Benefit Receipt of Recent Migrants to New Zealand - 2006
Appendix C - Recent initiatives to assist migrant's settlement
New Zealand Settlement Strategy
In 2003, the New Zealand Government agreed to a New Zealand Immigration Settlement Strategy for migrants, refugees and their families. The Strategy's six goals for migrants and refugees are that they:
- Obtain employment appropriate to their qualifications and skills;
- Are confident using English in a New Zealand setting, or can access appropriate language support to bridge the gap;
- Are able to access appropriate information and responsive services that are available to the wider community (for example housing, education, and services for children);
- Form supportive social networks and establish a sustainable community identity;
- Feel safe expressing their ethnic identity and are accepted by, and are part of, the wider host community; and
- Participate in civic, community and social activities.
For more information on the New Zealand Settlement Strategy and Auckland Regional Settlement Strategy go to www.immigration.govt.nz
Enhanced Employment Services for Refugees and Migrants - MSD
In 2003, MSD introduced an initiative to enable Work and Income to implement its Auckland Metropolitan Migrant and Refugee Strategy. Key components of the initiative included:
- supporting community based migrant and refugee centres by integrating Work and Income services into these centres as they emerge
- the establishment of specialist migrant and refugee Work Track and Work Action programmes
- specific client development programmes like driver education and adult literacy courses
- the expansion of the Work Experience Pilot for Migrant Professionals
- improvements to online services for migrants and refugees including general information in key languages and a link to allow clients to download self-paced ESOL packages.
- the establishment of an Auckland based multi-lingual call centre that will allow non-English speakers to process transactions by phone; and
- a reduction in case loads for specialist case managers to provide more intensive one on one assistance for migrants and refugees.
For more information on the Enhanced Employment Services for Refugees and Migrants initiative go to www.msd.govt.nz