Awareness Campaign for Immigrants

The Australian-Greek Welfare Society organized an awareness campaign in Melbourne. The aim of the campaign was to inform the new immigrants about the visas and the immigration law in Australia. The seminar was for the Greeks whose number saw an incredible increase in the last months because Greeks are leave their country in search for a better life.

Most of the attendants were new householders who have recently immigrated to Australia and want to learn about the possibilities and the options that they have during their stay in Australia.

Unfortunately, most of them go to Australia with inefficient and sometimes wrong information on the country, without knowing the immigration law and the life conditions of the country. Furthermore, sometimes even those who speak English very well, are lost in the information that the Department of Immigration provides them. They are confused about what path to follow in order to stay in Australia.

Furthermore, they have to deal with problems such as finding a house and work in order to pay visa expenses, and tuition fees.

The seminar also covered people who have Australian citizenship but have not lived in Australia — or if they have, only for a little period of time — and are now leaving Greece for a better life in Australia. They have no worries about the visa expenses since they have rights as Australian citizens.

The Australian-Greek Welfare Society started two years ago and is an intense activity made to better inform and support the new immigrants. To make improvements, a research-survey will be conducted in order to gather as much information as possible for an accurate determination of the critical issues concerning their adaptation. The information collected by the survey will be discussed with government institutions and will create the basis for creating future programs to support immigrants.