reichstein

Making a difference for asylum seekers

While life in Australia for asylum seekers is still fraught with difficult challenges, it was much worse 11 years ago when the Hotham Asylum Seeker Project began to tackle the problem.

Asylum seekers not in detention centres were effectively still prisoners; they had no rights - not even the right to earn an income. Being ineligible for help from Centrelink, many had to resort to begging for money for food, shelter and the other necessities of life.

With assistance from the Reichstein Foundation, Hotham has helped to make the situation much better, but there is more to do.

The foundation has been involved from the beginning when in 1998 it provided a grant for an East Timorese worker for the project. This was followed by further grants in 2003, 2004 and 2006 with in 2007 a specific grant for an Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project.

This recent grant's purpose is to be in involved in processes and strategies both at government and community level which lead to long term structural changes in regard to asylum seekers seeking Australia's protection.

Hotham's projected outcomes were:

• increased visibility of the situation confronting asylum seekers

• improved community understanding of these issues

• the development of resourced and trained regional networks to increase community involvement in advocating for change in policies and practice, and

• to seek policy and structural change for persons applying for Australia's protection.

Hotham has met these goals by:

• conducting 53 community speaking events across the year to improve community understanding of asylum issues

• supporting and training six community/church based networks working specifically on policy change and material support for asylum seekers

• working with photographer Viv Meyes to facilitate a photographic exhibition of Bridging Visa E clients to increase the visibility of asylum seekers in the community

• working with a range of agencies to develop an employment pilot to support asylum seekers with no form of income to find work

• making submissions to VIC Mental Health Reform Strategy and to the Senate Inquiry into Detention in Australia seeking policy and structural changes for persons applying for Australia's protection, and

• continuing campaigning and lobbying on the "Right to Work" campaign that eventually led to a change of policy in July 2009.

As well as advocating for change, Hotham has provided more immediate help for refugees. It provides temporary accommodation through 28 donated houses which it manages. Utilities are paid and the asylum seekers are provided with $33 a week cash as well as food and transport vouchers.

Project Director Caz Coleman says that there are both short term and long term objectives for asylum seekers. The short term objective is to get them out of poverty while the long term plan is to change their situation so they can become independent.
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Safety at pedestrian level crossings - what happens when level crossing aren’t level for all?

In October 2001, Chris Jones, a long-time campaigner for public transport safety for people with disabilities, was hit by a train and killed at a level crossing. Chris was a board member of Disability Justice Advocacy at the time of his tragic death. In December 2001 another wheelchair user was killed at a level crossing.

The public transport system was first developed at a time when people with disabilities were expected to remain hidden. This situation has changed remarkably, but the rolling-stock, lines, operation and maintenance of the public transport system have changed little to make it safe for everybody.

Disability Justice Advocacy an advocacy organisation for people with disabilities formed the Safe Transport Action Group (STAG). The group understood the deep-seated, structural dimensions to fixing this problem and was committed to advocating for long-term change.

With no one body responsible for all aspects of the public transport system, safety was passed from one section of the system to another, leaving all public transport users vulnerable. By having the issue of public transport safety widely publicised, STAG was able to gain public support.

As a result of active participation of consumers in consultations, sustained community pressure, well-formed arguments and involvement of STAG members and many disability activists, long and short-term outcomes have been achieved. Most importantly, there is a commitment by government that level crossings be made safe and be maintained to remain safe - $12.5 million has been allocated to this end.

Another positive outcome is that people with a disability are now represented on relevant government public transport administrative bodies, and will ensure that the government is held accountable to its commitment and that future governments continue to be responsive to the needs of all public transport users.

Photograph: Rachel Lowe

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A new community legal service

In 2003 a family violence service in Bendigo asked for funds to employ a lawyer as they found that that whilst intervention orders were easily obtained, police were not acting on breaches of these orders. Women did not have the funds to pay for legal advice

We discussed with the service ways of tackling the root cause of the issue, which in this case was police inaction but also the lack of a community legal centre. Community legal centres provide free legal advice and representation, casework, community education and undertake law reform.

Funding over three years was provided to enable the service to gather evidence about how the community and services in the Bendigo region were suffering through not having a community legal centre. The service was also able to help the community and MPs to understand what a community legal centre could offer.

In July 2005 ongoing State Government funding was provided to establish the Loddon Campaspe Community Legal Centre.