NCCA-ACRT Letter to the Prime Minister

The NCCA-ACRT request commitment for Afghan refugees

Like us, you must be feeling desperate about the situation in Afghanistan.  We have heard reports from many of our Afghan people who have family in Afghanistan or worrying about the related issues they see as emerging in Pakistan

Therefore we are all praying for a generous response from Australia to the situation of the Afghan people, in-country and in Australia, at this time. 

As part of ACRT, The Brigidine Asylum Seekers Project (BASP) is writing letters as are Taskforce members separately and severally to their supporters with the asks below.

The NCCA-ACRT letter to the Australian Prime Minister, Scott Morrison can be downloaded here -  pdf 210817 NCCA ACRT PM AFG (193 KB)

The NCCA-ACRT have also sent one to Minister Hawke and Trent Zimmerman MP for North Sydney, Dave Sharma MP for Wentworth.

We give what comfort we can to those who are so traumatised by what is happening and we extend our love and support to them. 

You can help too

Please consider writing to the Prime Minister, the Minister for Immigration, the Labor Leader (addresses below) and your own MP. 

You may include the three asks below from The Brigidine Asylum Seekers Project (BASP) 

Dear ..., 

We ask that Australia:

• Grant permanent protection or citizenship to all Afghan people seeking asylum and refugee status currently living in Australia or in immigration detention
• Declare an intake of 20000 Afghan refugees (matching the Canadian commitment announced last night)
• Assist Afghan Australians with urgent family reunion applications for relatives who are in imminent danger

Email addresses:

Prime Minister of Australia: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  

The Minister for Home Affairs: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

Leader of the Opposition: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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CONTACT US

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Community Refugee Sponsorship Australia- CSRA

New program commencing July 2022

In December, the federal government announced two important new measures that herald a new era for community sponsorship of refugees in Australia. 

• New four-year ‘Community Refugee Integration and Support Pilot’ (CRISP): CRISP will enable Australian community groups to take primary responsibility for welcoming and settling 1,500 UNCHR-referred refugees over a four-year period, beginning in July 2022. Refugees involved in this program will be able to access Centrelink support and Medicare benefits on a par with other resettled refugees, with the role of community members likely to be focussed on providing welcome, practical support and some basic ‘on arrival’ needs like temporary housing, furniture and household goods and other material needs.  More information can be found in on the CRSA website here. 
• Current CSP program will become more affordable: From July 2022 the visa application charge associated with the current Community Support Program will be significantly reduced.  This will make it more affordable for Australians to sponsor the visa of a refugee who is already known to them (e.g. a family member or friend).  

While these programs won't expand the size of Australia's humanitarian migration quota in the short term, this remains an important goal to achieve in future years, building on these new foundations.

Thank you to the church groups and individual Australians across the country who rallied to help trail-blaze this new approach by signing up to be a part of the Group Mentorship Program for newly arrived refugees (most, but not all, being Afghan evacuees). Mentor groups are providing much needed welcome, orientation, friendship and practical support, supplementing the role of government-funded settlement services. 

Groups have hosted dozens of welcome picnics and other events in communities around Australia and provided families with donated laptops, phones, scooters, toys and household goods to help fill gaps.  

Mentor groups are helping evacuees inspect and secure suitable housing in a very challenging housing market (with some successfully negotiating significant discounts with landlords), sort out hiccups with the registration of families with Medicare and Centrelink, provide advice on employment and educational opportunities and advise on the steps that people need to take to have overseas qualifications recognised here.  

For more information about joining with the groups involved in a new era of refugee protection in Australia, contact Community Refugee Sponsorship Australia (CRSA). 

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Australian Government Budget 2021-22

12 May 2021 

The Australian Churches Refugee Taskforce notes that refugees and people seeking asylum are no better off from the budget with the Australian Government continuing to invest in offshore and onshore detention. “It seems crazy that we are continuing to pay millions more for detention rather than providing meaningful solutions,” said Rob Floyd, Chair of the Churches Refugee Taskforce. “And there is the absence of any new reforms to the community sponsorship program where church groups have put their hands up as partners,” he added.

