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 May 2009
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NEWS AND VIEWS
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EXAMINING CHANGES IN THE EMPLOYMENT SECTOR
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By Leesl Wegener, CMY Project Officer - Sector Development and Policy
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From 1 July 2009, the Job Network will officially be replaced by the Federal Government’s new employment services model – Job Services Australia: People, Skills and Jobs. As successful providers prepare to deliver services under a new policy framework, what the changes mean for the employment outcomes of young people from refugee backgrounds will take some time to ascertain.
Job Network was generally regarded by refugee young people and those working with them as a highly complex, inflexible system that was often more problematic than beneficial to the job seeking process. In particular, criticism was often directed to the fact that Job Network providers had little incentive to support young refugees obtain employment as they were paid higher amounts for placing a disadvantaged long term, unemployed person in a job than a young refugee recently referred from Centrelink.
Through our work with young people and consultations with stakeholders, CMY holds the view that the ‘ideal’ employment service for refugee young people should be specialist and holistic in nature. Key components to this approach would include:
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- Individual pathways planning, case management and referral over a longer term;
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- Training in employment skills that include Australian workplace cultures and practices;
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- Supported work placement/experience in a work area relevant to the participant’s skills and aspirations;
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- Ongoing post employment support to ensure sustained employment; and
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- Mentoring, where participants are matched with a volunteer mentor based on the skills and employment goals of the participant.
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How will the new system shape up? While the abolishment of JPET raised concerns for many organisations supporting young people, some providers receiving a tender will have a specialised focus, with a smaller number of these being specialist ‘Youth at Risk’ services. At least one of these organisations is a former JPET provider in some regions of Melbourne with high numbers of refugee young people, and so the expertise they have developed in working with refugee young people will be retained. Other “Youth at Risk” providers will be new to working with refugee young people. Generalist service providers are also likely to be working with refugee young people in areas of high refugee settlement. The skill development of these organisations in the area of cross cultural communication, understanding the experience of young refugees, resettlement and the barriers they face in gaining employment will be critical to the delivery of appropriate services.
Job seeking services will now be provided in four streams differentiated by the level of support required to address the disadvantage and barriers people face in gaining employment. There are potential benefits for young people from refugee backgrounds in this approach. More young people from refugee backgrounds are likely to qualify for an intensive and longer term case management approach than what was previously the case, as eligibility criteria under the new system is broader than what it was under JPET and the Personal Support Program (PSP). This will depend, however, on Centrelink making an appropriate referral and recognising the employment barriers many young refugees face.
Significantly more funding per person is allocated to people requiring higher levels of support than what was allocated under JPET and PSP, a factor which also has the potential to improve employment outcomes for refugee youth. The focus on non- vocational barriers and social outcomes as well as employment outcomes in the more intensive support streams may also equate to a more holistic approach to service provision for this group.
A young person can move through the different streams according to the level of support they require at a given time. This continuity with the one service provider has the potential to simplify the administrative requirements of job seeking. For refugee youth, reduced complexity and a stronger relationship with one provider may help to avoid situations that under Job Network may have lead to them being ‘breached” and having their income from Centrelink suspended.
Each service provider must deliver services for all four streams. For specialist services, this means a higher volume of clients. The risk in this approach is that the requirement to see more clients limits the capacity to retain the specialised and holistic focus which we believe is integral to meeting the needs of refugee youth.
While there appears to be some optimism about the potential benefits of the new system, time will tell whether or not this translates into real improvements to the employment and social outcomes for refugee young people. Like other young Australians, refugee young people want to work and they want rewarding well paid jobs and careers. They need and deserve the support that is required to help them realise their aspirations.
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A look at the State Budget
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Amid daily media coverage of financial and social crisis, the State Budget offers some relief for newly arrived refugee and migrant young people.
The Refugee Action Program, formerly known as the Refugee Brokerage Program, will be extended to assist more than 50 refugee and humanitarian communities. $2 million will be allocated over two years to link services to support refugee families and their communities.
