Policy and Research Program

Foundation House has a long-standing commitment to policy and research work to improve policies, programs and services for people of refugee backgrounds as well as to improve its own services.

Policy

As indicated in the Publications and Resources section of this website, Foundation House prepares policy documents and submissions to government inquiries or for wider distribution in policy areas that impact the wellbeing and rights of our client group. Examples include submissions and policy papers on immigration detention and the education needs of young refugees.

Foundation House also promotes changes in policies, programs and services through participation in standing and ad-hoc consultative bodies. For example, Foundation House Director Paris Aristotle is a member of two bodies that advise the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship: the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship’s Council on Asylum Seekers and Detention (MCASD) and the Refugee Resettlement Advisory Council (RRAC).

Research

From 2003-2008, Foundation House and the Faculty of Health Sciences at La Trobe University collaborated on research activities through the University’s Refugee Health Research Centre – for information about projects undertaken by the Centre see www.latrobe.edu.au/rhrc

In December 2007, the William Buckland Foundation and the Sydney Myer Fund agreed to provide funds to Foundation House for a multi-year “Refugee Health and Social Well Being” research program to improve policies and services for people of refugee backgrounds.

The major current projects supported by this funding are:

• A study to develop evidence about service delivery outcomes for clients who are survivors of torture and trauma
• A study of the impact of family separation and reunion in the settlement of recently arrived refugees and humanitarian entrants
• A study of the psychosocial effects of long-term immigration detention