pilot sponsorship program welcome but needs further work

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Dec 15, 2012 - community-based sponsors being asked to pay a two-stage visa application charge of between. $20,000 and $
15 December 2012

PILOT SPONSORSHIP PROGRAM WELCOME BUT NEEDS FURTHER WORK The Refugee Council of Australia (RCOA) today welcomed the announcement of the Australian Government’s pilot private sponsorship program for refugees but flagged that more work needs to be done to make it a viable way of enhancing community support for refugee resettlement. The pilot program, announced by Minister for Immigration and Citizenship Chris Bowen today, will be part of the recently-expanded 20,000-place Refugee and Humanitarian Program with community-based sponsors being asked to pay a two-stage visa application charge of between $20,000 and $30,000 per family. “We welcome the Minister’s announcement of the pilot program, as it will enable the Australian Government and the community to begin working out what does work and what doesn’t in engaging communities in greater support for refugee resettlement,” Mr Power said. “RCOA has been involved for some years in discussions with government about communitybased resettlement options and in recent months we have been putting forward suggestions about what form this community sponsorship pilot could take. “We have been advising against a large upfront payment and are disappointed to see the scale of the visa application charge being planned for the pilot phase. This, we believe, will make it difficult for volunteer groups to sponsor any more than a small number of refugees. “We have also argued for the program to be structured to create incentives for sponsor groups to assist newly-arrived refugees towards self-sufficiency and are disappointed that no such incentives have been included in this pilot.” Mr Power said that RCOA accepted that the pilot program of up to 500 places would be part of the recently expanded program of 20,000 refugee and humanitarian visas but felt that this would remove one of the main incentives for community organisations to become involved. “When the Australian Government first announced it would develop a pilot private sponsorship program in May, community organisations were interested in the idea that private or community sponsorship could allow an expansion of the Refugee and Humanitarian Program by enabling more refugees to be resettled for the same level of government expenditure,” he said. “Now that refugees resettled through the pilot will be included within the capped Refugee and Humanitarian Program, the incentive of achieving increased resettlement through marshalling private sponsorship is now gone.” Mr Power said he hoped the pilot phase would enable the Government to think more deeply about why community organisations would want to be involved in supporting refugee Suite 4A6, 410 Elizabeth Street Surry Hills NSW 2010 Australia Phone: (02) 9211 9333 ● Fax: (02) 9211 9288 [email protected] ● Web: www.refugeecouncil.org.au Incorporated in ACT ● ABN 87 956 673 083

The Refugee Council of Australia represents non-government organisations and individuals working with and for refugees in Australia and around the world

resettlement through sponsorship and how the program can be structured to improve the settlement outcomes of newly arrived refugees. “We are disappointed that the visa application charge provides no incentive for sponsors to work together to get people into the workforce as quickly as is reasonably possible,” he said. “Increasing the opportunities for new arrivals to become taxpayers is the most effective way of reducing the cost to government of their resettlement. It also meets the goals of refugee and humanitarian entrants to get on their feet quickly and begin contributing economically to the country which has given them the opportunity for a new start. “A better model might be to use a bond or assurance of support or even to offer a discount on future application charges for organisations which have demonstrated their capacity to assist newly-arrived refugees quickly towards self-sufficiency.” Mr Power said that, despite his concerns about the scale of the visa application charge, he expected that some ethno-specific community organisations would give serious consideration to being involved in the pilot. “In discussing options for the pilot with a number of community organisations, we are aware of the overwhelming desire of many groups to provide a path to safety for people they know who are living in dire circumstances, even if the costs are substantial.” Mr Power said that, during RCOA’s recent national community consultations, some participants expressed concern that the sponsorship pilot program might be designed primarily as a costcutting measure for government. “Unfortunately, a very high visa application charge will probably increase the likelihood that the sponsorship pilot will be viewed by many in that light,” he said. “However, we will be encouraging people to see the pilot just as a beginning and to think about how a future community sponsorship program could best be structured to use the energy and commitment of community organisations to increase resettlement opportunities for refugees.” Media contact: Andrew Williams 0488 035 535

Background information: Earlier this year, the Department of Immigration and Citizenship released a discussion paper on the proposed sponsorship pilot, inviting public comment. RCOA’s response can be viewed at http://www.refugeecouncil.org.au/r/sub/1207-Sponsorship.pdf