Welcome a refugee family

You can sponsor and welcome refugee families into your local communities through community sponsorship.

The Community Refugee Integration and Settlement Pilot (CRISP) enables groups of five+ locals to welcome and support a refugee family for a year in Australia.

Several refugee families are and have been supported in the Northern Rivers – from Ballina to Lismore to Tweed.

Most have received support from Northern Rivers for Refugees.

The Community Refugee Integration and Settlement Pilot (CRISP) in a nutshell:

  • group of five or more adults form a group to provide 12 months of practical, hands-on support to a refugee family
  • training and support is provided by Community Refugee Sponsorship Australia (CRSA)
  • CRSA matches groups with a refugee household referred to the CRISP program by Dept Home Affairs
  • refugees have been identified by the UNHCR and been granted permanent visas by the Australian Government.

Your group will help the family with

  • local orientation, including meeting at the airport
  • securing temporary and long-term housing
  • opening bank accounts
  • initial income support (first 7-2 weeks)
  • registering for Centrelink support
  • enrolling in TAFE for English lessons
  • enrolling children in school
  • accessing social opportunities and emotional support
  • getting a driver’s licence
  • finding a job or starting a business.

We’ll be by your side!

  • NRFR can help with any local support your group needs to form a group and welcome a refugee family
  • our successful fundraising can take that pressure off your group
  • groups who have already welcomed a family can answer any question you have along the way and share their tips.

This is your moment to make a difference to the global refugee crisis through meaningful and rewarding local action.

For more information email NRFR and one of the local coordinators will answer all your questions and share their experiences.

Read stories from families supported

  • Lismore family in the swim

    Lismore family in the swim

    Knowing how to swim is an Australian essential, and the Lismore Region Refugee Settlement group’s new family are diving right in. With a steamy Lismore summer knocking on the door, the entire family is taking swimming lessons. The Hazara family of a mother and five children are originally from Afghanistan and came to Australia via…

    Read more: Lismore family in the swim
  • Making the most of a new life

    Making the most of a new life

    Happy, excited, safe. These three words sum up the feelings of the Bloudani family as they adjust to their new lives in Australia, 12 years after fleeing war-torn Syria. The family have wasted no time in the four months since their arrival. Sana (12) is excelling at maths and science at Mullumbimby High School, and…

    Read more: Making the most of a new life
  • Family does Brisbane for free

    Family does Brisbane for free

    The challenge was to show one of our newly arrived families how to do a capital city for free (excluding travel). Brisbane City Council has a great website called Five free things to do in Brisbane. We actually didn’t get to do any of those suggestions because some of them required a vehicle to get…

    Read more: Family does Brisbane for free
  • Life-changing experience

    Life-changing experience

    Ever since the horrible Tampa boat ‘incident’ I’d felt quite disempowered about the state of refugees, that is until a chance encounter about 18 months ago. I was walking my dog on the beach and I met a newly arrived Syrian refugee family (it was their second day in Australia!). I learnt from the person…

    Read more: Life-changing experience
  • Foaad’s special day

    Foaad’s special day

    By Foaad Makansi One of the most beautiful, elegant and wonderful celebrations ever for you is the one that friends and family organise for you. Nothing lasts in your imagination like these memories.In these shots. on this day, I turned 40 years old.  It is my first year in Australia.  In fact, what I found…

    Read more: Foaad’s special day