Community Refugee Integration and Settlement Program
The Australian Government’s cost-effective Community Refugee Integration and Settlement Pilot (CRISP) will become a permanent feature of Australia’s humanitarian program in July 2026.
The pilot, announced by the Australian Government in December 2021, will conclude on 30 June 2026 with the permanent program commencing immediately afterwards. The permanent program will support an initial 200 refugees under the humanitarian program allocation cap in 2026-27.
CRISP operates as a dedicated settlement pathway for refugees who:
- do not have family links in Australia
- are referred to Australia by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for resettlement.
Community Supporter Groups
Under CRISP, refugee category visa holders receive settlement support directly from trained community groups, called Community Supporter Groups (CSGs).
A CSG comprises five or more adults who support CRISP participants for 12 months from their date of arrival in Australia. During this time, CSGs give broad settlement and integration support to CRISP participants. CRISP participants can access the same government services as other humanitarian visa holders, such as Medicare and Centrelink.
CSGs help CRISP participants with a range of activities, including but not limited to:
- registering for government support, such as Medicare and Centrelink
- accessing education
- linking with employment services
- attending appointments.
We have contracted Community Refugee Sponsorship Australia (CRSA) to run the CRISP pilot. You can find out more about becoming a CSG, through the
CRISP: Community Refugee Integration and Settlement Pilot.
Evaluation
The government engaged the University of Queensland to evaluate the effectiveness of CRISP and the Community Support Program (CSP).
The evaluation found that these community settlement programs:
- lead to strong integration outcomes for refugees and humanitarian entrants.
- benefit the community members involved.
- have the potential to bring meaningful, long-term benefits for refugees, host communities, and broader Australian society.
The department continues to refine its settlement programs to address findings and recommendations from the evaluation.
For more information, see the below reports:
More information
