Page 5121 - Week 14 - Tuesday, 17 November 2009
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camps, as currently people are unable to get access to or communicate with their families.
Speakers at the forum advised that, at a minimum, the Australian government should immediately call for the release of the journalist who has been sentenced to the 20-year jail term, call for aid agencies and the media to be given unrestricted access to the camps and call for citizens of other countries to be released immediately from the camps.
The very reason why Tamil civilians want to leave Sri Lanka is obvious, but this situation has neither been discussed to any great extent nor accurately in public by the federal government or the opposition and, as such, through the media. In fact, it could be stated that it has been directly misrepresented and misused. As Ms Le Couteur has stated, refugees are not illegal and international law clearly states that.
In the ACT refugees have found a home that they can call home. Through supportive services, they have managed to find freedom from fear. They have been able to share their stories and embrace their future. As a community in Canberra, we have also managed to celebrate the wonderful contribution refugees continue to make to their new homes through events such as the Multicultural Festival, National Refugee Week, soccer and other family events organised every year. However, as Ms Le Couteur has noted in her speech, there is still a long way to go in supporting refugees and the services that are in place on the ground.
I would like to take a moment to reiterate some of the issues raised by Ms Le Couteur on refugee and migrant youth homelessness. The ACT government’s refugee transitional housing program does not currently adequately cater for young people in particular. Given that new arrivals to our community may have been exposed to extreme poverty, conflict and violence in their home countries, immediate and adequate housing must be addressed. Many refugees are studying. They are on Centrelink benefits and cannot afford private rental accommodation. Although refugees are eligible for public housing, there can often be a long wait for such a property.
If you are eligible for public housing, you can receive rental assistance until you get a public housing place. However, this subsidy is still minimal, compared to the cost of private rentals in the ACT. There can be cheaper accommodation to be found in Queanbeyan, which is an option for many refugees, but not living in the ACT does then create added difficulties in terms of what assistance can be claimed.
Safe dwellings in a range of properties are needed for refugees. This is another good reason for the ACT to continue to invest more in our public housing. Not having somewhere to live makes settlement that much harder for refugees in the ACT. Acknowledging that the issue of at-risk migrant and refugee youth has been noted in the multicultural strategy and brought up by many community organisations, it is timely that government truly commits to this group. A large proportion of refugees in our community are young people and they face unique challenges in resettling in our community.
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