LA EIC - Disadvantaged Jobseekers Inquiry Submission no. 45 Received: 31 July 2019 Foundation House The Victorian Foundation for Survivors of Torture I 31/07/2019 To the Committee Manager, Legislati:veAssembly Economy and Infrastructure Committee, Please find enclosed our submission to the Parliamentary Inquiry into Sustainable Employment for Disadvantaged Jobseekers. Josef Szwarc General Manager Community and Sector Development The Victorian Foundation for Survivors of Torture Inc. 4 Gardiner Street, Brunswick, VIC 3056 E: W: www.foundationhouse.org.au T: I M: I Reception: I F: HEAD OFFICE ····•··••···•••·•·••·••··••·••·•••••••••••••·••··••·•••·•••·•••••••·····•····••··•••·•••••··•·•••·•···••·•····••····•··•••·•·•·•··••·••·•·••••••·••••· FOUNDATION HOUSE - THE VICTORIAN FOUNDATION FOR SURVIVORS OF TORTURE INC. 4 Gardiner Street Brunswick, VIC 3056, Australia It: (03) 9389 8900 If: (03) 9277 7871 Ie: [email protected] Iwww.foundationhouse.org.au METROPOLITAN OFFICES DALLAS (NORTHERN) DANDENONG (SOUTH EASTERN) RINGWOOD (EASTERN) SUNSHINE (WESTERN) PATRON IN CHIEF: Her Excellency the Honourable Linda Dessau AC, Governor of Victoria PATRONS: Prof Hilary Charlesworth AM, Ms Dur-e Dara OAM, Prof. David de Kretser AC, Mrs Jan de Kretser, Mr Petro Georgiou AO, The Hon. Michael Kirby AC CMG ABN: 52 783 974 656 I INCORPORATION REGISTRATION#: A0016163P Submission to the Parliamentary Inquiry into Sustainable Employment for Disadvantaged Jobseekers Foundation House welcomes the opportunity to provide a submission to the Parliamentary Inquiry into Sustainable Employment for Disadvantaged Jobseekers. Foundation House was established in 1987 to assist survivors of torture and other traumatic events, of refugee backgrounds, who had settled in Victoria. Our work is guided by an understanding that recovery and wellbeing is affected by a complex interplay of pre-arrival experiences and the risk and protective factors encountered by people from refugee backgrounds in Australia – for example, their ability to participate in education, training and employment. For more information about the work of Foundation House see Appendix 1 or our website. Key messages People from refugee backgrounds experience high barriers to finding sustainable employment. Particular groups, such as women from refugee backgrounds and people seeking asylum face additional intersecting barriers to sustainable employment. A ‘one size fits all’ approach to employment support, such as that provided through the Commonwealth-funded jobactive program, does not meet the needs of this group. Rather, people from refugee backgrounds require specialised and targeted support to overcome barriers to sustainable employment. There is evidence that specialised and holistic employment support can lead to good employment outcomes for these disadvantaged groups. There are myriad benefits to improving employment outcomes for people from refugee backgrounds, including people seeking asylum, in Victoria. These include significant economic, social and individual benefits. The Victorian government plays a significant role in supporting disadvantaged jobseekers to gain sustainable employment. People from refugee backgrounds in Victoria Over the past ten years more than 50,000 people have settled in Victoria under Australia’s refugee and humanitarian program1, including around 3,700 in the year 2018-192. As at March 2019, there were at least an additional 15,000 people seeking asylum living in the community3. Barriers to employment for people from refugee backgrounds Humanitarian migrants tend to have poorer employment outcomes than other migrants in the short and medium term. A recent survey of people from refugee backgrounds from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan who had been in Australia for a year found that only 7.8% of adults in Victoria were in paid employment, compared with 11% in New South Wales and 17% in Queensland.4 Data from the Australian Census and Migrants Integrated Dataset indicate that 20.3% of permanent humanitarian migrants in the labour force who had arrived in Australia in the past 6 years were unemployed at the time of the Census, compared with 10.2% family and 6.7% skilled migrants.5 People from refugee backgrounds, including people seeking asylum, face particular barriers to labour market participation. These include: limited proficiency in English; lack of work experience in the Australian context, and challenges associated with having overseas qualifications recognised6; lack of opportunities for women, including lack of flexible arrangements for English language learning for women with caring responsibilities and historical disadvantage 1 Victorian Refugee Health Network, Statistics for Victorian health programs: planning service provision for people from refugee backgrounds, including people