We do a lot with a little. Help us to house and support asylum seekers and refugees in the Australian community.
URGENT REQUEST for donation of pc or laptop, up to 4 yrs old – Please contact Libby 8842 2691
Fears not enough is being done to protect asylum seekers in Melbourne detention from coronavirus
Detainees in a Melbourne detention centre are not being provided alcohol-based hand sanitiser, do not have room to socially distance and fear staff who come and go from the centre each day could be spreading the virus. Photographs taken inside the Melbourne...
$1500 Coronavirus (COVID-19) Worker Support payment
The Victorian Government is providing one-off payments to financially support Victorian workers, who are required to self-isolate or quarantine due to coronavirus (COVID-19). To be eligible for the one-off $1500 Coronavirus (COVID-19) Worker Support payment you must:...
$300 Coronavirus (COVID-19) Testing Payment
The Victorian Government has extended the Worker Support payment scheme to ensure that as soon as a person is tested, they will be eligible for a $300 support payment – as long as they meet eligibility criteria of the existing scheme. Read more
You can help
- provide hospitality and practical support for people seeking asylum
- actively network with like-minded individuals and groups who are working for justice for asylum seekers
- promote advocacy for the rights of people seeking asylum
- engage in education about asylum seekers’ issues
- donate or volunteer
About BASP
Staff
Brigid Arthur csb, Project Coordinator, is a Brigidine Sister with a long and passionate career as an educator. She has been described as ‘an octogenarian human rights advocate, protester and leader.’
(csb = Congregation of Sisters of Brigid)
Libby Saunders, Project Coordinator, is an experienced social worker who worked in disability and community care before joining BASP in 2014. Libby is mainly involved with housing and volunteers.
Volunteers, kindly support our everyday work with an extraordinary range of expertise and experience.
Aims
The Brigidine Asylum Seekers Project (BASP) is a Melbourne-based initiative of the Brigidine Sisters which aims to:
- Provide hospitality and practical support for people seeking asylum;
- Actively network with like-minded individuals and groups who are working for justice for asylum seekers;
- Promote advocacy for the rights of people seeking asylum;
- Engage in education about asylum seekers’ issues.
Volunteer
We have many volunteer opportunities e.g. volunteer for our Friendship through teaching English program, providing friendship and support to an asylum seeker family along with personalised assistance in everyday English. Help families settle in their Australian community by exploring local facilities and services together. Volunteers work in pairs, visiting an assigned family once a week for about an hour. Please contact us to help.
Be informed about asylum seekers in Australia
Authorised Travellers
Contrary to the images sometimes projected by government and the media, most asylum seekers arrive in Australia by air as authorised travellers.
Ordinary Human Beings
Asylum seekers are ordinary human beings with the same emotions and reactions that most of us would have in similar circumstances.
Persecution
They have been involved in persecution in their own countries that we find hard to imagine from the safety of this country.