Evaluation of the Integrated Humanitarian Settlement Strategy (IHSS)

It may be appropriate to offer the physical and psychological/psychosocial support separately rather
than in combination as in the current EHAI model. This would give greater flexibility for entrants to
access the physical and psychological/psychosocial support when required. For example, an entrant
wanting to defer receiving support with their psychological/psychosocial issues would be less likely to
delay receiving support with their physical health issues.
Recommendation 15
Improving Physical health Support
There is a need to review IHSS contractual arrangements to ensure that entrants are offered linkages
to ongoing physical health support on arrival in Australia. This would include determining whether it
may be more appropriate to offer separately the physical and psychological support components of
the IHSS.
Training/consultancy
The evaluation identified that the training and advice/consultancy given by EHAI providers was of a
very high standard but only a minority of the hours were delivered to medical health services (around
30%). Others receiving the training covered a very broad range of agencies including legal services
and schools. This raises the issue of whether EHAI should concentrate training efforts on healthrelated
services. It needs to be recognised however that the well being of the client relies on sensitive
service delivery from a range of other services as well as those directly involved in health support.
Training to these services on the needs of the clients with refugee backgrounds is therefore important.
An issue for DIMIA is to what extent the IHSS should provide this training or whether it is the
responsibility of others who need to be more vigilant in this regard.
Recommendation 16
Training Component of EHAI
DIMIA should review the training component of EHAI and determine whether the training efforts of
EHAI service providers should more strongly target workers in the health sectors rather than the nonhealth
sectors.
The EHAI service is examined in more detail in the second part of this evaluation covering the
Commonwealth funded services for survivors of torture and trauma. It is important that EHAI is
focussed on from two perspectives:
integration within IHSS
how effectively it works in the continuum of the Commonwealth funded services for the survivors
of torture and trauma.
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Evaluation of the Integrated Humanitarian Settlement Strategy 27 May 2003