New Service for Refugees

Skip to site menu.

By Miranda Hunt
January 10, 2007 EAST

Refugees often have complex health needs that require immediate and specialist attention.

For this reason, Mater has employed Refugee Community Worker Jenny Ryan to offer a more focussed service to the growing refugee community.

Mater Mission Leadership Executive Director Peter Hill said as part of the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs’ Integrated Humanitarian Settlement Scheme, Brisbane had committed to accepting 1200 humanitarian refugees a year.

“Of the 1200 people arriving, approximately 75 per cent are from east and west Africa and represent very new communities to Queensland, with new and complex health care needs not usually encountered by health care workers in Australia,” he said.

“As well as these new communities, there are also more established communities in Brisbane which require specialist support, such as a large population of Sudanese who bring their own cultural, settlement and health issues.”

Jenny is a member of the Mater Mothers’ Hospital Social Work Department and the Queensland Integrated Refugee Community Health (QIRCH) Clinic. Her role provides coordination, advisory, liaison, education and mentoring services relating to the African refugee community, as well as specific projects.

Mater social work staff identified a gap in service, particularly for women migrating from African countries such as Ethiopia, Liberia, Burundi, Sudan, Sierra Leone and Somalia. Therefore, this position was necessary to fill a gap in service delivery and provision, particularly for those women who have chosen to give birth at the Mater Mothers’ Hospital.

The two year pilot project position is funded by the Brisbane Sisters of Mercy and Mercy Inc. It is expected that by the end of the two years, the incumbent will produce a report with recommendations on how the Mothers’ hospital can work more effectively with refugee communities in Brisbane.

May 07, 2008 EAST. Webmaster

Featured Content