Nurturing Hope in Turbulent Times: AMES Australia's Year of Commitment
This year has seen an unprecedented number of brutal and destructive conflicts going on across the globe.
The war in Ukrainian continues along with conflicts in Ethiopia, Sudan, the Congo, the Central African Republic, Myanmar, Armenia and elsewhere.
And now the conflict in Gaza has seen human displacement soar above 110 million – with ever increasing numbers of people forced from their homes.
These conflicts have had a terrible effect on the lives people caught in the middle of them but also on the lives diaspora community members in countries like Australia.
All of this makes the work we do at AMES Australia even more important. Our support for members of these communities makes a material difference in their lives.
This year we have directly supported around 40,000 people through our programs and positively touched the lives of another 120,000 through the Melbourne Multicultural Hub and referrals.
These numbers underpin the fact that over the past 12 months we have returned to a more familiar footing in terms of supporting newly arrived people while also consolidating the lessons learned during the disruptive years of the COVID-19 pandemic.
We have continued to support refugee arrivals, including from Afghanistan and Ukrainian, and more recently from Sudan, Myanmar, Syria, Iraq, Venezuela and elsewhere.
And, during the past year we have continued to bed down the new Workforce Australia employment service.
We have been able to place large numbers of culturally diverse and indigenous jobseekers into work through the federally-funded Workforce Australia program and the Jobs Victoria Employment Service (JVES) program.
This year we launched the 'Settling into Work' (SiW) social enterprise employment service which aims to match skilled migrants and refugees with employers looking for skilled and experienced staff.
AMES has also worked in partnership with government agencies, contractors and consortiums to place more than 50 skilled professional refugees and asylum seekers in jobs in Victoria's major infrastructure projects, including the Metro Tunnel, the Rail Crossing Removal Project and the Westgate Tunnel.
We also launched a First Nations Employment Service based in Western Sydney, which has achieved very positive outcomes for indigenous jobseekers.
Regional and community partnerships have been a particular focus over the past year as part of a deliberate strategy to deepen and strengthen placed-based, community capacity.
Some of the highlights of this work include supporting a Refugee Communities Association of Australia citizenship ceremony during Refugee Week, which saw 160 people become Australian citizens and the facilitating of a 'Multicultural Cup' soccer tournament in Mildura in October.
Our work with diverse youth and in the prevention of violence against women in diverse communities has also continued; as have our community development and capacity building programs and our Skilled Professional Migrant Program.
With the new federal government's commitment to increase the annual refugee intake to 27,000 over coming years, AMES' work in supporting successful settlement will be vital in harnessing the skills and experience migrants and refugees bring with them while also preserving the high levels of social cohesion we enjoy.
As 2023 draws to a close, I would like to acknowledge the resilience, hard work and agility shown by employees across the organisation in delivering critical services to our clients. I would also like to acknowledge and thank AMES' amazing volunteers for their selfless contributions.
Finally, I would like to wish everyone a safe and joyful holiday season.
Best regards,
Cath Scarth, AMES Australia CEO
22 December, 2023