Refugees and Asylum Seekers
Life Without Barrier's Refugee and Asylum Seeker Service provides physical and emotional support to unaccompanied minors, aged 12-18 years old, whose applications for an Australian visa is being processed and to those who have been granted residency. Our services are delivered on Christmas Island and/or the Australian mainland on behalf of the department of Immigration and citizenship (DIAC) and the Australian Red Cross.
Our support is delivered through innovative programs that:
• Ensure clients are safe, nurtured and treated with respect and dignity
• Enable clients to continue to practice their cultural and religious activities within detention and settlement environments
• Foster community links between clients and appropriate cultural groups
• Assist stakeholders and service provision partners to provide a culturally sensitive and nurturing environment to all clients in detention and settlement
• Provide activities and supports to assist clients develop skills and knowledge for independence and integration into Australian society.
Our innovative approach
Life Without Barriers is committed to providing care to unaccompanied minors through our strengths-based support model that incorporates culturally sensitive supports and services in accordance with each client’s individual needs. Our holistic approach to care draws together trained community support workers, coordinators and program managers who work closely with our service partners and government funders to provide education on, recreation and skill-building to clients in both detention and settlement facilities.
Cultural Support workers
Our ‘live in’ Cultural Support Workers have either bi or multilingual backgrounds and language skills and are trained in providing appropriate care to young people who have experienced significant trauma and disruption in their lives. We acknowledge the diverse cultural backgrounds of the unaccompanied minors in our care and ensure our Support Workers are from culturally suitable backgrounds. These include, but are not limited to, Iraqi, Kurdish and Afghani cultural backgrounds. Often our Cultural Support Workers have shared similar experiences to the unaccompanied minors and have been refugees or asylum seekers themselves.