"Helping people through a horrendous system": An examination of the roles of frontline workers in refugee non-government organisations in Australia and the United Kingdom

The research explores a new area of study and examines the roles and views of frontline workers in non-government organisations (NGOs) providing services to refugees and asylum seekers in Australia and the United Kingdom. The literature review focuses on theoretical debates in forced migration, health and social care, humanitarian NGOs, and immigration policy. Data was collected through in-depth interviews held in Australia and the U.K. The sample size was thirty in total, with fifteen interviewees in each country. Six of the participants came from refugee backgrounds, with a male to female ratio of 1:2. The position of the interviewees ranged from team co-ordinators with a background in clinical work, social workers, psychologists, youth workers and refugee advocates. The detailed narratives of frontline workers’ experiences were analysed using qualitative mixed methods including grounded theory and narrative approaches. Grounded theory provides a set of procedures for thinking theoretically about textual materials, and in particular the analysis of language and interviews. The research highlights the tensions facing frontline workers working on behalf of refugees as they attempt to meet their health and social care needs in the face of increasing Government demands for immigration control. There are two key areas of findings that focus firstly on theoretical implications, and secondly on practice issues and organisational support for frontline workers. The emerging theoretical implications for this new area of study relate to the role of frontline workers and how they comply with and resist traditional social care models of control in their activities in NGOs and seek to promote practices that are inclusive to meet the needs of refugees and asylum seekers. The second area suggests addressing core issues related to ensuring best practice, a sustainable workforce, and organisational stability for NGOs and charitable voluntary sector services to ensure enduring legitimate status.