An innovative new program to help migrants and refugees find employment is now underway at the City of Whittlesea in Melbourne’s outer north.
The Work Ready Program supports newly arrived adult migrants and refugees in the municipality by arranging a 12 week work placement within Council.
This enables participants to gain local experience, knowledge of the Australian workplace culture and necessary skills to prepare them for future work.
By providing these skills, support and confidence, the Work Ready program has the long term goal of assisting individual participants to secure a job in the wider community.
The City of Whittlesea is a dynamic and vibrant place to work. Its workforce reflects the wider municipality in its diversity, broad range of nationalities, age groups, backgrounds and skills.
Providing almost 100 services to the community, the City of Whittlesea is considered a leader in multicultural affairs and believes it is the only Local Government to be creating strong initiatives in this area.
As a skilled French migrant, originally from Cameroon, Whittlesea’s recently appointed Work Ready Project Officer, Madeleine Nguidjol, knows first hand about the difficulties that new migrants can face in finding work in Australia.
After spending two years looking for work, she completed an internship with Council that was so successful in serving the needs of the community, it was converted into a part time role in August 2010.
Madeleine said she now wants to provide other migrants with work opportunities.
“I love helping people,” she said. “I am very grateful, having done my own work experience with the City of Whittlesea before obtaining my current job.
“As a skilled migrant, desperately looking for my first job in Australia, I was given a chance. Giving people like me the same chance that I had is really rewarding.
“The Work Ready program aims to give participants some really meaningful work experience.
“It will help them understand their new local community better and introduce them to the culture of Australian workplaces.”
The first three Work Ready participants will work two days a week for 12 weeks in Aged and Disability, Financial Services, and Established Areas Strategic Planning.
The aim is to have 20 skilled migrants and refugees, particularly those living within the City of Whittlesea, complete the program during its first year.
The City of Whittlesea’s work experience program won the 2009 Victorian Diversity@Work award for Employment and Inclusion and contributed to its national Diversity@Work Laureate Award in October 2010.
For further information contact Peter Heading, Council’s Manager Human Resources, telephone
(03) 9217 2203.
