Annual Report

Read our 2022 Annual Report to learn about the extraordinary accompaniment, service and advocacy work that our staff and volunteers delivered despite a difficult year.

We are pleased to share our Annual Report 2022

Despite a difficult year, JRS Australia staff and volunteers delivered monumental frontline services to refugees, people seeking asylum and migrants in situations of vulnerability.

In 2022, we served over 3,000 people — including 1,081 people who received 6,942 instances of specialist casework support to address physical or mental health needs, emergency financial relief, and housing and homelessness requirements.

Our dedicated volunteers — all 286 of them — donated over 7,000 hours of their time and expertise. They assisted with activities at the JRS Women’s Space, employment support, reception, intake support for the Casework Team, Foodbank packing, dispatch and delivery, and other tasks.

There is no doubt that JRS Australia ‘punches above its weight’, though not always in the spotlight.
Dr Eve Lester, Chair of the Board

Our schools and community outreach team reached 7,216 people in schools, parishes and the broader community to share knowledge and galvanise action on issues that refugees and people seeking asylum face. We supported 5,017 students to take action by running food drives, writing to their MPs, volunteering, or organising fundraising events.

At a time of unprecedented need, we cultivated hope as we acted with urgency on the frontlines to triage emergency relief, while supporting people and organisations to tackle entrenched barriers to self- reliance and create pathways to safety. We advocated for life-saving measures for individuals, co-led calls for systemic reforms and engaged in public campaigns. And as pandemic restrictions eased, we made space to gather in person more regularly, nurturing our community with shared activities, meals and companionship.
Tamara Domicelj, Country Director

Informed by evidence from our frontline services and the experiences of the people we serve, JRS Australia took the lead in advocating on various issues, and also worked closely with diaspora networks and other organisations in our sector. Our collective work foreshadowed important victories, including the easing of discriminatory and harmful policies for some people who arrived in Australia by boat. But much work remains.

Read 2022 JRS Australia Annual Report in full