Global Refugee Forum 2023 Australian Community Sponsorship Pledge

At the end of 2022, there were 108.4 million people forcibly displaced worldwide, including 35.3 million refugees. That same year, only 114,300 were able to access resettlement.  

The power of community sponsorship programs lies in its capacity to increase this number and expand the avenues for refugees to resettle, providing an inclusive opportunity for ordinary people to collectively welcome refugees into their communities. 

At the Global Refugee Forum in 2019, Community Refugee Sponsorship Australia and Settlement Services International (SSI) launched a civil society pledge to generate and demonstrate widespread support for the introduction of a community sponsorship program. Following this, Australia’s first ‘designed for purpose’ community sponsorship program, the Community Refugee Integration and Settlement Pilot (CRISP), was launched in mid-2022.  

With dozens of refugee households now successfully welcomed by groups of everyday Australians, and life-changing outcomes for refugee arrivals and sponsoring communities alike, CRISP is a crucial step towards broadening Australia’s resettlement efforts. Still, more needs to be done.  

We welcome the Australian government’s ambition to progressively increase community sponsored and other complementary places to 10,000 per year, additional to Australia’s humanitarian intake. Stand with us in support of realising this ambition and sign the Community Sponsorship Pledge.  

By doing so, we will collectively tell the Australian government and the rest of the world that the Australian community stands ready to welcome more refugee newcomers each year through community sponsorship. 

Endorsed by the following organisations (as at May 2024):

ACT AEU Relief Teachers

Alfred Deakin Institiute

Allegra Spender MP

AMES Australia

Amnesty International Australia

Amnesty Margaret River

Angie Talleyrand

ART + ENVIRONMENT

Armidale Sanctuary Humanitarian Settlement

Asylum Seekers Centre

Association for Services to Torture and Trauma Survivors

Australia Chin Community

Australian Neighbourhood Houses and Centres Association 

Ballina Region for Refugees

Bass Coast Refugee Sponsorship Group

Bridge for Asylum Seekers

Bubbletent Australia

Cassinia Community

Castle of Kindness Refugee Sponsorship Group

Cheltenham Highett Refugee Sponsorship Group

Cisarua Learning

Coastal CRISP

Corrections Victoria

Eastern Hills Sponsorship Group

Embrace Sanctuary Australia

End Child Detention Coalition Australia

Eugene Dennis

Everyday Church

Friends of Refugees Byron Shire

Fulbe Australia

Grandmothers for Refugees

Happy Home Refugee Support Group

Hatchone Pty Ltd

HOST International

Huon Refugee Support Group Inc

Lions Eye Institute

Lismore Region Refugee Settlement

Margaret River Welcome

Montmorency Asylum Seeker Support Group

Moreton Bay Refugee Friends

Mountain Mentors

NAYBA

Ocean Shores for Refugees

Our Village

PoppySmack Sauce

Presentation Sisters Wagga Wagga

Pride Foundation Australia

Refugee Advice & Casework Service

Refugee Council of Australia

Roseville Uniting Church Refugee Support Group

Rural Australians for Refugees – Bendigo

Rural Australians for Refugees Inc

SASS Group 6

SCALES Community Legal Centre

Settlement Council of Australia

Settelement Services International (SSI)

Social Justice Group St Vincent’s Parish Ashfield NSW

Socio-Cultural Syriac Inc. Association

South Gippsland Rural Australians for Refugees

Sustainable Resource Use

Symon Capital

Tasmanian Quakers Peace & Justice Committee

Tasmanian Refugee Rights Action Group

Terrigal Uniting Church Refugee Support Group

The Bread & Butter Project

The Kimberley Foundation

The Salvation Army

True Support & Therapy

Tweed Welcomes Refugees

Uniting Church Action for Society and Environment

Uniting Church in Australia, Synod of Victoria and Tasmania

Welcoming Australia

Whittlesea Community Connections

Women’s International Solidarity Australia

Via Advisory

You Belong Australia