Employer Cultural Awareness Project

On Thursday 3 September 2009 at 7.00am at the Vibe Hotel Darwin Waterfront, a breakfast for employers was held. At this breakfast, a package of resources to assist employers to recruit people of refugee background was launched. The event was attended by 40 employers, along with Job Services Australia representatives. A number of guest speakers shared their stories from employee and employer perspectives, telling of the various benefits each has experienced from their cultural exchange and mutual partnership in work.

The Employer Cultural Awareness Project is a joint partnership between Melaleuca Refugee Centre and the Chamber of Commerce NT and funded by the Westpac Foundation. The Steering Committee for the project included a number of key stakeholder organizations with a keen interest in improving the work prospects of people of refugee background. The overall goal of the project is to assist employers to develop cross cultural skills which will ease the way for new employees from newly arrived and CALD backgrounds into their workplace.

Apart from Melaleuca Refugee Centre and the Chamber of Commerce NT, the partner organizations involved with the project are:

• Multicultural Council of the NT
• Department of Business and Employment
• Office of Multicultural Affairs
• Centrelink
• CHARTTES Training Advisory Council
• Human Services Training Advisory Council
• Myriad Group Training
• MAX Employment
• Anglicare
• Training and Employment Consultancy and Mentorship
• NT Working Women’s Centre
• Adult Migrant English Program

Follow the links to information, resources and case studies/stories of employee and employer experiences.

Download Case Studies telling the story from employee and employer perspective, tips on cross cultural communication, list of key contacts - see PDF links below. 

MCNT Migrant Employment Handbook

Workplace English Language and Literacy Program (WELL)

Employer Incentives

Contact for Employing Refugees DVD

or contact Melaleuca Refugee Centre, email reception@melaleuca.org.au for assistance.

Further Reading

Employing migrants and refugees 

Refugees to fill shortages in the capital

Scroll down to links to Case Studies, Cultural Information & Key Contacts and Media Release