With 32% of Australia’s population born overseas Australia is truly a nation of immigrants with a strong and diverse multicultural identity. On this episode Nicky speaks with Allyson Pazos, Manager for Youth and Refugee Services at MCCI (Multicultural Communities Council of Illawarra) about the important work they are doing in community supporting former refugees and new migrants to the region.

Nicky and Allyson discuss the challenges for new settlers from refugee backgrounds and the fact that former refugees may experience “low social capital” meaning that they require focused support to understand the systems, make connections and settle into community. Connecting to clubs, schools, meeting neighbours and learning the lingo, all things that are important to create a sense of social connectedness. Empathy is important and while Allyson says that “People do feel welcome and privileged to be here” she also asks us to imagine “how would I feel” entering a new environment if you were displaced from your own home and culture.

During the conversation Allyson covers challenges including digital literacy, something that is incredibly difficult to navigate but is such an important part of life for every Australian these days, and how digital literacy barriers create all sorts of barriers in other areas of life for a refugee settling in Australia.

Allyson explains that there are systemic barriers to the recognition of skills and qualifications of immigrants. With over 600,000 immigrants in Australia working in jobs for which they are over-qualified this means that Australia is not effectively capitalising on the capacity of immigrants to Australia. Allyson encourages employers to “be bold” and invites employers to provide opportunity to former refugees to take on a job in their company.

Allyson makes the invitation to reassess some so called “barriers” people see in refugees and consider them as strengths. For example, being able to speak another language indicates a phenomenal communication skill that can be deployed by a forward-thinking employer.

Housing is an area of significant challenge for all Australians including refugees and new immigrants who may not have references or be able to navigate the digital divide that makes finding a rental property challenging.

Allyson and Nicky also tackle some of the concerning rhetoric about refugees that exists in some parts of the public domain (e.g. “queue jumpers") and tackles these incorrect and negative myths and stereotypes.

Allyson calls out the importance of a welcoming civic society and organisations like surf lifesaving and sporting clubs in the role of welcoming people and enabling them to be a part of the community.

“That cross cultural interaction to me, that’s when the magic happens” says Allyson as she reflects on some of the settlement initiatives she has been involved with in the Illawarra.

Resources:

· About MCCI Settlement Services - https://www.mcci.org.au/settlement_refugees/our-services/

Acknowledgement of Country

Community Industry Group' podcast is recorded on beautiful Dharawal Country, and we acknowledge the traditional custodians of this land, and their Elders.

We acknowledge and respect their continuing culture, the world’s oldest living culture, and the contribution they make to the life of this region and our country.

We acknowledge that we live and work on Aboriginal land and recognise the strength, resilience and capacity of Aboriginal people.

Music Credit:
"Jarvic 8" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/