Transport Concessions for Asylum Seekers - They Sydney Alliance
Recently, the Premier announced that around 8,000 asylum seekers living in Sydney will be able to access transport concessions in NSW. These asylum seekers are not permitted to work and many have faced severe mental health issues and social isolation as they wait in limbo for their claims to be processed. The Uniting Church and UnitingCare offer services such as English Language classes for asylum seekers, but many have not been able to access these crucial ministries because of costs of transport.
Uniting Church leaders in coalition with the Sydney Alliance and many refugee advocates were crucial in successfully campaigning for this issue.
Resisting the Border Force Act
Pitt Street member and tireless advocate for refugees and asylum seekers, Dr Michael Dudley, was one of more than 40 current and former workers at Australia’s detention centres on Nauru and Manus Island who this week challenged Tony Abbott and Peter Dutton to prosecute them under new secrecy laws for speaking out over human rights abuses. They wrote: “If we witness child abuse in Australia we are legally obliged to report it to child protection authorities. If we witness child abuse in detention centres, we can go to prison for attempting to advocate for them effectively.” Read the open letter in The Guardian (01-Jul-2015).
We are so grateful to Michael for his prophetic voice. Please speak out against this draconian law wherever and whenever you can.
The Plan for Change was an event held at Pitt Street on 05-Nov-2015 - flyer
Read a report of the event by Warren Talbot - Refugee policy and “The Plan for Change"