Open Homes. Open Communities. We connect refugees with spare rooms!

1.

Sign Up Online

2.

Find A Resident

We get in contact with you and ask you to share more details about your expectations with us. If we are all on the same terms, we will proceed to see if there is someone suitable who you can share your home with.

3.

Finances

Currently, we do not have the resources to help you financially. You will open your home free of charge, or for low rent if the resident is able to contribute financially.

4.

Welcome A Resident

Your resident moves in for an initial trial period of 3 weeks or otherwise agreed. If you are both happy, the resident will stay for the agreed period of time of 3 months or more. We'll do our best to support you along the way.

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placements made

100+

contributors nation-wide

STORIES FROM THE PEOPLE WE CONNECT

“Why am I a volunteer?”

‘’Since childhood, I’ve always wanted to change the world somehow. It started by dreaming to be a hero to save the world and ended up by idea of running a charity organisation. I have no doubt that, just like me, you have had some sort of ideas to contribute to the world but you were too busy to take any step.

It is an undeniable fact that small contributions are less time consuming that can make a considerable impact when it is accumulated. Therefore, I decided to join a current not-for-profit. The next step was to decide about the cause that I wanted to spend time and effort on...

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“My experience as a host”

“Martin moved in a few months ago. Very nice guy, quiet, stayed in his room. We decided to have dinner together with the family once a week to get to know one another.
And there we are sitting in silence, smiling awkwardly. This went on even after the first few weeks.
Awkward… I was afraid that he didn’t feel at ease, I started worrying, tried to ask more questions, found more silences.
A few weeks later I stumbled upon an article on facebook that explained that other cultures consider it very rude to speak at the table...

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HOW TO HELP

BECOME A VOLUNTEER

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FEATURED ON

Deepak Khemchandani

Information Technology

Deepak has a background in economics and is the founder of an early stage start-up building an on-demand legal outsourcing platform. He is committed to helping refugees and asylum seekers find a welcoming home as the first step in forging their lives in Australia, and contributing to society through their resilience and progressive independence.
Ruby Lee

Legal

Ruby is a lawyer who has worked closely with refugee support organisations and is an advocate for more effective legal and human rights practices and protections in Australia. Ruby has contributed research in identifying issues in the Immigration Law and Family Law frameworks for refugees and minors respectively, to support Legislative reform proposals in addressing the issues of trafficking and slavery.
Saul Kavonic

Finance

Saul has a background spanning economic development policy, the resources and private equity sectors. He currently works at Wood Mackenzie, where he leads coverage of the global LNG EPC sector and Australian M&A, and delivers strategic consulting projects for major listed Australian and international companies across the energy, infrastructure and logistics value chain.
Suus de Groot Heupner

Program Management

Suus reached out the Refugees Welcome in Germany with the intention to challenge public perception and sentiments of fear towards people seeking asylum and refugees in Australia. Being concerned about the effects of cultural and social segregation, she is dedicated to defend the fundamental rights of people fleeing persecution and promote tolerance and mutual understanding.
Theo Campbell

Adelaide Representative

Theo has a background in community development and has implemented a number of initiatives in the social and arts sectors. He is currently working at the Adelaide City Council in the community development team while studying a Bachelor of Social Work. Theo continues to advocate for South Australia’s social enterprise sector at a local and state government level.
Hannah Lai

Sydney Representative & Grants

Hannah works within the refugee and migrant youth advocacy space with a background in casework and youth work for people seeking asylum & unaccompanied minors. When she's not busy hustling for RWA, she's either picking up a random new hobby, overdosing on Vitamin D or planning a random getaway.
Gaëlle

Brisbane

Gaëlle is doing community outreach in Brisbane, her role is to ensure that organisations and community groups know about RWA and promote our actions to their members. She does that through the organisations of events and promotion through various means. Gaëlle's background is in sociology, she is interested in grassroots community organisations and the way they can bring positive social change from the bottom-up.
Rodolfo Sauce-Guinand

Information Technology

Professional in the field of Information Technology currently engaged as a systems and communications manager (ICTs), mixed environment open source/proprietary software systems integrator specialized in FLOSS, and provider of integral solutions in information technology. Rodolfo is one of RWA's web developers.
Juliette

Volunteer Co-ordinator

Juliette has a master's degree in International Public Law. She was responsible for a similar program back in France. She really wants to change the public perception about Refugees and People seeking asylum and believe that empowerment is the key to create a strong society.
Peter Bori

Blogger & Writer

Peter is an International Relations and Development graduate and based in Europe. At the height of the refugee crisis, Peter traveled to Eastern Europe to help distribute food and clothing, and provide health and travel information to stranded refugees. During his time in Australia, Peter wrote numerous stories on the work of RWA and published articles in national and international media. Currently, Peter writes stories for our online blog on the lives of refugees who reach out to us for support.
Adeline Choo

Project Facilitator

Adeline has completed her degree in Social Work and has been a volunteer in the sector throughout her degree. She has worked in the area of foster care and senior sector and has applied her knowledge in her role with RWA as Project Facilitator. Adeline is part of various community groups and is one of RWA's dedicated volunteers who represents the organisation at inter-sector meetings. She joins RWA internal meetings two or three times a week and works on the screening and matching process of hosts and buddies.
Rebecca

Brisbane

Rebecca's role is as the program evaluator for Queensland. Her position is responsible for gathering feedback on how the program is running and this happens through direct interviews with our guests, hosts, and partnered service providers. She interprets this feedback into a report which includes what's working well and how we can improve our service to those involved in our program. This role ensures we are continuously bettering our homestays.
Deepa Manuel

Project Facilitator

Deepa has completed a degree in Social Work and has worked professionally in various positions across the sector. She has a particular interest in working with people from different cultural, ethnic and religious backgrounds. Deepa is part of a team of Project Facilitators for RWA in Brisbane and helps process and match hosts and buddies with people from refugee background in need of accommodation.
Helen Paterson

Internal Operations

Helen has a background in business and has recently finished her professional role in the tertiary education sector and is enjoying the challenge of being a volunteer. Helen is currently active with RWA to help develop internal plans and processes to ensure the sustainability and effective management of the organisation.
Aya

Buddy Co-ordinator

Aya has a degree in International Aid and Development and has had experience working in community development in Australia and overseas. She is passionate about human rights, equally and environmental sustainability. Aya is one of RWA's Buddy Coordinators where she helps to coordinate the Buddy program that offers additional support and friendship to guests of RWA. She believes that everybody deserves to be given the same opportunities, regardless of where the come from.
Filip Rajec

Information Technology

Filip is a postgraduate student in science & technology. He is a strong advocate for inclusivity and social equality. Filip is enthusiastic in supporting RW build an innovative digital platform for room sharing.
Upma Khanna

Research

Upma has a medical background and has recently completed a tertiary degree in Health Promotion. She is the co-founder of an NGO “ Saheli” which supports migrant community. She has worked in health- promotion sector with refugee children and is passionate about social equity. She assists with Research and Host Mangement with RWA.
Misha

Events Coordinator

Misha is passionate about grassroots organising with the vision of creating strong communities where every voice is heard. She sees the coordination of community events and projects as a great tool to achieve this as they provide space for friendship building, sharing (skills, knowledge, resources), healing and connection through arts, and offer a platform for conversations that are important for building a culture of welcome.