In the last two years, 97 500 skilled migration places have been allocated by The Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC). It's the largest number ever allocated with a firm focus on attracting migrants with the relevant skills to complement Australia’s labour market needs and skill shortages.
We chat to Michael Cox, the Government Programs General Manager of ACL, an organisation which supports newly arrived migrants and refugees’ cultural integration into Australia.
“I’ve been working for 11 years in the Adult Migrant English Program.” Michael says, “I was a teacher before that, and I worked in the school service.”
Recently making the move from Victoria, Michael came to Sydney to work at ACL, as head of the Adult Migrant English Program (AMEP).
“AMEP focuses on Life Long Learning. Learning to learn, and the freedom and the control to give people independence.”
Actually Michael manages two Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) funded programs at ACL – the first being the AMEP, which educates migrants in English and culture in Australia.
The other program at ACL is the Integrated Humanitarian Settlement Strategy (IHSS), which can work in conjunction with the English language courses, but IHSS focuses on the settlement of refugees, dealing with aspects such as finding and providing housing, access to resources and services, such as Medicare, banks, general and specialist health and medical services, education, training and employment, as well as creating links to the community.
ACL and its partners operate AMEP Colleges at Parramatta, Auburn, Blacktown, Fairfield, Cabramatta, Ermington, Liverpool, Campbelltown and in Adelaide, South Australia. ACL has worked with 10,000 migrants and refugees.
“Migrants and refugees come to Australia with a wide range of skills – teachers, accountants, bookkeepers. Specialised skills – we even had one naval architect in the program – bring cultural diversity, languages, experience – also loyalty and commitment, creating life for themselves and life in Australia.” Says Michael.
Part of Government Programs at ACL is the Employment Pathways Unit, which aims to assist a student’s pathway into employment, training and further study. That means incorporating employability skills and training within English language programs and terms associated with specific industries to help prepare clients for employment. A good example is the Safe Food Handling Course (in partnership with Auburn Council); Warehousing Course; Information Technology Course; and Aged Care Course.
Michael says that the AMEP program especially focuses on language at work. “We cover a range of prevocational qualifications. And OH and S is an important one. Employers want to know employees have a grasp of OH and S,” says Michael. “We also arrange workplace visits – for example, to factories in Australia – how does it work, how does it operate? Some people may never have seen how a factory in Australia works. Work experience is also set up.”
“We also provide links to other services or providers, such as other training providers, TAFEs, qualifications unit, job network, also language literacy and numeracy organisations.”
The program creates personalised learning pathways – called the Individual Learning Plan - looking at migrants’ skills, interests and qualifications. Then, ACL creates pathways so that it’s easier for migrants to integrate into Australia.
“We look at employability skills in the workplace,” Michael says. He shares the kind of employability skills which are valued in Australia, which may not be understood immediately by migrants. “As Australians, we appear casual on the surface, but we work hard,” explains Michael.
"The Australia workplace culture can be confusing. For some people Australia may seem casual - there can be a thing called ‘Irish time’ in Australia where you can be 5 or 10 minutes late and it’s accepted.”
Australia emphasises teamwork as a valued workplace trait. So, the Employment Pathways unit reflect this in teaching the ‘soft skills’ which employers expect, like informal chit chat, which employers see as a skill in being social. “It’s getting people more involved in workplace culturally.”
And ACL knows that the richness of culture brings significant returns to employers – especially as it has a workforce of more than 600 employees.
Michael shares some of the barriers migrants face in coming to Australia, “There are barriers of language, or qualifications – such as an electrician – but the qualification is not recognised here. The issue is experience in the Australian workplace, knowing how it operates. How to find a job, people may not have networks, may not be eligible for assistance for the Job Network. We explain how to apply for a job and how to apply for a job online. Lastly, we also teach how to present in an interview.” SkillsOne also spoke to one Sher Mu La Wee, a Burmese refugee, who studied through ACL and is in the process of retraining in Australia. She’s done the pre-vocational studies in Aged Care Nursing with ACL, and now she’s enrolled in an Acute Care course at TAFE – one of just 30 to enter the course.
“We’d like to work more closely with government and industry.” Michael says, “We could assist industry more – as we have a large, skilled client group and the pathway is smoother. At present, we’re linking services – both State and Commonwealth to create pathways for AMEP clients who have skills and are seeking work. The government policy is focusing on training pathways for social inclusion.”
“What we’d like to do is work with employers in to the workplace - we could work with not only AMEP clients, but employers – working through some of the basic cultural misunderstandings. We’d like to invite employers in industry to approach us with cultural misunderstandings, so we can use these to develop models to solve these issues.”
Michael shares one story of a farmer who worked with some AMEP clients. In the cultural background of the workers, when asked if they understood something, it was expected that you said ‘yes’. ACL then had to work with the clients to explain that in Australia it’s okay to say that you don’t quite understand something.
Michael emphasised that ACL can work with employers in terms of creating those pathways – and state government is an important aspect. “It’s about lining up services in the Commonwealth, States, Employers, Industry, and Service providers. Skills shortages require a coordinated response and smoothing the pathways.”
Michael advises Employers of migrants or refugees to be aware that workplace culture in Australia is unique. We do have our own set of values whether we’re aware of it. It’s up to employers to reflect on that. “Culture and values are different. Language barriers can be as simple as accent.”
One employer has said that he was looking for skilled workers at AMEP: “I wanted workers – but I got people.”
“When you employ people you get more than just the skills, you get the qualities of each person.” Michael says.
“For me the rewards [of my job] is the opportunity to work with people, work with their strengths, our role is opening up doors for them, meeting their needs and their goals. It’s the most rewarding part of my job. Work is so important in meeting needs and goals: it gives autonomy, independence, and the opportunity to takes control of lives.”
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