Boosting Our Multicultural Advantage is a welcome initiative to continue investment in our multicultural advantage and to promote social cohesion. The funding of $2 million over two years will go towards grants, community education and training resources and activities; and mentoring support for faith communities, especially for young people.
Respect is the Government’s strategy to connect communities and promote respectful relationships, the details of which are yet to be spelt out. Young people are a focus of this strategy. The main tenet appears to be a volunteering strategy for young people. Volunteering achieves a number of personal and community outcomes. However, a volunteering strategy on its own does little to tackle the substantive issues for refugee and migrant young people. We are keen to contribute to the further development of Respect to ensure that it creates other opportunities to meet the needs of young people.
For the Out of Home Care system, where children are placed away from their families, the budget has allocated for $134.7 million to continue the reform. The reform program has focused on the provision of high quality, culturally appropriate services.
It is heartening to see an emphasis on vocational Education and Training (VET). For many newly arrived refugee and migrant students, VET offers a real alternative to the continued engagement in school. Under this budget, additional funding to schools to purchase VET in Schools programs from TAFE and other Registered Training Organisations will assist refugee and migrant young people to find a pathway to further training and/or employment.
The budget has also given a big leg up for mental health with a particular focus on children and young people: $13.8 million will go towards early intervention and outreach services; $4.5 million for two new Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services in Schools; and $3 million for a new Youth Justice Mental Health initiative to provide clinical treatment and care coordination support for young people in the youth justice system; and $8 million for two new Youth Prevention and Recovery Cares Services in Bendigo and Frankston.
Housing and homelessness has also been targeted to improve and expand homelessness services including the targeting of specific groups – women and children experiencing family violence, Indigenous people and young people, as well as strengthening mainstream services. CMY will continue to work with our partners to ensure that homeless refugee and migrant young people are included in the planning and provision of these services.
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Check the state government's Budget website for more details.
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Compact with Young Australians
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The Council of Australian Governments meeting at the end of April agreed on a so-called ‘Compact with Young Australians’, a new education and training strategy which the federal Government anticipates will provide up to 135,000 young people with higher qualifications. Framed with the current economic downturn in mind, the Compact is based on three core principles:
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- Anyone under the age of 17 must be “earning or learning”, (in full time school, training or work).
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- Anyone under the age of 20 and not working will be provided with a training place with the first priority - a year 12 or equivalent VET qualification; and
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- Anyone under the age of 25 and not working is guaranteed a training place to ensure they have the skills needed to be part of the recovery.
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The Government is tying the payment of Youth Allowance and Family Tax Benefit A to the program to drive participation. The Compact takes effect from 1 July for those under 20, with the under-25 component due to start next year. Further details are expected to be announced as a part of the federal Budget in mid-May.
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(source: Prime Minister media release, 30 April 2009)
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New Victorian multicultural policy launched
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Following on the new federal multicultural policy (see the March 2009 edition of CMY e-News for details), Cultural Diversity week in March saw the Victorian Government launch its own new multicultural policy. The policy paper, ‘All of Us’, sets out a revised framework for continuing to strengthen and promote multiculturalism across the state, and was developed after a lengthy community consultation process. Full and summary versions of the policy paper are available for download from the All of Us section at the Victorian Multicultural Commission website.
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What drives regional settlement?
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The Victorian Settlement Planning Committee has drawn on several key reports to produce a new summary report, ‘Drivers and Success Factors in Regional Refugee Settlement’. The report aims to identify the drivers and success factors of regional settlement in Victoria by refugee and migrant communities in order to develop a best-practice model for regional settlement. Drivers cited in the report include employment opportunities, the lower cost and peaceful, family-oriented lifestyle offered, and inducements such as relocation programs and financial assistance; success factors include sufficient needs identification and planning by the host community, a welcoming host community, flexible service delivery to meet refugee needs, and an understanding that the resettlement process involves several phases of readjustment. Download a copy from the link below.
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 download report (56kb)
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WHAT'S NEW AT CMY?
