By CASEY NEILL
YOUNG refugees looking for work are grappling with network, schooling and support issues.
But Beacon is working to inspire and motivate them and other students to choose a positive pathway to employment.
The not-for-profit foundation’s Duncan McKimm said many students with refugee backgrounds had little or no family in their new home.
“The most difficult issue is the lack of the networks provided by their parents, their employers and wider family that often provide other young people with their first job opportunities,” he said.
“Beacon’s role is to help make young people aware of the opportunities and industries around them, so that they can show employers how motivated they are.”
Mr McKimm said a lack of government support once they turned 18 also limited many young refugees.
“At that point, they effectively need to find full-time work or they are cut off from the social safety net,” he said.
“For students who have often missed several years of school due to conflict or strife in their country of origin, this usually means finding any low-skilled work rather than building their employability skills by staying at school.
“It can be a Catch 22 – they need school to get the employability skills that will get them a good job they can survive or thrive on.
“But they often need to take any job they can to survive, at the expense of their schooling.”
Mr McKimm said the Dandenong business community was usually very open to employing refugees.
“However, literacy and numeracy skills can often be an issue for young people in this situation due to the disrupted schooling they may have received in earlier years,” he said.
He said Beacon was working with industries like manufacturing and large employers like McDonald’s to take business to the classroom and educate young people about pathways and study options.
“School-based traineeships and apprenticeships are particularly a focus for us, as they help build the critical employability skills of young people while providing them with an income,” Mr McKimm said.
