Community Support Program

The Australian Government introduced the Community Support Program (CSP) on 1 July 2017. In March 2018 SSI became an Approved Proposing Organisation (APO) under the CSP.

What is the CSP?

The CSP enables communities and businesses, as well as families and individuals, to propose humanitarian visa applicants with employment prospects and to support new humanitarian arrivals in their settlement journey.

Under the CSP, Australian supporters (through an APO) are required to demonstrate they are able to provide adequate support to enable new arrivals to achieve financial self-sufficiency within the first year in Australia.

Potential CSP applicants are not required to have existing links to Australia, and can be identified by an individual (such as a family member in Australia), a community organisation or a business with an interest in supporting refugees (known as ‘Australian supporter’) or by the APO.

The role of SSI as an APO

APOs are individuals, community groups, or businesses that have been authorised to propose applicants who are in humanitarian situations overseas. APOs key focus will be to link employers with prospective humanitarian applicants. APOs are also responsible for lodging visa applications and ensuring the provision and management of settlement services to these people following arrival in Australia.

As an APO, SSI will work with local and international community and business networks to identify and screen CSP applicants that a) satisfy all Global Special Humanitarian (subclass 202) requirements, b) have an Assurer in Australia that is willing and financially capable to assure them under the Assurance of Support provisions, and c) has either an offer of employment and/or personal attributes that will enable them to become financially self-sufficient within 12 months of arrival. As an APO, SSI will also assist by lodging a Class XB subclass 202 visa application.

If you are interested in participating in the CSP as either an Australian Supporter or Humanitarian/Refugee Applicant please complete a Preliminary Assessment Form and return it to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Click here for the Preliminary Assessment Form for Interested Supporters.

Click here for the Preliminary Assessment Form for Interested Applicants.

We are happy to review your Preliminary Assessment Form free of charge and will assess it for its eligibility and priority needs.

If your case meets the eligibility criteria provided by the Department of Home Affairs and falls under one of SSI’s priority streams, we will be in touch with you as soon as possible. We regret that we do not have the capacity to respond to every expression of interest that we receive.

For more information email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.