Event Highlights: ‘Rethinking equity, diversity and inclusion – the benefits of employing people with refugee and asylum seeking backgrounds’

Refugees and asylum seekers offer international skills and a wealth of knowledge that Australian companies and organisations can benefit from, though they are often overlooked by companies.

In our most recent webinar, we heard from Dr. Karen Dunwoodie and Dr. Luke Macaulay from Deakin Centre for Refugee Employment, Advocacy,Training and Education (CREATE). They explained that many refugees and asylum seekers are highly skilled with a range of professional experience – and looking for work now.

Company leaders and HR professionals attended this event to better understand how their hiring processes can be more inclusive. Particularly, in addressing the lack of access to necessary networks and quality livelihood for refugees and asylum seekers.

7 key takeaways from the event

1. Global statistics: For the first time in modern history, a total of over 100 million people have been forcibly displaced.
2. In Australia: Only 17% of people from a refugee background get paid work within 18 months of arriving. Often, they are overqualified for these low skilled roles.
3. Major challenges for career re-establishment of people with refugee backgrounds are: systemic discrimination, government policy barriers, employers’ biases and lack of awareness.
4. Keep hiring processes up-to-date by reflecting on how you define equity, diversity and inclusion. “Equity does not mean diversity, diversity does not mean inclusion, inclusion does not mean equity.”
5. Biases embedded in the hiring process prevent the local workforce from expanding its knowledge base and international experience. Improving recruitment and hiring processes can make a company less insular and more globally capable.
6. A common practice of employers is only hiring people with “Australian work experience.” This is a bias that screens out many people with significant multilingual and international experience that a company can benefit from.
7. It’s not a lack of skill that stops refugees and asylum seekers from gaining employment but rather a lack of a broad and relevant networks in Australia. Access to professional networks is very important for people to understand career pathways available.

Career Clinics run by Deakin CREATE include mentorship and networking opportunities for highly skilled refugees and asylum seekers.

During the event, Bis Hakimi, a three time Career Clinic participant, shared some of his barriers for career re-establishment. As a 17-year old arriving in Australia, he had to learn how to navigate the job market amidst changing visa regulations when he decided to pursue a university degree. He talked about how local networks are valuable not only in finding suitable jobs and scholarships but also in providing practical advice on available career options. He said he found a lot of support from the one-to-one mentorship program and was even mentored by Former Premier of NSW Bob Carr.

To date, Bis has completed an Accounting and FInance degree and is now a postgraduate student in Business Analytics, working part time as a researcher.

Final Word

Companies can do a lot to improve hiring processes and understand their own unconscious biases to better address this issue. Keeping doors shut and creating more barriers to employment for highly skilled people with refugee and asylum seeking backgrounds, is a great missed opportunity for the Australian workforce, corporate sector, and economy.

To learn more about Deakin CREATE’s Career Clinics, you can get in touch with Luke Macaulay (l.macaulay@deakin.edu.au) or Dr. Karen Dunwoodie (k.dunwoodie@deakin.edu.au).

As a specialist finance, accounting and ESG recruitment and learning organisation; we can help your company with talent planning. We can find temporary and permanent roles from Assistant Accountant to CFO level and also recruit Sustainability / ESG Manager roles to Chief Sustainability Officer roles across all industry sectors. Whether you are working, in-between roles or know anyone with finance and accounting or ESG recruitment needs, we would be delighted to assist. Please feel free to get in touch.

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