Humanitarian Settlement
Services
Regional Profile #5
Shepparton, Victoria
HSS Regional Profile #5 Shepparton, Victoria
Contents
Humanitarian Settlement Services
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Contents
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About Shepparton
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Service providers
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Accommodation
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Education
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Health Services
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Employment Opportunities
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A welcoming community
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DSS wishes to express its thanks to Uniting Care Cutting Edge (UCCE) for compiling this material.
While every care has been taken, DSS makes no guarantees that the information provided is up to
date.
For further information on the Humanitarian Settlement Services programme see:
Humanitarian Settlement Services (HSS)
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HSS Regional Profile #5 Shepparton, Victoria
About Shepparton
Shepparton is a city in north-east Victoria, about 180 km from Melbourne and is an agricultural and
manufacturing centre. The city and surrounding region have a population of about 64 000.
Shepparton has a rich cultural diversity. After World War II, migrants from Italy and Albania settled in
the region and established farms and orchards. In recent years, refugees have come from Iraq,
Kuwait and the Democratic Republic of Congo and, more recently, from Afghanistan, Iran, Sudan
and other parts of Africa.
About 11 per cent of the population were born in a country other than Australia, with almost 8 per
cent coming from countries where English is not their first language. Many of the refugees who
came to Shepparton have settled in the area, enjoying the rural lifestyle and the opportunities for
seasonal and permanent work.
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HSS Regional Profile #5 Shepparton, Victoria
Service providers
Humanitarian Settlement Service (HSS) services provided in the region focus on helping refugees to
gain access to mainstream services such as Centrelink, Medicare, banks, general and specialist
health and medical services, English language tuition, training and employment, in addition to links
to the community and community organisations.
Uniting Care Cutting Edge (UCCE) delivers HSS services in Shepparton and the region on behalf of
the Department of Social Services (DSS). UCCE works with communities to provide and advocate
for high quality services and environmental sustainability. It is a referral agency for welfare and
support services.
UCCE provides the following refugee specific services:
 Humanitarian Settlement Services (HSS)
 Settlement Grant activities
 Complex Case Support (CCS)
 reconnect newly arrived youth specialist (for young refugees at risk of homelessness).
Accommodation
Shepparton offers more affordable housing than most other major cities in Australia.
Approximate costs of rental accommodation as at September 2012 are:
 three bedroom house: $180−$220 per week
 two bedroom units/flats: $170−$200 per week
 one bedroom units/flats: $130−$150 per week.
Most houses are within six km of the Central Business District (CBD), where many shops and
services are located. Shepparton’s large shopping district includes a halal supermarket and all
suburban areas have small local shopping areas within reasonable walking distance of most homes.
Bus travel is cheap when compared with major metropolitan areas. The local public bus services
travels through Shepparton’s suburban areas, with the main destination being the CBD.
Education
All education institutions in the region offer services to refugees, including pre-school, primary,
secondary and tertiary.
Learning English
GOTAFE is the largest provider of vocational education and training in north-east Victoria. It delivers
the Adult Migrant English Program (AMEP), both face-to-face in day or night classes and through
the Volunteer Home Tutor Programme for clients who cannot attend class.
Playgroups and pre-School
The Settlement Grant activities offers two children’s’ playgroups each week for women who are
newly arrived through the Humanitarian Programme. The playgroups provide an opportunity for
young mothers to socialise with other mothers, learn about childhood development and how to
access other services. The programme works in collaboration with other playgroups and introduces
mothers to pre-schools and assists them in enrolling their children.
Primary
Shepparton English Language Centre (SELC) provides staff to all public schools for new refugee
students. The students are supported through an intensive and supportive transition programme
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HSS Regional Profile #5 Shepparton, Victoria
which encourages and helps them to develop the language and educational skills they need to
transition into the mainstream.
Children and parents in newly arrived refugee families are supported in every public primary school
through the school’s Family Liaison Officer (FLO). The FLO promotes multiculturalism in schools
and ensures that all students are supported in their transition. Interpreters assist parents in
communicating with teachers and other staff.
The Settlement Grant activities also provides ‘homework clubs’ for young people from refugee
backgrounds where they can access additional after-school educational support.
Secondary
Students of school age can attend classes at SELC for the first 6-12 months of their schooling in
Australia. During this time their English skills are developed and they are prepared for entry into
mainstream schools. When they enter mainstream secondary schools, SELC continues to support
them as they transition. All secondary schools have welfare staff to assist with any of their support
needs, and teachers at all schools have also received training in refugee settlement and transition.
All schools are supported through the Refugee Action Network.
Tertiary
GOTAFE offers pathways programmes, which provide introductory courses to assist clients to
transition into mainstream courses. La Trobe University (Shepparton) and GOTAFE are partners in
the Tertiary Enabling Programme which supports mentors for refugees transitioning into mainstream
courses at university level.
