Call on the Australian Government to expand and improve community sponsorship for refugees – so that more families can rebuild their lives in safety.
At the moment, people fleeing danger in their homelands have very few options to find safety.
We need to provide people with better, safer ways to seek asylum.
Community sponsorship – where everyday people in the community choose to contribute towards the costs of resettling a refugee – has worked in Canada for over 40 years. Together Canadians have helped 280,000 refugees find safety. It can work in Australia as well.
Australia’s current proposed community sponsorship model is limited and expensive. It costs a minimum of 19,000 dollars just for the application alone, making it very difficult for average Australians to help. And for each privately sponsored refugee, the government wants to take one place away from their own refugee quota – depriving a person of the help they desperately need.
We’re a decent country, and our communities are well-equipped to offer solutions like community sponsorship. Together we have already campaigned to achieve 150 self-declared refugee welcome zones across the country, home to refugees with incredible stories of sacrifice, courage and contribution.
Sign the petition to back better community sponsorship for people seeking safety.
Update September 2018: We're making progress! More than 17 local councils have now officially supported the call for the Federal Government to expand and improve community sponsorship for refugees: the ACT Legislative Assembly, Albury, Canterbury-Bankstown, Darebin, Fremantle, Griffith, Inner West Council (inner-west Sydney), Maribyrnong, Monash, Moreland, Newcastle, Randwick, Wagga Wagga, Whittlesea, Wodonga, Wollongong, and Yarra. Want to see your local council support it next? Please join us by signing the petition!