Strengthening paths to citizenship

Working with partner WEstjustice, we have had an overwhelmingly positive response to our Youth Citizenship in the West Project since it launched in March.

The project is reaching out to eligible young people aged up to 24 years through project partners, schools and community groups so they can access free legal support to make a citizenship application.

In just over three months, together with WEstjustice, we have developed professional and community legal education material and training packages.

We onboarded 10 community service providers to train a further 71 staff members to provide first step legal and non-legal citizenship assistance.

This has established referral pathways, so clients can more easily access lawyers for citizenship assistance.

To date, we are currently assisting more than 347 clients that have reached out to us through the submission of 104 family-based applications.

‘We are amazed to see how enthusiastic the people who join our sessions are,’ said Project Coordinator Gaetano Romano. ‘We clearly see how the project is meeting a big gap in free legal services and legal education for young people and their families in their citizenship journeys.’

A strong start

Promotion of the project directly to communities began in May, building on WEstjustice’s deep connections to communities in the West.

As a start, we were invited to join partners’ programs for young people with refugee backgrounds in Melton. We designed citizenship promotion sessions associated with the WEstjustice School Lawyer Program. We ran our first joint session for parents in Wyndham Central College, which led to many new requests for citizenship legal assistance.

‘A few years ago, being on a visa, I lost the opportunity to access grants to study as a nurse’ said Paula, who attended a session. ‘But I am here today because I think that my younger sister deserves a chance and I want to help her and myself to become citizens.’

‘Over the eight years of running our School Lawyer Program across a number of schools in the west, we have had countless young people seeking help in applying for citizenship’ said Vincent Shin, Youth Law Program Manager at WEstjustice.

‘This was not something we were able to assist with, but it was identified as an unmet legal need. With limited referral pathways and even more limited expertise in this area, young people were often left in limbo.

‘This project is a welcome initiative, and we thank Victoria Legal Aid for launching this project and partnering with us at Westjustice.'

A collective reflection on citizenship

Representatives from organisations which assist people from refugee backgrounds recently participated in a forum to reflect on the early outcomes of the project.

More than 40 representatives came together and heard from young people who have acquired citizenship, and discussed why it is so important for so many people who have fled their countries of birth.

The forum at the Visy Cares Hub in Sunshine brought together people from Victoria Legal Aid, WEstjustice, Brimbank Melton Community Legal Centre, Foundation House, Wyndham Community Education Centre, the Western Bulldogs Community Foundation, the Department of Justice and Community Safety, the Victorian Legal Services Board and others.

It was opened by our Director, Civil Justice, Lucy Adams.

‘It was incredible and moving to hear directly from people who have gone through the often difficult path to citizenship, and the benefits it’s now bringing to their daily lives,’ said Lucy.

‘We know that for many people acquiring citizenship plays an important role in helping to feel included and valued in our communities, and in creating a sense of safety and belonging.’

Revealing inequalities

While a comprehensive evaluation is planned once the project ends, some recurring themes have already emerged through engagement with partners and clients.

The barriers to citizenship that most often have been identified by our clients are:

• inability to pass the competency test due to either a lack of familiarity with online systems or low proficiency in English
• complexity of the application
• cost.

This demonstrates that there are inequalities when applying for citizenship that disadvantage people holding a refugee or humanitarian visa, compared to others with permanent visas.

This is a one-year pilot project funded by the Victorian Legal Services Board + Commissioner. The evidence that will be collected by the end of the year will help compile a full set of recommendations to enable the sustainable delivery of citizenship assistance for people with refugee background.

More information

If you would like to learn more about the project or get involved, email Project Coordinator Gaetano Romano on gaetano.romano@vla.vic.gov.au