Federal Minister for Families and Social Services Paul Fletcher joined Federal Member for Groom John McVeigh today to announce $400,000 over three years for Catholic Care’s Toowoomba Refugee and Migrant Support (TRAMS) program.

This funding is provided as part of the MUSTER Initiative (Mutual Understanding, Support, Tolerance, Engagement and Respect), as part of the Strong and Resilient Communities Program through the Department of Social Services.

Our Toowoomba Refugee and Migrant Support (TRAMS) program provides support to people from refugee and migrant backgrounds, assisting them to participate equitably in Australian society as soon as they arrive in Toowoomba.

Over the last 14 years, our TRAMS program has assisted over 4,500 refugees and migrants, empowering them to become self-reliant, active and valued members of our Toowoomba community.

CatholicCare’s Executive Director, Kate Venables said, “As we continue to welcome refugees into our community, it is critical we build cohesion to further understanding and acceptance of diversity.

“This funding will be utilized to support the ongoing casework for our TRAMS program as well as developing a new pool of interpreters for local community organisations and businesses.

“It will allow us to meaningfully support and positively shape people’s lives enabling additional assessment and referral throughout our extensive network of local government and non-government services in health, education and employment.”