Settlement services literacy among humanitarian migrants in two Australian state : NSW and Victoria

Abstract

Humanitarian migrants are most in need of settlement services due to the negative effects of their forced migration, experiences of war and persecution, torture and trauma, loss of family and friends, and physical and mental health issues. Specialised settlement programs for humanitarian migrants have been developed by host countries to address the often-complex needs of this cohort. The Australian Government funds four classifications of settlement services for humanitarian migrants for the first five years from arrival. Targeted initiatives and supports provided by the Australian Government are guided by the Australian National Settlement Framework’s nine priority focus areas (language services, employment, education and training, housing, health and well-being, transport, civic participation, family and social support, and justice). ‘Settlement Services Literacy’ (SSL) is an iterative and recurrent process in which new migrants develop abilities to know, understand, access, critically navigate and advocate for more effective settlement services. SSL competency ensures that settlement program recipients have the knowledge and skills necessary for humanitarian migrants to effectively utilise available information and services that are designed to support their successful settlement. Despite the availability of a diverse range of settlement services available to humanitarian migrants in host countries, there are currently no empirical studies exploring humanitarian migrants’ utilisation of settlement services or SSL competency. The conceptual framework of SSL has been proposed to contextualise factors that may hinder or facilitate humanitarian migrants’ access and utilisation of settlement services. Yet, limited research has explored the application of this framework and whether it can better inform the planning, delivery, and evaluation of settlement programs. This study addresses the gap in research relating to SSL and provides new insights and strategies that can help to improve the effectiveness of the settlement service provision model. This study identifies four key benefits of applying the SSL conceptual framework to ensure humanitarian migrants’ successful resettlement process and reduce the structural inequalities they face during resettlement. This study examines the provision of settlement services in the Australian context and in relation to SSL, that is, to deliver the information, knowledge and skills to humanitarian migrants that are fundamental to SSL acquisition. This study identifies multiple layers of barriers and constraints that impede service and information access for humanitarian migrants. Individual factors, in combination with systemic, service, and practical barriers were found to impact negatively on humanitarian migrants’ ability to obtain knowledge about, gain access to, and utilise settlement services.

Date of Award	2023
Original language	English
Supervisor	Andre Renzaho (Supervisor)