Working alongside current and former refugees supported by Service for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture and Trauma Survivors (STARTTS) and SSI’s Youth Collective, developers and entrepreneurs were tasked with solving issues related to access to education, employment, transport, social integration and community connectedness, and emotional regulation related to trauma. 

 

Nine “hacks” (i.e. solutions) were created over the two-day event, including an app that helps refugees find volunteering opportunities, a platform that helps newly arrived refugees setup yoga classes to reduce PTSD, and a microfinancing app assisting refugees in attaining local accreditation to requalify skills.  

 

SSI Strategic Policy Manager Dr Astrid Perry said that she found the weekend truly inspiring. 

 

“There is genuine goodwill to help find solutions for refugees and the dilemmas they face. I love how refugees supported by SSI can get involved in the creative process and they are the ones that further develop the idea and make it happen.” Ms. Perry said.

 

An app which helps refugees navigate the local healthcare system was recognised as the winning solution by a panel of six judges including the Assistant Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science, Craig Laundy and Julie Trell, Head of muru-D, an Australian tech start-up accelerator backed by Telstra.

 

In second place was Lifta, a personalised Artificial Intelligence chatbot that reduces loneliness to assist refugees integrate into their community and look after wellbeing.

 

In third place was Stay With Me, an app that helps elderly refugees with transport and translation services conceptualised by Nirary Dacho. Mr Dacho attended the inaugural Techfugees hackathon back in 2015, where he met his co-founder Anna Robson and supported by SSI’s Ignite Small Business Start-ups developed the platform Refugee Talent, which connects skilled refugees with companies offering job opportunities.

 

The Hon. Craig Laundy expressed his enthusiasm for the initiative and said that the outcomes derived from the hackathon are a win-win for both refugee integration and for accessing talent in industry. 

 

“This is social change and how a community of people ready, willing and able to help absolutely can and will move that dial.” Mr. Laundy said. 

 

One of the key event organisers Anne-Marie Elias said that Techfugees Australia is changing the settlement of refugees through community cohesion and social capital.

 

“We started this initiative in November 2015, partnered with SSI and haven’t looked back. We are inspired by the refugees who attend our events, they are at the core of understanding the problem and finding solutions. We are literally building the social capital around refugees one hack at a time.” Ms. Elias said.

 

SSI Youth Projects Coordinator Dor Akech Achiek said that the hackathon provides a platform which empowers refugees to make a greater impact.

 

“The hackathon gives refugees an opportunity to co-design a solution to a particular challenge, which is identified by refugees themselves. This is empowering as it gives them a voice in how that solution is realised.” Mr. Achiek said. 

 

To view all of the technology solutions created during the recent Techfugees Australia hackathon, click here. 

 

NSW Settlement Partnership In Focus (3.5 MB)

NSW Settlement Partnership In Focus (386.37KB Accessible version)

Ms Terzabian’s long-term aim for life in Australia is to work as a case manager, helping other refugees through the early days of settlement. Eighteen months after arriving in Australia, she’s checked off the first step — studying a Certificate IV in Community Services — and is now on to the second: volunteering one day a week with SSI to build up her experience supporting refugees.

“Refugees need to have patience. This is a new life to us, a new culture, a different language – everything is different. We have to be patient because if you’re not, you can’t reach your goals. You have to take everything step by step,” she said.

In her native Syria, Ms Terzabian was a beauty therapist. When she came to Australia in 2016, she initially acquired a certificate that would allow her to resume the trade here, but soon realised her passion lay elsewhere.

“I speak three languages now: English, Arabic, Armenian. I would like to be a case manager to help refugees. I understand what they’ve been through when they arrived here. It was like me — everything changed in my new life,” she said.

Ms Terzabian is originally from Aleppo. Prior to coming to Australia, she lived in Lebanon for four years with her husband, Jacob, and her sons Chris, 15, and Sasoun, 11.

“Living in Lebanon was difficult for our kids. They would ask me, ‘When are we going back to our country?’ I’d have to say, ‘It’s a war — we can’t go back’. Even up until now, they dream of their bedrooms and their things. We have been away from our country for six years and they still remember everything. But they’re here and they’re safe,” she said.