seeking asylum, (Melbourne, Victorian Refugee Health Network, 2019), http://refugeehealthnetwork.org.au/wp- content/uploads/Data-bulletin_2019_March_Victorian-Refugee-Health-Network-statewide- meeting.pdf 2 “Settlement database”, Settlement Data Team, Department of Home Affairs, accessed 11 June 2019, [email protected] 3 Victorian Refugee Health Network, Statistics for Victorian health programs: planning service provision for people from refugee backgrounds, including people seeking asylum, (Melbourne, Victorian Refugee Health Network, 2019), http://refugeehealthnetwork.org.au/wp- content/uploads/Data-bulletin_2019_March_Victorian-Refugee-Health-Network-statewide- meeting.pdf 4 Jock Collins, Carol Reid and Dimitria Groutsis, Refugee Settlement Snapshot 2018: Victoria, (University of Technology Sydney, 2019), https://www.uts.edu.au/sites/default/files/2019- 04/Victoria%20Snapshot.pdf 5 “Understanding Migrant Outcomes – Insights from the Australian Census and Migrants Integrated Dataset 2016: Summary of findings,” Australian Bureau of Statistics, published July 2018, https://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/[email protected]/Latestproducts/3417.0Main%20Features22016?opend ocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=3417.0&issue=2016&num=&view= 6 Ethnic Communities’ Council of Victoria, Discussion paper: Qualified but not recognised, (Melbourne: Ethnic Communities’ Council of Victoria, 2014), https://eccv.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/23- Discussion_Paper_-_Qualified_but_not_Recognised_Final.pdf 2 meaning that women are less likely to have had opportunities for further education in countries of origin; poor health, and in particular mental health; experiences of torture and traumatic events which may impact one’s ability to search for employment; and racial discrimination7. Despite these barriers, there is evidence that employment outcomes for refugee and humanitarian migrants improve over time, with many groups of second generation humanitarian migrants demonstrating comparable employment levels to second generation Australians8. Data about employment outcomes for people seeking asylum are scarce however one 2015 survey reported that 50% of people seeking asylum who responded to the survey were unemployed.9 People seeking asylum may face additional barriers such as lack of work rights associated with some visas, experiences of destitution related to Status Resolution Support Services (SRSS) funding cuts, temporary visa status and poor mental health as a consequence of protracted refugee status determination processes10. Why focus on employment outcomes for people from refugee backgrounds? Benefits to the individual The benefits of sustainable employment for people from refugee backgrounds are well documented. These include promoting a sense of self and self-worth, promoting a sense of belonging in a new community, and contributing to perceived health status and increased standard of living.11 Employment is recognised as a key social determinant of health12. Accordingly, consultations with refugee communities about health and access to health services 7 Professor Andrew Markus, Australians Today 2015, (Caulfield East: Monash University, 2016), https://scanlonfoundation.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Australians-Today-1.pdf 8 Graeme Hugo, Economic, social and civic contributions of first and second generation humanitarian migrants, (Australian Government Department of Immigration and Citizenship, 2011), https://www.dss.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/01_2014/economic-social-civic-contributions- about-the-research2011_access.pdf 9 Professor Andrew Markus, Australians Today 2015, (Caulfield East: Monash University, 2016), https://scanlonfoundation.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Australians-Today-1.pdf 10 Australian Human Rights Commission, Lives on Hold: Refugees and Asylum Seekers in the ‘Legacy Caseload’, (Sydney: Australian Human Rights Commission, 2019), https://www.humanrights.gov.au/sites/default/files/document/publication/ahrc_lives_on_hold_201 9.pdf 11 Nina Wood et al., "Qualitative exploration of the impact of employment and volunteering upon the health and wellbeing of African refugees settled in regional Australia: a refugee perspective," BMC public health 19, no. 1 (2019): 143, https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-018-6328-2 12 Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Social Determinants of Health, (Australian Government Australian Institute of Health and Welfare: Canberra, 2016), https://www.aihw.gov.au/getmedia/11ada76c-0572-4d01-93f4-d96ac6008a95/ah16-4-1-social- determinants-health.pdf.aspx 3 conducted by the Victorian Refugee Health Network in 2016 highlighted income and employment as a particular barrier to