A new refugee peak body is seeking to give communities a direct voice on issues that affect them.

The Refugee Communities Association of Australia (RCAA) was formed in 2019 but has been rebooted as Australia comes out of the pandemic.

With refugee communities among the worst affected by the pandemic, RCAA seeks to inject the authentic views and concerns of real-time refugees into the national conversation.

Founding member and current chair Parsu Sharma-Luital says that RCAA aimed to work with all government agencies at all levels by developing a positive relationship and connecting refugee communities directly with the government departments and service providers.

“Refugee communities know what their issues are and RCAA is being run “by former refugees, for refugees and with refugee communities”.

He said RCAA aimed to work with all government agencies at all levels by developing a positive relationship and connecting refugee communities directly with the government departments and service providers.

“There are issues facing refugee communities that are not being aired or addressed by the settlement sector or government agencies,” Mr Luital said.

“We want to bring these out into the open by bringing refugee communities together and allowing them to have their own authentic voice.

“This is a direct voice not filtered through advocates and we are bi-partisan. We are not interested in politics for its own sake. Our aim is to identify the settlement gaps and provide authentic voices to be part of the solutions.

“Any refugee community, group or agency is welcome to join us as we plan a series of state and national consultations,’ Mr Luital said.

He said refugee communities were often not able to participate in or access some of the services the government provides.

“Some communities are not participating in parts of Australian life. And sometimes there is a lack of leadership or limited knowledge and understanding about what’s available – or sometimes a fear of coming forward,” Mr Luital said.

“RCAA is trying to bring forward the hidden voices to help people participate in the Australian way of life,” he said.

Mr Luital said a particular issue was the current Citizenship Test.

“There is a bottleneck because people are failing the test with scores of 75 or 85 per cent. This means, in some cases, that people can’t visit family overseas because they fear losing their chance to become citizens.

“Family reunion is a big issue also. People are waiting five or six or even ten years to bring family members to Australia.

“We know the new government is aware of this and a fix won’t happen overnight but in the meantime people are losing hope.”

RCAA recently launched a South Australia chapter, holding its Annual General Meeting (AGM) and community consultation at Salisbury City Centre Community Hub, in Adelaide.

The AGM elected Mr as the new Chairperson as wells as executive committee members.

“The Executive Committee brings a wealth of experience to the RCAA board and are valuable contributors to achieving the goals of RCAA and looking forward to working with them. I am humbled to serve our refugee communities to amplify and represent their voice at all levels of government, service agencies and advocacy bodies,” Mr Luital said.

RCAA aims is to empower refugee communities across Australia, enabling them to take active roles in Australia.

The organisation’s vision is to provide a voice for refugees with the lived experience, RCAA prides itself in grass roots engagement and empowerment for refugee communities and their members to promote successful settlement and integration in Australia.

The RCAA Executive Board members represent several refugee communities, including from Bhutan, South Sudan, Nepal, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Cyprus and Burma.