Victorian Refugee Health Network Statewide meetings occur three times per year, providing a space to identify sector issues, prioritise areas for shared work and share service innovations. These meetings welcome anyone working in refugee health or supporting people from refugee backgrounds to access health services and are facilitated online via Microsoft Teams.

In the August 2026 Statewide Meeting, we heard updates about policy, health, settlement and data, with speakers from the following agencies and groups:

• Policy updates from Rebecca Eckard, Director of Policy and Research, Refugee Council of Australia
• Settlement updates from Gerard Murren, Senior Manager – Settlement Support and Community Care, AMES Australia
• Rural and Regional updates from Jules Kangeta, Rural and Regional Working Group representative
• Victorian Settlement Data updates from Samina Hassan, Sector Development and Policy Advisor, Victorian Refugee Health Network

We also had spotlight presentations on:

• Cancer in Victorians Born Overseas from A/Prof Luc te Marvelde, Head of Data Analytics, Victorian Cancer Registry

• Cancer in the Former Refugee Community – Bendigo from Abbie Lockwood, Cultural Diversity and Relationships Project Facilitator, Bendigo Community Health Services

Please note that on the morning of August’s Statewide Meeting, there were reports that places for Australia’s Humanitarian Program would be cut by almost 30%. Since then, the Victorian Refugee Health Network welcomes the announcement by the Albanese Government that the number of places will be maintained at 20,000.

Notwithstanding this good news, there are ongoing concerns regarding the changing composition of the Humanitarian Program. For more information and advocacy related to this issue, please visit the Refugee Council of Australia’s website.

Interested in other Statewide Meeting resources?

Take a look at past Statewide Meeting presentation slides to see what we have covered.

The Victorian Refugee Health Network reiterates it’s auspicing agency’s acknowledgement of country:

The primary locations of the Victorian Foundation for Survivors of Torture Inc., Brunswick, Dallas, Dandenong, Sunshine, and our outpost location in Ringwood, are on the traditional lands of the Kulin nation.  In keeping with Foundation House’s aspiration to heal individuals and communities we recognise the loss of land, children, language, lore and spiritual and physical wellbeing of the people of the Kulin nation and other Indigenous Victorians due to the impact of colonisation.

We believe that acknowledging the past and its impact on the present is vital in building strong Victorian communities. We recognise the survival and enduring strengths of Victorian Indigenous culture in spite of such dispossession and aim to build respectful and informed relationships with the Victorian Indigenous community based on the acknowledgment of their unique position as the traditional owners of Victoria. As such, Foundation House is committed to the acknowledgment and participation of Indigenous Victorians within Foundation House events and this is reflected in our official protocols.

The Victorian Refugee Health Network reiterates it’s auspicing agency’s acknowledgement of country:

The primary locations of the Victorian Foundation for Survivors of Torture Inc., Brunswick, Dallas, Dandenong, Sunshine, and our outpost location in Ringwood, are on the traditional lands of the Kulin nation.  In keeping with Foundation House’s aspiration to heal individuals and communities we recognise the loss of land, children, language, lore and spiritual and physical wellbeing of the people of the Kulin nation and other Indigenous Victorians due to the impact of colonisation.

We believe that acknowledging the past and its impact on the present is vital in building strong Victorian communities. We recognise the survival and enduring strengths of Victorian Indigenous culture in spite of such dispossession and aim to build respectful and informed relationships with the Victorian Indigenous community based on the acknowledgment of their unique position as the traditional owners of Victoria. As such, Foundation House is committed to the acknowledgment and participation of Indigenous Victorians within Foundation House events and this is reflected in our official protocols.