A solutions-focused approach is at the heart of all the services SSI offers. Whether it’s working with people seeking asylum, refugees, children in foster care, or people with disabilities, this is a sound approach that has proven and demonstrated positive outcomes for the individuals involved and, of course, for communities.

A well-maintained garden and outdoor area goes a long way to making a house feel like a home.  A partnership between SSI and Habitat for Humanity Australia (HFHA) is helping to do just that through HFHA’s Brush with Kindness program.

Hana Sadiq has worked at Miller Intensive Language Centre in Liverpool for more than 10 years, and is now working as the School Support Liaison Officer. She is responsible for supporting students who are having problems, and families experiencing difficulties with language and settlement.

Settlement Services International (SSI) is proud to sponsor the 2016 Premier’s Harmony Dinner, and support the celebration of cultural diversity in NSW. SSI is a community-based, not-for-profit humanitarian organisation providing a range of services in the areas of humanitarian settlement, accommodation, asylum seeker assistance, multicultural foster care, disability support and employment services in NSW.

An innovative partnership between Allianz Australia and Settlement Services International (SSI) will deliver new career opportunities and support for refugees and migrants who have settled in Australia. Today’s joint announcement by Allianz Australia Managing Director Niran Peiris and SSI CEO Violet Roumeliotis coincide with the first week on the job for five recruits under the partnership employment program. The partnership aims to improve employment and educational opportunities for SSI clients as well as enhance workforce diversity at Allianz.

Discounted food parcels called The Staples Bag have been sold by CoACt/SSI jobactive program participants to help improve access to basic food supplies for people on low incomes. Now the Christmas Staple Bag includes food to help create a special feast for the end of year celebrations.

Refugees and people seeking asylum could soon benefit from a smartphone app that helps to create goals and achievement pathways, thanks to the joint efforts of developers, refugees, the start-up community, and SS!.

An innovative project that includes a smartphone app that comes in multiple languages has been launched to support men who have recently arrived in Australia on humanitarian visas. The new app becomes available as Australia prepares to welcome an additional 12,000 refugees who have been affected by the conflicts in Syria and Iraq.

Through a partnership with Legal Aid NSW, SSI is helping to introduce the subject of family safety and law to newly arrived refugees and migrants through a series of specially designed information sessions across western Sydney. All newly arrived people supported by SSI already take part in orientation sessions that include information on housing, budgeting, transport, caring for children and family and domestic violence; However SSI case managers identified the need to deliver family related information in a more focused way.

Settlement Services International today held its first Annual General Meeting under the new structure of Company Limited by Guarantee. Another first for the organisation, the AGM was held at its recently opened office in Bankstown.

The world is facing many challenges as unprecedented numbers of people flee their homes in search of somewhere safe to settle: how we treat fellow human beings should be a top priority.

The world is facing many challenges as unprecedented numbers of people flee their homes in search of somewhere safe to settle: how we treat fellow human beings should be a top priority.

Settlement Services International (SSI) congratulates NSW Premier Mike Baird following his announcement today that the state government will provide travel concessions to asylum seekers from January 1, 2016.

A partnership between Legal Aid NSW and settlement services provider Settlement Services International (SSI) has been effective in providing free legal assistance to recent arrivals and migrants, especially in Sydney’s west, an independent review has found. Almost 2,200 services were provided to clients in the first year of the project and the partners today signed an undertaking to continue the successful collaboration.

Humanitarian entrants who come to Australia on Women at Risk (WaR) visas are among the most vulnerable of refugees. They have been displaced from their homes and have experienced or been in danger of abuse, harassment and victimisation because of their gender.

A short film, which premiere’s today, explores the real life experience of homelessness faced by refugee youth living without their families in Sydney. ‘Broken Time’ is the story of Ali, an Unaccompanied Humanitarian Minor (UHM), who falls back on his survival instinct when he finds himself homeless on the streets of Sydney. Developed by Settlement Services International (SSI), which provides services to humanitarian entrants, with funding from The Australia Council for the Arts, the film will be launches today in Bankstown, to coincide with International Youth Day. Dilber Hussain played the role of Ali, and was all too familiar with the experience of his character in the film. Dilber is from Pakistan and arrived in Australia in 2012 as a UHM at the tender age of 17. When his circumstances rapidly deteriorated and he was faced with homelessness, Dilber said he was frightened. “Staying in a different place every night, and with strangers, it was hard,” said Dilber. “I didn’t know how to get help, and I feel very lonely here without my family.”

A short film, which premiere’s today, explores the real life experience of homelessness faced by refugee youth living without their families in Sydney. ‘Broken Time’ is the story of Ali, an Unaccompanied Humanitarian Minor (UHM), who falls back on his survival instinct when he finds himself homeless on the streets of Sydney. Developed by Settlement Services International (SSI), which provides services to humanitarian entrants, with funding from The Australia Council for the Arts, the film will be launches today in Bankstown, to coincide with International Youth Day. Dilber Hussain played the role of Ali, and was all too familiar with the experience of his character in the film. Dilber is from Pakistan and arrived in Australia in 2012 as a UHM at the tender age of 17. When his circumstances rapidly deteriorated and he was faced with homelessness, Dilber said he was frightened.

  Australia has a long and proud history of resettling some of the most vulnerable refugee women and their families, however, major gaps in support services for these women have been identified and need to be addressed.  Speaking today in Sydney at the Refugee Women at Risk forum hosted by Settlement Service International (SSI), SSI Manager Humanitarian Services David Keegan said that based on consultations with refugee women, it’s clear the current level of support should be reviewed. “Research conducted by the UNSW Centre for Refugee Research suggests refugee women in Australia under the Woman Risk visa category experience higher levels of post-traumatic stress and face greater challenges on resettlement,” he said. As the largest provider of services to refugee women in NSW, SSI has observed that a significant number of refugee women who enter via other visa classes have also suffered extreme physical and sexual violence and trauma prior to their arrival and require higher level specialist support services during settlement in Australia. “SSI currently supports about 1000 vulnerable women, and consultations with 50 women have highlighted a greater need for support services, particularly in employment, affordable housing, health and education,” Mr Keegan continued.