SSI’s Staples Bag team and a group of Dietetics students recently held a cooking demonstration for visitors at The Wayside Chapel in Potts Point, where SSI's social enterprise has a regular pop-up store.

The argument that Australia’s leadership is mono-cultural because leaders are hired based on merit can no longer be used as a shield to exclude people from culturally diverse backgrounds, a panel of diversity specialists told the SSI Speakers’ Series.

There was something for everyone at International Women’s Day celebrations at Banksia Road Public School, Greenacre. This event was a collaboration between many local stakeholders and the Banksia Road Public School Community Hub leader Marina Boutros.

Youth Collective will address some of the most complex issues facing multicultural youth in the year ahead, with education, language acquisition and youth homelessness to top the agenda in 2016.  Youth Collective is a collaborative initiative between SSI, MRCs and youth organisations.

Australia has a proud tradition in volunteerism, as shown by a remarkable 36 per cent of the population aged 18 and over who regularly offer their time to support others, and those who volunteer for SSI are prime examples. The options for aspiring volunteers are endless, although sport, community and education have long maintained their status as the most popular recipients of the volunteering efforts of Australians.

The Federal Government’s decision to accept 12,000 refugees from the Syria and Iraq wars and provide more funding for the UNHCR has created an incredible amount of public and media interest. The pleasing thing about the interest is that it has been overwhelmingly positive in nature.

Welcome to the SSI Food Blog. The recipes and stories here come from SSI employees, volunteers, refugees and people seeking asylum who all share a love of food. One of the many benefits of cultural diversity is delicious food, so let's enjoy!  

Settlement Services International (SSI) today announced education scholarships worth $60,000 as part of the launch of the new SSI Foundation. Formerly known as the Connect Australia Foundation, the SSI Foundation introduces more categories of support and increased amounts distributed.

SSI and partner organisations are in Geneva at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees consultations with NGOs. Over two weeks, NGOS from around the world will discuss best practice, lobby for support and plan to ease the global refugee crisis. Here are the top posts from the consultations.

As mass atrocities displace millions of civilians around the world - many of them arriving as refugees in Australia - bringing justice to victims is of paramount importance. At this event, hear keynote presentations by Stephen J Rapp, US Ambassador-at-large for War Crimes Issues, and Phil Glendenning, President of the Refugee Council of Australia and Director of the Edmund Rice Centre. 

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.

SSI was busy throughout December–January celebrating the achievements of Ability Links NSW and introducing the program to local communities. Ability Links NSW (ALNSW) supports people with a disability, their families and carers to live the life they want, as valued members of their community.

Thanks to a generous member of the Bankstown community, a 16-year-old refugee boy with cerebral palsy has been gifted a much-needed electric bed that has meant he no longer needs to spend 18 hours a day on his mother’s lap. The boy, whose family was originally from Iraq and is now living in Warwick Farm in western Sydney, previously spent most of the day in his mother’s arms because it was not safe for him to be in a normal bed.

Yasmi Houmi, 101 years old, from Iraq, has survived the Assyrian Genocide, World Wars I and II, the Iran-Iraq war, US and Allied Forces wars in Iraq, and the Syrian civil war, to arrive safely in Australia. Having endured many conflicts across several countries, Yasmi was accepted as part of Australia’s humanitarian settlement program for refugees and brought to Sydney in January. She now lives with long-time friends in western Sydney and is supported by Settlement Services International’s (SSI) Humanitarian Settlement program. SSI CEO Violet Roumeliotis said Yasmi was a living treasure and her resettlement as a refugee in Australia after a lifetime of struggle is something all Australians would be proud of. “Yasmi has survived too many conflicts for one person,” Ms Roumeliotis said, “but she has still managed to live a fruitful life and remain positive.” Yasmi is just one of the 2.5 million people who have fled Syria to escape the violent civil war, and she is one of 13,750 refugees who will resettle in Australia this year under the Humanitarian settlement program.   “The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has described the Syrian conflict as the largest humanitarian operation in history, so, as a humanitarian organisation and as Australians, we are proud to support Yasmi and other refugees seeking a safe haven.

Refugees resettling in Australia should benefit from greater cohesion between on- and off-shore programs after Settlement Services International’s Yamamah Agha took part in the Australian Cultural Orientation (AUSCO) Exchange Program to Iran. Ms Agha, the Humanitarian Settlement Services Service Delivery Manager at SSI, experienced firsthand the work done to help prepare refugees and humanitarian visa […]

Settlement Service International’s youngest clients will receive hundreds of toys over the coming weeks thanks to the generosity of local Department of Human Services staff. The idea of a toy drive for refugee families came to the department’s Mount Druitt Multicultural Services Officer David Jacquin while he was making room for new Christmas gifts for […]