Page 3334 - Week 09 - Thursday, 24 August 2017
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Stephen-Smith. This government also stands firm on our commitment as a refugee welcome zone, the only Australian state or territory to do so along with 148 local governments across Australia. Through the process of becoming a refugee welcome zone the ACT has formally continued to support the settlement of people from refugee backgrounds. In signing the refugee welcome zone declaration, a declaration I made in 2015, the ACT government gave a commitment to provide a welcoming and safe space in our community, to uphold the human rights of peoples from refugee backgrounds, to demonstrate compassion and to enhance cultural and religious diversity in our city.
The declaration builds on existing ACT government programs and initiatives which demonstrate our support and raise further awareness about the issues affecting Canberrans from refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds. The ACT’s refugee welcome zone status has served to encourage the development of a more coordinated approach to settlement services and to motivate local organisations and support groups to work together to improve settlement outcomes. Last year I was also very happy to oversee the ACT becoming a safe haven enterprise visa zone. This provided formal recognition and much greater security for those from asylum seeker backgrounds living and working in our community.
Another part of the ACT government’s commitment to Canberrans from refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds has been to address barriers to economic participation by facilitating pathways into training and the security of a job. The ACT government continues its efforts to engage more employers in supporting potential employees from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, specifically refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds, through programs delivered directly by ACT government directorates, such as Skills Canberra, and through our community-based partners. Additionally, the ACT government has committed $1.2 million as an election commitment to a job pathway program. The program will support job seekers becoming job ready and provide job placement assistance specifically for people from refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds.
Since 1 July 2015 around 390 humanitarian entrants have settled in the ACT. Of these, 180 were from Syrian and Iraqi backgrounds, which includes around 100 people granted visas as part of the additional 12,000 humanitarian places made available by the Australian government in 2016-17. ACT service providers and community organisations including Migrant and Refugee Settlement Services, Red Cross, Multicultural Youth Services and Companion House also do great work to support these people, develop their life skills, improve their emotional wellbeing and allow them to find their way in Australian society.
I also want to acknowledge the tireless efforts of hundreds of volunteers who work with these services and in other multicultural and community organisations to create a welcoming environment in the often difficult landscape of navigating myriad new experiences and cultural differences. I have spoken often about my disagreement with the federal government’s offshore detention policies. They have removed themselves from important ethical and legal judgements on this issue by saying that the end justifies the means, that the high human cost of indefinite detention is warranted in order to send a message of deterrence. Exactly what is it that they are deterring: some
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