Finding a way to make a living is often the priority for most refugees starting a new life in Australia. But applying and qualifying for jobs in this case is not always straight forward and can have insurmountable challenges. A New South Wales government program has been helping refugees find their feet, by providing a pathway to employment in the public service.
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00This month Natalia became one of 19 refugee graduates in NSW to begin a career in the
00:09public service.
00:10When I received the job opportunity from service I was so happy, so proud of myself.
00:17For the past year she's been part of an internship program run by Service NSW.
00:23Now she's landed a full time job.
00:25At the most recent graduation ceremony what I saw very clearly was the impact that has
00:31in giving somebody a chance to be able to build their new life.
00:34Natalia started building that life two years ago.
00:37She arrived in Australia with her husband and two children after fleeing her home country
00:42Ukraine where war was ramping up.
00:46When you come here you have to start everything from scratch.
00:49Like we face the challenges with everything, to find the apartment, to find the school,
00:54to find everything.
00:55Yeah, everything was so challenging for her.
00:58Fellow graduate Julia knows the feeling well.
01:02She applied for the internship when she was six months pregnant, expecting to be overlooked.
01:07I thought no one's going to accept a pregnant lady and she's going to have a baby soon.
01:13But yeah, they gave me the offer and it was amazing.
01:17Back in Syria Julia worked as an architect.
01:20It was awful, you know, to live a whole life, especially that I was having my own career,
01:28we have our own house, our own memories.
01:32Her role involves helping other recent arrivals to Australia navigate the bureaucratic maze
01:37that comes with starting afresh.
01:39I came from the same background so I know that feeling.
01:42They came afraid, they don't understand everything, the environment, the culture, nothing.
01:47They've got that lived experience, they know what it's like and they know the challenges.
01:51Although the internship is over, some of the most important learning happens on the job.
01:56I'm not learning just things in here, I'm learning about the people, about the country,
02:01about the culture, Australian culture.
02:04A culture only getting richer as it gets more diverse.