Campus Review 17 October 2011

Language barrier has to be tackled first

17 Oct 11 by Michael Cox Assisting migrants to learn English will get them into the workforce more quickly and help tackle the nations labour shortage, writes Michael Cox. Much has been written in recent years about Australias skilled labour shortage and ageing workforce. Federal and state governments are focused on ensuring Australia remains a productive and competitive country driven by a skilled, flexible and knowledgeable workforce. We lack skilled and experienced workers in a number of industry sectors. Consequently we experience the tensions of demand and supply while waiting for new qualified people to emerge with their vocational and higher education qualifications in areas of demand. In the meantime we largely overlook the pool of motivated, talented and experienced migrants and former refugees wanting to participate economically and socially in Australia. Businesses need skilled workers to develop and grow. According to the NSW government discussion paper Smart and Skilled: making NSW number one, only 52 per cent of Australian employers believe that the skills of their employees are adequate for what is needed in the workplace. In 2010-11, the national average rate of labour force participation was 66 per cent. Current projections indicate that ageing will shrink the size of the working-age population relative to total population from 70 per cent to 61 per cent by 2025. The next 10 years will see demand for 470,000 net new jobs in NSW alone. Most of these jobs will be higher-skilled ones. Forecasts indicate there will be a shortfall of higher-level qualifications by 2015. Currently there are some 900,000 people in NSW able to work and almost half of those are currently not in the labour force. Most are women (65 per cent) and most people who are not in the labour force do not have a non-school qualification. Making use of the skills we have available to us is important for increasing productivity. The economic contribution of migrants and refugees remains one of the strongest reasons for Australias migration program. However, degree-qualified migrants who are not from an English-speaking country are at least twice as likely to be unemployed and almost twice as likely to be in a lowskilled job compared to other degree-qualified people. Frequently this is due to a lack of recognition of their qualifications, work experience in Australia and low English language levels. Its important to analyse the barriers migrant and refugee settlers face and the level of workforce participation they attain in the current economic climate of rising unemployment rates. A discussion of English language education and employment training programs for refugees and migrants and their success is also crucial. If gaining employment is challenging for people born in Australia, the challenges for newly arrived migrants and refugees are even greater. The list of highly motivated migrants and refugees, who have overcome barriers to employment in order to actively take part in the Australian labour force, is growing every year. That said, there are a number of barriers to migrants and refugees entering the job market. English language skills have been identified as the major barrier. According to a Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) report, first generation humanitarian settlers experience greater unemployment and lower labour force participation than those arriving through other migration categories and those born in Australia. When looking at visa types, from 2001 to 2006, 16.6 per cent of arrivals on a humanitarian visa were employed full-time in Australia in 2006. Barriers to employment for humanitarian settlers include limited qualifications, lack of knowledge about the Australian labour market and difficulty accessing employment and training opportunities. This is where service providers such as Navitas come in, offering English language education, settlement and training programs for refugees and newly arrived migrants through the

federal governments Adult Migrant English Program (AMEP); the Language, Literacy and Numeracy Program (LLNP); and the Humanitarian Settlement Services (HSS) program. The AMEP and HSS are funded by the Department for Immigration and Citizenship and the LLNP is funded by the Department for Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. The DIAC report found that second-generation humanitarian settlers who have better English have lower levels of unemployment and higher levels of workforce participation. For example, a total of 195,477 firstgeneration humanitarian entrants born in Australia had a high proficiency in spoken English, with 7.7 per cent unemployment and a 70.2 per cent participation rate in the Australian labour force in 2006. This is compared with 10,416,233 Australia-born people, with a 4.9 per cent unemployment rate and 67.1 per cent participation rate. The same report goes on to say that, with time, the workforce participation level of humanitarian entrants converges towards the Australian average. In second-generation migrants, there is an increase in the labour force participation rate and a decrease in the unemployment rate. Census data shows that the unemployment rate decreases and the labour participation rate increases with greater proficiency in spoken English. The three programs delivered by Navitas assist on that journey to the economic, social and civic participation of migrants and refugees. Navitas delivers the AMEP to newly arrived migrants and refugees. Through the AMEP, Settlement Language Pathway to Employment and Training focused courses are delivered by Navitas by the Employment Pathways Unit (EPU). On top of the 510 hours of free English already offered to migrants, these courses provide an additional free 200 hours of English learning, with vocational training and importantly work experience, to prepare refugees and migrants for employment and/or further study. These courses cover a large variety of occupations such as retail, warehouse preparation, forklift driving, childcare and many more. The training, teaching and learning component is conducted at Navitas and AMEP Consortium partners colleges. The practical component is done at the work experience placement relevant to the clients experience, training and goals. Our experience has shown that the key elements in achieving successful outcomes for people is the realistic assessment with the client of their learning and employment pathway and support to the client and employer during the work experience phase. Among the employment success stories there are many individual, inspiring stories of migrants and refugees who are now successfully participating in the workforce and making a contribution to both the Australian economy and community. Mansour Alnabati came to Australia last year from Iran as a refugee. After completing a Customer Service course at Macquarie Community College in Blacktown this year, he used his newly gained customer service and communication skills to secure employment in a business administration position. Alaa Abu Jayyab trained as an industrial engineer in Iran, worked as a project co-ordinator in Abu Dhabi and as a quality engineer in Jordan. After migrating to Australia and completing work experience with Marrickville Council, she impressed her employer so much that they offered her employment. Abu Jayyab had recently completed a Workplace Communications for Qualified Professionals course at the Navitas College, Parramatta. Both Alnabati and Abu Jayyab secured fulltime employment within a short period of finishing these Employment Pathways courses. Michael Cox is Navitas English general manager, government programs. He manages two DIAC funded programs: the Adult Migrant English Program and the Humanitarian Settlement Services. He also manages the language, literacy and numeracy program, funded by DEEWR.