Page 1197 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 29 March 2017
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In addition the ACT government has continued to play an important and proactive role in assisting refugees and asylum seekers to settle in our city and in promoting social harmony for many years. The ACT community has a proud history of settling refugees and asylum seekers from all over the world, many of whom have gone on to make an enormous contribution to Canberra’s economic, social and cultural life. The ACT government and the wider ACT community have been ably assisted in their support and work by the tireless efforts of service providers and community organisations who also share our passion to offer help to enable every person to reach their full potential as a member of our diverse, inclusive and creative community.
The concept of the refugee welcome zone was an initiative of the Refugee Council of Australia and was first created in June 2002 as part of the Refugee Week celebrations. At that time 15 councils and shires in Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia declared themselves refugee welcome zones. Today more than 100 local government agencies across Australia have declared themselves refugee welcome zones.
The ACT, need I remind the opposition, was the first state or territory in Australia to declare itself a refugee welcome zone. The process for the ACT becoming a refugee welcome zone involved the ACT government signing the refugee welcome zone declaration in June 2015. By signing the declaration, the ACT government gave a commitment in spirit to welcome refugees into our community, to uphold the human rights of refugees, to demonstrate compassion for refugees and to enhance cultural and religious diversity in our community. By becoming a refugee welcome zone, the ACT has formally continued its proud record and tradition of supporting the settlement of refugees.
The declaration builds on existing ACT government initiatives to support refugees and asylum seekers. In a broader context it has effectively served to demonstrate support for refugees, to take a strong stand against racism and discrimination and, importantly, to serve as a catalyst in raising awareness about the issues affecting refugees. It has also served to foster a culture of mutual respect and to promote a solid appreciation of cultural diversity by our citizens. In a best-practice contest, the ACT’s refugee welcome zone status has served to encourage the development of a more coordinated approach to support refugee settlement and to motivate local organisations and support groups to work together more effectively to improve settlement outcomes for refugees.
The ACT government provides a suite of services and programs, including the ACT services access card which enables a smooth access to entitlements for refugees and asylum seekers. I should not need to remind the opposition, but I will, that the suite of entitlements available to refugees and asylum seekers includes, and is not limited to, high quality education services, including a fee waiver provision to cover the costs associated with enrolment in local public schools; access to English language classes through the Canberra Institute of Technology—opposition leader, are you listening?—
Mr Coe: For kids?
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