10 Australian Refugee Charities to Support
Displacement and forced migration is a global issue that affects millions of people each year. Australian refugee charities help to ease the transition for those who have been forced to flee their home countries, offering essential, emergency access to housing and food, along with short- and long-term services that help people transition into life in Australia.
Read on to learn about the essential work that Australia’s refugee charities are doing and find out about some of the amazing organisations you can get involved with through your own fundraising campaign.
How these charities support refugees and asylum seekers
The number of refugees seeking support has doubled over the last 10 years, with a reported 82.4 million people displaced from their homes. Over the last decade, Australia has recognised or resettled 180,073 refugees (30th overall in the global rankings).
The Australian government has a specific budget dedicated to Australia’s refugee efforts, which covers aspects such as administrative processing, asylum assistance, health and trauma services, and citizenship and migration programs.
However, the support that refugees require is often far deeper and more urgent than government services can keep up with, which is why charities, non-profits, and refugee fundraising campaigns are so important.
10 charities that help refugees and asylum seekers
There are many organisations that are dedicated to supporting refugees with specific needs and situations, such as helping refugee children, protecting women, addressing mental health needs, facilitating career transitions, and beyond.
From teaching languages to addressing past trauma, these organisations provide crucial services to people who have nowhere else to turn, helping them to navigate their new life and setting them up for a more hopeful future.
1. Save the Children
Save the Children focuses its efforts specifically on children and young people. The charity offers a wide variety of services to refugee children in Australia to help keep them safe, restore their health, and put them on the right track to achieving a good education and stable lifestyle.
The donations it receives helps it to:
- Connect children with emergency healthcare from professional doctors and nurses
- Ensure children have access to nutritious food, clean water, and protective shelter
- Vaccinate children against diseases and treat serious illnesses
- Provide psychological and social support to children who have experienced trauma
- Reunite families that have been separated
- Give children access to education
2. Refugee Council of Australia
The Refugee Council of Australia conducts a wide range of essential work to help support and advocate for refugees in Australia.
As well as working directly with refugee families to ensure that people have access to the basic things they need to maintain a healthy and safe lifestyle, it helps to reunite refugee families and integrate refugees into Australian society by connecting them with local communities, organisations and individuals.
It also leads many research campaigns to help shape policy and educate the wider community about how to better support refugees in Australia.
3. Australia for UNHCR
Australia for UNHCR is the United Nations Refugee Agency’s national partner in Australia and works closely with the UN to provide crucial services and support refugees, both in Australia and beyond its borders.
Through donations, fundraising, and corporate partnerships, Australia for UNHCR allows Australians to contribute to essential projects around the world, such as:
- Protecting children from exploitation
- Providing shelter and food in crisis situations
- Establishing scholarships for refugees’ long-term education
- Helping people access healthcare
4. Australian Red Cross
The Australian Red Cross helps people in need across every stage of their journey, offering emergency relief, settlement services, and medical assistance.
With a focus on upholding health, dignity, and wellbeing, it provides assistance to asylum seekers and help for people in detention, as well as a variety of programs for newly arrived and settled refugees in Australia.
5. Friends of Refugees
Friends of Refugees is an independent non-profit that works to connect refugees with their new communities and help them to start over again. It accomplishes this through a variety of programs that tackle food insecurity, provide access to education, and offer mentorship. On a policy level, it works to provide advocacy for refugees and educate the public about how to support migrants who are in vulnerable situations.
From employment to social support, Friends of Refugees helps people to rebuild and revitalise their lives in Australia.
6. Service for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture and Trauma Survivors (STARTTS)
Through a series of structured workshops, STARTTS helps refugees settle into their new lives in Australia. It connects new migrants with people in similar situations to build a community of internal support and understanding. It also helps refugees learn from people who live in Australia and can help them to integrate and understand the culture.
The format is structured in a variety of engaging ways, from interviews and educational sessions to games and fun social events that are designed to help refugees begin to feel more at home.
7. Asylum Seekers Centre (ASC)
The Asylum Seekers Centre, based in New South Wales, is a space where refugees in Australia can go to access essential services, get advice, and find community support.
The ASC’s goal is to help refugees live safe, healthy, and fulfilled lives in Australia, which it works towards by connecting people to essential services, engaging the community, and working to influence policy.
It provides a wide variety of helpful offerings for individuals and families, including food and healthcare to education and career services.
8. Refugee Migrant Children Centre (RMCC)
The Refugee Migrant Children Centre is dedicated to helping refugee and migrant children settle into life in Australia.
It offers a weekly mentorship program that is designed to support children’s individual needs, from language lessons and tutoring to mental health services. RMCC works in alignment with children’s teachers, family, and the surrounding community to create a strong network that covers every aspect of their lives in Australia.
9. Sanctuary Australia Foundation
The Sanctuary Australia Foundation helps refugees transition into life in Australia through a variety of initiatives. It provides advice and services to help recent migrants to find long-term employment or business support by offering feedback on resume and job applications and connecting them with volunteer opportunities.
It also helps to reunite refugee families by offering interest-free travel loans that allow vulnerable people to travel quickly and safely to Australia.
10. The Australian Literacy & Numeracy Foundation (ALNF)
The Australian Literacy & Numeracy Foundation is committed to helping refugees feel comfortable and confident in their new communities by helping them learn the language and improve their literacy.
Students receive in-person support in the classroom through one-on-one and group sessions, which are designed to align with their education and build their English language skills in a supportive and nurturing environment.
How to fundraise in support of refugee charities
Setting up your own GoFundMe campaign is a great way to help refugees in Australia. Whether you are particularly passionate about reuniting families or you want to ensure that refugees in Australia have access to essential services, you can easily create a campaign that raises money for your chosen charity:
- Find the charity you want to support in our directory
- Launch your campaign
There are countless ways to raise funds for a charity and get your network involved, from sponsored fitness pursuits to group events. Explore our creative fundraising ideas for inspiration and get excited about launching your fundraising campaign to help refugees in need.