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CMY young people meet UN High Commissioner
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Five young people who have recently taken part in CMY’s youth participation programs were given the opportunity to meet the United Nations’ High Commissioner for Refugees, António Guterres, during his recent visit to Australia. Kalyan Ky, Peter Ajak, Farah Faiq, Daniel Haile-Michael and Thiong Dit met with Mr Guterres and spoke candidly of their experiences as refugees who have settled in Australia. Mr Guterres spent more than 20 years in government and public service before joining the UNHCR, including serving as Portuguese prime minister from 1996 to 2002.
Learn more about the High Commissioner’s activities at the UNHCR website.
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Congratulations to the Melton Youth Forum Planning Committee
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Some great news concerning the achievements of some of the young people CMY is working with in Melton, through the Voices of Young Australians: Uniting for Social Cohesion program. The Youth Forum Planning Committee (a group of five young people from diverse (refugee, migrant and Australian born) backgrounds) have won the Social Contribution Award, as part of this year’s Shire of Melton Youth Awards. The group received their awards on Thursday 2nd April.
The Planning Committee worked really hard to put together the Youth Forum: Tackling Racism and Discrimination in Melton on 17th March, which had nearly 100 students attend from 11 schools across the west. The students heard from inspiring young guest speakers and participated in creative workshops to explore themes of racism, discrimination and social cohesion, with many community organisations including the Police in attendance to support the initiative. It was a very successful day, with the Planning Committee members receiving many queries from other young people as to how they too can be active at their schools and in the community in addressing issues young people face.
Read Sonal Nayak’s report on the event in the Young Voices section of this edition of e-News.
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Statewide Network update
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CMY’s Statewide Multicultural Youth Issues Network (SMYIN) convenes for the first time in 2009, to discuss the possible introduction of a national Charter of Human Rights for Australia.
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"If rights are not capable of legal enforcement then they are not rights at all. They are empty promises."
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Speakers at the meeting include:
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- Graeme Innes AM – Australian Human Rights Commissioner
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- Rys Farthing – Lecturer- Global Studies, Social Science and Planning, RMIT University
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- Demetrio Zema – Human Rights Youth Ambassador Program
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Australia is the only modern democracy without a national Charter of Human Rights. The Australian Government is currently consulting on human rights and ways of protecting human rights in Australia – see the article in the March 2009 edition of CMY e-News for more background information.
The May SMYIN meeting will provide an opportunity for youth and settlement workers, as well as human rights advocates and community leaders to come together to discuss a national human rights charter for Australia. Questions to be explored include:
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- Which human rights and responsibilities should be protected and promoted?
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- How could we better protect and promote human rights?
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Information from these discussions will be documented and inform CMY’s submission to the National Human Rights Consultation.
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Date: Thursday 14 May
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Time: 9.30am to 12.30pm
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Location: Co.As.It. (189 Faraday Street, Carlton)
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download invite (223kb)
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Building Relationships and Initiating Change (BRIC) Program
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- Are you a group/committee/network/association of young people from newly arrived communities aged between 16-25 years old?
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- Do you live, work or meet in the western suburbs?
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- Looking for support to achieve your goals?
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CMY, with funding from the Office for Youth, is co-ordinating a new and exciting group mentoring initiative, the Building Relationships and Initiating Change (BRIC) Program.
The BRIC Program aims to support groups, committees, networks and associations of young people from newly arrived and culturally and linguistically diverse communities through mentoring to facilitate skill and knowledge development. See the flyer for more information.
Applications from interested youth groups are now invited! Groups need to complete the application form and send it through to Caitlin Wilks at CMY either by post, email or fax. Contact Caitlin on 9340 3700, 0419 779 553 or cwilks@cmy.net.au if you have any questions or queries about the application form and program.
Applications close Friday 15 May..
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download the BRIC flyer (704kb)
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download application form (54kb)
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The BRIC Program is also currently recruiting mentors! Volunteer BRIC Mentors will meet approximately once a fortnight for 2 hours with the youth group with which they are matched. Through the development of supportive relationships, mentors will share their skills, knowledge and experiences with young people to further develop the capacity of their youth-groups and/or youth-led initiatives.
For more information, download the Mentor Position Description and Application Form or contact Caitlin Wilks (see above). Applications close Monday 18 May.
