Free settlement services for migrants in Western Australia

Migrant resource centres and settlement services in WA

The Metropolitan Migrant Resource Centre (MMRC), based in Mirrabooka, has more than two decades of experience delivering settlement services to migrants, refugees and humanitarian entrants across Perth's North Metropolitan, Central and East Metropolitan areas, funded by the Australian Government through the Department of Social Services. Services include case coordination, family support, youth and men's programs, aged care programs, employment mentoring, and cultural-competency training. Phone (08) 9345 5755, mmrcwa.org.au.

ASeTTS (Association for Services to Torture and Trauma Survivors) has supported humanitarian entrants and refugees settling in WA since 1992, providing counselling and related support for people from a refugee-type background who have experienced torture or trauma in their country of origin, in transit, or in detention. Services include direct counselling, advocacy and referrals, and rural, regional and remote outreach. It's eligibility-specific — for refugee-background trauma survivors, not a general settlement service — but genuinely important where it applies. Details at asetts.org.au.

Free interpreting: TIS National

TIS National, the Australian Government's Translating and Interpreting Service, is free to anyone in Australia communicating with a business or government agency. Call 131 450 for immediate phone interpreting, available 24 hours a day, every day of the year, for the cost of a local call, in more than 150 languages.

In WA this covers state and Commonwealth government departments willing to use TIS (most government agencies are), Centrelink, Medicare, your GP, and your child's school. Private businesses can choose to use it but aren't required to, so it's worth confirming upfront whether the specific organisation you're calling will arrange one.

Booking a pre-arranged interpreter (rather than requesting one on the spot) is also available through tisnational.gov.au — worth doing ahead of anything more involved than a quick enquiry, particularly for appointments with Centrelink or a specialist service.

Free legal help for immigration matters

Legal Aid WA gives limited advice about visas and migration matters, and will refer you to another organisation if it can't help directly. If your visa application is refused, you may be able to seek a review through the Administrative Review Tribunal (ART) — details are in your refusal letter from the Department of Home Affairs, and it's worth getting legal advice as soon as you receive a refusal, given ART deadlines are short and generally not extendable. Contact your local Legal Aid WA office or the Legal Aid WA Infoline.

The Law Society of Western Australia can refer you to lawyers who specialise in immigration law if you need representation beyond what Legal Aid WA's limited advice covers.

WA's free legal offering for immigration matters is genuinely narrower than in NSW, Victoria or Queensland, which makes the distinction in the final section of this guide especially relevant here: for most visa application work, a registered migration agent — not a lawyer or Legal Aid — is who you actually need.

Government multicultural services and multilingual support

The Office of Multicultural Interests (OMI), part of the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries, advises the WA Minister for Multicultural Interests on policies and programs supporting multiculturalism, and provides information, advice, funding and training to communities and community organisations. It runs Diverse WA, an online portal connecting communities with resources, and supports funding for culturally and linguistically diverse (CaLD) communities to design and deliver their own projects. Located at 140 William Street, Perth, phone (08) 6552 7300, omi.wa.gov.au.

For Commonwealth services, Services Australia's multilingual lines cover Centrelink (131 202) and Medicare (132 011), with free interpreters arranged on request and documents translated free where needed for a payment.

OMI's Diverse WA portal is worth checking directly if you're looking for a community organisation specific to your own background rather than a general settlement service — it aggregates far more than any single article can list.

Libraries: free resources and community connection

The State Library of Western Australia holds a Community Languages Collection of books and resources in more than 40 languages on Level 1 of its Perth building, plus free access to eBooks, graphic novels and audiobooks in languages other than English, and free eNewspapers and eMagazines from over 100 countries in 60 languages. It also runs the LOTE4Kids digital collection of picture books for children in a wide range of world languages. Details at slwa.wa.gov.au.

A library card in WA is free and typically only requires proof of address. Beyond borrowing, your local council library is usually the most reliable free source of wifi, meeting rooms and computer access in a new suburb, and library-run English conversation groups are a low-pressure way to build community connections early on.

Most local councils across Perth and regional WA run their own community-language programming alongside the state collection — worth checking your specific council's library page for what's on nearby.

Emergency help if you're struggling to cover the basics

If you're short on food or facing an urgent bill in your early months in WA, several national charities run emergency relief that generally doesn't require citizenship — eligibility depends on the specific program and sometimes your visa category. The Salvation Army and St Vincent de Paul Society (Vinnies) both run emergency relief and material aid through WA branches and op shops. Foodbank WA supplies food relief mainly through a network of partner charities rather than direct distribution to individuals in most cases.

The Metropolitan Migrant Resource Centre is often the fastest way in for Perth's northern and eastern suburbs — as a dedicated settlement service it generally knows which local emergency relief provider has capacity that week. If you're on a temporary visa, confirm upfront whether the specific program is scoped to permanent residents and citizens only, since some Commonwealth-funded relief programs are.

What settlement services don't do — and who does

Every organisation in this guide is upfront that settlement support is not visa advice. MMRC and ASeTTS can help with case coordination, counselling, employment mentoring or community connection — they don't advise on visa eligibility, and aren't authorised to. Giving immigration assistance in Australia is a regulated activity, restricted to agents registered with the Office of the Migration Agents Registration Authority (OMARA) or a small number of exempted lawyers.

Legal Aid WA's visa and migration advice is explicitly limited, and it will refer you onward for most substantive matters. If you're applying for a skilled, employer-sponsored, student or partner visa, or navigating a refusal, you need a registered migration agent — a different, regulated role that WA's free legal services generally don't fill.

Before engaging anyone for visa advice, check they're actually registered — our guide to using the OMARA register takes under a minute. On Migratio you describe your situation once and compare consultation fees from MARA-registered agents (comparing is free; consults are typically $150–$300 and you pay only if you book) who handles your specific visa type.

What does the Metropolitan Migrant Resource Centre (MMRC) do in Perth?

MMRC provides settlement services across Perth's North Metropolitan, Central and East Metropolitan areas — case coordination, family support, youth and men's programs, employment mentoring, and cultural-competency training — free to eligible migrants, refugees and humanitarian entrants. Phone (08) 9345 5755.

How do I get a free interpreter in WA?

Call TIS National on 131 450, available 24 hours a day for the cost of a local call, in more than 150 languages. Services Australia also arranges free interpreters on 131 202 (Centrelink) and 132 011 (Medicare).

Can Legal Aid WA help me with my visa application?

Legal Aid WA gives only limited advice on visas and migration and will usually refer you elsewhere. For a substantive visa application — skilled, employer-sponsored, student or partner — you need a MARA-registered migration agent, not Legal Aid WA.

What is ASeTTS and who is it for?

ASeTTS (Association for Services to Torture and Trauma Survivors) provides free counselling and support for people from a refugee-like background who experienced torture or trauma in their country of origin, in transit, or in detention. It is not a general settlement service for all migrants.

Do settlement services in WA help with visa applications?

No. Settlement services help with practical resettlement — case coordination, employment, community connection. Visa advice and applications are restricted to migration agents registered with OMARA. On Migratio you describe your situation once and compare consultation fees from MARA-registered agents (comparing is free; consults are typically $150–$300 and you pay only if you book).

Where can new migrants get emergency food relief in WA?

The Salvation Army and St Vincent de Paul Society run emergency relief through WA branches; Foodbank WA supplies food through partner charities. The Metropolitan Migrant Resource Centre can usually point Perth's northern and eastern suburbs to a local service with capacity.