Read the Eternity News article: A BOTTOM UP VIEW OF THE BUDGET

See also:

Refugee Council of Australia (RCOA) budget media release: Govt chooses detention over hope for world's refugees in budget - 

Read the full budget summary from Refugee Council of Australia (RCOA) here:  The Federal Budget: What it means for refugees and people seeking humanitarian protection

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OUR CORE BELIEFS 

Australian Churches Refugee Taskforce Values 

Drawing on core Christian values and traditions, the Taskforce is committed to offering a strong Christian moral voice into what has become a heated and hostile public debate fuelled by divisive political rhetoric and constantly changing policies. 

Why Churches care about Asylum Seekers 

Many Australians support ‘tough’ positions against asylum seekers who arrive by boat and rank asylum seeker issues as one of the top issues facing our country.

Some Christians, like many other Australians, are concerned about unsustainable numbers of asylum seekers arriving by boat and a fear of the ‘floodgates’ opening if we were to have more compassionate policies. Others have voiced concern about fears of Islamicisation and the changing demographic of Australia. Many more share a deep concern that people are drowning in small, overcrowded and un-seaworthy boats making dangerous voyages.

As Christians seeking to live faithful lives and respond to others with the grace of God, there is probably no more confusing and complex area of public policy and debate than this.

We are confronted not only by deaths at sea but also by our concerns for those refugees in camps throughout Africa and Asia. We see vulnerable people suffering because of harsh and punitive policies administered by our Government here in Australia and in offshore detention centres on Nauru and Manus Island, PNG. Children are locked up in immigration detention centres, asylum seekers are living in poverty in the community with no end in sight to their situation and on Manus Island and Nauru the conditions are harsh and damaging to people’s health and well-being. The problems seem too great and the solutions elusive.

With such difficult moral questions around Australia’s treatment of asylum seekers, it is important to step back from the prevailing public debate and draw guidance from our identity as ‘disciples’. We know that we do not always respond to human suffering and need with compassion and love. We are often driven by our fears and our confusion to give assent to ‘solutions’ which punish rather than protect. Through the national debates around asylum seekers, we have seen the best of the Australian national character – generosity, hospitality, practical care and deep compassion, and the worst of our nation – political opportunism, mean-spiritedness and fear of outsiders.

This paper describes the faith foundations for the Australian Churches Refugee Taskforce. Drawing on core Christian values and traditions, the Taskforce is committed to offering a strong Christian moral voice into what has become a heated and hostile public debate fuelled by divisive political rhetoric and constantly changing policies.

Theological Statement 

‍At a time when policies relating to asylum seekers and refugees are increasingly harsh and the public debate lacks compassion, generosity and hospitality, the churches have recognised that a common action and voice are necessary. Read the full statement.

What do we believe?  

1. Why are people coming to Australia? 

People do not flee their homes, their family, friends and community and undertake perilous, potentially deadly journeys without very good reason. Refugees are people who are forced to flee their homelands to escape persecution, including imprisonment and torture.

Asylum seekers who arrive on our shores should be welcomed and offered appropriate care in the community (once initial health, security and identity checks have been done) while their protection claims are assessed 

3. How should the Australian system process the claims for asylum?

Asylum seekers (consistent with their human rights and Australia’s obligations under international law) should have their claims for protection processed in a fair, transparent and timely manner and that they should have access to review of their case should protection be denied. 

4. Isn’t this a really important election issue?

The arrival of asylum seekers is of great interest to the general public, but asylum seekers who arrive by boat should not be used for political point scoring.

Government policies should not deliberately expose people to harm. Punishing a vulnerable group of people (asylum seekers) in order to send a message to another group of people (people smugglers and other asylum seekers) is abusive and unconscionable.

