Humanitarian Settlement Services

Regional profile #14

Toowoomba, Queensland
Contents

About Toowoomba3

Service provider 4

Accommodation 4

Education 4

Health services 5

Employment opportunities 5

A welcoming community 6

DIAC wishes to express its thanks to Multicultural Development Association (MDA) for compiling this material.

While every care has been taken, DIAC makes no guarantees that the information provided is up to date.

For further information on the Humanitarian Settlement Services program see:

About Toowoomba

Toowoomba is a city in south-east Queensland, located on the crest of the Great Dividing Range, about 127 km west of Brisbane. It is the largest inland regional city in Queensland, and its reputation as The Garden City comes from its 150 public parks and tree-lined streets. Its temperate climate is warm in summer and cool in winter, with four distinct seasons. Its high elevation of 700m means it can be cool in winter with temperatures rangingfrom 5-16° C. Summer temperatures range from 17-27° C.

The census in 2006 showed 14 per cent of the population were born overseas. This number has risen steadily since then with the arrival of skilled migrants and humanitarian entrants.

Service providers

Humanitarian Settlement Service (HSS) services provided in the region focus on helping refugees to gain access to mainstream services such as Centrelink, Medicare, banks, general and specialist health and medical services, English language tuition, training and employment, in addition to links to the community and community organisations.

The Multicultural Development Association (MDA) is the service provider in Toowoomba and the region on behalf of the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC). MDA is a specialist settlement agency in Queensland who works with all three tiers of government to provide a broad range of services to assist in the settlement, employment and welfare of refugees and migrants.

Accommodation

Toowoomba offers a range of housing for refugees. The majority of HSSclients in Toowoomba are large familiesof between six and nine people with MDA sourcing large houses to accommodate them. Most HSS families will live in a house with a garage and a back and front yard, which is very valuable for families with young children.

Typical rents (as at September 2012) are:

  • four bedroom houses: $360 per week
  • three bedroom townhouses/houses: $275-$280 per week
  • two bedroom houses: $245 per week
  • three bedroom units: $290 per week
  • two bedroom units: $210 per week
  • one bedroom units: $160 per week.

MDA helps HSS clients in the transition from short-term to long-term accommodation.

Education

Toowoomba is a regional educational centre and has a large number of educational facilities, including state primary and high schools, private schools (mostly faith-basedand predominantly Catholic), a College of Technical and Further Education (TAFE) and the University of Southern Queensland. The Smith Family has programs to help refugee youth to engage with their schooling and education.

Catholic Education has been supportive of the settlement of African communities in Toowoomba and has accepted 80 per cent of the students from refugee backgrounds. In addition, state primary and high schools have developed programs to support the settlement of refugee children within their school communities.

The Southern Queensland Institute of TAFE provides daytime Adult Migrant English Program (AMEP)day and evening classes to students. Students whoare not able to attend classes can access the home tutor scheme, or the Distance Provider.Most MDA HSS clients live near TAFE and can attend classes within walking distance or by using public transport.

TAFE is actively involved in welcoming refugees to Toowoomba and in community events. It offers career guidance and counselling, supports students in their career aspirations, and works with the University of Southern Queensland to identify students who might be suitable to continue on to higher education.

The university runs regular English Language Intensive Courses for Overseas Students (ELICOS) and these are offered to HSS clients. After completing the ELICOS course, EAP I and then EAP II (English for Academic Purposes), students are eligible to enter undergraduate studies at the university.

Health Services

Queensland Health has multicultural policies and plans that apply to all public hospitals. Toowoomba Hospital provides interpreters for patients who require language assistance, and MDA supports hospital staff in delivering health care to HSS clients.

Kobi House at Toowoomba Hospital is the office for Refugee Health Queensland and where all new arrivals receive their first medical checks and immunisation. A dental clinic attached to the hospital also provides interpreters and has free dental services for concession card holders.

A Multicultural Mental Health Liaison Officer and the Queensland Program of Assistance to Survivors of Torture and Trauma are both located close to MDA.

Kobi House

Employment Opportunities

Traditionally, farming and rural production have provided the main work opportunities for HSS clients in Toowoomba and the region, but the largest employers today are in retail, health and community services, light engineering and education. The demand for workers in the resource industry has meant an increase in job opportunities for HSS clients, particularly women and youth in service industries such as food and retail. The abattoir is a significant employer of men on the production line, and women in the packaging area.

A number of employment services assist HSS clients to find work:

  • The African Communities Inclusion Project helps not only Africans to enter the workforce, but also clients and young people from other nationalities.
  • Lifeline provides programs to support job seekers from diverse cultural backgrounds and humanitarian job seekers.
  • Personnel West employs an African youth employment worker.
  • East Creek Neighbourhood Centre Inc. assists job seekers by offering literacy and numeracy programs.
  • Three organisations, Resolutions, Employment Services Queensland and Max Employment, meet bi-monthly under a Lifeline project to support employment for the culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) population in Toowoomba.
  • In 2012, MDA will start its own employment service.

There are several child-care services, day-care facilities and support, and new arrivals are helped to access these. Transport from residential areas into the city is good, but there are some challenges in getting to industrial areas, especially for out-of-hours shift work. Some employers provide transport for their staff.

A welcoming community

Service providers in Toowoomba work with MDA, as the Refugee and Migrant Service Interagency network, to support HSS and other CALD clients. Among the services actively involved in HSS service delivery:

  • Lifeline has various programs to support newly arrived refugees and migrants
  • Mercy Family Services provides a link with HSS arrivals and offers support through workshops such as:
  • Raising teenagers in Australia
  • Working in Australia: what are the rules and laws?
  • Parenting your children in Australia
  • Children at school in Australia.
  • Catholic Education welcomes families and children when they start school
  • TAFE, through the AMEP, organises events every semester to welcome students and their families.
  • Toowoomba Refugee and Migrant Services have a pool of active volunteers who support newly arrived families and individuals
  • Toowoomba Regional Council has a well-established multicultural program and delivers community projects
  • Catholic Social Justice supports new arrivals and fosters a positive community response
  • Education Queensland is involved in network meetings and actively responds to any issues that arise.

Among other groups actively involved in multicultural work are:

  • Toowoomba Islamic Society
  • Toowoomba Baha’i Society
  • University of Southern Queensland (USQ)
  • Sisters of Charity
  • Toowoomba International Multicultural Society.

MDA uses its network in Brisbane to link communities and provide support. A local Eritrean group in Toowoomba, for example, attended a function in Brisbane and was able to link with the Eritrean community there and share their settlement experience.

Social and community engagement

Sporting and recreational facilities in Toowoomba include:

  • Queensland Police-Citizens Youth Clubs (PCYC) gymnasium
  • USQ basketball/tennis/volleyball sporting clinic for 13-25 year olds
  • amateur soccer competition, open to everyone for a small fee
  • Sunday Soccer League run by a Christian church and free
  • cricket every Sunday at Ernest Peak Park.

Library

Council libraries have free membership and Toowoomba Regional Libraries provide materials in many community languages. Further resources can be ordered.

Food

Toowoomba food retailers have responded to the changing demographics of the community and several food outlets source and sell foods from many countries. Halal meat is available in some butcheries.

Every Sunday, from 7am-2pm, PCYC holds markets on James Street which sell low-priced fresh fruit and vegetables.

Cultural festival

Toowoomba holds the Languages & Cultures Festival in August, when the whole community celebrates Toowoomba’s diversity.

Queens Park

Regional profile | Toowoomba 1