29 May 2009

People emigrating to Australia to get settlement provisions

People emigrating to Australia will get provisions and funding grants to help them settle into the country, particularly if they move to Western Australia.

The Australian government is committed to helping people emigrating to Australia so that they can start to contribute positively to the Australian economy and community as soon as possible.  Across Australia, 205 settlement programs and 136 organisations will receive funding totalling $34 million during the 2009-10 Budget year.

Funding of $2.7 million will be given specifically to 24 programs in Western Australia to help people emigrating to Australia with "crucial life skills and knowledge about life in Australia", said Immigration Minister Chris Evans.

The projects "aim to help new West Australians make the cultural transition and become self reliant so they can make a valuable contribution to our society and the economy," he added.

The Edmund Rice Centre's 'Drive Safe' program is just one of the projects set up for Australian immigrants, which teaches people emigrating to Australia how to drive to a standard that will allow them to eventually become driving instructors themselves.  This project focuses particularly on people emigrating to Australia from Sudan, Afghanistan, Burma, Iraq, Somalia, Congo and Burundi.

Other funding projects include $138,845 for Centrecare to provide youth camps and school-based workshops on Australian life, the legal system, nutrition, budgeting and sexual health, $125,751 to help victims of torture and trauma access health and counselling services, $124,200 to provide information sessions to women in the Pilbara on women's health, education, housing and other government services, and $90,095 to assist refugee youths with accommodation needs in the south metropolitan area.

"I commend all the organisations in Western Australia for their contribution to the positive and successful settlement of people who are new to our nation," Senator Evans added.

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The Australian Visa Bureau is an independent consulting company specialising in helping people with emigrating to Australia.