ASRC’s TAFE program transforming lives for people seeking asylum

With education comes opportunity and people seeking asylum in our community are living proof of this adage.

For Tanya, who was a lawyer in Colombia, training at TAFE for an aged care qualification has made a huge difference to finding her feet in Australia.

“The most important thing in my life is that I’m free,” she said.

Back in “rough and dangerous” Colombia, Tanya explained that “every day you are thinking ‘maybe today, this could be my last day’.” For Tanya’s brother that fateful day did arrive. He was killed in Colombia more than two years ago.

“But my problem (in Australia) is that my speciality in law is different. I can’t work here. So I try to change my profession,” she said.

Tanya turned to the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC), which she called her “family in Australia”.

“The ASRC approved (me) for study here in aged care. You need tools. Tools for good work. Tools for a good job,” she said.

Tanya is referring to a Victorian government-funded TAFE program that is administered by the Melbourne-based ASRC, which itself started as a TAFE project in 2001.

ASRC members are given access to Certificate I to Certificate IV courses, particularly training for sectors in Victoria that are experiencing skills shortages such as aged care. The ASRC is the only asylum-seeker organisation that provides this type of program.

The courses have enabled ASRC members to find work, support themselves financially and contribute to the community. Importantly, they are also filling occupational shortfalls in much-needed areas of health, security, warehousing and construction.

Tanya says gaining residency and re-training in Australia “changed my life completely”.

“I have a job; I have a good education here,” she said.

Before people seeking asylum begin their TAFE journey, the ASRC undertakes a rigorous process that includes screening applicants to confirm they are genuine asylum seekers, determining their suitability for training and discussing course options and requirements at length with them.

Candidates such as Yochum*, who is studying a Cert IV Diploma of Aged Care, have been fortunate to extend the skills already learned in his home country.

“I have qualifications from my home country so this course is relevant to my background. I chose this course because I enjoy helping people and caring for others. Helping people makes me happy.”

While preparing to finish his studies, Yochum is getting hands-on experience in a volunteer role at a hospital in Footscray because “it is a job where you can help others”.

“I work as a visitor guide and help guests find their way around the hospital,” he said.

“It’s good because I get to work as a part of a team and it has given me the opportunity to meet lots of new people from different cultures and backgrounds.”

In the next few weeks Yochum will start a work placement at an aged care facility, and he is excited because aged care is a career he’d like to pursue.

In the past financial year alone, 159 ASRC members were enrolled in 202 courses at a range of TAFE and Registered Training Organisations in Victoria. The most popular courses are the Certificate III in Warehousing/Construction; Aged Care/Home and Community Care dual delivery Certificate III course and the Certificate II/III Security pathway.

Most of the students are aged between 20 and 40. Almost two-thirds of the students are male and the main countries of origin are Afghanistan, Pakistan, Ethiopia and Iran.

The TAFE program is one of 13 programs in the ASRC Innovation Hub, which seeks to empower people seeking asylum and whose mission is to support people to reach financial and social independence. People seeking asylum come with a wealth of skills and talents. In essence, it is the role of the hub to enable people to thrive.

Help protect, support and empower people seeking asylum by becoming a regular giver to the ASRC.

$20 a month can provide English classes for 80 people.
$50 a month can provide emergency legal assistance in order to lodge their appeal for protection.

Stand with us today to give people protection from harm, and help them thrive at https://www.givenow.com.au/asrcgeneralappeal 

*An alias has been used to protect the identity of this person