What's new in the Global Refugee Network (Release 2.6.0, September 2026)

The Global Refugee Network (GRN) runs on Talent Catalog, the open source software maintained by Open Pathway Collective. Our latest release (11 September 2026), brings smarter matching for the organisations that support refugees, simpler identity checks for candidates, and a first step towards finding a home. Here is what changed, and who it helps.

For refugee candidates

Confirm your identity from your phone. If you hold a refugee ID card, you can now scan it with your phone to fill in and confirm your registration number and personal details. No retyping, and less chance of a mistake. The code is read on your phone itself, and nothing is sent until you review and choose to send it. You can do this from the Services tab at any time, or as an optional step when you register, in any of the 11 languages the GRN currently supports. Scanning is not yet available for every type of card, and we will share more as support expands.
Start looking for a place to live. A new card in the Services tab connects you to PiFi Property, where you can explore rental homes in your new country. You arrive at their site as an ordinary visitor, and none of your details are shared with them. This starts with Australia.
Say what work you really want. A new principal occupation field lets you make clear the job you are aiming for, so the people helping you can see it straight away.
A smoother start on mobile. Choosing the destinations you would consider is quicker, with one button to select them all, and the sign in screen is easier to use on a phone.

For organisations supporting refugees

Find people by their skills, not just their keywords. The first parts of a new matching engine are now live. Click the search icon on a job and the GRN looks for candidates with the skills it asks for, going beyond exact word matches. A slider sets how much weight goes to the exact words and how much to the meaning behind them, and the filters you already rely on still apply on top. It also recognises specialised skills that standard skills lists often miss, such as the industrial control systems known as PLC and SCADA.
Narrow any list quickly. Every list can now be filtered down to the candidates that matter for the task in front of you. Lists can run to hundreds of candidates against a handful of places, and this was one of the most requested changes from the people who work with these lists every day.
Complete intake exports. The old PDF export could cut off long written answers. It has been replaced with a Print page option that shows everything. If your team saved intake PDFs in the past, it is worth checking longer answers against the record in the GRN.
Know your messages went out. Task email alerts now confirm on screen once they have been sent.
Safer handling of candidate records. Deleting a candidate record now has tighter permissions and clearer messages.

For service partners considering integration

More dependable sign in. If one part of the system has a problem, people can still log in rather than being locked out.
Agreements that name you correctly. Data Processing Agreements now show your organisation's name, rather than placeholder text.
Built in the open. Talent Catalog is open source, so every change is public. This release also expands automated testing across the platform, so improvements arrive with fewer surprises.

For open source developers

A matching engine built to be swapped. Behind the new matching sits a store of vector embeddings in the Talent Catalog database, with keyword ranking and meaning based ranking blended together. Embedding models are registered rather than wired in, so the engine is not tied to any one provider. It ships with an open source model, and is built so that others can be compared against it.

Thank you

Every release is shaped by the engineers, partners and candidates who tell us what matters. If your organisation would like to join the Global Refugee Network, or you would like to contribute to the platform, visit openpathwaycollective.org.

Full technical notes for this release: talent-catalog.github.io/talentcatalog/v260