Eltham accommodation to house Syrian refugees

Refurbished units at an Eltham retirement village could be home to 60 Syrian refugees but a small group of ‘unhappy, proactive’ residents oppose the plan.

St Vincent’s Health CEO Toby Hall said they expected to re-home the refugees in the next 3-6 months, with priority given to older women and women with children.

He said a small group of vocal residents had written to the Planning Minister to express their concern while most were excited by the prospect.

‘In the short-term we thought we had a good opportunity to put our hands up and say we could help the Syrian refugee issue,’ he told Neil Mitchell.

He said the government had ‘thoroughly vetted’ the refugees coming in to Australia, and they were undergoing stringent security checks.

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