Page 763 - Week 03 - Tuesday, 21 March 2017
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The session included representatives from government, business, employers, recruitment agencies and the community sector. During the election campaign Labor committed $1.2 million to a refugee and asylum seeker job pathway program. We are currently working on the details of how this will be rolled out.
Last week I also announced that the government has expanded the eligibility criteria for its Australian apprenticeships and skilled capital programs to automatically include refugees and asylum seekers on temporary and bridging visas, giving them greater employment opportunities in our skills shortage areas. These changes mean more refugees and asylum seekers in the ACT will have access to subsidised training, leading to employment opportunities in areas of skills shortage.
Both the apprenticeship and skilled capital programs ensure that students accessing training receive the help they need to successfully complete their chosen qualification, giving them the best opportunity to participate fully in our community. This announcement follows the inclusion of the ACT in the safe haven enterprise visa scheme last year, meaning that asylum seekers who settle in the ACT will not be forced to move away from friends, communities and established support networks.
Across the board our aim is to better prepare people from refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds to find work or build a business in skill shortage occupations within the ACT and ultimately create flow-on economic benefits. I am proud to be part of a government that recognises the need to support and furnish opportunities to some of the most vulnerable members of our community.
Before I finish today I would like to highlight one more very important initiative that our government is currently implementing. That is the new ACT multicultural advisory council. Nominations are now open for the new council which will give a stronger voice to Canberra’s multicultural sector. The council will comprise 15 members who will take a leading role in participation and consultation on issues that affect the lives of culturally diverse Canberrans, raising awareness of their aspirations, needs and concerns.
One of the council’s key responsibilities will be to coordinate a multicultural summit in 2018. I urge members to raise awareness of the new council and to encourage Canberrans from culturally diverse backgrounds to consider nominating, noting that the nominations close on 28 March.
Since being appointed Minister for Multicultural Affairs just five short months ago I have had the pleasure of meeting with and learning from many of our city’s culturally diverse community members and leaders. What has been reinforced over that time is that ours is a city built on a firm foundation of multiculturalism, tolerance and diversity. So on Harmony Day 2017, please remember to thank your workmates, your friends, your in-laws, your neighbours, your fellow passengers on the bus, people in the supermarket and just the ordinary folk who cross your paths.
Thank them for being part of our community and for embracing shared goals for the future of our city. But, most of all, thank them for adding to our diversity, for opening
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