Social cohesion, migration and the one-off intake of 12,000 refugees

Since WWII, almost one million refugee and humanitarian entrants have made Australia their home. This is a significant intake for a country of Australia’s size, but by focusing on permanency and fostering independence, we have seen social cohesion flourish. 

On Wednesday, I was fortunate to join Diversity Council Australia Chair Ming Long AM, Dai Le MP, and Human Rights Commissioner Lorraine Finlay for a panel discussion at the CEDA Migration Conference. The discussion served as a reminder to me that, as a country, we are socially cohesive – and a lot of that has to do with Commonwealth policies that have focused on offering a permanent home to refugees and migrants. 

In recent years, temporary migration policy settings have been ad-hoc, focused more on short-term needs. Our new Federal Government has flagged this as a priority area in its current review of the migration system, and I look forward to seeing a shift back towards a system that recognises the importance of having the opportunity to build a career, a family and ultimately, becoming permanent residents and citizens. 

Laying roots is something that we in the settlement services space focus strongly on. With support from diaspora groups, government, community leaders, unions, faith-based and other social and recreational organisations, settlement organisations have taken a leading role in creating social cohesion – both for refugees and migrants. 

One of the best recent examples of this was the one-off intake of 12,000 refugees affected by the conflict in Syria and Iraq, who arrived in Australia in 2016 and 2017. This was a proud moment for all Australians as we saw our country step up to the plate as a responsible global citizen and extend asylum to individuals and families fleeing war and persecution. 

In a single year, SSI supported more than 10,000 refugees to settle in Australia – a huge accomplishment that would not have been possible without the hard work of our staff, volunteers, funders and partners in the community and corporate space. 

This significant increase to our humanitarian intake was not without its pain points, particularly given that so many of our new community members chose to resettle near friends and family, in western Sydney. 

With hindsight, it is clear that the long-term gain – giving 12,000 individuals and families the opportunity to live lives free from war and persecution – outweighs the short-term pain experienced as we flexed up to support this new intake. 

In some European countries, refugees have little agency in their settlement location. They are allocated to an area, regardless of proximity to their diaspora community or cultural, religious and linguistic supports. If they leave these area, they lose access to settlement services. 

Australia has a world-leading settlement program, and one of the cornerstones of our approach is the embedded sense of agency it instils in new arrivals. Refugees have the right to chose where they live. In many cases, they chose to live close to friends or family, or where there is an existing diaspora community so they can maintain critical cultural connections. 

With the arrival of a one-off intake from one geographic region, we saw a lot of refugees choose to live in the same areas – which did create difficulties. But it was heartening to see so many leaders and community members acknowledge that the teething pain of flexing up infrastructure and community support outweighed the benefit of ensuring that people retain some agency during a period of forced displacement, where very little else remains within their control. 

And once again, with the benefit of hindsight, we can see the amazing social cohesion that has flourished in these areas of resettlement. 

It is an incredible success story that speaks to the strength of our settlement system, the welcoming nature of Australians, and the social cohesion that thrives when all arms of society work together to ensure newcomers have the opportunity to realise their full potential.