Understanding settlement services literacy and the provision of settlement services for humanitarian migrants in Australia—A service provider perspective

Abood, Julianne; Polonsky, Michael Jay; Woodward, Kerry; Green, Julie; Tadjoeddin, Mohammad Zulfan; Renzaho, Andre Μ Ν

doi:10.1002/ajs4.204

Cited by 1 publication

(3 citation statements)

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“…For example, limited host country language proficiency acts as a barrier to seeking, accessing, and using available services and information, and has consistently been identified as negatively impacting all aspects of resettlement [16][17][18][19][20]. Humanitarian migrants' experiences of fractured family and social networks negatively impacts on their access to information, especially in the initial phase of migration as they establish networks and acquire the language of the host country [20][21][22]. The negative effect of poor host language proficiency is compounded for humanitarian migrants who may not have strong literacy skills in their home language, have resided in refugee camps for extended periods of time, have little or no formal education, or have limited prior experience using modern technologies and information platforms [23,24].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Settlement service (SS) providers are generally the first point of contact for humanitarian migrants when they arrive in Australia, and the support they offer has a significant influence on humanitarian migrants' future settlement outcomes [27]. Abood et al, explored the provision of SS in Australia through the lens of literacy, using Masinda's 'settlement services literacy' (SSL) conceptual framework [21]. Basic SSL refers to the set of skills enabling individuals and communities to effectively access information and gain knowledge to effectively navigate and utilise SS [28].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Basic SSL refers to the set of skills enabling individuals and communities to effectively access information and gain knowledge to effectively navigate and utilise SS [28]. SS providers reported that humanitarian migrants' utilisation of services and supports, or basic SSL, was impeded due to a range of barriers related to information access, such as, lack of knowledge about available services, being unfamiliar with the types of services available, lack of translated information, complexity of information and service systems, the need to navigate multiple service systems with different service models, and the lack of capacity of mainstream services to cater for their diverse and often complex needs [21]. However, that study did not investigate the importance of information acquisition to achieving basic SSL competency, the complex range of information and information sources, or other types of literacy necessary for humanitarian migrants' effective SS utilisation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The importance of information acquisition to settlement services literacy for humanitarian migrants in Australia

et al. 2023

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Background Due to the diversity and range of services provided to humanitarian migrants during the settlement phase of migration, acquiring information across multiple service domains is intrinsic to the effective utilisation of settlement services. There are research gaps investigating how humanitarian migrants experience and navigate unfamiliar, multiple, and often complex information and service systems of host countries. This study seeks to understand the impediments to humanitarian migrants’ effective utilisation of information about settlement services and to identify strategies that can be implemented to overcome these barriers. Methods Service providers were purposively recruited from organisations funded by the Australian Government to deliver settlement programs. The study applied an inductive thematic analysis approach to identify key themes that emerged from the data. Results From the perspective of service providers, the themed findings identified how humanitarian migrants gain knowledge about services, their information needs, information seeking practices and skills, and information specific to service domains. The findings illustrate the importance of acquiring information, knowledge, and skills across multiple information platforms and service domains as being integral to the effective utilisation of settlement services for humanitarian migrants. The study identifies systemic barriers to information and service access and suggests different strategies and approaches to improve access to context specific key information. The study identifies factors that inhibit the effectiveness of the Australian settlement service provision model and emphasises the need for targeted training of mainstream referral services. The study highlights the important role that settlement service providers play as mediators of information, adept at tailoring information to humanitarian migrants’ individual and community information needs. Conclusion The findings provide important insights that highlight the different roles that policymakers, researchers, and service providers can play to inform new approaches that improve the effectiveness of information and settlement service provision, as part of contributing to optimum settlement outcomes for humanitarian migrants.

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