Nipa Chowdhury came to Australia on April 2018 from Bangladesh on a spouse visa. After arriving she went to Randwick TAFE to study English. There she met Rigzin Yuthok, a Multicultural Youth Worker and Case Manager to the Settlement Engagement and Transition Support Program in the Sydney Multicultural Community Services (MCS).
Nipa was looking for a job and Rigzin helped her to prepare and apply for jobs. Finally, she ended up with a job with Woolworths.
“He helped me a lot with job hunting. He prepared a resume and helped me to apply for some jobs. And then I got a job,” said Nipa.
SBS Bangla contacted Rigzin and enquired how Sydney MCS delivers its settlement services.
“A young Bangladeshi girl who I met sometime last year at local TAFE Randwick when I was out there classroom talking about our service. Then she came in touch with us and she came for about five to six sessions during which I help create her resume,"
This program is a federal government program. It is all over Australia. In New South Wales there are at least 22 service providers providing similar services.
“Then she ends up getting a job with Woolworths,” said Rigzin.
Settlement Engagement and Transition Support Program is based on the policies and research of the Australian government and it is funded by the Department of Social Services to help newly arrived migrants and refugees.
“This program is a federal government program. It is all over Australia. In New South Wales there are at least 22 service providers providing similar services. We cover the city of Sydney, south-east Sydney, Randwick and we also have a service provider in the Lower North Shore,” said Rigzin.
“We mainly impart our eligible clients and communities to address they're whatever the settlement needs in order to improve sort of social participation, economic well-being to help become more independent, personal well-being, community connectedness, more broadly.”
“Students are not eligible but the others who come here on a spouse visa or people who have a refugee visa already are given and so this is for them because they are to settle in Australia and so it is to really engage with them and talk to them.”
“Of course they may be in a new country they have so many barriers, they may not any people or community members that they do not know they want to look and find for the job and even though they may be qualified but they don’t know, they don’t have the local experience, they don’t know how to apply for a job, how to go for an interview.”
Case Managers reach potential clients in various ways.
“There are two ways,” said Rigzin.
“Maybe other Bangladeshi people know that there is such a service, which is funded by The Australian government, which is freely available for them.”
“I have been working in the sector for a while. So I have built a partnership with other service providers who are similar to us.”
“People who come here I mean they go and learn English often they are eligible for the Adult Migrant English Program which is around 500 hours, free English language. We connect with such providers and we work with them and through that, we are able to reach to the people who are eligible for our services.”
“We go in the class-rooms and say, look, this is a program aims this and it’s free for you and funded by the government.”
The second way is the referral channel.
“Sometimes we got referrals from services, which provide specific services for newly arrived refugees, people who are already granted refugee status. They come through a program called Humanitarian Settlement Program. So they go through this process and then once they are exited these programs they can be referred to us.”
“Sometimes we do get these people sent to us through local service providers, maybe Centrelink.”
“Sometimes we go to local shops… such as Bangladeshi shops. I go and tell them, give them brochures and just say to them, if you know of anybody then please let them know, these services freely available.”
How does the program help the new migrants?
“If they are looking for a job, for example, then I try to sit down and create a resume for them.”
“We have quite been successful in helping many clients to secure jobs, or even suggesting, maybe certain small qualification; they may take certain courses, such as certificate II in retail etc.”
“If we know some people who may be experiencing domestic violence etc. then we are to refer them over and then we also have certain people who have been exposed to traumatic experiences then we refer them over to like special counselling service providers.”
“We advocate on their behalf. We help them fill forms, for example, if they are in a difficult condition. If they need to fill the difficult form for government housing, which is quite a complicated process, we sit down, we help them fill the form and we provide support letters to them and if we know them very well, even sometimes have to be a referee, in terms of character referee, just their personality, and their nature we know.”
They helped me a lot. They helped me for my wife and son’s Medicare cards, admission to the school.
They also arrange for an information session covering various topics such as legal services, housing, electricity or gas and information related to safety and security. Sometimes they help them for their kid’s school enrolments.
Rashid Bhuiyan came to Australia from Bangladesh in 2010 and he was detained in the Maribyrnong Immigration Detention Centre (MIDC). In 2011 he got permanent residency and was released from MIDC and moved to Sydney and came in touch with Sydney MCS. Since then he has still kept in touch with them.
“They helped me a lot. They helped me for my wife and son’s Medicare cards, admission to the school.” Mr Bhuiyan is under Centrelink payment as he is not fit for work physically.
“If I face any trouble I go to them even now,” said Rashid.
