Humanitarian Settlement
Services
Regional Profile #4
Geelong, Victoria
HSS Regional Profile #4 Geelong, Victoria
Contents
Humanitarian Settlement Services
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Contents
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About Geelong
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Service providers
4
Accommodation
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Education
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Health Services
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Employment Opportunities
6
A welcoming community
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DSS wishes to express its thanks to Diversitat 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 #4 Geelong, Victoria
About Geelong
Geelong is a port city, 75 kilometres south-west of Melbourne. Some 30 000 of the total population
of 220 000 identify as being of non-English-speaking background. Within the last five years, more
than 1500 refugees have moved to the city and the surrounding region. The largest newly arrived
communities are Karen, Afghan, Sudanese and Congolese. A third of the city’s population is 25
years of age or younger.
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HSS Regional Profile #4 Geelong, 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.
Diversitat is the service provider in Geelong and the surrounding region delivering services on behalf
of the Department of Social Services (DSS). It is a not-for-profit, charitable organisation, providing
services to the culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) community in the Geelong region.
Diversitat’s governing council includes members drawn from 49 CALD communities.
Diversitat’s philosophy is to empower individuals to reach their full potential through strengths-based
case management and pathway planning. Its programmes and services for refugees include:
 HSS and the Settlement Grant activities
 community development
 learn to drive
 volunteer tutoring
 home help
 Family Friends
 registration as a training organisation
 aged care
 community enterprises, including market gardening, food retail, the community radio
station 94.7 – The Pulse, the ‘Men’s Shed’, and automotive, horticulture and labouring
studies
 specialist youth services
 provider of specialist employment services
 arts and events.
Accommodation
Diversitat is a registered housing provider and currently manages about 30 properties.
For HSS clients, it has four transition properties, which can house up to 32 people in the short to
medium term. It also has arrangements in place with private landlords, church groups and
commercial real estate agents, to support long-term accommodation needs.
Rent varies, depending on the size, condition and location of the property. The average rent for a
typical three-bedroom house is $200–$2301 per week.
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Approximate rental prices as at September 2012
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HSS Regional Profile #4 Geelong, Victoria
Education
Diversitat delivers the Adult Migrant English Program (AMEP) and provides refugees with 510 hours
of free English language tuition, a 40-hour settlement course, and 200 hours of work preparation.
Across the programme:
 about 120 refugees and migrants from 25 countries learn English together in the class room
environment.
 Students are streamed into distinct English class levels.
 Preliminary low-literacy, Beginner 1, Post-beginner 2 and Intermediate 3 classes are
offered at two sites. There is one site in the northern suburbs at the Northern Community
Hub, and another in the Geelong business district at the Pulse training facility.
 speaking, reading, writing and listening skills are taught on a holistic basis.
 AMEP students also acquire English in practical ways such as outside the classroom and
through simulated real-world activities.
 students go out to visit shops, workplaces and also engage in role-play at other community
centres.
Three methods of learning are offered:
 in the classroom, where free childcare is provided.
 e-learning/Skype distance learning
 home tutoring.
Classes and courses currently offered include:
 core AMEP classes, 15 hours full-time, or seven hours part-time per week
 introductory 100-hour Special Preparatory Programme (SPP) classes for those with
disrupted education, or torture and trauma issues
 settlement classes, 40 hours
 short, stand-alone literacy classes (grammar, computer literacy, writing and citizenship)
 specialist employment classes, 200 hours
 night classes, two nights per week
 bilingual afternoon classes
 home tutor scheme.
The AMEP counselling service assists learners with pathway planning, education, training and
employment issues.
Diversitat offers a learner’s pathway from AMEP to accredited training and higher education
pathways to Gordon TAFE and Deakin University, which has two campuses in Geelong.
Health Services
Barwon Health, the main health provider in Geelong and the region, delivers health care services
through:
 a major public hospital and its associated services, with a total of 1016 beds
 a sub-acute site for inpatient and community rehabilitation
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HSS Regional Profile #4 Geelong, Victoria

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aged care
a total of 16 community-based sites at key locations throughout the region
outreach clinics and home-based services.
Two general practitioner clinics specialise in refugee health assessments, and there is an infectious
disease assessment and treatment clinic.
A full-time refugee health nurse is located near the Northern Community Hub, being the facility
where Diversitat’s HSS programmes are based. The refugee health nurse and Diversitat’s
settlement staff work with allied health professionals to deliver health services.
Employment Opportunities
Diversitat provides limited Job Services Australia services in the Geelong area. As a CALD specialist
provider, it has set up employment opportunities for refugee clients in the following areas:
 general labouring
 meat works
 rabbit farming
 construction labouring
 process work
 cleaning
 tailoring (sewing)
 agricultural and horticultural labouring and process work.
Combined English language and “trade taster” classes are provided to Afghan clients. These
classes provide basic skills, particularly in construction that may lead to work in various trades and
to apprenticeships.
The Diversitat Job Futures programme links with other settlement programmes to provide a holistic
service that incorporates settlement, training, case management and employment.
A welcoming community
The local Settlement Planning Committee and Local Coordination Committee for HSS in Geelong
bring together a range of service providers in planned relationships, to welcome and assist new
arrivals, among them are:
 Centrelink
 general practitioners, through the Division of General Practice
 G21, a formal alliance of government, business and community organisations that work
together to improve the lives of those living in the Geelong region.
 Geelong City community development team
 mental health services
 drug and alcohol services
 police
 family services
 maternal and children’s health
 Department of Education
 local schools
 Geelong English Language Centre
 refugee health nurse
 Volunteering Geelong
 local church and service clubs.
New arrivals are introduced to these groups when they enter the HSS programme, and all new and
emerging communities are encouraged and helped to form their own associations.
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HSS Regional Profile #4 Geelong, Victoria
Pako Festa
The Pako Festa is a celebration of cultural diversity. It brings people together to enjoy cultural food,
folk dancing, the famous Pako Parade, workshops, art exhibitions, multicultural craft displays and
entertainment. The festival is an opportunity for local and regional cultural groups to promote cultural
diversity and educate the broader community of the beauty and enriching capacity of
multiculturalism and community arts.
Community Hub North Geelong
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