Making a new home

Interview with Leony Bowey, Coordinator of the
Migrant Resource Centre of Central Australia

Our centre is there to help migrants as soon as they arrive in Australia, not only migrants but any other ethnic people in the community who might need help. So we are the first point of contact for people who are arriving in Australia, whether they are migrants or refugees. We are also a migration agent, meaning that we give advice on immigration issues, which is part of my job.
I'm here in Tennant Creek to look at whether we could stretch our work through Tennant Creek and the Ulara areas as well because these areas are isolated, so we hope to do something about it in the way of linking up our service in Alice Springs to BRADAAG and the Domestic Violence service here in Tennant Creek. If we feel there is a need for it, we could do some sort of recommendations through the Immigration and Multicultural Affairs office. For example some migrants here might need English classes. We're still unsure of whether the community of Tennant Creek would be happy to sponsor refugees here, but in Alice Springs we're in the process of sponsoring at least 20 people from the former Yugoslavia.
In Tennant Creek at the moment, the first point of contact for migrants would be Sharon Kinraid at BRADAAG because she is well known in the community. Sharon will then link them up with various other services or organisations that will be able to help them further.
There is quite a diversity of cultures in Tennant Creek, there are a lot of Europeans - Scottish, Irish, the former Yugoslavia, Belgium, Asian, Philippinos, Indonesians. So Tennant Creek is a very multicultural town.
When migrants come to a place like Tennant Creek, the main problem would be the feeling of isolation, especially those who would have come from a big city. For example in the Philippines there are a lot of people who are so used to having an extended family and crowded areas. They don't actually realise where they are going and they don't realise how isolated a town like this is. Some of them are not lucky enough to be told by their future husbands or by people who are sponsoring them that this is where they are going and that it is isolated. Of course it's also the English which is a big problem for people who haven't got any English background at all.
If migrants are sponsored by families then those families are responsible for them. There is a two year waiting period for migrants who need Social Security benefits. Until after two years of arrival and settlement in any area, they are not allowed to have Social Security benefits. In some cases where they might have older parents or younger children, they will have an assurance of support which the government introduced a long time ago. What happens is that if those people who have been sponsored with an assurance of support apply for Social Security benefits, then they will get it.
Normally the money is deposited into their own bank, so that after two years if they have been paying it with an assurance of support then they will get it back with interest, but it will be in the name of the person who is coming to Australia.
If there was going to be Migrant Resource Centre set up in Tennant Creek, the needs of the migrants which would mainly be addressed would be isolation and the English problems. To have a Migrant Resource Centre is quite expensive and to start it is also quite expensive. If the community really felt there was a need for something like that here, a small thing could be started easily, with a little bit of money. When we started in Alice Springs, we didn't have anything, we started with a multicultural playgroup, then a women's group and a crafts group. So it just branches out from small things and you also have to prove to the government that you really need a service like that.
It is hard for women migrants, especially those with children to settle and especially if they come from an extended family or a big city.
Most of the migrants in Tennant Creek have been here for a long time, one has been here for about 15 years and another for 7 years so obviously they are happy with Tennant Creek. With Tennant Creek being a small town, it is easier to get a job. Small towns are a lot easier for migrants to settle into.