This post was originally published by CRSI -Community Refugee Sponsorship Initiative - on January 15th, 2019 and is archived. Learn more about our history.
Interested in how the Community Refugee Sponsorship Initiative could work in practice?
Here’s how we see this working:
Community members who would like to sponsor a refugee or refugee family would need to form a group of at least five people under the auspice of an approved and registered non-profit ‘Supporting Community Organisation’.
The group must raise enough funds to provide for the basic needs of the sponsored refugee(s) during their first year in Australia (including income support, if needed) while also helping the new arrivals settle in their local community.
Professional settlement organisations would play a role in training and supporting sponsor groups, utilising training guides and resources developed at a national level. This model eliminates expensive visa and intermediary fees, making sponsorship more attractive and accessible to would-be sponsors from the Australian community.