Within 12 months at least half of Australia’s special intake of 12,000 Syrian and Iraqi will be living in western Sydney suburbs governed by Fairfield City Council.
The high intake has prompted community leaders to ask the Federal Government for assistance, as the same council area welcomed 3000 humanitarian arrivals from war-torn countries just last year, triple its usual intake.
Image via: Fairfield City Council
Stephen Bali, the president of the Western Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils and mayor of nearby Blacktown City Council tells Sydney Morning Herald the Federal Government needs to provide more detailed demographic information so local government can invest in the “right type of services” that will be required for this population rise.
“In the past, councils have received very limited information on incoming refugees. This is something that we hope can be improved in consultation with the federal and state governments.”
When combining the 12,000 special intake and regular humanitarian program, Fairfield took in 75 per cent of all western Sydney’s refugees.
According to the government, Australia has accepted 15,898 displaced people from Syria and Iraq since July 15, 2015 with the overall number of refugees welcomed in Australia expected to rise to 17,750 by 2017.
