This year marks the 21st year of Circle of Friends Australia. It was in May 2002 that this organisation was founded, and amazingly some of the original Circles including Willunga and Blackwood/Hills (merger of two pioneer Circles) have been operating continuously since that time.
Each of the original Circles began by providing help to one of the families to be released from the “Immigration and Processing Centre” (detention centre) at Woomera or the Baxter Centre near Port Augusta. All members agreed to provide $5 -$10 each week to ensure that their ‘adopted’ family had the essentials of life. Prior to the first family’s release, members of Circle One (Belair/Human Services) were required to provide sworn affidavits they would follow through with this undertaking.
Ultimately everyone released had access to Medicare, Centrelink and the then SA Housing Trust services and additional practical and financial support was provided from non-government organisations such as CentaCare Catholic Family Services, Red Cross, and St Vincent de Paul, along with financial and in-kind assistance from community groups and churches (especially Uniting Churches and the Anglicans at Glen Osmond and Hawthorn). This enabled a greater number of individuals or families to be helped, once they were released from detention or arrived from offshore.
In the beginning each Circle committed to an action plan according to its budget and priorities. Most focussed on family or individual support, a few on education or on some other specific objective.
Now, 21 years later, there is minimal Federal government support for people seeking asylum who are living in the community. Some have recently been informed that they are eligible to apply for permanent protection visas, which means they will have full Centrelink access, be able to apply for Australian citizenship and apply to bring their family members to Australia.
While this is very welcome news and long overdue, there are still approximately 15,000 asylum seekers in Australia who remain on temporary bridging visas. Recent Federal governments have allocated $37 million of support for people seeking asylum, down from $300 million in 2015-16. Labor allocated the same amount last year but spent only $15 million because of overly restrictive eligibility criteria (CAPSA Team Newsletter May 2023). This means that most of these 15,000 asylum-seekers have no access to any form of social security.
While some state governments have established dedicated programs to help with living costs, the South Australian government has not done so to date. This is despite extensive pleas from front-line service providers which are struggling to maintain the level of support required to avert chronic destitution. The most recent newsletter from the Refugee Council of Australia confirms that up to 15,000 people seeking asylum are living in deep poverty in Australia.
Since the start of Covid in 2020, the Rapid Response Circle (Circle 110) and SOS For Asylum Seekers Circle (Circle 121) have dedicated much of their attention and resources towards providing direct financial and mentoring support for those asylum seekers living in these dire situations. In fact, almost every Circle has at one stage supported, or continues to support, asylum seekers in situations where they have little or no income, are not permitted to work or even to study and sometimes do not have access to Medicare.
For younger men from Iran and Afghanistan who have no current visa or income, the situation is particularly dramatic and confronting, especially when they are forced to sleep on the streets. These men are essentially beggars and, at present, completely reliant on charity.
Such an assault on their dignity and self-confidence is disturbing to witness. Circle volunteers try hard to counterbalance it by doing their best to relate as equals. But money is power, and it is clear volunteers hold that, despite their best efforts. It is crucial Circles of Friends continue contributing to their survival, giving at least a modicum of hope and the knowledge that some citizens do care what is happening to them.
Only 2% (maximum) of funds raised by Circles is used to cover administration costs such as insurance and banking fees. The remainder is spent as a priority by Circles to help with rental, utility and living costs for those who either arrived by boat in Australia prior to the start of 2014 or tried to arrive by boat after that date, were sent to either Manus Island or Nauru and have now been relocated to Australia. Helping people facing challenges with rent is crucial given the current 1% rental vacancy rate in South Australia.
These asylum seekers are required to apply for rolling six-month temporary bridging visas. This means that they also must renew their Medicare cards, which has proved to be very problematic and time-consuming. Living a life in limbo for such an extended period has led to serious depression and feelings of hopelessness, further adding to the effects of previous trauma and language comprehension difficulties. It is difficult to find and keep work for a range of reasons, including temporary, short-term visa status, low level language skills, racial prejudice, precarious accommodation, and the difficulties of accessing public transport in the very late and very early hours.
