We need 100 people to welcome refugee students to Australia in 2027
Skill Path is recruiting 100+ new members to join Student Welcome Groups at universities across the country to welcome students arriving through the Refugee Student Settlement Pathway in January 2027.
Each student is matched with a group of five or more students and staff at their campus, who collect them from the airport, help them settle into accommodation, and stay alongside them through their first year. The early weeks are practical: a room to live in, a bank account, a SIM card, where to find good food and directions to campus. What comes after is harder to fit in a job description. It's the shared dinners and the friendships that outlast the year.
What's involved
Groups form on campus and stay involved for a year. You don't need a background in refugee work or any particular qualification. You need to be a current or former student or staff member at one of our partner universities, and an hour or two each week when it counts. We match you with a group, give you training and backup, and keep Skill Path staff a message away.
What you'll gain
Volunteers tell us they get back as much as they put in:
You meet talented students from around the world, and make friendships you wouldn't have found otherwise.
You learn how refugee resettlement actually works, from the inside rather than the headlines.
You build real coordination and cultural skills that employers notice.
You receive a certificate of participation and a professional reference from Skill Path Australia.
You join a national network of people doing the same thing on their own campuses.
Deakin Student Welcome Group in Geelong enjoying pizza with RSSP students
One of our current co-leads at Deakin put it better than we can:
What started as offering practical support has become genuine friendship, not only with the RSSP students but with the other volunteers too. Despite our different backgrounds, we share so much common ground: the excitement of starting university, the challenge of leaving home, and the comfort we find in making new connections along the way.
— Jane Kennedy, co-lead of the Deakin Student Welcome Group
Which universities
We're also keen to recruit group members from these prospective universities:
Adelaide University
Australian Catholic University
Edith Cowan University
Monash University
Murdoch University
Queensland University of Technology
University of Canberra
The University of Newcastle
University of Tasmania
The University of Western Australia
These universities are already planning to take RSSP students in 2027:
Australian National University
Curtin University
Deakin University
Swinburne University of Technology
The University of Melbourne
The University of Queensland
The University of Sydney
University of New South Wales
University of Technology Sydney
Western Sydney University
Join an info session
We're running three online info sessions. Each one covers what a group does, what's expected of members, and how to sign up. Come along to whichever suits you:
Thursday 23 July, 4:00 to 5:00pm AEST. Register here
Tuesday 28 July, 5:00 to 6:00pm AEST. Register here
Monday 3 August, 5:00 to 6:00pm AEST. Register here
If you know a student or staff member at one of these universities who'd be good at this, send them this page.