• a humanitarian response focused on protection needs;
• meeting our obligations under the Refugees Convention and other international treaties;
• working productively in our region over the long-term to find real, durable and just solutions.

Asylum seekers in the community should have the right to work: to provide them with a way to support their family, foster self-reliance, to give them a means to contribute to Australian society and for their own human dignity.

At May 2013 there were 1731 children still being held in Australian immigration detention centres, an extraordinary amount. Under no circumstances should children be locked up.

Asylum seekers and refugees should be able to find hope and restoration from the despair and persecution from which they have fled. Refugees and asylum seekers should be able to be reunited with their families. No-one should be detained indefinitely and without the right to challenge their detention.

As one of the wealthiest, safest and most secure countries in the world, we should be able to fund a humanitarian response to asylum seekers without taking money away from our overseas aid commitments.

 MEMBERS OF THE TASKFORCE

CO-CHAIR

Rev Deacon Sandy Boyce, Executive Officer, Victorian Council of Churches, Uniting Church in Australia 

Sandy is a Minister in the Uniting Church in Australia, ordained to the Ministry of Deacon in 2007. She is co-convenor of the network of Deacons in the Uniting Church, and is the President of DIAKONIA World Federation.  

Sandy commenced in the role of Executive Officer of the Victorian Council of Churches on 19th April, 2022.

For over 12 years prior to this, in her role with Pilgrim Uniting Church Adelaide, Sandy was actively engaged in a number of church and community networks including – Convenor: Community Connections, Chair: Justice for Refugees, Chair: Refugee Advocacy Group (SA Uniting Church Synod), Chair: Public Theology and Mission (Synod Committee), and Homelessness SA Board. Sandy is also a member of the Uniting Church Assembly Standing Committee.

CO-CHAIR

Major Karen Elkington, Salvation Army Australia

Major Karen Elkington has served as a Salvation Army Officer for more than 25 years.  Since 2010, Karen has lead The Salvation Army's Asylum Seeker & Refugee Service which supports people seeking asylum who reside in the Northern & Western suburbs of Melbourne.  The Service offers a specialised Emergency Relief and Material Aid response as well as supporting people seeking asylum by offering case work and spiritual support with a vibrant Chaplaincy program which has seeded a Salvation Army Farsi speaking congregation.  Other support is also offered for women and children seeking asylum through a therapeutic music therapy and support program. Karen has been The Salvation Army's representative on the Network of Asylum Seeker Agencies (NASAVic) since 2010.  Since 2017 Karen has enjoyed working with the Jewish community and is a committee member on Temple Beth Israel's Project Dignity which is Tillun Olam (repairing the world) group that focuses on supporting people of refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds.

ASSYRIAN CHURCH OF THE EAST

Carmen Lazar, Centre Manager, Assyrian Resource Centre

Carmen Lazar is a well-known Assyrian community representative. Carmen migrated to Australia in 1971 with her parents and two sisters. She is respected and valued among community services networks. Currently Carmen is the Manager and Community Settlement Officer, Assyrian Resource Centre that includes the Assyrian Australian Association which is in receipt of funding from the Department of Immigration and Border Protection for Settlement Grants Program (SGP) and for Diversity and Social Cohesion Program (DSCP). Carmen is also a Member of the Fairfield Migrant Inter-agency (Fairfield Council) and in the past has been Principal of the Assyrian Diqlat School which is the Saturday Assyrian school that operates in two schools in NSW. Carmen is a member of the Immigrant Women’s Network Group for the prevention of violence against women and a Community Support for Women Volunteer (once a month), Villawood Detention Centre.

