Asylum Seeker Health Services
It is a legal and human right to seek asylum however, people who arrive in Australia without a valid visa are subject to mandatory detention, whether offshore, onshore, in a facility or in community detention. Currently, an application for refugee status may take many months or even years to be determined and during this period, many may not have access to essential services like the right to work, housing and primary healthcare resulting in a total reliance on the charity and goodwill of others. By the end of 2017, 68.5 million individuals were forcibly displaced worldwide including 25.4 million refugees and 3.1 million asylum seekers. (Source)
Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini was declared the Universal Patron Saint of Immigrants in acknowledgement of her life's work caring for immigrant populations in the USA and Latin America. This priority demonstrates our ongoing commitment to the most vulnerable of today's immigrants: asylum seekers and refugees. Our goal is to improve the social determinants of health for people seeking asylum. We stand for the compassionate treatment of asylum seekers and refugees.
Services
Cabrini Asylum Seeker and Refugee Health
The Cabrini Asylum Seeker and Refugee Health Hub provides access to a range of health services for people seeking asylum and newly arrived refugees. To provide these services, we rely upon a mix of employed and pro bono staff to provide quality primary and specialist health care. The centre opened in June 2016.
Cabrini Outreach Hume and Whittlesea Pharmacy Waiver Program
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We support people seeking asylum who have no income to access essential medications. This program is operated by Cabrini Outreach in partnership with WCC. The Program provides eligible clients with a waiver that covers the costs of their prescription medications. It alleviates the effects of the changes to the SRSS which directly affect the lives of Asylum Seekers.