Programs

We have different roles and programs that cater to all levels of commitment and a diverse range of interests in issues concerning refugees and asylum seekers in Australia.

We are always open to any ideas or suggestions that you might have. In fact, our programs are mostly initiated by members who then take ownership and lead the projects with our support.

Students from all backgrounds and experiences are welcome!

Fundraising

Bake Sale

Crossing Borders Melbourne

4 days 9 hours ago

due to the overwhelming response to the initial sales, we've released 16 more tickets for the film screening of Human Flow! grab them quick!

link is below:
https://www.trybooking.com/353645

Human Flow - a film by Ai Weiwei

trybooking.com

Over 65 million people around the world have been forced from their homes to escape famine, climate change and war in the greatest human displacement since World War II. Crossing Borders Melbourne is putting on a screening of Human Flow, an epic film journey led by the internationally renowned artis...

Read full story Share

Were they the last ones released?

3 days 13 hours ago

comment on facebook

Crossing Borders Melbourne

1 week 6 days ago

Are you looking for ways to get directly involved with the refugee community in Melbourne?
The Helping Hand Project is looking for committed volunteers and are holding an information session tomorrow at 6pm!

Please read their Volunteer Call Out message below for more details on the program:

THE HELPING HAND PROJECT is a community-based organisation. Volunteers provide youth of refugee background with supportive mentoring, so that they can achieve their goals and reach their dreams.

Volunteers will be matched with participants aged between 13-21 based on their skills and shared interests.

Volunteer commitment is 12-months, approximately 1-2 hours per week or fortnight, in order to allow time to build a strong relationship.

WE PROVIDE MENTORS WITH TRAINING AND SUPPORT.

YOU ARE INVITED TO JOIN OUR INFO SESSION. MONDAY FEBRUARY 12 AT 6 PM AT FLEMINGTON COMMUNITY CENTRE, 25 MT ALEXANDER ROAD, FLEMINGTON.

The session is approx 1 hour. You will have an opportunity to hear from our Program Psychologist, Coordinator & a current Mentor regarding the program, expectations and the young people we support. It also an opportunity for you to ask any questions.

You are also welcome to bring along any friends or family who are interested in the program.

FOR MORE INFORMATION please contact Gabrielle

PH: 0456 132 690 or email INFO@HELPINGHANDPROJECT.ORG.AU

Would you like to mentor a young person of refugee background
Please join our information session
You will have an opportunity to hear from our Program Psychologist and one of our current Mentors regarding the program, expectations and the young people we support. It also an opportunity for you to ask any questions.

You are also welcome to bring along any friends or family who are interested in the program.

For more information please contact Gabrielle Orosz
info@helpinghandproject.org.au

Read full story Share

Crossing Borders Melbourne

2 weeks 1 day ago

Crossing Borders Melbourne updated their cover photo.

Read full story Share

Crossing Borders Melbourne

2 weeks 1 day ago

About the Film
More than 65 million people around the world have been forced from their homes to escape famine, climate change and war, the greatest displacement since World War II. Filmmaker Ai Weiwei examines the staggering scale of the refugee crisis and its profoundly personal human impact. Over the course of one year in 23 countries, Weiwei follows a chain of urgent human stories that stretch across the globe, including Afghanistan, France, Greece, Germany and Iraq.

About Crossing Borders Melbourne
Crossing Borders is a student-led organisation that aims to improve refugee & asylum seeker health through education, advocacy and direct assistance.

Tickets will be selling for $10

Read full story Share

Crossing Borders Melbourne

2 weeks 1 day ago

An information night for all those interested in getting involved in what crossing borders has to offer in 2018!
Crossing Borders is a student-led organisation that aims to improve Refugee & Asylum Seeker Health through education, direct assistance and advocacy.
Come along and hear about our detention centre visits, meal shares, movie night, cultural competency workshop, refugee health symposium, and more! We will also be voting in new committee members during this time.

Read full story Share

Crossing Borders Melbourne

2 weeks 4 days ago

Hey everyone! Welcome to CROSSING BORDERS 2018! We are planning a big year with inspiring speakers, amazing workshops, movie screenings and a continuation of our community programs, all focused on raising awareness and education about refugee and asylum seeker health. Looking forward to seeing many new faces and all the familiar ones as well!

SAVE THE DATE - Welcome Event on the 7th of March. Come along to find out more about what we do and how you can get involved. Just keep an eye on this page and we’ll keep you posted!

If you're keen to join our committee this year we would LOVE to have you on board. We are currently looking for a:
- treasurer
- promotions/IT officer
- events officer
Position descriptions:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/075i1zccbnq8kt6/Crossing%20Borders%202018%20Committee%20Roles.pdf?dl=0
APPLICATIONS FORM:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/kgshzy4i7zh0fzb/CB%20Executive%20Committee%20application%20form%202018.docx?dl=0

Complete the form and send it to: secretary@crossingborders.org.au
Applications are due on the 4th of March and applicants must attend the Welcome Event on the 7th of March.

Read full story Share

Crossing Borders Melbourne

2 months 2 weeks ago

Crossing Borders Melbourne shared World Health Organization (WHO)'s post.

The right to health means leaving no one behind.
Refugees’ and migrants’ health should never be considered separate from the overall health of the population.
Leave no one behind, #StandUp4HumanRights!

Read full story Share

Crossing Borders Melbourne

3 months 2 weeks ago

Crossing Borders Melbourne shared AMSA Crossing Borders's post.

