On Monday 3 August, Canberra Refugee Support hosted a very successful workshop on the future of supports for asylum seekers and refugees in Canberra. CRS having reached it’s 25th year of operations in 2025, the workshop was an opportunity to consider the (very uncertain) future of refugees globally and in Australia, and what sorts of issues might be faced by people seeking asylum who come to settle in Canberra, and how the network of organisations working together to help in the settlement process – including especially CRS – can ensure we do that work as well as possible.
Attended by over 30 participants, including CRS members and representatives from key partners, including Red Cross, Vinnies, Companion House, MARSS, Stepping Stone, the ACT Government’s Multicultural team and the Federal Department of Home Affairs, speakers included Professor Emeritus William Maley (a world expert on refugees and especially refugee law), Hamoudi Al Saghir (a former refugee from Syria, now studying to gain his law degree at the ANU), Kathy Ragless (Director of Companion House and a great partner for CRS) and Kim Huynh (an ANU academic and public commentator working on refugees and the Canberra community).
An animated discussion canvassed many issues, including housing, employment, collaboration with businesses, working with other social support agencies in Canberra, the possible need for CRS to become more active in advocacy, and the central importance of flexible, human-centred responses to the varied and many needs of the people who CRS supports through our ‘good neighbour’ model.
A report from the day is in preparation and will be published on the CRS website, when completed. The CRS Committee anticipates using the Workshop as a springboard for its own deliberations in leading CRS in the coming years.