Leveraging the goodwill of a sector: Mobilising campuses to welcome Refugee Student Settlement Pathway students
Associate Professor Sally Baker, Refugee Education Australia; Steph Cousins, Skill Path Australia
Higher education and the global bin fire
It feels like the whole world is on fire — literally and metaphorically. Even before Donald Trump turned the global geopolitical order on its head, wars have been raging across the world (Gaza, Ukraine, South Sudan, to name but three), political unrest is rife, and the heating climate is an intensifying crisis. For these and other reasons, many people have been forced to flee their homes. In total, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) speculates there are now over 122 million displaced peoples in the world. This number is inevitably set to rise.
Back home, universities across Australia have been key sites of scrutiny, protest and refuge on forced migrations issues. Universities have long critiqued the regimes that create forced migration. They provide an important accountability mechanism for humanitarian systems and governance and produce crucial insights into the lived experiences of people who have experienced displacement.
Likewise, universities are also sites of agitation and civil engagement on these issues. In 2024, demonstrations against the genocide in Gaza saw student activism heightened, with encampments and rallies pushing university administrations to react on issues such as divestment, anti-racism, and antisemitism/ islamophobia on campus. The protests reflected growing tensions in the Australian community which administrations struggled to manage. Several universities’ executives were called to account for their handling of the protests in Senate Estimates. The newly established National Student Ombudsman has a remit to investigate “complaints about a university’s handling of a student safety and welfare matter, where a student is subjected to homophobia, antisemitism, Islamophobia or other forms of racism or discrimination on campus” and will work cooperatively with the national regulator, TEQSA, in this regard.”
Universities as providers of sanctuary
Australian universities have long provided refuge to (some) forced migrants who have found their way to Australia under emergency conditions. The provision of ‘Sanctuary Scholarships’ for refugees living with Temporary Protection has provided important, albeit limited, access to university study for recent arrivals. The temporariness of a person’s protection status forces students into the category of international student and denies them both Commonwealth Supported Places (CSPs) and access to the Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS).
In these various ways, Australian universities play a significant role in the debates, discourses, and responses to forced migration. In 2023, this coalesced into the development of the Australian Refugee Welcome University Sponsorship Consortium (ARWUSC). This consortium of 20 universities (and growing) has brought together institutions with a keen interest in social impact and inclusion to collectively consider how refugees living outside Australia can resettle in Australia via the support of a university.
Introducing the Refugee Student Settlement Pathway
The primary function of the ARWUSC was to act as a representative block of universities to co-design the new Refugee Student Settlement Pathway (RSSP) — a new, complementary educational pathway that brings refugees to Australia to study, resettle, and find professional work commensurate with the degrees they study here. By using a humanitarian visa for the RSSP pilot, refugees can enter Australia as Permanent Protection visa holders, the conditions of which provide access to CSPs and HECS. This marks the RSSP as distinct from other refugee scholarship schemes (which remain vitally important and need to be sustained and increased!).
By prioritising disciplines where Australia has key skills gaps – such as nursing, engineering, ICT, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, business, management, and accounting – the RSSP is designed to support Australia’s economy. As well as providing pathways to professions that are in short supply, particularly in regional Australia, the RSSP will actively support students’ access to meaningful, longer-term employment, thus helping to shift the narrative away from the ‘needy and dependent’ refugee trope.
Essentially, the RSSP will provide a soft landing for refugees who aspire to study at university (in either undergraduate or postgraduate programs) by providing them with at least six months of accommodation, a start-up fund, and an education equipment package. This soft landing is designed to facilitate successful resettlement and support positive academic outcomes.
Leveraging the goodwill of university folk: The role of RSSP Student Welcome Groups
In addition to financial supports, a key feature of the RSSP is the support offered by RSSP Student Welcome Groups. Comprising of students, staff, alumni, and community members, these Welcome Groups will provide the resettlement support that refugees in Australia ordinarily get, such as: an airport pick-up; support with essential registrations; and, psychosocial support. Importantly, this sponsorship model can also offer benefits that sit outside other government humanitarian support programs, such as: peer-to-peer support; networking opportunities; and, assistance with finding a job and accommodation.
Research into the community-facilitated resettlement, such as the Community Refugee Integration Settlement Pathway(now a permanent part of Australia’s humanitarian program), illustrates how the benefits of being involved in such volunteer schemes extend beyond refugees who arrive in a resettlement country. In fact, some research suggests that community members benefit as much, if not more, than the refugees they support.
An opportunity for collaboration across and outside of the higher education sector
The RSSP is also an example of how the higher education sector can collaborate to create lasting and meaningful impact. The ARWUSC is working with not-for profit organisations – such as, Skill Path Australia, Refugee Education Australia (previously RESIG) and Community Refugee Sponsorship Australia – as well as a host of other stakeholders in the educational and settlement sectors, such as Universities Australia, the International Education Association of Australia, the Refugee Council of Australia, English Australia, and the Multicultural Youth Advocacy Network.
As the proposing organisation, Skill Path is responsible to the Australian Government for the resettlement outcomes of RSSP students and provides critical operational and visa expertise. Refugee Education Australia is responsible for providing pre- and post-arrival academic preparation to ensure students are ready to study in an Australian higher education institution. CRSA is providing key expertise and resources to support the training and capacity of RSSP Student Welcome Groups to support the RSSP.
A win-win
For universities, there are four clear benefits:
The RSSP is an opportunity for the sector to actively harmonise the disconnections between immigration imperatives and higher education’s responses.
The RSSP helps the higher education sector to demonstrate its capacity to welcome and actively respond to refugees who are displaced in the Asia Pacific.
The RSSP is also an opportunity for the sector to retrieve and recalibrate its (arguably lost) social licence.
The RSSP is a chance for universities to demonstrate they are listening to the discontent on campus when it comes to anti-racism, that they recognise the imperative to do more to help people less fortunate in our region, and that they are responsive and caring institutions.
If you want to get involved, check to see if your university is involved; if so, why don’t you join a Student Welcome Group? And, if not, now’s the time to ask your university to get involved and join the ARWUSC!
Associate Professor Sally Baker, Chair of Refugee Education Australia
Steph Cousins, Founder and CEO of Skill Path Australia