Anne Stanley (Werriwa, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to support the comments that have just been made by the members for Fowler and Cowan. When the previous member for Warringah was Prime Minister, he committed to permanently resettling 12,000 Syrian refugees caught in the middle of a tragic civil war. At the time, it was described by Mr Abbott as one of the largest resettlement policies in the world today. Women, children and families from persecuted minorities, who were sheltering in countries such as Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey, were given priority. Of those 12,000 resettlement positions, 7,000 were settled in the region of Fairfield and Liverpool, in the electorates of Fowler, McMahon and my own electorate of Werriwa. Liverpool, and south-western Sydney in general, is one of the most culturally diverse areas of Sydney and Australia. The electorate thrives in its multiculturalism. Liverpool and Fairfield have welcomed and supported several generations of refugees from around the world and certainly through humanitarian migration.

The resettlement plan also made placing these refugees in rural areas a priority. However, four years down the track, these people are returning to their communities here in my electorate. This is supported by data from the migrant resource centre which is based in Liverpool and shows that Liverpool has the highest rate of second movements in Australia—a result of the strong multicultural make-up of the area and people wanting to come back to the places and families they know. But what we have seen is nothing short of a disaster for these refugees.

This government, which was responsible for this resettlement policy, has now made changes, including the way that complex resettlement cases have been funded. Previously, straightforward resettlement cases would be eligible for basic support for up to 12 months and more complex cases would receive more intense support for up to five years. However, after the review the resettlement plan was moved to, effectively, a three-tiered system and incorporated a number of changes which strangled the frontline services of funding.

The Western Sydney Migrant Resource Centre is the largest provider of refugee settlement services in this region. In the first year of the program it saw 1,703 clients. In the last financial year the number was 2,704—1,001 new clients over three years. The need for these vital services is clear. The MRC said that the reduced scope of service delivery built into the program framework means a loss of intensive capacity and a loss of building support to the most vulnerable of these refugees. While net funding may show an increase, other vital services were removed, such as the translation services basic booking structure. The MRC has attempted to provide these much-needed, significant services under the new system but does so at a loss, and it's not viable for the service providers to continue to do so.

It is a humanitarian injustice to commit to supporting these refugees but structure the support system to take funding from the frontline service providers that provide the resettlement service support. The effect is clear: as a result of the funding changes, the MRC employment preparation workshops have been eliminated, 50 per cent of the youth services have been reduced and, despite how at every opportunity this program is oversubscribed, preparedness and planning for emerging needs has been significantly compromised.

It is a disgrace that the government has commissioned reviews into the program and, as a result, made changes which forced service providers to operate at a loss and risk clients that need their services. These are some of the most critically vulnerable people in our society. Some of those in my community are the Yazidi women who were used as sex slaves by ISIS. Their stories are truly horrific, and they need significant intensive support. That support must be ongoing. We cannot allow these people to fall through the cracks. We as a country made the commitment to accept them and support them. They want to be part of our community. Allowing this chronic shortfall of services to continue because the program is underfunded further marginalises these people and potentially puts them out on the street.

Again, I support the motion put by the member for Fowler.

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