The crises that are taking place in countries such as Ukraine, Afghanistan and Myanmar have resulted in more than 100 million people currently displaced around the world. That means that one in every 78 people on earth has been forced to flee their homes.
Despite this harrowing reality, Australia is turning its back. In 2020, the previous Australian Government cut 5,000 places from Australia’s Refugee and Humanitarian Program – bringing Australia’s official intake to just 13,750 places annually. This is one of the lowest levels in 45 years, during a time when the need for resettlement has never been greater.
In contrast, countries such as the United States are committing to resettling 125,000 refugees every year.
Before the election, the Albanese Government committed to increasing the Refugee and Humanitarian Program to 27,000 places annually, as well as making an additional 5000 places available through the Community Sponsorship Program. This is welcomed, but Australia can do so much more.
The new Albanese Government must increase the annual Refugee and Humanitarian Program to at least 30,000 places – prioritising people selected by the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees, as well as ensuring their promised reforms to the Community Sponsorship Program. They must make this clear in their Federal Budget – due to be handed down this October.
We will be putting pressure on the government between now and the October budget making sure they commit to raising the Refugee and Humanitarian intake. We need your help to do this!
How can you get involved?:
- Share and sign the petition: so we can hand over all of the signatures to the government in October
- Collect offline petition signatures: so we can increase these signatures before the handover
- Write a letter to your local federal Member for Parliament: let them know that you’re passionate about this and want them to increase the intake
- Meet with your Member of Parliament: hit the link to find out more on how to do this
- Email your Member of Parliament: Don’t have time to send a letter, you can send an email direct to their inbox
Event Idea: Host a letter writing event, where you all get together and write letters to your local MPs
If you can host events within your community. Please follow these Covid Safe Guidelines and comply with your state’s rules and recommendations.
Please keep an eye out for these nights and how to join via the Activism Planner. Are you part of our National Facebook Group for activists? Join the group here to be kept in the loop.
Amnesty resources
- We can send you Amnesty merchandise such as petitions, t shirts, pens and badges
- We can provide you with access to our professional QR code account for you to set up your own trackable QR codes linked to the petitions you’re using.
- If you need help setting up a zoom meeting/would like access to our professional account, just ask us.
Please add these into the host an event form so the Supporter Care Team can fulfill your resourcing requests.
This event template could be useful for you and your group when planning your event. You can follow the same steps as for an online event. However keep in mind that you will be running the event in person so you will need to think of other items such as venues. Follow this guide to make sure your event is COVID safe.
Make sure you submit a host an event form, so we can provide extra support for you.
Here’s some tips and tricks for hosting an engaging online event:
Preparation
- Keep an eye out for other events you can be involved in/ plan your own event around via the activism planner
- Do you have support from your group or network to help you run this event?
- Do you need any extra support or training to help you with the tools you will be using on the nights, such as zoom?
Considerations for your event
- Are you involving people from affected communities in organising this event? If so, it might be worth brushing up on the How to be a genuine ally training module.
- In addition you can consult our Inclusive Language and Events Guide, as well as our Participation Protocol– a guide on how to work with people with lived experience
- Can you partner with other groups to host this event?
- What will draw people to your event? Will it be an interesting speaker, an exciting musician or poet?
- Who is your likely audience?
- What format is best suited for the message you are trying to get across
Make a plan
- Check out our Events & Tactics Training Guides – Part 1 on Planning and Part 2 on Coordination.
- Register your event through Amnesty’s online Host an event form.
- Book and secure your entertainment, whether this is speakers, musicians, or any other amazing ideas you might come up with.
- Schedule a time for people to sign a petition during or before/after the event. Or, think about another call to action idea.
For promotion – get your message out!
- Our incredible Activist Communications Team is here to support the promotion of your event. Fill out this brief and let them know the support you need including social media, local media, promotional resources and more.
- Brush up on your media skills with this training module
- A letter to the editor of your local newspaper is a way for the paper to hear from its readers about issues in the community or the wider world. The key, as with the media release, is that you have to really compete for the editor’s attention, so you need to make the letter compelling. Here are some tips on how to write a compelling letter to the editor.
- Listings are an extremely easy way to drum up interest in your event. There are a wide range of listing websites which give you free listings. You simply need a blurb about your event, all the details of how someone can be involved, and an image to go with it.
Let us know how you went!
- Share your pictures and success via the National Facebook group for activists and #activist_updates on Slack.
- Let your local ALC know how you went, and fill in the feedback form, so we can continue to support your events to the best of our ability.
Useful resources
- Skill up via our online training modules!
- Keep track of upcoming opportunities via your Activism Planner.
- How to make your Virtual Event inclusive.
- Campaigning for human rights can be difficult. Burnout and vicarious trauma can happen and it’s important to keep a look out for the signs in yourself and your friends. You can check out our Sustainable Activism & Self Care guide and workshop which you can find here. It examines how we can better take care of ourselves as activists and what you can do to make sure your activism is sustainable!
