Helping refugees build new lives: from consultation to collaboration

Abstract

Professor Peter Shergold was appointed as the New South Wales (NSW) Coordinator General for Refugee Resettlement in 2015, providing him with an opportunity to reimagine how the not-for-profit, public and private sectors could collaborate to improve the wellbeing of refugees settling in NSW, Australia. Through collaboration, NSW agencies are shifting the service response from one that is reactive to refugees’ immediate settlement needs towards an investment approach that creates employment pathways. By identifying and building on refugees’ strengths, resilience and human capital, Professor Shergold believes NSW can deliver better outcomes for both refugees and the communities they live in. PHRP asked him about his role, its objectives and its achievements.

Keywords

• Refugee health
• Public health