SSI has supported the family throughout their settlement journey, starting right at the beginning when staff greeted the family at the airport and took them to the house they lived in for the first few weeks in Australia.

“We were very happy. Our kids thought the house was like a castle. They were saying, ‘We love Australia. Mum, look at these roads, look at this. I was so happy for them,” Ms Terzabian said.

“They’d left their friends, their school, their clubs, their soccer team. But when we stayed in that house, they built relationships with the neighbours and played soccer together. They didn’t understand each other because they spoke different languages, but through body language and signalling, they built their first relationships in Australia.”

Both boys are enjoying school and making friends — “They talk like Aussies!” said Ms Terzabian.

“SSI has helped us to love Australia. We are in a hard position, but that gets better. Every day, we remember our country, and what we used to do. But when we see the kids and how happy they are in this country, it’s good, and the happiness and sadness is mixed together,” she said.

Ms Terzabian said she was thankful for organisations like SSI that support refugees to start their new lives in Australia.

Learn more about SSI’s Humanitarian Settlement Program

 
Highlights from the year at SSI.

But we also look beyond the immediate needs of individuals and communities and invest in their aspirations.

SSI’s people-first approach has inevitably led to strong outcomes — as demonstrated by our recently released 2016-17 annual report.

During the year, we provided 20,000 nights of emergency accommodation to people in need. We also helped more than 2,000 households secure long-term housing and provided settlement support to more than 10,000 refugees.

More than 1,500 people gained work experience through our social enterprises. We also helped 27 budding entrepreneurs establish a small business and supported into work 135 people with disability and 1,083 refugees and people seeking asylum.

This infographic highlights some of our key achievements during the year.

These incredible outcomes would not have been possible without contributions from the staff, supporters, volunteers, donors and partners who make up the wider SSI community.

With your generosity, commitment and compassion, we were able to assist more than 19,000 people who came through our doors in 2016-17.

Thank you all for getting behind the important work we do with new community members and vulnerable Australians.

With your continued support, we will keep striving to achieve a society that values the diversity of its people and actively provides support to ensure meaningful social and economic participation and to assist individuals and families to reach their potential.

Violet Roumeliotis
SSI CEO

The morning session began with an insightful and sobering address by Mr Santow, followed by a Q&A with the audience that focused on the human rights challenges posed by forced displacement and terrorism.

 Human Rights Commissioner Edward Santow with SSI Leadership team and Board members at the 2017 AGM

“The scale and complexity of these issues is at times overwhelming, and there are no ‘magic bullet’ solution,” Mr Santow said. “But no matter how complex the problem, international human rights law provides critical guidance on the basic principles that should underpin our response.

“These principles are not so complex: they are fundamental, easily-recognisable values that provide a basic foundation for policy-making. Indeed, they have much in common with the values that inform SSI’s own work – justice, diversity, respect, compassion and ethics.”

The Q&A was followed by the inaugural SSI Community Appreciation Awards, which recognise people whose actions have made a profound and sustained positive impact on the lives of the communities SSI works with.

Representing City of Canterbury Bankstown Mayor Karl Asfour, Councillor Bilal El-Hayak presented the awards to its recipients, including Marg Bailey, who introduced SSI to the Bush Rangers at Middle Head National Park and developed the Bush Regeneration program, and June Simpson, a retired specialist school counselor who has been the longers serving volunteer with SSI at nearly four years.

After a morning tea, the formal AGM proceedings highlighted the sustained growth and diversification experienced by the organisation in all aspects over the financial year 2016-2017, as well as the outstanding outcomes achieved as a result.

 In her first report as SSI Chair, Elizabeth Shaw highlighted some of the key outcomes achieved over the last financial year, such as winning two of the 11 newly defined Humanitarian Settlement Program contract regions.

“This contract marks an exciting expansion for SSI’s refugee support services program now extending beyond the Sydney region to cover the entire northern portion of the state, including the new settlement location of Armidale.”

Ms Shaw also outlined the main pillars of the new 2017-2020 strategic plan, which upholds a vision of continuity and commitment to the values that have guided SSI’s growth until now.

“It’s great to see that our vision has not been altered, because this demonstrates that we have always been on task and fundamentally understood our role and purpose,” Ms Shaw said.

