Media Releases

The Federation of Ethnic Communities’ Councils of Australia (FECCA) welcomes the announcement by the Australian Greens of their multicultural policy.

The policy covers a number of areas including a National Multicultural Act, diversity in the workplace, legal protections against racial vilification, the humanitarian intake, the migration regulations as they relate to support for women escaping violence, data collection about mental health needs of people from multicultural communities  to better inform service planning, increasing access to early childhood education for migrant and refugee children, specialist family violence services for migrant and refugee women, funding the SBS, and initiatives to support social cohesion (such as an Australian Centre for Social Cohesion and the Building Multicultural Communities Program).

Adopting policies that respond to Australia’s diversity is critical to foster the economic and social contributions of migrant and refugees. Cultural, linguistic and religious characteristics require specific, inclusive and targeted programs that promote citizenship, access, equity and participation, and ensure no one is excluded and left behind. FECCA particularly welcomes the commitment to take steps towards establishing a National Multicultural Act. A national legislative framework would ensure systemic change by achieving both recognition of diverse cultures coexisting in Australia, and promotion of close interaction between diverse cultures based on principles of reciprocal respect and equality.

“FECCA has been seeking assurances from all parties about their commitment to multiculturalism through actions that drive change for culturally and linguistically diverse communities”, said FECCA Chairperson Joe Caputo. “We look forward to engaging further with the Australian Greens to progress these important policy initiatives”.

Media comments: FECCA Office – (02) 6282 5755, admin@fecca.org.au.

The Federation of Ethnic Communities’ Councils of Australia (FECCA) and The Salvation Army’s Freedom Partnership- to End Modern Slavery welcome the Coalition’s announcement of policy to address the exploitation of vulnerable migrant workers, but remain concerned it won’t go far enough to help workers raise the alarm.

The Coalition has unveiled that it plans to introduce:

• higher penalties for employers who exploit and underpay workers
• a new offence to cover ‘cash-back’ schemes, which have been used by 7-Eleven franchisees to underpay their workers
• new provisions that will apply to franchisors and parent companies who fail to deal with exploitation by their franchisees
• compulsory evidence gathering powers to the Fair Work Ombudsman
• new penalty provisions relating to the obstruction of Fair Work Inspectors and the provision of false or misleading information to Fair Work Inspectors

FECCA and The Salvation Army welcome the Coalition’s pledge of an additional $20 million for the capabilities and workforce of the Fair Work Ombudsman, but question whether this will be sufficient given the $17 million in cuts to the FWO in the 2016-17 budget.

National Policy and Advocacy Coordinator for The Salvation Army’s Freedom Partnership to End Modern Slavery, Heather Moore said, “We are encouraged by the introduction of new offences and higher penalties, however, penalties are useless if workers remain too scared to come forward. We need policy solutions that balance disincentives for employers to do the wrong thing with incentives for workers to report unlawful conduct.”

FECCA Chairperson Joe Caputo said, “Migrant workers are vulnerable to exploitation as they may have an absence of support networks and a lack of understanding about the protections that exist in the Australian workplace relations system.”

FECCA and The Salvation Army have recommended that workers on temporary work visas must be put in contact with community organisations to provide them with ongoing access to information about their workplace rights and support.  The Productivity Commission’s 2015 report on Workplace Relations also recommended that community organisations get involved with working migrants earlier to ensure migrant workers were empowered to recognise and report exploitative relationships.

The Coalition have also promised to establish a Migrant Workers Taskforce in the Fair Work Ombudsman to target employers who exploit migrant workers.  While we welcome the focus on exploitative employers, FECCA and The Salvation Army emphasise the importance of having equal emphasis on supporting mistreated migrant workers to come forward and access justice.

Media Comments: FECCA Office – (02) 6282 5755, media@fecca.org.au.

The Salvation Army – (02) 9266 9820, mediaofficer@aue.salvationarmy.org.

The Federation of Ethnic Communities’ Councils of Australia (FECCA), as the peak national body representing Australians from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds, urges all political parties to engage in a respectful, informed and reasonable debate on refugee issues, and ensure that the discourse does not marginalise this vulnerable group.

This appeal is particularly relevant in view of the comments made by the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection Peter Dutton, relating an increase of the refugee intake resulting in ‘illiterate and innumerate’ refugees taking Australia jobs.

FECCA Chairperson Joe Caputo said, “At FECCA we are calling for the discussion to be brought within the bounds of acceptable discourse.  We are concerned that the current tone could incite division among communities in this very sensitive area.”

“Historically, refugees have contributed to the social, cultural and economic fabric of the country, with Australia greatly benefiting from this unique composition.”

Data from the Department of Immigration and Citizenship on the economic, social and civic contributions of first and second generation humanitarian entrants indicates that humanitarian entrants are the most entrepreneurial in Australia.

Humanitarian entrants tend to work several jobs in their first few years in Australia in order to finance their own business.  They display greater entrepreneurial qualities compared to other migrant groups, with a higher than average proportion engaging in small and medium business enterprises.

