement and shared decision-making 

Importantly, the RAP is designed to be embedded in how SSI operates, rather than sitting alongside its work. 

In closing, Cass encouraged all attendees to choose one way to participate. 

“Small, consistent actions — taken by many people — are how this RAP becomes real,” they said.

This investment follows sustained advocacy by the Activate Australia’s Skills campaign, convened by SSI, which brought together over 130 organisations across business, unions and the community sector to call for urgent reform to Australia’s skills and qualifications recognition system. 

SSI welcomes the reforms and congratulates the government for placing skills recognition firmly on the national productivity agenda. Every migrant in Australia who is able to work in their licensed profession boosts productivity by around $43,000, with $9 billion added annually to the economy if permanent migrants worked at their skill level at the same rate as Australian-born workers.  

The government’s commitment to accelerate better skills recognition for migrant trade workers is an important productivity win. However, SSI said broader reform is needed to unlock the full productivity benefits across all licensed professions, noting that tens of thousands of engineers, teachers and nurses remain sidelined by costly, slow and complex recognition processes at a time when their skills are urgently needed. 

SSI also welcomed the government’s commitment to consult on a national skills recognition commissioner, a key recommendation of SSI’s coalition campaign. A commissioner with the authority to hold licensing bodies accountable, identify system blockages and drive reform would be a game changer for productivity and make skills recognition faster, fairer and more affordable across all professions. 

While SSI and the Activate Australia’s Skills campaign will actively engage in consultations on the commissioner model, SSI noted that international evidence already demonstrates what works. Commissioners in Canada have strengthened oversight and accountability, improved recognition rates and driven system-wide reform. SSI is calling on the government to move from consultation to commitment and appoint a skills recognition commissioner by the end of the year. 

While welcoming the broader social investments in the budget, SSI urged the government to ensure multicultural communities are not overlooked in major reform agendas. 

SSI welcomed the government’s continued investment in ending gender-based violence, including funding to support women and children leaving violent relationships and strengthen the frontline family, domestic and sexual violence workforce. The dedicated funding commitment to address violence against First Nations women and children is significant and overdue. 

However, SSI said the budget largely overlooks the specific needs of multicultural communities experiencing domestic, family and sexual violence. Migrant and refugee women and children often face additional barriers to accessing support, yet there remains limited targeted investment in culturally responsive services, workforce capability, prevention and early intervention within multicultural and faith communities. 

On disability reform, SSI acknowledged the importance of ensuring the long-term sustainability of the National Disability Insurance Scheme and welcomed the government’s $2 billion Thriving Kids program, including investment in early intervention and supports for children with disability, developmental delay and autism. 

SSI said early intervention programs such as Thriving Kids must reach every child who needs them, and that culturally responsive care cannot be treated as an add-on but must be embedded into the design of the system itself. SSI and UniSA’s Stronger Starts, Brighter Futures II research found that in 2021, children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds were more likely to be developmentally vulnerable at school entry than their peers. 

Taken together, SSI said the budget signals important progress on productivity and social reform – but that lasting success will depend on ensuring all reform agendas are responsive to the diversity of modern Australia. 

Published this week, as part of the Seen & Heard project, The struggle to be seen, the power in being heard report is a flashing red light for our democracy and for social cohesion. Based on consultations with hundreds of Australians and dozens of organisations, it found that racism against Jewish, Muslim, Palestinian and Arab communities has sharply escalated since October 7, 2023, become more normalised, and is causing serious harm to people’s mental health, safety and sense of belonging. 

SSI solemnly welcomes the report, which affirms what we see every day. The “fair go” contract for millions of Australians has effectively collapsed, replaced by a widespread and now documented fear of personal attack and structural racism. Racism is baked into our structures and systems, driving division and unequal opportunity based on personal characteristics like race and religion. 

People from all backgrounds should be able to participate fully in Australian society, free from discrimination and hate, and with equal access to work, education, services and a sense of belonging. We cannot achieve true social cohesion without addressing racism and the structures that perpetuate it. 

We already have a comprehensive national roadmap to address racism in all its forms. The National Anti-Racism Framework was built on extensive consultation and proven solutions, yet it has been sitting on a shelf for 18 months while racism in Australia hits boiling point. 

When racism and division are deepening, silence is not a neutral position. Governments must be willing to name and address the problem if we are serious about solving it. There has never been a more pressing need for action. 

If we want an Australia where everyone belongs, we must create systems that protect that belonging. That starts with committing to fully fund and implement the National Anti-Racism Framework without delay. 

Read the full report from the Australian Human Rights Council: https://humanrights.gov.au/resource-hub/by-resource-type/reports/race/the-struggle-to-be-seen,-the-power-in-being-heard 

“The world today is changing faster than ever. Conflicts, climate change and crises can displace anyone, anywhere. None of us should take our safety or stability for granted. That’s why it is so important to put ourselves in other’s shoes, to see humanity beyond borders, and to build bridges instead of fences”.

For Razia Muradi, these aren’t just abstract words. They define her lived experience.

SSI is pleased to partner with the Metropolis International Migration Network to deliver the inaugural Metropolis Mentoring Program Pilot — an initiative connecting emerging leaders in migration and settlement with experienced professionals across government, community organisations, and academia.

SSI’s global engagement in refugee protection recognises that durable solutions require cross-border collaboration, capacity building, and innovative pathways.

Meaningful impact isn’t created in isolation. It happens when we listen, learn, and act alongside the communities we serve.