The Humanitarian Cadet Program was born of the NSW premier’s initiative to bolster refugee employment. ELTP Program Manager Danielle Rees, has led the program for the past two years, her motivation stemming from a teaching background and a drive to create equal opportunity for all.
The program aims to foster the skills that migrants already have, building on this knowledge to build a pathway into the Australian workforce. In many cases refugees have been working in highly skilled roles for years overseas, but their career-path can often be interrupted by a lack of recognition of their prior training when they arrive in Australia.
One Humanitarian Cadet, Mohammed Al-Obaidi, shared his experience. ‘The Humanitarian Cadet Program has a lot of highlights but the main thing it does well is adopt the skills of refugees and allow them to succeed in the Australian workplace. To be honest I don’t think that I could be involved in the Engineering field in Australia without this program.’
Humanitarian Cadets from the 2017 and 2018 cohort.
The Humanitarian Cadet Program aims to present these individuals with pathways into professional roles as well as providing guidance for the process of securing long-term work. The program starts with an induction that allows participants to understand the context of the Australian workplace, to build up their soft skills and gain information about the Transport cluster. These inductions are followed by regular monthly meetings to address any issues and ensure that cadets are supported in their positions.
Another former cadet, Fawzi Shehwaro, recounted that ‘in my experience, the Humanitarian Cadet Program has given me a chance to learn about Australian workplace culture, to develop my skills and secure a position with Sydney Trains.’
The success of the program can be measured by the positive attitudes of past and current cadets, and their ability to secure jobs in fields relevant to their experience overseas. Most notably the participants of the 2018 program hold a 100% success rate, with all of the cadets winning ongoing roles in the Transport cluster. From this success it’s clear the program offers a comforting and supportive framework to help refugees rebuild their lives and demonstrate their valuable contributions.
The Humanitarian Cadet Program was born of the NSW premier’s initiative to bolster refugee employment. ELTP Program Manager Danielle Rees, has led the program for the past two years, her motivation stemming from a teaching background and a drive to create equal opportunity for all.
The program aims to foster the skills that migrants already have, building on this knowledge to build a pathway into the Australian workforce. In many cases refugees have been working in highly skilled roles for years overseas, but their career-path can often be interrupted by a lack of recognition of their prior training when they arrive in Australia.
One Humanitarian Cadet, Mohammed Al-Obaidi, shared his experience. ‘The Humanitarian Cadet Program has a lot of highlights but the main thing it does well is adopt the skills of refugees and allow them to succeed in the Australian workplace. To be honest I don’t think that I could be involved in the Engineering field in Australia without this program.’
Humanitarian Cadets from the 2017 and 2018 cohort.
The Humanitarian Cadet Program aims to present these individuals with pathways into professional roles as well as providing guidance for the process of securing long-term work. The program starts with an induction that allows participants to understand the context of the Australian workplace, to build up their soft skills and gain information about the Transport cluster. These inductions are followed by regular monthly meetings to address any issues and ensure that cadets are supported in their positions.
Another former cadet, Fawzi Shehwaro, recounted that ‘in my experience, the Humanitarian Cadet Program has given me a chance to learn about Australian workplace culture, to develop my skills and secure a position with Sydney Trains.’
The success of the program can be measured by the positive attitudes of past and current cadets, and their ability to secure jobs in fields relevant to their experience overseas. Most notably the participants of the 2018 program hold a 100% success rate, with all of the cadets winning ongoing roles in the Transport cluster. From this success it’s clear the program offers a comforting and supportive framework to help refugees rebuild their lives and demonstrate their valuable contributions.
