A total of $163.4 million in Settlement Engagement and Transition Support (SETS) grants have recently been announced, to assist newly arrived migrants and refugees to form a stronger connection with new communities in their first five years in Australia.
The previous Settlement Grants program which had been in place for ten years has been replaced by the new SETS program. The change comes after an independent evaluation of the program conducted by the University of New South Wales in 2017.
According to the evaluation report service providers identified a gap in settlement services in the areas of intensive case management and low-intensity support provided through the settlements grant.
Further gaps identified were a drop in intensity of support post, Humanitarian Settlement Services, insufficient information about available services, stakeholder consultations, client’s concern about no longer being eligible for support after five years and service providers stating the lack of medium level support for complex cases.
Federal Minister for Social Services, the Hon Paul Fletcher MP, in a press release, said 79 organisations across the country will be funded to deliver services in engagement and integration for newly arrived migrants and refugees.
“The SETS program is about helping reduce barriers for migrants so they can fully participate in employment and the community more generally,” Mr Fletcher said.
Department of Social Services, Media Team Member, Michelle told SBS Urdu the SETS program includes new enhancements compared to the previous program.
Young students making notes of their language classes Source: iStockphoto
“The new enhancements include, increased guidance on services and outcomes including a greater focus on services to support English language proficiency, education and employment,” Michelle said.
“The new program also separates service components into two activities reflecting services for the family/individual and services aimed at increased community/organisation capacity and medium intensity servicing for the most vulnerable clients, including youth.” she further added.
According to the press release by Minister of Social Services office, this program is supposed to fill a gap in the post-arrival period for eligible migrants who do not have family and community support to rely on.
Students in a language class. (AAP/Moodboard) Source: AAP
The grants will fund activities that are focused on families and individuals to increase community capacity.
Services include assisting with English language skills, building employment readiness and encouraging homework for school students.
The Centre for Multicultural Youth in Carlton, Melbourne is one of the organisations that were awarded the SETS grant.
They plan to use the grant over the next three years to support multicultural youth in the area to overcome language and integration barriers.
Its Chief Executive, Carmel Guerra told SBS Urdu the difference between the settlement grants programs and SETS is that this is more focused onto settlement and finding work with a strong interest in young people.
"We are going to use a range of different models to support young people and families," said Ms Guerra.
"The main use of the grant will be focused to connect young people of multicultural backgrounds and provide them with knowledge and information skills to better integrate into society.
"Provide peer to peer education using mentors and connect them to mainstream community organisations and services." she further added.
To access or find more about the range settlement services the Department of Social Services offers click here.