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download the BRIC mentor flyer (362kb)
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download the BRIC mentor position description (133kb)
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download mentor application form (50kb)
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Sports Network update
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The April meeting of CMY’s Multicultural Sports Network focused on the prevalent issue of conflict within sport. Keynote speakers Peter Schwab (CEO of AFL Victoria) and Eugene Arocca (CEO of North Melbourne Football Club), discussed their experiences and impressions of conflict in sport from a participation and management point of view.
James Wynd and Derek Fagan from YMCA Youth Services followed with a session entitled ‘Turning problems into possibilities’, which looked at:
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- Planning for prevention of conflict;
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- Understanding the root of conflict;
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- How to approach conflict resolution; and
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- Tips for achieving the best outcome for all – the ‘win–win approach’.
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Community youth worker Ahmed Dini and CMY’s Claudia Abakah then discussed some first hand experiences of dealing with the sort of conflict that arises in youth sport and recreation programs.
The meeting ended with a fun interactive workshop in which two local young people, Daniel and Ahmed, performed conflict role-plays. The audience was asked to offer solutions for dealing with the issues.
The next Multicultural Sports Network Meeting will be held during Refugee week, on Thursday 18th June. The meeting will be an opportunity for the sport, recreation and youth sectors to meet members of Victoria’s newly arrived communities and learn about their culture, experiences & interests in sport. There will also be time to network with the community groups present and talk about future possible projects.
For more information on the Multicultural Sports Network, contact Carolyn Favier on 9340 3700 or cfavier@cmy.net.au.
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YOUNG VOICES: SONAL NAYAK
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Sonal Nayak is a member of the Youth Forum Planning Committee, a group of five young people who planned and organised a youth forum in the Shire of Melton to discuss issues on racism and discrimination. The committee recently received the Social Contribution Award at the Shire of Melton Youth Awards.
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After an almost six-month process of leadership training and developing this project idea, the Youth Forum was held on 17th March 2009 at the Melton Youth Services Centre.
The aim of the Forum was to raise awareness, discuss concerns and assist in solving and preventing the very complex issue of racism and discrimination in a fun and interesting way. This was achieved by having a range of workshops including dance, art, drama and comedy for participants to explore these issues further. The five members of the Youth Forum Planning Committee also arranged for facilitators from each expertise to coordinate the workshop. Each group then presented their performance and artwork to the audience, which enabled students to use their creative talents to express their ideas and opinions on racism and discrimination in an engaging and entertaining manner.
Guest speakers – Peter and Farah – were also invited to talk about their journeys to Australia from different countries and to provide some ways that young people can tackle issues such as racism and discrimination themselves.
Just over one hundred secondary school students attended, as well as teachers, co-ordinators and principals from eleven schools. Most were schools from the western suburbs of Melbourne; however students from an inner city school district were invited as well.
In the planning process, the Planning Committee had also made plans for food and catering, the ambition being a dish from each continent so as to celebrate cultural diversity. This aim was achieved due to the help and support of local businesses supplying and donating food. Local businesses also played an important role in offering vouchers, pamphlets and other goodies to fill up the show bags given out to the many who attended the day.
The Youth Forum received great feedback from students, teachers and workers alike; many felt they had a great time and received valuable information – some who had never known what racism and discrimination is, and some who are victims, sought to find solutions to these issues together.
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WHAT'S NEW IN THE SECTOR
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Details of upcoming events, conferences and new resources in the multicultural youth sector. If you have an event or resource you want promoted through CMY Digest, please send details to info@cmy.net.au
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A regularly-updated list of new resources and upcoming events in the multicultural youth sector
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IN THE MEDIA
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Multicultural youth issues in the media – what are some of the issues that are making it into the news? If you come across media articles you think should be highlighted in this newsletter, please forward to info@cmy.net.au
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Trade secret could be the key to an effective migration system (The Age newspaper, 22 April 2009)
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"This is a globalised era. Technology has enabled people around the world to interact as never before and regulations have steadily fallen away for trade and investment. It is ironic then that more restrictions are being placed on the movement of people across state borders."
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> read the article at the Age website
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