AMSA Crossing Borders

At Crossing Borders we know you are currently snowed under with exams, but the refugees on Manus Island are entering their 8th day without food, power, running water and medications/medical care.

So we have made it quick and easy for you to contact your MP. Please copy and paste the email below, that was sent out by Doctors 4 Refugees, add your name at the end and click send :)

The MP details are:
Bill.Shorten.MP@aph.gov.au
Julie.Bishop.MP@aph.gov.au
tanya.plibersek.mp@aph.gov.au
https://www.pm.gov.au/contact-your-pm

Find your local member at:
https://www.aph.gov.au/Senators_and_Members/Guidelines_for_Contacting_Senators_and_Members

Thank you and good luck with exams!

"This email has just been sent by Doctors for Refugees to all Australian parliamentarians tonight. Please feel free to contact your MP to voice your concerns. Time is very short."
****
Dear MP,
Immediate action required to prevent humanitarian catastrophe on Manus Island
As you know, a major humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding on Manus Island. Six hundred male refugees and asylum seekers are occupying the former Regional Processing Centre (RPC). Outside sits the PNG Defence Force, which is preventing food supplies, purchased by well-wishers, from entering the facility. The men have been told to move to three locations in or near the regional capital, East Lorengau. Two of these are not ready for habitation. All three are insecure and these men have legitimate fears for their own safety. PNG locals have demonstrated their opposition to the move to the town in the last week with a vocal protest outside the centre and the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary Police Commissioner, Gari Baki, stated in a media release in late October 2017 that the safety of refugees is ‘not to be taken for granted given the tensions that are being expressed by the locals on Manus Island’.[1][2] Paradoxically, the former RPC, with no access to food, clean water, sanitation, electricity or adequate medical care is currently the ‘safest’ place for these men to be.
However, the former RPC is not safe. These men have now been without access to the fundamentals necessary for life for over six days. In PNG’s tropical climate we must expect that serious consequences will start to occur this week. We can expect severe skin and respiratory infections, dysentery, malaria and other illnesses to start to take hold. If no action is taken immediately to alleviate this situation, we can expect deaths to start occurring very soon.
On the evening of 4th November 2017 a man with a suspected heart attack in the former RPC sought assistance in Lorengau Hospital. This man was discharged from the facility without having an ECG or blood tests and returned to the former RPC. Thirty six hours later these essential investigations still had not been performed. With this level of medical support, it seems there is little hope for any refugee who becomes seriously unwell on Manus Island, whether they are in the former RPC or relocated to East Lorengau.
If the situation deteriorates further and the PNG Defence Force decides to clear the centre then there is a risk of many deaths through violent action. This is a military force which has demonstrated tremendous antipathy to the refugees, which fired indiscriminately into the RPC causing multiple injuries earlier this year and which has no training in crowd control.[3]
This situation is a direct consequence of the Australian government’s arbitrary, indefinite incarceration of hundreds of innocent men in a hostile environment on a remote island in a poor country, unequipped in all respects to look after them. It must finally take adequate responsibility for the welfare of these men. The duplicity of the Australian government in this matter is eye-watering. On the one hand, the representations of Doctors for Refugees and others about the welfare of these men are referred on by the Australian government as ‘a matter for the PNG government’. On the other hand, we hear that Prime Minister Turnbull has once again turned down the New Zealand government’s offer to shelter some of these men.[4] If the Australian government can dictate what happens to them then it is evidently responsible for their welfare and in fact PNG Immigration Minister, Petrus Thomas, explicitly stated last week that Australia will remain responsible for the welfare of these men when the Australian-funded centre closes.[5] All pretence to the contrary must now stop.
Amnesty International and the UNHCR have been condemning the detention and conditions of these men for years and this was first termed a situation amounting to torture over two years ago.[6] Today, things are exponentially worse and we reiterate: we are heading for many deaths in the coming days and weeks unless urgent action is taken by Australia. Action to alleviate these men’s situation needs to be taken today to prevent deaths. As a start, they need food and water today.
You, as an Australian parliamentarian, must realise that at stake are these men’s lives and Australia’s international reputation as a Western democratic nation and that only you hold the power to influence the situation. Whether by your action or inaction to date it is you who is directly responsible for what is happening. If you do not act now, by speaking, lobbying and voting appropriately then whatever happens to these men will be on your conscience.
For the sake of humanity and compassion we urge you to act immediately. The world is watching you.
Yours sincerely,
Dr David Berger, Executive Committee Member
Dr Barri Phatarfod, President
Dr Paddy McLisky, Secretary
Dr Igal Augarten, Treasurer
Doctors for Refugees

References
[1] HLRC 27th August 2017
[2] PNG Constabulary Media Release October 2017
[3] ABC 17th April 2017
[4] ABC 5th November 2017
[5] Reuters 30th October 2017
[6] Guardian 9th March 2015

Read full story Share

Crossing Borders Melbourne

3 months 2 weeks ago

Crossing Borders Melbourne shared Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC)'s photo.

Men on Manus are falling seriously ill without adequate emergency medical treatment allowed to get to them.

Australians are trying to get medical treatment, food and water in despite the government's ban and PNG forces preventing entry.

We remember the legacy of Australia's treatment of people seeking asylum detained on #Manus We raise our voices louder today to #BringThemHere.
Call Malcolm Turnbull to demand he allow doctors into the facility. 02 6277 7700

Stay tuned for more updates and actions to take.

Stay strong everyone. Keep fighting.

Read full story Share

Direct Assistance

Education

Advocacy

Fundraising