SSI CEO Violet Roumeliotis highlighted the sense of inclusiveness and innovation driving SSI’s practices and policies, which have resulted in a leading organisation now representing a wide range of communities from refugees to people with disability, to long-term job seekers, to children in foster care.

“SSI puts people first. We look beyond the immediate needs of individuals and communities and invest in their aspirations,” Ms Roumeliotis said.

“This people-first approach has inevitably led to strong outcomes represented by more than 19,000 clients came through our doors to receive support, over 10,000 refugees who received direct settlement support and 2,000 households who secured long-term housing with us in 2016-17.”

Two new directors– Frank Zheng and Sophie Ray– were welcomed to the SSI Board, while long-term director Lou Bacchiella stepped down, joining Clement Meru who had done so earlier this year.

A copy of the 2016-2017 Annual Report is available here 2.92 MB (accessible version also available here). 

Others serve their own interests, consuming whatever lies in their paths, like locusts. I like to think that as a person who has led teams in successful organisations, we have employed honey-bee-type practices that have seeded fruitful, sustainable organisations with positive outcomes for its employees and the communities they work with.

I’ve always approached business with integrity, focusing on values, rather than financial outcomes. It was heartening to have this recognised on Friday, when I was selected as a NSW category winner and national finalist in the Telstra Business Women’s Awards.

Given that around half of the 5,000 applicants for the awards originated from NSW, I was honoured just to have been selected as one of the 24 state finalists — each of whom had an inspiring story of carving out their own path to business success.

I was one of four innovative and entrepreneurial finalists in the purpose and social enterprise category, and I was joined on the night by my daughter, one of my sisters and my mother.

Growing up, my parents always encouraged us to be generous to others and to help others whenever the opportunity arose. We saw firsthand the applied values of integrity and respect, something which I carry with me to this day.

As the child of migrants, I also saw many injustices and indignities thrust upon my parents and my extended family and members of the community. I witnessed racism and prejudice, small mindedness and cruelty. Yet I never felt a sense of helplessness or fear. I was inspired by my parents and family and their capacity to take each day and make what they could of it —to celebrate achievements and to collectively commiserate ill health, death, or misfortune.

This drove my deep commitment to social justice and the lifelong belief that every person has the right to meet their full potential and to live the life they chose. It nurtured a sense of self-belief that helped me to overcome obstacles and motivated me to dream big. It lit a fire that has yet to go out!

As the CEO of Settlement Services International, I now lead an organisation with values that mirror who I am and what I stand for: social justice, equality and a fair go for all.

I’m grateful to have a platform to raise awareness about social justice and to be a role model for multicultural women and female leaders — to show that you can make it to the top with your character, conviction and passion intact.

I have been so inspired by the women who I’ve met through the Telstra Business Women’s Awards, and I wish to offer my congratulations to all of the NSW finalists, including those who are progressing to the national awards! It was a privilege to have spent time with a group of such interesting and impressive leaders.

Violet Roumeliotis

SSI CEO

 Ms Kual has been a foster carer with SSI Multicultural Foster Care for six months, since she began to take care of her daughter’s one-year-old son.

Ms Kual arrived in Australia in 2000 as a refugee from Sudan and settled in Blacktown, where she started working as a carer in a nursing home. However, she has had to stop working in order to take care of her grandson.

“Alaweia is an admirable woman who holds strong family values and believes family members should have each other’s backs in difficult times,” SSI Out-of-Home-Care Caseworker Amandah Nkomba said.

“For this reason, she decided to sacrifice the hours of the stable job she had and the financial stability it brought, in order to be there for her grandson.”

Ms Kual said she was extremely happy about being recognised as a finalist at the 2017 NSW Grandparent of the Year Awards as it highlighted the importance of having grandparents involved in their grandchildren’s education so they could grow up in the right way.

Besides her role as a kinship carer, Ms Kual is also an active member of the Sudanese community in Blacktown, where she supports newly arrived youth and families through the local church.

Every Sunday, Ms Kual attends church with her grandson and stays for the day to help source clothes, furniture and other items that might be required by members of the community who have recently arrived in Australia as refugees.

Ms Kual is also a member of the committee to organise the Youth Cultural Day, where members of the Sudanese community gather and celebrate traditions through dancing, singing and food, enabling young community members to learn more about their background.