Settlement Grants Program 2007 - 2009

The Settlement Grants Program (SGP) is funded by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC). The SGP seeks to address the needs of both newly arrived migrants and refugees, and ease their integration into Australian life and culture, enabling self-reliance and equitable participation in Australian society as soon as possible after arrival. SGP funding focuses on three core areas: Orientation to Australia; Developing Communities; and Integration - Inclusion and Participation.

Clients eligible for SGP services include: permanent residents who have arrived in the last five years as humanitarian entrants or as family stream migrants with low English proficiency; newly emerging communities needing assistance and still receiving significant numbers of new arrivals; and dependants of skilled migrants in rural and regional areas with low English proficiency.

The MCNT has been funded under the Settlement Grants Program since 2007.

SGP Project Aims

The current SGP Project aims to improve access to mainstream services for newly arrived migrants and refugees in the Darwin area through a number of measures which include:

  • Informal referrals to other service providers and information about settlement issues;
  • Assisting new communities to develop their capacity to organise, plan and advocate for services to meet their own needs;
  • Providing culturally and linguistically sensitive orientation, life skills, and information sessions;
  • Responding to community needs through regular feedback and consultation; and
  • Addressing barriers and facilitate pathways to employment through maintaining and strengthening networks with other service providers and mainstream organizations and agencies.

SGP Project Activities

Some of the core activities planned for the 2008-09 SGP Project include:

  • Mentoring newly established communities, including assistance with facilitating AGM’s, community elections, incorporation of community groups, organisational planning, and applying for grants;
  • Regular sewing classes to improve clients self esteem, confidence, increase social networking opportunities, develop practical and employable skills, and create links and pathways to other mainstream activities;
  • The establishment of a weekly Homework Club for young people who have recently arrived as refugees; and
  • The establishment of a volunteer program to assist with and further develop the above projects, and increase community connectedness, awareness and integration of newly arrived migrants into the mainstream community.