Kay Patterson (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, Senator Vanstone. Will the minister advise the Senate what the coalition government has been doing to assist the states and territories in settling refugees and humanitarian entrants to Australia? Is the minister aware of any alternative approaches?

Amanda Vanstone (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Patterson for her question and for her interest in Australia’s refugee and humanitarian program, which I believe is second to none in the world. It is a generous program. It has an intake of 13,000, with 6,000 refugees and 7,000 humanitarian entrants. It consistently ranks us, along with the United States and Canada, in the top three countries accepting people in need of resettlement. These are people who cannot go home, people who have no other choice but to be resettled.

Bringing people here, of course, is not the end of the task. We have to ensure that they settle in and become active participants in our community and that they get the opportunity to take advantage of everything that Australia has to offer. Successful settlement is absolutely vital to our program, so English language is vital. How many people remember women from families that migrated here years ago who did not get all the opportunities Australia had to offer because nobody encouraged them to learn English and therefore to learn of the opportunities that were available to them to get a job, to understand Australian values and to get into mainstream activities?

We do work closely with the states and territories—all Labor—to ensure as best we can that both levels of government provide appropriate services when and where they are needed. We can always do better. My own department is on the move to improve across the board—and that, of course, includes the refugee and humanitarian area. Recently we launched a series of publications which are not of themselves newsworthy but very useful to the states in resettling humanitarian entrants and to the NGOs that are involved in delivering these services.

The booklets provide information for service providers about humanitarian settlement—for example, who has arrived here in the past and where they have come from; who is expected to arrive over the next year and where they are coming from; where they are settling, by local government area; the make-up of families; the level of English ability; and particular settlement needs. This is all very useful material to state governments, to the federal government and to the agencies therein.

It is important to ensure that services meet the mark by helping service providers plan and prepare for humanitarian entrants and by having a good understanding of their situation. For example, how can a nurse or a doctor really understand anything about Ethiopia if they are not given some information? We have a range of booklets that cover the situation in the main countries that people are coming from for resettlement here, and they will be updated annually.

Senator Patterson also asked me about alternative approaches. I am convinced that we need to look at an alternative approach in this area, and at one part in particular thereof. We need to ensure that new entrants who come to Australia have all the support that they need. That means that when someone signs on as a sponsor they are capable of being a sponsor, of being an anchor person for the new refugee or humanitarian entrant who is coming and of providing the sponsorship that is required. I do not think you can do that unless you have a regular job. How else can you possibly have the time, the understanding and the capacity to help someone settle in? I think we need to look at tightening up on who can sponsor people to come here, not to be mean to the people who are here but to be fair to the ones who are coming, to make sure that the people who sponsor them have the capacity to be a good sponsor. We will release a discussion paper on this. We will discuss it with community groups and stakeholders, but I am sure we can all do a better job.