The Purpose, Past, Present and Future of Community Sponsorship of Refugees: Critical and Comparative Perspectives Workshop

9 May 2025

9 May 2025 Workshop

The research team and participants discussed the following themes:

  1. The impact of the 1970s ‘Indochinese Refugee Crisis’ on the development and implementation of refugee policies in Australia and Canada;
  2. Sustainable community sponsorship structures and partnerships; and
  3. The roles of and relationships between civil society, sponsors, refugees and the state through the prisms of hospitality and citizenship.

PANEL 1: Interactions of Community and the State in Refugee Resettlement:
The ‘Indochinese Refugee Crisis’ as a Turning Point in Australia and Canada

Paper Presenters:

  • Nathan Gardner Molina, the University of Melbourne
  • Geoff Cameron, the University of Guelph

Discussant:

  • Khanh Hoang, Kaldor Centre, the University of New South Wales

PANEL 2: Creating ‘Sustainable’ Community Sponsorship Structures and Partnerships

Paper Presenters:

  • Anthea Vogl, the University of Technology Sydney
  • Shauna Labman, the University of Winnipeg

Discussant:

  • Zaki Hadari, Amnesty International

PANEL 3: Citizenship, hospitality and community in refugee sponsorship programs and practices

Paper Presenters:

  • Kate Ogg, the Australian National University
  • Michaela Hynie, York University

Discussant:

  • Fiona Jenkins, the Australian National University