By Lisa Button, CEO of Community Refugee Sponsorship Australia
In all the talk about social cohesion, we spend far too little time on the “social”. Strategies to counter discrimination, laws to censure violence, and policies to support diversity and inclusion are essential. But they are not enough. Cohesion is built through people knowing and understanding one another — spending time in each other’s homes and lives across the divides of language, culture, faith and privilege.
The last few months have tested Australia’s sense of itself. The horrific Bondi attacks, ugly anti‑immigration protests, and heated debates about hate speech have unfolded against a backdrop of global turmoil. Added to that are the alarming images and stories from new and protracted conflicts causing division, suffering and displacement, with humanitarian systems ill equipped to keep up. Refugee numbers continue to rise while solutions shrink.
Yet that is not the whole story. The team I lead at Community Refugee Sponsorship Australia (CRSA) is focussed on building Australia’s modest but growing community refugee sponsorship movement and we see something very different in our day to day work: ordinary (but extraordinary) people from many different walks of life choosing kindness, choosing to welcome newcomers, choosing to focus on what we share rather than what divides us.
That contrast was brought home just 24 hours after the Bondi attack when the CRSA team met online with a group of Darwin locals. This group of individuals had put their hands up on short notice to welcome three refugee families arriving in Australia to work in the Top End’s healthcare sector. Their willingness and determination to help strangers — in a moment of national grief and fear — was a reminder of Australia at its best.
A few weeks earlier, I spent a rainy afternoon in a Melbourne community centre where people from many faiths and backgrounds shared food, played badminton, endured humiliating musical‑chairs defeats and staged impromptu karaoke on the PA system. Scenes like this have played out in halls, parks and homes across the country because of the connections fostered through this Canadian-inspired practice of ‘community sponsorship’.
Under the flagship Community Refugee Integration and Settlement Pilot (CRISP), almost 900 refugees have been welcomed by more than 1,300 Australians into major cities and regional towns across all states and territories – from Hobart to Darwin, Margaret River to Northern Rivers. They have come from Afghanistan, Syria, Congo, Venezuela, El Salvador and elsewhere, each household initially identified by the UNHCR, vetted by the Australian government and then matched by CRSA with a group of five or more committed Australians, volunteering their time. The numbers are modest, but the ripple effects are profound. For every direct participant, many more are touched and changed for the better through new relationships, deeper understandings and the sharing of stories. And there are many other ways this model can be used to support those forced to flee.
Social cohesion is not built by policy alone. It is built through personal relationships — the introduction that leads to a first job, the advice on what to study, the conversation on the sidelines of a playground that illuminates culture beyond food and festivals. It is built when an Anglo‑Australian footy fan introduces an Afghan family to the AFL, and they in turn introduce him to the ritual of removing shoes at the door of the house before sitting down on the carpet to sing ‘happy birthday’ in Farsi. When a Jewish group and a Muslim family celebrate Jewish New Year together. When a newly retired woman from from a posh neighbourhood teaches newcomers in outer‑suburban communities how to drive. When Pride groups learn about the unique experiences of queer refugees. When newcomers ask about the acknowledgement of traditional owners, prompting their Australian supporters to reflect more deeply on its meaning. When people who originally arrived as refugees step up to ‘pay it forward’ and themselves get involved in supporting a family arriving through the CRISP.
Community sponsorship is a way for those with privilege to share it meaningfully with people whose previous homes and opportunities have become just memories. It allows settled Australians to understand what it is like to experience this country as someone forced to flee. It helps newcomers navigate services many of us take for granted. And it gives ordinary Australians a way to counter the bleakness of the news cycle with tangible action. As one volunteer put it: “Helplessness is a real problem. This program is a way you can actually make a difference as an individual.”
The CRISP pilot, co‑designed by CRSA with the federal government in 2022, has been so successful that it is set to become permanent from 1 July. University of Queensland research shows refugees in the CRISP feel their cultures are valued, and 92 per cent of volunteers say the program gives them a sense of purpose. From navigating essential services to enrolling children in school and offering driving lessons, volunteers have shown the power of ordinary Australians sharing their skills and time. Evidence also suggests that refugees arriving through community sponsorship are able to enter the workforce more quickly than they would otherwise, fast tracking their ability to contribute economically as new Australians.
That is why we are asking Australians to “choose welcome, not division” in these challenging times. Community sponsorship gives every Australian a way to “walk the talk” of true Australian values and help build the harmonious, connected country we all want to live in.