Former media executive Greg Hywood has joined the board of Settlement Services International (SSI), a non-profit organisation that supports newcomers and other Australians to achieve their full potential.

Leading community organisation and social enterprise Settlement Services International (SSI) has welcomed George Lekakis AO as the new Government Relations and Stakeholder Advisor in Victoria.

Nationally lauded and award-winning community leader Gail Ker OAM, CEO of Access Community Services Limited, is to retire effective December 31, 2021.

23-year-old Irfan Ali Nasiri arrived in Australia from Pakistan with his mother and four siblings in 2016, reuniting with his father in Auburn, Sydney, after years of separation. 

Hedayat Osyan is a 28-year-old former refugee from Afghanistan and an SSI Ignite® Small Business Start-ups (Ignite®) entrepreneur who founded a tiling company to support fellow refugees to establish their new lives in Australia.

For the second year running, Settlement Services International (SSI) is partnering with Australian Women in Music Awards (AWMA) to turn the spotlight on culturally diverse female artists and music practitioners through the SSI Diversity in Music Award.

An Ignite® entrepreneur who attended TEDxSydney as part of SSI’s community partnership has returned again this year — but this time as a speaker, sharing his incredible story with more than 5,000 people.

At SSI, we talk a lot about providing support. But what does it actually mean to support someone? Sometimes it means offering assistance. Sometimes it just means being there to listen. Sometimes it means acknowledging someone’s challenges and showing that you accept them for who they are.

Iranian refugee, artist and engineer Majid Rabet is facilitating a series of creative workshops for newly arrived artists in the lead up to the SSI New Beginnings Festival for Refugee Week 2018, staged at the Refugee Welcome Centre, Lilyfield.

SSI’s Romal Baluchzada is looking forward to another year supporting and advocating for refugees and people seeking asylum, after last year receiving one of the not-for-profit sector’s top accolades for his work in this area.

Young refugees needing help with their school education and adults seeking local recognition for their qualifications will be among those eligible for new scholarships worth more than $90,000.  Allianz Australia and not-for-profit humanitarian organisation Settlement Services International (SSI) are offering the scholarships to help refugees settle in the community.

The generosity of everyday Australians is significantly improving the experiences of refugees and people seeking asylum living in the Australian community, according to a leader from the humanitarian settlement sector. Speaking at the start of National Volunteer Week, Settlement Services International (SSI) CEO Violet Roumeliotis said the actions of volunteers had a profound effect on the lives of people fleeing war and persecution.

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.

Former refugee Hikmat Shah has been given a ‘CoAct Local Heroes’ award by CoAct Ambassador, Olympic and World Champion, Matthew Cowdrey alongside Federal MP Chris Hayes and nominator SSI representatives at a ceremony today at Parliament House, Canberra.

It was a distressing event based on fear and miscommunication in 2010 that was the impetus for Sally Sussman to devise the show that is Origin-Transit-Destination. Ms Sussman is Australian Performance Exchange (APE) Artistic Director and over three performances her latest show will take participants on a journey­ in the company of extraordinary asylum seekers from Middle East warzones.

Thank you Premier Mike Baird. Your comments at a recent Australia Day function in support of refugees and asylum seekers were positive reinforcement for all of us who work to help these people make the most of their lives in Australia. I had the pleasure of hearing Mr Baird say emphatically that NSW was in a position to support more refugees and asylum seekers and that the state would welcome them.

Opal Dental, Toongabbie, is a great friend of SSI that provides significant care to people from refugee backgrounds and people seeking asylum. Clinic manager Sinna Sathiakumar, or Sathia as he prefers, and his wife and principal dentist Dr Chelvi Sathiakumar, visited SSI offices in the lead up to Christmas to “put faces to the names” of SSI staff they had been in close contact with.

Bashir Yousufi was just 13 when he set out on the long journey from Pakistan through Asia to Australia. His father had been killed in Afghanistan by Taliban extremists, Bashir said, because he was of the Hazara ethnic group, and his mother had died from cancer

The lives and settlement experiences of young refugees will be explored at the fourth and final Speakers’ Series event for 2014 hosted by Settlement Services International (SSI). Titled The strength of youth: young people and their refugee experiences, the event on Tuesday, November 11, will begin with three young people from refugee backgrounds sharing their stories.