HSS clients who have achieved a satisfactory level of English can move on to other study, such as:
 Certificate III in Children Services
 Certificates in Business and Information Technology
 selected modules from Business (Retail) and Hospitality
 training in basic knowledge and skills in furnishing, metal fabrication, automotive,
agriculture, asset maintenance and the meat industry
 bilingual worker training.
Shepparton School
Health Services
Shepparton’s main health service providers, Primary Care Connect (PCC) (for community health
services) and Goulburn Valley Health (public hospital) provide refugee health services.
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HSS Regional Profile #5 Shepparton, Victoria
PCC is actively involved in the improvement of health and community services for refugees in the
region and offers friendly and welcoming assistance for all refugees, including:
 a counsellor/advocate for refugees who have experienced torture and trauma
 a refugee health nurse
 financial counsellors
 a dietician
 on-site doctors.
The doctors specialise in refugee health and offer complete refugee health checks for new arrivals.
All staff use interpreting services for clients who are not confident in speaking English. A number of
general practitioners in Shepparton speak languages other than English, including Arabic, Persian
and Urdu.
Goulburn Valley Health is a large regional hospital serving Shepparton and the region. It is proactive in providing quality health services to refugees, including:
 child and adolescent health
 community care
 emergency services
 general and emergency medicine
 mental health
 residential aged care
 surgical
 allied health
 women’s health
 culturally appropriate maternal and child health services
 priority dental care
 referral to specialist doctors or clinics as required.
All Goulburn Valley Health areas have guidelines in relation to their services for refugees and for
people speaking languages other than English. On-site and telephone interpreters are available on
request free of charge.
The hospital hosts regular tours of all areas of the hospital for new refugee arrivals, to help them find
their way around and learn about the services that are available. It is recognised that for new arrivals
the medical system can be overwhelming and difficult to understand. The tours are hosted with
interpreters present.
Employment Opportunities
The major employment opportunities in Shepparton and the region are in agriculture, food
manufacturing, retail, health care and social assistance.
The region is a major producer of fruit and vegetables and refugees are often employed in this
industry. Peak time is in the warmer months between November and April, and the work usually
involves fruit picking. It is accessible to women and men from all backgrounds, regardless of their
English language ability. A high number of people come to Shepparton during these summer months
to work in this industry. Transport may be provided for workers between Shepparton and the
orchards.
Those with higher levels of English-speaking skills will have opportunities to apply for work in the
manufacturing industry. This work is usually preserving and packaging fresh fruit.
Settlement services and other community organisations in Shepparton have recently provided
accredited training for women refugees in providing home-based child care. This is an affordable,
culturally appropriate childcare arrangement, provided by women from similar communities for
mothers who work outside the home.
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HSS Regional Profile #5 Shepparton, Victoria
Job Network providers in Shepparton have case managers to help new arrivals find and apply for
jobs. They assess individual barriers to employment and assist with opportunities for up-skilling and
training.
Service providers use interpreters and identify a client’s specific needs. They take into account
issues such as language barriers, whether they are recent arrivals, mental and physical health
issues, and skill levels. However, they do not specialise in refugee employment.
A welcoming community
UCCE works with many groups and organisations in the community that are committed to making
new refugee arrivals feel welcome.
Among these are:
 Ethnic Council of Shepparton and District: Settlement Grant activities
 Family Relationship Centre/ CentreCare: counselling and mediation for families
 FamilyCare: a range of refugee-aware family and child support programmes including the
Refugee Minor Programme
 Greater Shepparton City Council: provide a range of programmes for new arrivals. The
council has initiated the Localities Embracing and Accepting Diversity (LEAD) campaign
and is very active in refugee settlement and in developing programmes to assist settlement
 local churches: volunteer assistance for settlement
 People Supporting People: a soup kitchen and free halal food for people on low incomes
 Relationships Australia: counselling
 Rural Housing: emergency housing support
 Salvation Army Pathways: emergency material relief and crisis support
 Shepparton Public Library: free computer access, books in relevant languages, and a
monthly welcome to new arrivals
 the Bridge Youth Services: casework, activities and projects for young people
 voluntary community associations: Soroptimist, Rotary, Lions Club, Kiwanis.
Centrelink in Shepparton, centrally located in Maude Street, has a refugee team which specialises in
assisting people from refugee and non-English speaking backgrounds. The office also has a
multicultural service officer who is actively engaged in refugee settlement in the region. Centrelink
has qualified interpreters on site, who speak Arabic, Dari, Hazaragi, Persian and Albanian, and have
access to a bank of 3000 qualified telephone interpreters, speaking more than 250 languages.
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