The Auckland Regional Settlement Strategy (RSS) was part of the Auckland Sustainable Cities Programme, because attracting skilled migrants and supporting their successful settlement is essential for the sustainable development of the Auckland Region.
Settlement is a transition process in which migrants and refugees progress from dealing with the immediate challenges of finding somewhere to live, getting a job and adapting to unfamiliar systems and customs, to becoming active participants in the social, civic, economic and cultural affairs of their new homeland. It is a two-way process, which requires learning, adaptation, acceptance and respect by migrants and refugees and by host communities.
As the ‘gate way’ region and the largest metropolitan area, Auckland has an increasingly diverse population, with around 150 different ethnic communities and the highest number and proportion of migrants and refugees.
Many local councils and central government agencies have developed policies and services to support settlement. However, these have sometimes been in isolation, with gaps and overlaps, and there are still barriers to accessing services.
As a result of local government efforts, and with central government support, the RSS was initiated with the aim of achieving long-term sustainable settlement outcomes that contribute to social cohesion in the Auckland region. The RSS complements the recent New Zealand Settlement Strategy (NZSS), and will provide direction on other regional responses.
The RSS:
Takes an interagency approach with local, central, and non-governmental agencies working in collaboration with migrant, refugee and host communities.
Takes a long-term approach to social, economic, environmental and cultural outcomes.
builds on settlement work already undertaken, to make it more coordinated, effective, efficiently
includes a focus on host communities
The RSS pulls together the settlement issues for refugee, migrant and host communities and focuses on what needs to be done. The next stage of the project will focus on identifying priorities and how to achieve them.
The sponsor of the Strategy was Colin Dale, Chair of the Auckland Region Chief Executives’ Forum. The co-leaders were Kerupi Tavita, Department of Labour and Raewyn Stone, Manukau City Council supported by a multi agency Steering Group.
Contact:
For further information,
please contact Raewyn Stone at Manakau City Council raewyn.stone@manukau.govt.nz
or Judi Altinkaya at the Department of Labour judi.altinkaya@dol.govt.nz
Links:
New Zealand Settlement Strategy
www.immigration.govt.nz