BAPTIST

Reverend Meewon Yang, Multicultural Pastor & Consultant, Baptist Union of Victoria

Rev Meewon Yang grew up in Korea where she was raised an active Presbyterian, and came to Australia in 1989. She was ordained as a Baptist Pastor in 1997, and soon after began working with the Baptist Union as a Multicultural Adviser. She is now a Multicultural Pastor, caring for pastors and congregations in Victoria’s 70 migrant ethnic Baptist congregations from Non-English Speaking Backgrounds. Meewon has been a passionate advocate for asylum seekers and refugees. She established the Refugee Airfare and Assistance scheme, pioneered a chaplaincy role at an asylum seeker house set up by Brunswick Baptist Church, and then helped to establish the Sanctuary asylum seeker transitional housing project run by Baptcare. In 2012 Meewon completed her Masters Degree which looked at models of Multicultural ministry. She is a regular adjunct lecturer at Whitley College and within the MCD University.

CATHOLIC

Peter Arndt, Executive Officer, Catholic Justice & Peace Commission of Brisbane

As Executive Officer of the Catholic Justice and Peace Commission of Brisbane, Peter Arndt is also Convenor of the Brisbane Refugee and Asylum Seeker Support Network. He participates in a number of reference groups associated with the management of Government-funded refugee support programs and the Brisbane Immigration Transit Accommodation. He also works in advocacy on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander issues, climate change, protection of outworkers, the death penalty and human rights in Sri Lanka and West Papua.

CATHOLIC

Sr Brigid Arthur, Joint Coordinator Brigidine Asylum Seeker Project

Brigid Arthur is a Brigidine Sister who trained both as a Primary and Secondary teacher. She taught and was Principal of schools for many years. Brigid has a degree in Arts (Melbourne University) and educational and Mathematics/Science degrees from Australian Catholic University, La Trobe University, Monash University and Melbourne University. Brigid studied at Fordham University in New York where she graduated with a Masters degree in Religious Education.

She has studied theology at Yarra Theological College. Brigid is the joint coordinator of the Brigidine Asylum Seekers’ Project. This work has been at both a hands-on level – helping asylum seekers and refugees with accommodation, and other practical support, and in advocacy – trying to change the present policies and procedures used in Australia to deter asylum seekers coming to this country. Brigid is a member of the Board of the Asylum Seekers Project and a member of the Refugee Advocacy Network.

LUTHERAN

Craig Heidenreich

I feel so fortunate to have journeyed with people of many ethnic backgrounds who have become true friends.

Half a lifetime ago I first crossed paths with refugees who looked like they needed some ‘help’, but little did I know that their courage would inspire me, and we would lose sight of who was helping who. 

I’ve learned about true hospitality and had fun trying to pronounce greetings in many languages

More recently the Lutheran Church have taken a risk and let me loose among the congregations to tell something of this story of humanity and why we should get to know each other.

Craig Heidenreich

QUAKER

Dr Jill Parris, Advocate and Peace Builder

Dr. Jill Parris left South Africa in 1980 to move away from the restrictive apartheid government. She is a retired psychologist, trained in Australia and worked for the last ten years of her career to help settle humanitarian entrants who had fled war or famine in their countries of origin. She is a Quaker whose concern lies with advocating for people who have been confined in on or offshore detention by the Australian government. Alongside this she is one of many supporters who draw alongside some of those who live on temporary visas within the community while waiting to be accepted for permanent residence within Australia. Jill has an abiding interest in peace building which she has pursued though writing.

UNITING CHURCH IN AUSTRALIA

Rev Lindsay Cullen, Associate General Secretary, 

Rev Lindsay Cullen is the Assembly Associate General Secretary. He leads the Assembly Resourcing Unit - a team responsible for the oversight of the national work of the UCA including doctrine, worship, ministry education standards, social justice and advocacy and ecumenical and interfaith relationships. 

Within the UCA, Lindsay has served in rural, regional and urban contexts and a major focus of his ministry has been Adult Education and Lay Ministry training.

ASSOCIATE MEMBERS

Rev. Dr. John D. Jegasothy, JP - Sydney Tamil Community

Rev Ian Phillips, Lismore Church of Christ and Sanctuary Northern Rivers.

