Rural Australians for Refugees' 2022 Conference, Connecting for Change, hosted by the Blue Mountains Refugee Support Group, is the biennial Conference for RAR groups, refugees and refugee advocates. (postponed from 2020).

The Conference is an opportunity for RAR groups to come together with refugees, refugee advocates and supporters, to build our movement for change and humanity. There will be a mix of networking, inspirational speakers, lively panel discussions and breakout sessions. These include:

Keynote speaker : Arif Hussein, Refugee Advice and Casework Service (RACS) human rights lawyer
Tamara Domicelj (Jesuit Refugee Service) in conversation with Angela Fredericks (#hometoBilo), Craig Foster (#GameOver), Muzafar Ali (Cisarua Learning, Indonesia) and Julie Macken (Justice and Peace Office, Sydney Archdiocese). on

How do we get traction in growing humanity and compassion in this country? What have we learnt from our experiences?

Panel: Voices for Change - with Entisar Hamid ASRC Coordinator, Community Advocacy and Power Program, Tamara Domicelj, First Nation's voice - Sharlene MacKenzie and Kathie Herbert (BMRSG).
Panel: Political Insiders - hints on how to build alliances with politicians to advance our agenda Speakers: Susan Templeman, MP for Macquarie, Senator Mehreen Faruqi, Shane Prince, Labor for Refugees
12 breakout sessions around themes of (1) people with lived experience (2) policy changes we want to see (3) RAR action, skills, connections and an open Café Conversations opportunity.
Multicultural interfaith celebration with music
Plenty of time for networking and building relationships which are core to our work.

For details of the program: https://ruralaustraliansforref...

Note: In advance of the Conference, on Friday 16 September at Katoomba High School:

4pm: The 2022 RAR AGM

TICKETS: there are a range of ticket types - from students in an RAR group ($50) to General Admission - non-RAR groups ($175). We have allocated numbers by ticket types and if it shows '0' for your ticket type, let us know and we can adjust. There is an Early Bird offer for RAR groups only (excluding BMRSG members). This will be open until 15 July at 10pm.

Food choices include vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options. If you require something more specialised, you are advised to bring your own.

Billets may be available for RAR Group participants. There is a question on this at registration. This will close on 30 July. We hope to accommodate as many as possible. Accommodation options are available on the RAR website page.

We are pleased to announce it will be a plastic free conference, so please bring your own water bottle.

COVID-19: We will abide by Health Department requirements in place at the time of the Conference. We have limited numbers to 300, to enable reasonable spacing in the large school hall, with people seated at tables. We require all Conference participants to be fully vaccinated. We recognise that people may not attend for concern about large gatherings. So we plan to video as many sessions as we can for later use by RAR groups.

We acknowledge the Dharug and Gundungarra people, the Traditional Custodians of the land where we hold this Conference and recognise their continuing connection to land, water and community. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging.

#RAR2022