From the CEO — Establishing SSI as a thought leader in global migration

SSI is dedicated to establishing itself as a thought leader in the refugee and migrant support services sector, in Australia and internationally.

Our latest step in achieving this goal on an international stage is hosting International Metropolis Conference 2018. This international conference on migration has an incredible history of driving discussion, creating new perspectives and influencing refugee and migration policy in countries all over the world.

In 200 days, academics, politicians, industry experts and refugee speakers will meet in Sydney to present and discuss one of the most critical, controversial and relevant international topics of modern times.

We’re currently in the process of accepting abstract submissions for workshops and individual papers for consideration in the Metropolis 2018 program, under the overarching theme of “Global Migration in Turbulent Times”. The deadline for submitting an abstract is April 30, 2018. More information can be found here.

As we prepare for Metropolis, SSI is also proud to be hosting the first DiverseAbility NDIS Inclusion Conference on Thursday, April 19.

DiverseAbility has been organised by FutureAbility, the project through which SSI is addressing the gap in the implementation of the NDIS, so people with disability from CALD backgrounds are provided with opportunities to exercise more choice and control over the supports they receive under the NDIS.

The conference seeks to further support our culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities in the face of a swiftly evolving disability support sector in Australia.
A number of challenges are faced by those in some CALD communities when it comes to accessing support services available under the new NDIS scheme. Often these barriers can be cultural, with stigma being attached to disability, which can mean a lack of discussion and understanding around disability, and ultimately a lack of knowledge as to the new services supported by NDIS.

A key goal of the DiverseAbility NDIS Inclusion Conference will be to achieve a greater quality of life and increase economic and social participation of people with disability from CALD backgrounds who can access the NDIS.

There is further capacity for our CALD community members to access the NDIS and SSI is proud to be developing our relationships with partner organisations and community members through projects like FutureAbilty and conferences like DiverseAbility.

Violet Roumeliotis
CEO, Settlement Services International