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Delivery of Navigator service moved closer to refugees
The Navigator service helps Convention refugees to have their needs assessed and helps them to find coordinated support to be link to appropriate services.
A Convention refugee is a refugee and protection claimant who has been recognised as a refugee or a protected person in New Zealand by a refugee and protection officer of Immigration New Zealand (INZ) or the Immigration and Protection Tribunal on appeal. Depending on their visa status, Convention refugees can get access to a range of support services.
Responding to a recent review, Immigration New Zealand (INZ) will move its Navigator service closer to the Convention refugee communities it serves.
The review found that many Convention refugees felt the Navigator resettlement service could be more accessible if it was a community based service.
Support for Convention refugees will now be provided by New Zealand Red Cross in partnership with the Asylum Seekers Support Trust (ASST) in a one-year pilot.
Led by Red Cross, the Navigator role will be based at ASST’s Auckland office, with face-to-face satellite services for refugees in Red Cross offices throughout the country.
MBIE will continue to work with the Red Cross and the ASST to refine and develop the service and will review the effectiveness of the new model at the end of the one year pilot.