In light of recent government restrictions and the ongoing developments of COVID-19 in NSW, we have made the difficult decision to take our Refugee Alternatives Conference co-hosted by Whitlam Institute within Western Sydney University from Tuesday 6 to Wednesday 7 July and the Refugee Welcome Zone Forum on Thursday 8 July entirely online.
We believe this is the safest option for our national delegates and attendees, and the team is working hard to bring you the event virtually to continue the conversations started last year.
Face-to-face ticket holders will be converted to virtual tickets and receive partial refunds. We encourage you to purchase virtual tickets online. More details to come.
The conference theme ‘Rebuilding: resilience and innovation” recognises and celebrates the incredible and challenging work that took place over the past 12 months whilst navigating the unprecedented impact of the current global pandemic. Rebuilding through resilience and innovation means building back stronger, igniting new ways of thinking and transitioning towards an even more effective and inclusive way of working together.
WORKING TOGETHER
Over the course of the two days, participants from refugee backgrounds, academia, service provision, advocacy, policymaking, government and engaged individuals come together to collaborate and discuss policy and practice.
#ALTREFUGEE
This year we are planning a virtual conference, with sessions available to ticket holders.
The online program will include live streaming of sessions, virtual networking opportunities, and live chat streams with participants from across Australia.
For all conference queries please contact us at conference@refugeecouncil.org.au
This conference will take place on Tuesday 6 July & Wednesday 7 July 2021
It will be entirely online, with sessions available after the conference.
Tickets are now on sale via Refugee Alternatives Humanitix event page.
Details about the program can be found here.
Stay up to date with conference 2021 announcements via this website, RCOA’s newsletter and social media channels.
If you have any questions, comments or ideas that you would like to share with us to make this possible, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us at conference@refugeecouncil.org.au.
The Refugee Camp in My Neighbourhood Project is a side event of the Refugee Alternatives Conference and will be held after the conference from 15 November - 1 December 2021.
Each year the Refugee Alternatives Conference is driven by the collective energy of each and every person involved; from the months of planning with the advisory group and speakers, to
We are thrilled to launch our conference report for Refugee Alternatives 2020. You can download the report via the link below. A full list of previous conferences can be found here.
The Refugee Council of Australia (RCOA) is the national umbrella body for refugees and the organisations and individuals who support them. With more than 200 organisational members and hundreds more individual members and supporters, RCOA’s work centres around the key areas of research and policy analysis, advocacy and representation (of member, refugee and asylum seeker issues) and community education and awareness raising.
The Whitlam Institute within Western Sydney University is a nationally significant institution delivering distinctive, bold and inspiring policy research and programs that promote common ground, inclusive national identity and civic engagement for all Australians, and is recognised across the political spectrum as delivering a nation-building agenda that will, in Gough’s words, “…help the great and continuing work of building a more equal, open, tolerant and independent Australia”.
For the past four years, the Refugee Alternatives Conference has been an important time for us to come together, to re-energise and engage in solutions focussed discussions.
Refugee Council of Australia takes your health and safety seriously. We have complied with NSW Government public health orders to ensure the Refugee Alternatives Conference is safe, and therefore have chosen to take it entirely online.
The Refugee Alternatives Conference acknowledges that the 2021 conference will be held on the country of the Darug People of the Darug Nation. We acknowledge their ancestors who have been Traditional Owners of their country for thousands of years. We also acknowledge and pay our respect to the Darug People's Elders past and present.