Welcoming Week Spotlight on: SCOA and Welcoming Australia National Webinar

Up next in our series of showcasing Welcoming Week events and activations, we’re delighted to shine a spotlight on our first Welcoming Week webinar; What Does Welcome Look Like In Practice?

For some people, welcome starts with a helping hand to navigate an unfamiliar system. For others, it might be finding confidence and connection through work, having a service adapt so they can participate fully, or discovering the relationships that help them build a life in a new community.

The Settlement Council of Australia and Welcoming Australia are coming together during Welcoming Week 2026 to bring the everyday practices already creating belonging across Australia to a national and global stage.

Because belonging is more than a community aspiration. For the settlement sector, it is an outcome shaped by policy, program design and the quality of everyday service delivery.

This Thursday 17th September is Australian Citizenship Day – so what better time for us to convene a national conversation examining what it takes to create the conditions for belonging, and how the sector can recognise, share and strengthen the work already underway.

The conversation will bring lived experience, community knowledge and frontline practice into dialogue, hearing from Forcibly Displaced People Network’s Mikhael Touma, Ifrin Fittock from SisterWorks, Hiba Ayass from Whittlesea Community Connections and Faryal Nawaz from the North East Multicultural Association.

Together, these perspectives will explore how disability, gender, sexuality, economic participation, geography and the circumstances in which people arrive can shape access to services, community participation and long-term settlement outcomes. Knowing the breadth of expertise, insight and experience these panellists bring to the table, we think it’s a must-watch – register your free spot at the table today!

This Australian Citizenship Day, join:

Mikhael Touma from the Forcibly Displaced People Network will examine safety, accessibility and service design at the intersection of forced displacement and LGBTQIA+ identity, drawing on insights from FDPN’s Bridges to Safety work.

Ifrin Fittock from SisterWorks will explore how skills development, enterprise and economic participation can build confidence, independence and connection for migrant, refugee and asylum-seeking women.
Hiba Ayass from Whittlesea Community Connections will bring a place-based perspective from Melbourne’s rapidly changing northern growth corridor, where trust, outreach and coordination across local services are essential to meaningful participation.
Faryal Nawaz from the North East Multicultural Association will share the realities of regional settlement, where sustainable outcomes depend on strong relationships between settlement services, local government, employers, health and education providers, and established communities.

Belonging is everyone’s business – we all have a part to play in creating communities where everyone belongs, thrives and shapes a shared future. We know that each of us bring something different and important to the table – and for a sector committed to excellence, these unique experiences and influences matter. Effective settlement practice cannot be one-size-fits-all. It must be responsive to place, informed by lived experience and accountable to the people and communities it exists to serve.

By centring specialist, community-based and regional SCOA members, this webinar will surface practical approaches that can inform stronger policy, program design and service delivery across the wider sector. It will also connect work already happening across Australia with the broader Welcoming Week movement, making that leadership more visible and creating new opportunities for shared learning.

We welcome settlement practitioners, policymakers, community organisations, local governments, employers, and professionals working across health, education and community development to join the conversation – see you there!

📅 Thursday 17 September
⏰ 12:00–1:00pm AEST
💻 Online FREE
🔗 Register: Microsoft Virtual Events Powered by Teams