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Sponsorship or Community-Led Support in Practice

We’ve pulled together some practical tools and resources for groups mentoring or sponsoring a refugee individual or family to use for preparation and support. Topics include fundraising, suggested activities for groups, self-care and guidance on working with refugees.

Fundraising & Banking

Mentor groups are responsible for ensuring compliance with any applicable laws or regulations with respect to fundraising and other group activities. Here are some resources that explain some of the applicable rules in Australia with respect to fundraising:

You should also read and consider the terms and conditions of any fundraising platforms that you use (eg GoFundMe or Facebook Fundraising).

Armidale Sanctuary Group has shared a helpful resource on ‘Setting up Administration for Fundraising’.

Here is a helpful resource for setting up a bank account for your group – banking options

Suggested tasks / activities & self-care

Woollahra Welcome Group has shared a suggested list of tasks for group coordinators as a guide.

Learn about how to deal with compassion fatigue, burnout and vicarious trauma in this guidebook developed by QPASST – QPASST Guidebook on Compassion Fatigue, Burnout and Vicarious Trauma (2016) 

Australian Sponsorship Resources

    • Murray Valley Sanctuary Refugee Group – Policies and Procedures (includes privacy (pp 11-13), risk management and insurances (pp 14-20), settlement process (pp 33-53), settlement task list (pp 65-68), good practice guide (pp 61-64), driving (pp 70-75))
    • Armidale Sanctuary Humanitarian Settlement Inc – Settlement Procedures
    • Ballina Region for Refugees – Homestay Program (includes trauma (pp 10-14) and cultural awareness (pp 15-24)

Global Sponsorship Resources

    • Global Refugee Sponsorship Initiative – refugeesponsorship.org/
      • Guidebook – Case Studies
      • Online Learning Resource (free registration required) – https://training.refugeesponsorship.org/#online-resource
    • (Canada) Refugee Sponsorship Training Program – rstp.ca/en/
      • Training Guides (includes Supporting Settlement & Integration, Crosscultural Awareness and Conflict Management & Resolution)
      • Past Webinars (includes Supporting Settlement & Integration, Preserving & Improving the Mental Health of Refugees, their Sponsors & Supporters, Vicarious Trauma and Communicating across Cultures)
      • Best Practices
    • (NZ) Nick Regnault, Welcoming the Stranger: Signposts for Building Bridges and Making Peace, Wellington: Philip Garside Publishing Ltd, 2019 (extracts available here ‘Signpost’ Extracts-from-N-Regnault-Welcoming-the-Stranger
    • (UK) – Reset – resetuk.org
    • Working with Refugees 

General Settlement

    • Australian Government Department of Social Services – Beginning a Life in Australia (includes post-arrival, English, Education & Training, Employment, Housing, Transport, Health & Wellbeing, Family, Civic Participation) 

    • Australian Government Department of Home Affairs – Key settlement topics (includes Employment, Education & Training, Health & Wellbeing, Money, Transport, Housing, Civic Participation, Language Services)

    • (NSW) – Multicultural NSW – New Arrivals to NSW (includes Community, Health, Transport & Driving, Housing, Education & Employment)

      • Humanitarian Entrants (includes General Support, Settlement Services, Service Providers, Language Services, Health Services)

    • Settlement Council of Australia – Sector Updates

    • SBS Settlement Guide

Settlement Services

Strengths Based Approach

Regional Settlement

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