The Climate Council has launched a new report in response to COVID-19, Primed For Action: A Resilient Recovery for Australia.

To help celebrate Refugee Week, SSI have collected and shared important stories from their frontline service workers. Read them here.

Human Rights Law Centre is working to make sure communities that could be hit hardest are not unfairly burdened by COVID-19 crisis. Read HRLC's COVID-19 response.

More than 30 Community organisations joined FECCA to call for a bipartisan approach to tackle racism. Read the open letter here.

The Refugee Council of Australia have developed a list of resources for those who wish to celebrate Refugee Week this year. See them here.

DANA has launched Disability Support Toolkit for frontline workers who support people with disability experiencing violence and abuse. Click here for info.

Position/Title: Casework Coordinator

Organisation: Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC)

Q: What is your favourite part of your job?

A: My favourite part of the job is being able to assist and provide information to people seeking asylum when they first come to us at the ASRC for support for their unmet needs. It is not easy to navigate the day to day systems and legal processes, especially if people have significant language barriers and have no other support. At the ASRC caseworkers provide people seeking asylum support with housing, food, material aid, referrals for physical and mental health concerns, and general information - such as how to navigate the health system, public transport, children's education - things we all take for granted as well as information about their eligibility to work and study and legal advice.

Q: Can you outline one of your proudest moments?

A: I get to help lots of people go from simply surviving, to thriving and living independently in the community. I remember one of my clients went from being homeless, facing extreme financial difficulties and stress to now working full time and now actively participating in the community and engaging in social activities. This person is now living independently in the community and doesn't require casework support any more.   

Q: How has COVID-19 affected your day-to-day work?

A: COVID-19 has significantly affected my day-to-day work. Our casework model has moved to a crisis support model, with a focus on addressing the critical and unmet needs of people seeking asylum during the crisis. We are seeing many people come through the door having lost their jobs, and having no other financial support available they can't afford food, don't have the basics they need to be safe and are facing homelessness. 

Q: Once the pandemic is over, will you continue to use measures implemented during COVID?

A: It is difficult to comment on this right now. Even when the pandemic is over, it will have a ripple effect on the lives of people seeking asylum. It will not be easy at all for people to come out of their poverty, gain employment again and regain their confidence. It is such a long road for them. But we will continue to support people and help them get back on their feet, just as we are doing today.

Refugee Week (14 - 20 June) is Australia’s peak annual activity to inform the public about refugees and celebrate positive contributions made by refugees to Australian society. Refugee Week provides a platform where positive images of refugees can be promoted in order to create a culture of welcome throughout the country. The ultimate aim of the celebration is to create better understanding between different communities and to encourage successful integration enabling refugees to live in safety and to continue making a valuable contribution to Australia. 

This year marks Refugee Week's first ever virtual celebration! Click below to see all the ways you can participate.

Change the Record calls on state, territory and Commonwealth governments to commit to end Aboriginal deaths in custody in the wake of George Floyd’s death in America - which followed two fatal police shootings here in Australia late last year. Change the Record Co-Chair, Cheryl Axleby said, “432 Aboriginal people have died in custody since the 1991 Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody was held, which was meant to put an end to our people dying in cells. Instead, its recommendations have largely been ignored. This must change.” 

Change the Record has called on the Prime Minister and National Cabinet to implement five key recommendations, read them here.

The impact of the COVID-19 crisis has put into stark relief inequities faced by children and young people with disability and their families. Our report More than isolated: The experience of children and young people with disability and their families during the COVID-19 pandemic, shows the turmoil in accessing essential services, support and their education.  The ‘road out’ is also a road paved by inequity that existed before COVID-19 as well as being forgotten during COVID-19. All responses to a crisis must be designed to avoid creating further educational and social disconnection and inequality. The CYDA team continues to work towards reducing inequality for children and young people with disability look forward to continuing existing and new collaborations across our advocacy efforts.

For more information contact Sue Tape, CYDA Communications Adviser, 0424603892 [email protected]

The AYAC Board invites you to be a part of the national ‘Share, Coordinate, Shape’ project. Building on existing work, a strong independent voice for young people will be created - to influence and collaborate on national policy responses to the COVID-19 crisis, recovery and re-imagining. This can be the beginning of a new approach to youth policy in Australia.

To contribute, email Treasurer Ross Wortham ([email protected]). For further information, contact AYAC Co-Chairs Nadine Liddy ([email protected]) or James McDougall ([email protected]).

Health and finances have been huge concerns for us all in 2020. One way the Government is helping you to secure your financial future is with a super co-contribution. If you earn a total income of less than $53,564 this financial year, make an after-tax contribution into your super before 25 June 2020 and meet the eligibility criteria, you could receive up to $500 extra into your super.

• UNHCR World Refugee Day 2020 live online event will feature in-depth conversations with three advocates for refugees including UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Cate Blanchett - 18 June, 2020 - Click here to register

• Australia at Home will host the lunch time webinar, Foundations for Belonging: A snapshot of newly arrived refugees, featuring SSI Settlement Services Manager Dor Achiek - 18 June, 2020 - Click here for details

• National Rural Health Alliance is hosting a webinar on affordable and nourishing food for rural and remote communities during COVID-19 and beyond - 29 June, 2020 - Click for info

• Join the Black Lives Matter: What we can do to prevent deaths in custody webinar discussing what our nation can do to finally put an end to these seemingly endless deaths - 19 June, 2020 - Click here to register

• Building Visibility and Influence for Women in the Public Sector is a two-day masterclass that aims to help women in the sector lift their voices - 23 & 24 July, 2020 - More info here
  

• cohealth's COVID-19 resource page helps people understand the virus, avoid catching it, and find information in your own language. See the list here

• Rape & Domestic Violence Services Australia provide resources for people impacted by sexual, domestic and family violence, including resources about how to prevent violence in our community. Read more here

• NACCHO updates its COVID-19 resource page with information as it becomes available, now including advice for #BlackLivesMatter protesters. Click here for more information

• UnitingCare Australia have outlined COVID-19 resources including information in other languages, links to relevant state and territory information, and links to connect those who need support to one of their services. See resources here

• MS Australia has created an information hub for people with MS. See here for more information

The recent abuses of people with disability have exposed the many gaps that exist in the current system. PWDA's El Gibbs speaks to ProBono.

“The fact is that the royal commission released almost three decades ago said that to stop Aboriginal deaths in custody we must stop putting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in prison,” the Change the Record co-chair and CEO of the National Aboriginal legal service (NATSILS), Cheryl Axleby, said.

Richard Weston, chief executive of SNAICC, said many Indigenous community services had reported increased enrolment after the abolition of fees, with vulnerable children attending for more hours and some families accessing early learning and care for the first time.

.@NACCHOChair Aboriginal Health and #BlackLivesMatter News Alerts

Aboriginal deaths in custody with commentary from Pat Turner , Helen Milroy , Marcia Langton , @KenWyattMP @David_Speers @GayaaDhuwi @pat_dudgeon @SenatorDodson @VACCHO_org https://t.co/KuPJX6h4BC pic.twitter.com/pW5Or4l0v0

— Aboriginal Health in Aboriginal Hands (@NACCHOAustralia) June 11, 2020