The State Government has released two reports detailing the progress made by government departments in meeting the needs of African humanitarian entrants.

The reports, ‘The Settlement Issues for African Humanitarian Entrants in Western Australia’ and ‘Across Government Working Party on Settlement Issues for African Humanitarian Entrants’, provide an opportunity for all Western Australians to understand how government agencies support the settlement of the new arrivals.

“Humanitarian entrants are permanent visaed arrivals and are entitled to access all State services,” Citizenship and Multicultural Interests Minister John Castrilli said.

“We can be proud of Australia’s humanitarian program and it is important to see the potential of people as economic, social and cultural assets for WA.

“Since 2000-01, WA has settled approximately 1,200 humanitarian entrants annually. While African humanitarian entrants represented the majority of settlers in 2004-05, today the program comprises equal allocations for the Africa, Asia and Middle-East regions.”

The key areas of improvement identified in the reports include housing; education and training; health; mental health; and employment.  The report also identified the need for public sector improvement incorporating greater co-ordination of government services, improved data collection, cultural competency training, greater cultural diversity in public sector recruitment and language services.

Mr Castrilli said in order to capture the momentum of these initiatives, the Federal Immigration and Citizenship Minister had agreed to re-establish the Interagency Settlement Group to improve co-ordination between Commonwealth and State Government departments.  The group will meet three times a year and report to both Ministers annually.

Copies of the report are available on the website of the Office of Multicultural Interests at http://www.omi.wa.gov.au or phone 9217 1600.