Collaboration in Canberra: FASSTT's Companion House and Dickson College's Refugee Bridging Program working together with students from refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds

In this presentation we will describe how a collaborative effort between a secondary college and a FASSTT agency can enhance torture and trauma recovery and resettlement for students from refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds.... [ view full abstract ]

In this presentation we will describe how a collaborative effort between a secondary college and a FASSTT agency can enhance torture and trauma recovery and resettlement for students from refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds. The Refugee Bridging Program is a unique educational program in Canberra. It was established in 2009, and its design is based on Companion House's trauma recovery goals; hence, there is a natural synergy with Companion House Assisting Survivors of Torture and Trauma.
For young people from a refugee background, educational achievement can be a powerful goal. However, there are multiple factors (e.g. effects of past trauma, lack of education in home country or in refugee camp, family pressures and upheavals, multiple losses and fears for family members who remain in unsafe situations overseas, etc.) that can interfere with this crucial settlement goal. We will draw on examples of our work to describe how Companion House and Dickson College have addressed these challenges in ways that preserve the young person's dignity and agency.
For young people from an asylum seeker background, the above challenges are compounded by government policies that impose structural barriers in relation to educational pathways. All of the unaccompanied minors in Canberra attended Dickson College, so this issue affected a significant proportion of the Refugee Bridging program class over a 3 year period. We will discuss how Dickson College and Companion House worked together to address these barriers in the case of unaccompanied minors.
Through discussion of de-identified examples, we hope to show how this working partnership offers a holistic response to young people who have survived torture and trauma, including unaccompanied minors and students with highly complex needs.