Mr Mazin Kalakvan, Multicultural Communities Team, The Brotherhood of St Laurence 

Rob Floyd, National Director, Frontier Services, Uniting Church in Australia

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CONTACT US

Telephone: (02) 9299 2215

Address: Locked Bag Q199, QVB NSW 1230

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AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY SPONSORSHIP
5 July 2021

The Community Refugee Sponsorship Initiative has now become an incorporated Australian charity operating under the new name of ‘Community Refugee Sponsorship Australia’ (CRSA).  

The new CRSA website has a short video of the pilot Group Mentorship Program. View it here. Information on the New Program Intake – Public Information Sessions can be found here.

AUSTRALIAN ASYLUM POLICY 
30 June 2021

• 7,000 are waiting in limbo, need safety 
   
• Australia’s human rights record                 

     Read more

IN THE NEWS
20 June 2021
Community detention and the 'Biloela' family

What is community detention, and how does it fit into Australia’s larger immigration detention regime?

Keeping refugee advocacy alive - new policy briefs on current issues created by JRS Australia and Vinnies NSW  Read more

RESOURCES
17 July, 2019
Return to Homeland Resource Guide
Many asylum seekers living in our community are facing rejection of their asylum application and subsequent return to their homeland. This guide provides information to help community understand what the process may look like and in what ways a person may assist.   Download the Resource Guide

COMMUNITY
3 June, 2019
Community Sponsorship Scheme
From Lisa Button, Director of Community Refugee Sponsorship Initiative.
This paper outlines in detail CRSI’s vision for a future community sponsorship scheme in Australia as undertaken in Canada.  Read the full report

Latest News

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A CHRISTIAN VISION OF COMPASSION AND HOSPITALITY

FOR ASYLUM SEEKERS AND REFUGEES

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Submission opposing the Migration Amendment (Removals and Other Measures) Bill 2024 
April 2024

The Australian Churches Refugee Taskforce (ACRT) has made a submission to the Senate inquiry, which closes Friday 12 April 2024. 

ACRT have also prepared a briefing resource, providing a guide for churches in Australia that wish to make submissions opposing the Bill.  Read more

Submission to the AHRC on Women in Immigration Detention
February 2024

The Australian Churches Refugee Taskforce (ACRT) made a submission to the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) on 21 February 2024, looking into the experiences of women in immigration detention facilities, and the subsequent issues women faced when they were in community detention.  Read more

Hidden homelessness in Australia 
August 2023

Homelessness in Australia is often hidden for those in our community, like people seeking asylum with no work rights and no income support, while they wait for resolution of their visa status. Read more

Lives in limbo - 10 years of Offshore Processing
July 2023

The Australian Churches Refugee Taskforce (ACRT) is one of many groups that are marking the ‘bitter’ 10th anniversary of the Regional Resettlement Arrangement between the Australian and Papua New Guinea (PNG) governments with an appeal to end the misery and cruelty of offshore processing.  Read more 

ACRT MEETING 
28 July 2022
Update: Community Refugee Sponsorship Australia (CRSA)

At the recent Taskforce meeting a presentation was given by Blaise Itabelo, CRSA's Community Engagement Manager, on the Community Refugee Integration and Support Pilot (CRISP) and the Group Mentorship Program. 

• CRSA call for more mentor groups from Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide.
• We share the video recording of the presentation by Blaise Itabelo.

Read more and watch the recording here

IN THE MEDIA - immigration detention
22 January 2022

NCCA General Secretary, Elizabeth Stone, spoke with Sight Magazine saying that the detention and deportation of Serbian tennis star Djokovic has "reminded and informed Australians about the plight of dozens of men in immigration detention in hotels in Darwin, Brisbane and Melbourne." 

Read the Sight article ‘End indefinite detention of asylum seekers’

Read also: Bishops, rabbis and imams call on Scott Morrison to free asylum seekers (thenewdaily.com.au- 28 January)

Christians United for Afghanistan 
26 August 2021
Compassion for the most vulnerable
‍‍We, the Australian Church, are calling on the Federal Government to welcome a special intake of an additional 20,000 Afghan refugees, and support the ongoing well-being of all Afghan refugees and their families. Sign the urgent call here

It is our hope that as we unite as the Church, we speak boldly to our national government leaders to provide urgent action for the well being of Afghan refugees. 

