Recent events in Afghanistan have seen the escalation of Australia’s Humanitarian Program to support the timely evacuation of Afghan nationals.
To date, Australia has accepted over 3000 Afghan nationals on humanitarian visas with 2100 evacuees arriving in Victoria. This number will continue to increase for the foreseeable future with an additional 3000 visas having been issued and an additional 50 to 100 people expected to arrive in Australia until the end of the year.
All arrivals to Victoria are required to complete a 14-day quarantine, with most now residing in five short term accommodation facilities pending long term accommodation. The southern region, particularly Casey and Dandenong has a large, well established Afghan community, and is the preferred long term accommodation destination amongst evacuees.
Victoria’s Refugee Health Program has mobilised resources to implement a coordinated health response for all evacuees. Refugee Health programs from across the state have worked collaboratively to triage and respond to emerging health needs whilst in short term accommodation, with Monash Health Refugee Health and Wellbeing responsible for one of the large inner-city hotels.
Monash Health Refugee Health and Wellbeing has worked to deliver on arrival health assessments and care for 720 evacuees who have already transitioned to accommodation within the region. This has required a ramping up of primary care services to minimise risk and prevent added demand on hospital emergency departments. Our program is grateful for the support of many services across Monash Health that have increased capacity to ensure timely and appropriate care.
You can find more information on Monash Health’s Refugee Health and Wellbeing Program here on the Monash Health website.
If you would like to learn more about the evacuation program, or Australia’s Humanitarian Program more broadly, please contact Jacqui McBride, Manager on 0420971782.
Approved by Annette Davis (Director Strategy and Support) and Julia Oxley (General Manager, Community).