Rapid Response Circle works in tandem with SOS For Asylum Seekers Circle. Currently the Rapid Response Circle is assisting 6 families (one with weekly living expenses) and eleven single men – one monthly, one weekly with rent and living costs and the others weekly, fortnightly, or as bills they can’t pay come in. The SOS For Asylum Seekers Circle supports 4 single men and two families with rent and/or living expenses. It also contributes to utility payments where necessary. Both, especially the Rapid Response Circle, respond to new calls for aid as they come in. The number of calls and levels of assistance required are unpredictable and make it difficult to budget and to apply for grants where a firm budget is required. In addition, grants are usually provided for projects that involve ‘empowering’ people to take charge of their lives and work towards self-sufficiency. That providing the basic necessities of food and shelter is the necessary first step in empowering people is overlooked by these grant funding bodies.
Circle of Friends provides financial support only where there is no Government or non-government agency and no other charity group mandated and able to help. Groceries, Supermarket Gift Cards, Foodbank vouchers and other items are sourced elsewhere, if possible, e.g., Hope’s Café, The Welcome Center, Birthline pregnancy support, the Sophia Centre, Blackwood Lions, Op Shops, Vinnies Refugee and Asylum Seeker Service and shops, Anglicare,
This year marks the 21st year of Circle of Friends Australia. It was in May 2002 that this organisation was founded, and amazingly some of the original Circles including Willunga and Blackwood/Hills (merger of two pioneer Circles) have been operating continuously since that time.
Each of the original Circles began by providing help to one of the families to be released from the “Immigration and Processing Centre” (detention centre) at Woomera or the Baxter Centre near Port Augusta. All members agreed to provide $5 -$10 each week to ensure that their ‘adopted’ family had the essentials of life. Prior to the first family’s release, members of Circle One (Belair/Human Services) were required to provide sworn affidavits they would follow through with this undertaking.
Ultimately everyone released had access to Medicare, Centrelink and the then SA Housing Trust services and additional practical and financial support was provided from non-government organisations such as CentaCare Catholic Family Services, Red Cross, and St Vincent de Paul, along with financial and in-kind assistance from community groups and churches (especially Uniting Churches and the Anglicans at Glen Osmond and Hawthorn). This enabled a greater number of individuals or families to be helped, once they were released from detention or arrived from offshore.
In the beginning each Circle committed to an action plan according to its budget and priorities. Most focussed on family or individual support, a few on education or on some other specific objective.
Now, 21 years later, there is minimal Federal government support for people seeking asylum who are living in the community. Some have recently been informed that they are eligible to apply for permanent protection visas, which means they will have full Centrelink access, be able to apply for Australian citizenship and apply to bring their family members to Australia.
While this is very welcome news and long overdue, there are still approximately 15,000 asylum seekers in Australia who remain on temporary bridging visas. Recent Federal governments have allocated $37 million of support for people seeking asylum, down from $300 million in 2015-16. Labor allocated the same amount last year but spent only $15 million because of overly restrictive eligibility criteria (CAPSA Team Newsletter May 2023). This means that most of these 15,000 asylum-seekers have no access to any form of social security.
While some state governments have established dedicated programs to help with living costs, the South Australian government has not done so to date. This is despite extensive pleas from front-line service providers which are struggling to maintain the level of support required to avert chronic destitution. The most recent newsletter from the Refugee Council of Australia confirms that up to 15,000 people seeking asylum are living in deep poverty in Australia.
Since the start of Covid in 2020, the Rapid Response Circle (Circle 110) and SOS For Asylum Seekers Circle (Circle 121) have dedicated much of their attention and resources towards providing direct financial and mentoring support for those asylum seekers living in these dire situations. In fact, almost every Circle has at one stage supported, or continues to support, asylum seekers in situations where they have little or no income, are not permitted to work or even to study and sometimes do not have access to Medicare.
For younger men from Iran and Afghanistan who have no current visa or income, the situation is particularly dramatic and confronting, especially when they are forced to sleep on the streets. These men are essentially beggars and, at present, completely reliant on charity.
