Settlement Assistance to Dependants of Skilled Migrants
The SGP Project is sponsored by the Commonwealth Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC).
This project is compatible with MCNT’s focus on advocacy for the migrant and refugee community in the Top End and enhances MCNT’s capacity and its existing programs. The focus in the SGP Project is on meeting the information needs, promoting self-reliance and improving employment prospects for new settlers.
There are two SGP Project Officers employed at MCNT: Ron Mitchell and Melanie Moore. This project continues the good work of Jenny Milne, the CSSS Project Officer at MCNT in 2006.
There are three main components of the SGP Project:
(i) casework or one-to-one consultation for individual migrants and refugees to achieve self-reliance upon initial settlement (after Melaleuca and AMEP);
(ii) capacity building for newly formed community associations for effective participation within the wider Australian community; and
(iii) pathways to employment and assistance for our client group with access to mainstream service and training providers and the Job Network.
In this era of skill shortages in Australia, the refugee community continues to experience relatively high unemployment levels – even after overcoming language and cultural barriers and developing networks – because of a lack of due recognition of previous qualifications, experience and expertise.
The MCNT wants to work towards overcoming these barriers to employment. We are investigating partnerships with other service providers, the Job Network and major employers to bridge education and qualification gaps, provide financial, legal and career advice, and develop specific training programs.
We have also developing relationships with the local media to publicise and raise awareness of the SGP project and the positive contributions of migrants and refugees to our community. As an example there was a positive front page Australian Day story “Aussie at last: Refugee counts blessings” in the Darwin/Palmerston Sun of Wednesday January 24, 2007 featuring an SGP client, Somalian refugee Fatuma Ahmed Ali.
We are often asked for useful contact numbers for people with ideas and advice about employment pathways. We would suggest:
* Mr Andrew Kernick of Mission Australia on ph 8935 0986. Mission Australia is a large employment agency. Andrew is the coordinator of the Language, Literacy and Numeracy Programme which assists refugees with vocational literacy. You’ll need to ask Centrelink about being referred to this service.
* Mr George Jerue of Myriad Group Training on ph 8941 5959. George is from the Liberian community and is also on the board of MCNT. He has had a lot of experience finding employment for African refugees.
Download 2006 Project Report