MYAN Australia and SCOA invite you to a teleconference
about youth employment.
MYAN Australia are preparing a paper that will provide a national overview of youth employment with a specific focus on young people from from refugee and migrant backgrounds. This teleconference will focus on identifying the key issues and trends impacting the transition to employment for this group of young Australians.
Background
The rate of year 12 completions and engagement in further education in Australia have grown in recent years. However, since 2011, Australia’s youth unemployment rate has continued to increase while falling in other English-speaking OECD countries.
Alongside higher unemployment, precarious employment is rising. Not only are there now fewer full-time jobs available than a decade ago, but the rate of underemployment for young Australians has reached 40 year highs. The age at which young Australians are transitioning into full-time work has also increased – it now takes a young Australian on average 4.7 years from leaving full-time education to entering full-time work, this took around one year two decades ago.
Amid these changes, research continues to show that rates of non-engagement in employment, education or training are relatively high among the one in four young Australian’s from a refugee or migrant background.
Last month, MYAN gave evidence to the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Employment, Education and Training regarding the current School to Work Transition Inquiry. The focus of MYAN's input was the particular needs of young people from refugee and migrant backgrounds and ensuring they receive targeted support to address their needs and build on their capabilities in the transition from school to work. MYAN highlighted that ‘Education to Work’ is one of the themes at its upcoming national conference in Melbourne -
MYAN National Conference - young people in a multicultural world, as well as highlighting some examples of good practice – including the
Youth Transitions Support Pilot.
SCoA has recently completed a series of Forums across Australia which explored the foundations of economic engagement and the transition to employment for newly arrived migrants and refugees. These forums highlighted the hard work of the settlement sector in assisting migrants and refugees in their economic pursuits including a number of dynamic, innovative and sophisticated services and programs which specifically address one or more of the foundations of economic engagement. Equally obvious though were the significant barriers that continue to impact on economic engagement and the need for ongoing collaboration across the country on this crucial issue.
We know there is a some great work being done in this area across Australia – we want to hear from you about this work, as well as areas of unmet need.
This teleconference will help inform our ongoing policy and advocacy work in this area.
Teleconference details
When: 2:00 - 3:00pm (AEDT), Tuesday 17th October 2017
Where: Teleconference (dial in details below)
RSVP: Edmee Kenny, MYAN (Aust) Policy Officer -
edmee@myan.org.au
Dial in on:
Melbourne 03 8687 0635 Gold Coast 07 5560 0956
Adelaide 08 8220 0836 Hobart 03 6218 0647
Brisbane 07 3811 0988 Perth 08 9460 0829
Canberra 02 6210 0851 Sydney 02 9696 0774
Darwin 08 8989 0817
Guest code: 509 292 38#
The teleconference will focus on the following questions:
- What are the key issues or barriers to employment for young people from refugee and migrant backgrounds you work with?
- Supporting young people from refugee and migrant backgrounds into employment and assisting them to overcome the significant issues they face competing in the labour market requires targeted interventions and supports. What unmet needs have you identified for the young people from refugee and migrant backgrounds, their families and communities that you work with? How are these being addressed?
If you are unable to attend the teleconference and would like to provide input, please contact Edmee at
edmee@myan.org.au.
