Our Story

Inspired by ‘the Canadian model’, a group of six organisations – the Refugee Council of Australia, Save the Children Australia, Amnesty International Australia, Welcoming Australia, Rural Australians for Refugees and the Australian Refugees Churches Taskforce – joined forces to in 2018 to launch the Community Refugee Sponsorship Initiative (CRSI) with a focus on exploring the potential for harnessing the power of private citizens and organisations to expand and improve refugee resettlement in Australia, supplementing the government-led effort. 

The CRSI initiative was later relaunched as Community Refugee Sponsorship Australia (CRSA), an independent stand-alone organisation (and registered charity) on 1 July 2021.  

What began as an advocacy organisation led to CRSA now being at the forefront of both community sponsorship advocacy and programs in Australia. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, CRSI launched a pilot Group Mentorship Program (GMP) to garner extra support for refugees already in Australia. The GMP tested and demonstrated the viability of the community sponsorship approach in Australia. As part of this, CRSA developed many of the tools and processes that were required for a successful sponsorship program and mobilised support for hundreds of refugee newcomers including many Afghan evacuees after the Taliban takeover in August 2021. 

Following its incorporation and launch as an independent entity in 2021, CRSA was appointed by the federal government to partner in the co-design and national delivery of the Community Refugee Integration and Settlement Pilot. The pilot ran from mid 2022 to 30 June 2026, before becoming a permanent program on 1 July 2026 following the conclusion of a comprehensive independent evaluation led by the University of Queensland under commission from the Department of Home Affairs 

CRSA continues to run the Community Refugee Integration and Settlement Program on a national basis, with funding from the Department of Home Affairs. CRSA is also applying the community sponsorship models to support other pathways for refugees including the Refugee Student Settlement Pathway (led by Skill Path Australia in collaboration with the Department of Home Affairs) and the Skilled Refugee Labour Agreement Pilot (led by Talent Beyond Boundaries in partnership with the Department of Home Affairs). We also continue to advocate for the policy settings and programs needed to fully harness the power of the Australian community to support other pathways for refugees.