Evaluation of the Integrated Humanitarian Settlement Strategy (IHSS)

accommodation, and linking them with essential services. In actuality many proposers are either not
able or not willing to provide adequate settlement support when their proposed entrant(s) arrives
onshore. Nonetheless, because of the expectation that proposers will meet entrants’ needs, services
are designed to provide support to proposers not entrants. As a result, entrants often do not receive
adequate support.
In order to provide services, it is assumed that the PS provider will be able to contact the proposer.
DIMIA is notified when a 202 visa is granted and the notification includes the name and address of the
proposer. DIMIA then notifies the PS provider that the visa has been approved and provides the
details of the proposer. The details which are provided, however, are those which had been given by
the proposer at the time of initial lodgement of the application. There is in some cases a significant
period of elapsed time between when the application is lodged and when the visa is granted. There
may be a further extended period between the granting of the visa and the arrival of the entrant(s).
During the time between visa lodgement and arrival of the entrant(s), the proposer may (and
frequently does) move. In reality it is often difficult for PS providers to locate proposers to provide
support and therefore not all proposers receive PS.
Finally, PS assumes that DIMIA and/or the PS service provider will know when proposed entrants are
arriving. As noted earlier, the proposer arranges the travel for the SHP entrant(s). When the proposer
chooses to use IOM as the agent for arranging travel, DIMIA will be aware of the entrants’ travel
details and pass these details on to the PS provider. The proposer may, however, choose to use any
travel agent. For the large number of entrants whose flights are arranged through other agents,
neither DIMIA nor the PS provider necessarily knows that an arrival is imminent, making timing of
service provision problematic.
5.5.4 Issues raised in relation to proposer support services
Proposers are often unable to provide adequate support
As noted above, the PS service is based on the assumption that proposers are able to adequately
support the on-arrival settlement needs of their entrants. However in practice this is not always the
case. Service providers and stakeholders consistently reported that proposers have difficulty in
providing the required level of support and assistance to entrants, often because many proposers are
recently arrived refugees themselves.
Proposers are often refugees… - they need support themselves… Most proposers don’t
have the capacity, expertise and support to provide support adequately. A typical
example is that the proposer comes as a refugee, does casual part-time work, and has a
house with basic furniture. The proposed family comes over – there’s an overcrowded
house and [the entrant] can’t live in the same house. The proposer’s income is insufficient
to support the new family.
(PS provider)
Other impediments include the following:
Poor English skills are a major problem. Most of the information provided to proposers under PS
is in written form and in English. Although PS providers report that they make an effort to ensure
that the proposer understands the information in the package they provide, how well this
information is understood depends on a number of factors, including the proposer’s English skills,
the availability of interpreters and translated materials, and proposer literacy levels. This is a
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Evaluation of the Integrated Humanitarian Settlement Strategy 27 May 2003