A Best Practice Framework: Informing Settlement Services for Women-at-Risk from Refugee Backgrounds in Australia

The purpose of this best-practice Framework is to promote effective and comprehensive assessment and practice when working with recently resettled Women-at-Risk from refugee backgrounds and their families. The Framework aims to inform policy makers, service agencies, and practitioners working with the women, primarily focused on women whose time in Australia is eighteen months or less. While there is a small body of evidence regarding the settlement of this group of women, links between research evidence and practice are relatively limited and a coherent theoretically-informed and evidence-based framework that assesses and responds in supporting the women does not currently exist. To improve service delivery and promote positive outcomes for Women-at-Risk in their resettlement, the Framework seeks to: (a) Appreciate the intersecting nature of issues that characterise the experiences of the women; (b) Improve understandings of the links between research and practice for policy makers, service agencies, and practitioners; (c) Recognise collaborative processes that build from the resources and expertise of diverse individuals, communities, and practitioners to support women; (d) Devise practice principles and guidelines to assist policy makers, service agencies, and practitioners address the needs of the women effectively; (e) Assist quality control processes for practitioners, service agencies, and government.