What is it?
The Refugee Student Settlement Pathway (RSSP) is a blueprint for a potential ground-breaking new educational complementary pathway for refugees in Australia. The pathway builds on the momentum of other existing complementary pathways including the Community Refugee Settlement and Integration Pilot (CRISP) and the Skilled Refugee Labour Mobility Pilot.
It draws on Canada’s successful Student Refugee Program, led by the World University of Canada (WUSC). Specifically, the RSSP will be a peer-to-peer model that will encourage students to play an active role supporting young refugees to pursue their education in Australia.
What will it achieve?
The Refugee Student Settlement Pathway has the potential to:
- Create new resettlement opportunities for Australia and engage new communities in refugee protection, such as universities, staff, and students, through a whole-of-society approach to refugee settlement.
- Provide hope and a future for young refugees and allow them to pursue their educational goals in safety.
- Create greater public awareness and support for refugees as more stakeholders in the education sector become involved in refugee resettlement.
- Enable universities in Australia to build upon their expertise of working with students to meet the needs of refugee youth and enhance their employment outcomes after graduation — with the potential to contribute to local skills gaps and professional shortages.
What could the RSSP look like?
Want more information?
For more information or to join the next phase of co-design (February – May 2024), you can email contactus@refugee-education.org.
Please note: the RSSP is still in the consultative phase so we cannot provide any concrete details about the schedule or implementation of the pathway. For this information, watch this space!