In 2018, SSI merged with Access Community Services, one of Queensland’s leading organisations in settlement and transition, employment and training, social enterprise and youth service. This merger marked the beginning of a new chapter for the two organisations, enabling both to enhance operations and combine services across two states.

SSI’s history is inextricably linked to its membership base.

SSI has a rich history of providing support to and advocating for the rights of people with disability from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds.

In 2014, SSI established an innovative Arts & Culture program inspired by the belief that everyone deserves the opportunity to develop their creative potential and participate meaningfully in Australia's cultural life — no matter where they come from, what language they speak, or their level of ability.

Since moving to Australia in 1998 due to political and civil unrest in Iraq, Bashar Hanna has faced and overcome the many challenges of establishing himself personally and professionally in a foreign land.

When Abdallah Al Tibi and his family had packed their belongings in 2012 to seek temporary refuge from Syria in bordering Jordan, they did not anticipate that they’d never return, and packed for only two weeks. 

New research by Settlement Services International and the Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University, challenges narrow economic definitions of successful refugee settlement and, instead, suggests social and civic dimensions are equally valid markers of refugee integration.

In partnership with Settlement Services International (SSI), the Refugee Council of Australia (RCOA) is highlighting food during Refugee Week (June 16-22, 2019) and asking everyone to ‘Share a meal, share a story’.

Settlement Services International joins refugee and human rights advocates, football associations and concerned citizens around the world in calling for Thai authorities to immediately release Bahraini refugee Hakeem Ali al-Araibi and allow him to return to Australia.

Hello and welcome to the first edition of Settlement Services International’s (SSI) Coffs Harbour Community News! My name is Lisa Steward and I’m SSI’s Community Engagement Coordinator for the Coffs Harbour area.

Sunday July 8 signalled the start of NAIDOC Week 2018, a time in which SSI celebrates the past, present and future contributions of our nation’s Indigenous people and their heritage. This year’s theme was ‘Because of her, we can’, which provided a fantastic opportunity to recognise the past and current contributions of Indigenous women to Australian society.

Learning English, connecting with the community, and finding employment and housing will be the key priorities for refugee families arriving in Armidale in the coming months, according to a leading settlement expert. Yamamah Agha, the Humanitarian Settlement Program (HSP) Manager for community organisation and social business Settlement Services International (SSI), said in the 16 years she had been working with refugees, those areas consistently rated among new arrivals’ top goals for life in Australia.

A 62 year old Nigerian electrical engineer experienced unimaginable misfortune, shortly after his arrival to Sydney on a Rotary Convention. Edwin Ikwu’s life had a 360-degree turn when he was diagnosed with a severe viral infection, while visiting Australia in June 2014.

The voices of people with disability, their families and carers are at the heart of a new Ability Links NSW (ALNSW) storybook, launched today by Minister for Disability Services and Multiculturalism, The Hon. Ray Williams on behalf of SSI.

Samira Maksoud has a talent for languages. Despite having been in Australia for only four months, Ms Maksoud has already found a job thanks to her language skills, which span Arabic, English, Turkish and Armenian.

When Eleni Christou visited the Greek island of Kos in 2015, she had little idea that she would be heading into the epicentre of an unprecedented global refugee crisis.

Affordable housing - why is it so hard to find and how do we work together to fill the gap? 

SSI experience, backed by numerous research studies, shows that refugees and migrants bring a wealth of skills and experiences to Australia, contributing to the communities in which they live.

Ability Links NSW (ALNSW) has heralded a new approach to supporting people with disability, their families and carers, and is making a significant economic and social impact across the state, according to a newly released independent report.

February has arrived in the blink of an eye, which means roads are packed again, children are back at school and everything seems to have quickly adjusted to the usual routine. At SSI, this means we’re already in full swing to continue supporting a wide range of vulnerable communities and face the new challenges 2017 is already presenting.