MULTICULTURAL EMPLOYMENT SERVICE ACT
Migrants, Refugees & Asylum Seekers
Multicultural Employment Service (MES) commenced in 2013 with an initial target group of multicultural youth up to 25yrs of age. Due to overwhelming demand and the need to address youth and family relationship issues around unemployment, the ACT Governmentagreed to expand the program to include adults a year later.
In 2015, Multicultural Employment Service and Companion House presented their submission “Pathways to Employment for Migrants and Refugees” which highlightedbarriers to employment and presented examples of best practice to address these barriers drawn from the experiences of establishing MES two years earlier. This has resulted in the Minister announcing $1.2m migrant, refugee and asylum seeker employment initiative by the ACT Government.
Overview
Employment is a key component of the process of settlement and integration giving refugees, migrants and asylum seekers an income, a social identity and the pathway to a sustainable future. However, lack of coordinated information on employment and education ‘pathways’ has exacerbated their vulnerability resulting in low employment participation rates (32%) for humanitarian refugees and the highest unemployment (43%) rate of all migrant categories (DIAC 2006).
National data and local anecdotal evidence demonstrates that refugees and some migrant categories are struggling to break into the employment marketbecause they have complex needs which cannot be addressed by Job Active employment agencies or mainstream education programs. And while Job Active employment services may be reasonably effective at keeping jobseekers actively looking, they are not necessarily helping them to overcome the many barriers to employment. A Refugee Council of Australia report (2017)based on 102 case studies titled “NOT WORKING - EXPERIENCES OF REFUGEES AND MIGRANTS WITH JOBACTIVE” found the barriers to employment are structural, social and cultural but not insurmountable. Two of its four recommendations were to improve the Job Active program and invest in targeted employment programs for migrants and refugees.
Current Situation
To date there has been a mix of approaches to migrant, refugee and asylum seeker employment but these are limited in scope such as volunteers helping individuals with resume preparation, job search assistance and job interview coaching on an ad-hoc basis. And while language programs such as Adult Migrant English Programs are available for certain new arrivals, English proficiency is an on-going challenge and a major barrier to employment. This situation is now better recognised with a stronger focus on more coordinated or comprehensive employment services for migrants and refugees to address their complex employment needs.
The Challenge
The challenge is to provide a ‘whole-of-person’ approach to employment that places the job seeker at the centre of an integrated service response. Evidence suggests that better employment outcomes come from improved cross-sectional coordination rather than from isolated interventions of multiple organisations. Key features of an integrated service include working in partnership with communities, employers, employment agencies and education stakeholders while liaising with migrant, refugee and asylum seeker support services.
Outcomes
Such service integration can offer more effective and efficient use of available resources to address the complex issues associated with migrant, refugee and asylum seeker employment. Through such an integrated approach, MES achieved the following outcomes in 2016/17:
Added to MES Client List / Proposed to Employers / Offered Employment / Offered Work Experience / Offered Volunteer Work / Attended MES Job Program207 / 160 / 116 / 26 / 22 / 94
A recent example of MES initiatives was a specific training and work experience program for South Sudanese that was organised in partnership with a construction industry training provider which MES negotiated to be provided to MES clients free of charge:
-15 South Sudanese men applied for the program and2 were not suitable due to turning up in suits and requesting architect type roles rather than hands on construction roles.
-13 out of 13 were placed in employment within the first 2 weeks of a 6 week program.
-8 out of 13 are still employed with 4 of those going in to apprenticeships.
-7 out of the 15 applicants had Australian university degrees but had specifically asked for any job opportunities due to lack of progress with Job Actives
-Of the 5 who dropped out, MES has assisted 3 find other jobs and 2 have moved to Melbourne.
Similar examples were experienced in MES programs for hospitality, aged care and disability care where more women are finding employment. With such large numbers seeking employment and its limited resources including one employment consultant and a part-time workplace communications trainer, MES is currently targeting entry level roles where we get more immediate employment results particularly for the large number who have limited language skills and work experience. See MES website for more stories
MES is also encouraging clients to establish their own enterprises. Recent examples include restaurants, catering, cleaning services and the assistance given to 22 Uber drivers to purchase vehicles and set up their own independent businesses.
Through these initiatives, MES has become an employment hub for both job seekers and employers with some employers now giving priority to MES clients. National hotel chains Best Western and Mercure Hotels as well as independent motels come to MES first when looking for new employees. Residential aged care agencies such as IRT Kangara Waters and Goodwin Homes have arranged many work experience programs with MESand seek our clients when vacancies arise.
Proposed
MES has placed several clients in public sector and private sector professional positions but currently doesn’t have enough dedicated resources to broaden its program to a range of professional business stakeholders. MES has successfully referred several clients to agencies such as Refugee Talent resulting in public sector placements. A prospect of funding for a full program would enable MES to have a dedicated program focused on public sector, business and professional placements as well as the current placements.
The employment consultants assess job seekers, engage with a range of employers and maintain contact with both to maximise long-term employment outcomes. In addition, the employment consultant will initiate individual and group work experience programs and placements.
The critical role of the Workplace Communications trainer will continue to provide communication training in workplace culture, language/phonetics and customer service training at three levels. Level one is for people with adequate English language skills but needing phonetics tuition to be better understood. Level two is for people with reasonable language skills but who could benefit from more workplace related language support. Level three is for people with low language and literacy levels requiring one-to-one intensive support. The client/employer coordinator will assist the communications trainer to organise group training programs, arrange referrals to appropriate educational centres for clients requiring more intensive support and coordinate volunteer mentors working one-to-one with specific job seekers.
A particular category of clients that have been hard to place and have either withdrawn from the job market or have been dismissed from employment are those that have not adjusted well to the work environment. Examples include clients who find it difficult to work with female supervisors, clients who are over-sensitive to supervision, clients who are not punctual and those who have personal/family issues to contend with. MES currently provides mentoring and counselling supportand a more intensive training program around workplace culture benefitsthese clients considerably.
Around 50% of clients on the current MES job seeker list would fit these categories of language and communication challenges and are at risk of dropping down the list as more employable clients are added. This currently represents around 110 migrant, refugee and asylum seeker MES clients who are currently registered with Job Actives but who say they are receiving no benefit. These are the migrants and refugees seekers most at risk of becoming long-term unemployed which we hope to address through a specialised migrant, refugee and asylum seeker client-centred, whole-of-person approach to employment.
MES will also work closely with the ACT Government to support people living in the ACT on bridging visas with work rights, many of whom have little or no life or financial security, to find meaningful employment and thus help build their skills and financial independence during what can often be a long period of uncertainly and trauma. As well as the p[potential positive outcomes for the individual – this will contribute to ensuring Canberra remains an inclusive and cohesive community.
Background Research and References
-Inside Story 1 Feb 2018
-Centre for Policy Development
-Centre for Policy Development Grand Alibis Report
-Joint Standing Committee on Migration Inquiry into Settlement outcomes tabled their report in December 2017 called: No one teaches you to become an Australian. see Employment Chapter p. 77 Note: hyperlinks to all the peak body submissions are embedded in text.
-Refugee Council of Australia (RCoA), Jobactive: Refugee Community and Service Provider Concerns -
-The Place of Migrants in Contemporary Australia 2014. Give demographic re employment participation by industry type
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