City joins campaign to improve support for asylum seekers

THE City of Greater Geelong Council has called on the federal government to provide adequate income and support to people seeking asylum.

Councillors have endorsed a joint statement against changes to the Status Resolution Support Services (SRSS) for people seeking asylum.

The decision sees the City of Greater Geelong join 22 other Victorian councils as a signatory to the statement, which seeks to reverse funding and assessment changes made to the federal SRSS program.

There are now more than 100 people in the City of Greater Geelong awaiting a decision on their application for asylum.

Many of these residents will be affected by changes to the SRSS, which had provided them with a basic living allowance, casework support and access to counselling.

Some of them are now requiring assistance from local not-for-profit agencies and charities, placing further pressure on these support services.

The council has decided to join the Local Government Mayoral Taskforce Supporting People Seeking Asylum as an observer member.

The city’s membership of the taskforce does not include a financial contribution.

The City of Greater Dandenong initiated the Joint Statement in 2018, following cuts to the SRSS’ funding and changes to eligibility criteria in 2017.

The statement calls for five commitments from the federal government, including funding to enable job readiness assessments by employment consultants who understand the barriers people seeking asylum face.

“Our advocacy has been strong in this space and will continue to be,” Geelong mayor Bruce Harwood said.

“We lobbied last year when important funding for Diversitat came under threat, and now we’re joining this taskforce as an observer member, adding our voice to the call for adequate federal government support to people seeking asylum.”