Such an assault on their dignity and self-confidence is disturbing to witness. Circle volunteers try hard to counterbalance it by doing their best to relate as equals. But money is power, and it is clear volunteers hold that, despite their best efforts. It is crucial Circles of Friends continue contributing to their survival, giving at least a modicum of hope and the knowledge that some citizens do care what is happening to them.
Only 2% (maximum) of funds raised by Circles is used to cover administration costs such as insurance and banking fees. The remainder is spent as a priority by Circles to help with rental, utility and living costs for those who either arrived by boat in Australia prior to the start of 2014 or tried to arrive by boat after that date, were sent to either Manus Island or Nauru and have now been relocated to Australia. Helping people facing challenges with rent is crucial given the current 1% rental vacancy rate in South Australia.
These asylum seekers are required to apply for rolling six-month temporary bridging visas. This means that they also must renew their Medicare cards, which has proved to be very problematic and time-consuming. Living a life in limbo for such an extended period has led to serious depression and feelings of hopelessness, further adding to the effects of previous trauma and language comprehension difficulties. It is difficult to find and keep work for a range of reasons, including temporary, short-term visa status, low level language skills, racial prejudice, precarious accommodation, and the difficulties of accessing public transport in the very late and very early hours.
Rapid Response Circle works in tandem with SOS For Asylum Seekers Circle. Currently the Rapid Response Circle is assisting 6 families (one with weekly living expenses) and eleven single men – one monthly, one weekly with rent and living costs and the others weekly, fortnightly, or as bills they can’t pay come in. The SOS For Asylum Seekers Circle supports 4 single men and two families with rent and/or living expenses. It also contributes to utility payments where necessary. Both, especially the Rapid Response Circle, respond to new calls for aid as they come in. The number of calls and levels of assistance required are unpredictable and make it difficult to budget and to apply for grants where a firm budget is required. In addition, grants are usually provided for projects that involve ‘empowering’ people to take charge of their lives and work towards self-sufficiency. That providing the basic necessities of food and shelter is the necessary first step in empowering people is overlooked by these grant funding bodies.
Circle of Friends provides financial support only where there is no Government or non-government agency and no other charity group mandated and able to help. Groceries, Supermarket Gift Cards, Foodbank vouchers and other items are sourced elsewhere, if possible, e.g., Hope’s Café, The Welcome Center, Birthline pregnancy support, the Sophia Centre, Blackwood Lions, Op Shops, Vinnies Refugee and Asylum Seeker Service and shops, Anglicare, CentaCare Catholic Family Services and Uniting Church outlets. Both the Rapid Response Circle and the SOS For Asylum Seekers Circle are members of GiveIt and Adelaide Refugee Support, which have goods available from time to time.
The Suzanne Elliott Trust has been incredibly generous as have all our donors. They have kept the Rapid Response Circle and the SOS For Asylum Seekers Circle afloat, and we thank every single one of them as, without them, our work could not continue.
Personally, I wish governments between them would ensure that asylum seekers in the dire circumstances described above, are provided with a basic, viable living allowance. The visa system under which they are obliged to apply for refugee status should be replaced with one that is based on natural justice and procedural fairness with opportunity to reapply.
Having first volunteered as a 56-year-old, and now aged 77, it is unlikely I will continue at my current rate of volunteering – everything from collecting and delivering blankets and warm clothes in 200km round trips to record keeping – many years longer. Even with new volunteers to carry on the work, and additional donors to cover the costs of support it is a big ask and a big responsibility that governments have placed on us.
May there soon be a time when Circles are no longer needed. Then there can be a wholehearted celebration of what together, as a niche community of grassroots responders, we have achieved. And gratitude and celebration that this period of cruelty and unfairness has ended.
Tricia Hart (Dundon)
Former Co-Convenor of Circle One.
Current Co-Convenor Rapid Response Circle
6th August 2023
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Photo by Gaelle Marcel on Unsplash
