Settlement Services International (SSI) welcomes the Albanese Government's 2025-26 Federal Budget and continuing measures to address cost of living pressures and promote social cohesion which goes some way to delivering stronger inclusion and integration for multicultural communities.
SSI CEO Violet Roumeliotis said, "SSI commends the government's investment of $178.4 million over five years to support social cohesion, which includes vital funding for multicultural organisations to deliver tailored programs and services to the communities they serve and continuing to address the recommendations of the Multicultural Framework Review.
SSI welcomes $3.5 million over three years (and $1.2 million per year ongoing) to embed the Community Refugee Integration and Settlement program following the conclusion of a pilot. We recommend this critical stream to Australia's humanitarian response is in addition the current overall humanitarian intake.
SSI acknowledges the extension of the Economic Pathways to Refugee Integration program to boost refugee employment and a raft of sector-specific measures to address skills shortages in health, construction and energy. However, SSI is disappointed at the lack of action by the Government for urgent reforms to unlock the skills of 620,000 permanent migrants already in Australia as one in three professions face critical skills shortages.
"Since the launch of the Activate Australia's Skills campaign, over 100 organisations and fourteen of Australia's most influential leaders have called for urgent reforms to the skills and qualification recognition system" says SSI CEO, Ms Violet Roumeliotis AM. "Our campaign has provided costed, ready to go solutions for systemic reforms and place-based employment hubs to remove persistent barriers impacting refugees and migrants which could inject $9 billion annually into Australia's economy. A piecemeal and sector-specific approach to skills shortages is not the most meaningful investment to unlock the skills of migrants."
SSI also cautiously welcomes the announcement of $364.5 million for foundational supports for people with disability and the Information, Linkages and Capacity Building program. We know that people with disabilities from multicultural backgrounds are significantly under-represented in the NDIS and we also know that they also struggle to access mainstream services, like health, delivered by states and territories. SSI is calling for more detail on how a long-term agreement for foundational supports to access mainstream services will be struck with states and territories.
In terms of cost of living, SSI welcomes the government's measures to increase bulk-billing incentives for GPs, establish more urgent care clinics, make PBS medications cheaper, provide energy bill relief and subsidise certain medications and treatments under a new women's health package.
SSI also welcomes the commitment of the Albanese government to increase funding for public schools, cut student debts by 20% to address intergenerational unfairness and build a universal system of early childhood education and care ensuring that every child has the right to three days of subsidised early education to ensure they don't start school behind.
While this moves Australia closer to universal access to early childhood education, SSI sees that it will not address the financial and non-financial barriers we see multicultural families face in accessing early childhood education.
SSI's and UniSA research, Stronger Starts, Brighter Futures II (2024), found that children from multicultural backgrounds in Australia are much less likely to participate in early childhood education and start school behind. SSI calls for governments at all levels to improve access by multicultural children and families through a mix of targeted and place-based interventions that complement universal approaches like those announced in this budget.
Ms Roumeliotis added, "This Budget represents meaningful progress towards building stronger, cohesive communities across Australia, but we urge the government to act decisively on unlocking migrant skills, improving employment pathways, and progressing disability and early childhood education reforms in ways that ensure greater equity. True social cohesion can only be achieved when every Australian – regardless of their background – has the opportunity and support to fully participate in our society and economy."
About us:
Settlement Services International (SSI) delivers a range of human services that connect individuals, families, and children from diverse backgrounds with opportunities - including settlement support, disability programs, community engagement initiatives and training and employment pathways. At the heart of everything we do is a drive for equality, empathy, and celebration of every individual.
