From the Footscray Star:

Job barriers hit migrants
BY Kerri-Anne Mesner
8th May 2007

RACIST attitudes are still a problem in the Victorian workplace with many Footscray migrants and refugees sharing their stories at a recent community forum.

The Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission, in conjunction with the Victorian Multicultural Commission, held community discussions in Shepparton, Dandenong, Footscray and Broadmeadows as part of a project researching discrimination in employment.

More than 200 people from diverse cultural backgrounds attended the sessions.

One Footscray resident told of their experience as an Ethiopian Muslim working for a company in one department and applied for a vacant position in another, only to be told he would only get the job if they liked him.

Another Footscray resident, who was a Sudanese refugee, was working at a Melbourne private company when he was injured and asked for two days leave.

He said the company refused the leave, saying it could not replace him for just the two days, and if it were forced to give him the leave, his job would not be available when he returned.

The Sudanese man took time off to go to the doctor and the company filled his position.

The man said that in previous conversations, his boss had referred to the Sudanese man’s race, including making comments like “black man� and “if you don’t want to work, then leave�.

A Polish woman who practised as a medical doctor in Poland was employed in Australia as a kitchen hand. She said the day she admitted to her boss that she was a doctor, she was fired.

A young African man went to a recruitment agency where Africans and Australians were in the same room, applying for a job.

He said the Australians were asked to stay and the Africans were sent home without getting an interview.

Another Sudanese man went for an interview for a welfare role because that was his background in Sudan.

He said the interviewer told him she had only called him in for the interview because she wanted to place him in a meat factory.

He said that when he turned down the job, she said, “Most people from your country do that job�.

Commission chief executive Dr Helen Szoke said she was very concerned about the reports.

“These recent reports of discrimination and harassment are particularly distressing in their nature,� she said.

“Despite more than 30 years of legislation, training and education, this type of behaviour continues in the Victorian workforce.

“It’s against the law and completely unacceptable.�

Dr Szoke said another key issue was the connection between race and gender and discrimination in the workforce.

Many participants reported being refused employment due to not having “local experience�.

“The Commission is concerned that the need for previous Australian experience, while sometimes valid, is in some cases being used in a discriminatory way and works to keep new migrants out of the workforce,� Dr Szoke said.

“There is a need to further educate employers about equal opportunity rights and responsibilities as well as the benefits of employing people with diverse experiences from overseas.�

Victorian Multicultural Commission chairperson George Lekakis was greatly concerned by the reports.

“Racial discrimination makes it difficult for many newly arrived migrants to find work, which seriously impacts their settlement process and can result in a range of long term problems such as unemployment and homelessness,� he said.

More than a quarter of Victoria’s population was born overseas with Victorians coming from more than 200 countries.

Despite the diversity and the value Victoria places on multiculturalism, in 2005/06 the Commission received more than 270 complaints from people who felt they had been unfairly treated because of their race or religion.

More than half the racial complaints lodged at the Commission were related to employment.

The Discrimination in Employment Project aimed to research employment discrimination faced by culturally and linguistically diverse communities and develop and recommend strategies to address discrimination. A project report will be available in August.