AFGHAN REFUGEES
17 August 2021
Letter to Australian Prime Minister
‍‍NCCA-ACRT have written a request to the Federal Government to make a commitment in support of Afghan people in-country and in Australia. You can too!

We pray for a generous response from Australia to the Afghan situation at this time. Read more 

  Campaigns

DIGNITY NOT DESTITUTION

Around 12,000 people seeking asylum in Australia may be at risk of losing core services and financial support due to Government changes in the Status Resolution Support Services. The SRSS is a regular payment to help with basic living costs for those who live in Australia awaiting a decision about their immigration status.  

FIND OUT MORE

COMMUNITY SPONSORSHIP TO AUSTRALIA

The Community Refugee Sponsorship Initiative has now become an incorporated Australian charity operating under the new name of ‘Community Refugee Sponsorship Australia’ (CRSA). The new organisation launched their website in July 2021.

FIND OUT MORE

PLEASE CONSIDER A DONATION

Your donation will be used to support the various campaigns of the Australian Churches Refugee Taskforce.
‍*The Australian Churches Refugee Taskforce is an initiative of the National Council of Churches in Australia, ABN 47 000 391 104

To make a donation by credit card, over the phone. Call our freecall number on 1800 025 101.

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CONTACT US

Telephone: (02) 9299 2215

Address: Locked Bag Q199, QVB NSW 1230

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  Campaigns

DIGNITY NOT DESTITUTION
Around 12,000 people seeking asylum in Australia may be at risk of losing core services and financial support due to Government changes in the Status Resolution Support Services. The SRSS is a regular payment to help with basic living costs for those who live in Australia awaiting a decision about their immigration status.  

FIND OUT MORE

COMMUNITY SPONSORSHIP TO AUSTRALIA
The ACRT, together with Save the Children, Refugee Council, Amnesty International and Welcome to Australia are recommending guiding principles for the new Community Support Program (CSP). This will enable members of the Australian community to sponsor visas for refugees who wish to rebuild their lives in Australia. 

FIND OUT MORE

IMMIGRATION DETENTION VISITOR EXPERIENCES

The Refugee Council of Australia is collating information on how the new detention visiting procedures are impacting on being able to visit detainees. Your experiences can help advocate for better visiting experiences

FIND OUT MORE

Connect with us FOLLOW THE TASKFORCE ON SOCIAL MEDIA   FACEBOOK 

CONTACT US

Telephone: (02) 9299 2215

Address: Locked Bag Q199,

QVB NSW 1230

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

  Campaigns

DIGNITY NOT DESTITUTION
Around 12,000 people seeking asylum in Australia may be at risk of losing core services and financial support due to Government changes in the Status Resolution Support Services. The SRSS is a regular payment to help with basic living costs for those who live in Australia awaiting a decision about their immigration status.  

FIND OUT MORE

COMMUNITY SPONSORSHIP TO AUSTRALIA
The ACRT, together with Save the Children, Refugee Council, Amnesty International and Welcome to Australia are recommending guiding principles for the new Community Support Program (CSP). This will enable members of the Australian community to sponsor visas for refugees who wish to rebuild their lives in Australia. 

FIND OUT MORE

IMMIGRATION DETENTION VISITOR EXPERIENCES

The Refugee Council of Australia is collating information on how the new detention visiting procedures are impacting on being able to visit detainees. Your experiences can help advocate for better visiting experiences

FIND OUT MORE

Connect with us FOLLOW THE TASKFORCE ON SOCIAL MEDIA   FACEBOOK  

CONTACT US

Telephone: (02) 9299 2215

Address: Locked Bag Q199,

QVB NSW 1230

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.