Australian society is also enriched from a successful humanitarian programme via a number of non-economic contributions, such as mitigating our ageing local population, enhancing Australia’s cultural and linguistic diversity, providing volunteering and social care roles and contributing to the development of rural and regional areas.

With growing global needs for refugee resettlement, FECCA reiterates our call for Australia to stand by our moral and international obligations and provide refugee resettlement, as well as ensure and contribute to protecting peace and security globally.

Media Comments: FECCA Office – (02) 6282 5755 or media@fecca.org.au.

The Federation of Ethnic Communities’ Councils of Australia (FECCA) supports calls by industry, media and other commentators for the media to diversify and to reflect Australia’s cultural and linguistic diversity, following the TV Week Logies.

Two compelling speeches made by Waleed Aly and Noni Hazlehurst, addressed long overdue calls for the media to address racism, discrimination, cultural diversity and gender diversity in Australian media.

The media can play a critical role in promoting positive messages regarding Australia’s cultural and gender diversity and the need for the continued development of a strong, resilient, cohesive and inclusive Australia.

FECCA looks forward to seeing the media landscape transform into a more inclusive industry, reflective of Australia as a whole.

Media Comments: FECCA Office – (02) 6282 5755 or media@fecca.org.au.

The Federation of Ethnic Communities’ Councils of Australia (FECCA) has provided an analysis of the budget measures and how it will impact people from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds.  While welcoming particular positive measures around employment and participation, FECCA is disappointed over the lack of targeted and specific resourcing and funding measures in portfolios to achieve meaningful and lasting change for CALD Australians.

Migration Program

The Permanent Migration Program for 2016-17 will have up to 190,000 places, including up to 128,550 places for skilled migrants and 57,400 for family migrants.  An additional 565 places will be provided outside of the managed Migration Program under the Special Eligibility stream.  Up to 3,485 child category migrants will also be provided outside of the managed Program, continuing the transition of this category to a fully demand-driven model by 2019-20.

The 2016-17 Humanitarian Program will have 13,750 places.  By 2018-19, the program will increase to 18,750 places. 

Support for asylum seekers and refugees

The Government has assured support for asylum seekers and refugees, with $39.8 million in 2016-17 to fund the provision of asylum seeker assistance to support eligible non-illegal Maritime Arrivals while their immigration status is resolved.

A further $12.1 million will be provided in 2016-17 and 2017-18 for the supervision and welfare of unaccompanied minors under the Unaccompanied Humanitarian Minors program.

The Government will also deliver $10.9 million over 3 years from 2016-17 to offer additional support to recently arrived humanitarian migrants to strengthen their sense of belonging to Australian society and to increase their social and economic participation.  This includes increased funding for the National Community Hubs Program, supporting the establishment of new hubs in settlement locations, and a pilot project to assist newly arrived humanitarian migrants of working age and with vocational English proficiency to find work that reflects the skills and experience they have gained in their home countries.  FECCA welcomes the funding earmarked for this pilot project, with many migrants and refugees facing higher levels of unemployment due to education background, skills recognition, language barriers and lack of Australian work experience.

NDIS

FECCA welcomes the Government’s commitment to funding the NDIS, however we echo concerns raised by disability organisations regarding measures that tie funding to cuts to welfare spending.  The Government’s decision to subject 90,000 people on the Disability Support Pension (DSP) over three years to review and place many on Newstart will mean CALD people with disability will be financially worse off. 

Ageing and Aged Care

The Government continues to be committed to a consumer-centred and driven aged care system, with reforms also aimed at improving access in rural and remote areas.  There has also been a $136.6 million investment in the My Aged Care website and Contact Centre to meet growing demand.  While we are encouraged by this injection of funding, FECCA would like to see funding specifically targeted to assist CALD people to become empowered to make decisions for their aged care by having information provided in a culturally appropriate manner and in their preferred language.

Health

The Government has pledged $21.3 million for the design, operation and evaluation of trials for the new Health Care Home (HCH) model of chronic care, which is to be rolled out across seven sites across the country, over two years from 1 July 2017.  FECCA is very pleased by the introduction of this model and encourages the government to ensure that the trial sites are representative of the diverse Australian population. 

Mental Health

Ground breaking mental health reforms will be established at nine demonstration sites in 2016-17 period, as well as support for the first stages of a national mental health digital gateway.  FECCA emphasises the importance of ensuring that the trial sites are representative of Australia’s diverse population.

Digital Transformation and Service Delivery

Additional funds have been allocated to the Department of Human Services and the Digital Transformation Office to support the operations of the myGov service, including a joint team to identify future developments to meet user needs.

The Government will reform the Visa and Migration Framework by improving automation in visa processing, providing self-service options and using more sophisticated assessment capabilities.

FECCA is also concerned about the implications of administrative efficiencies at the Department of Human Services on CALD families.  Vulnerable cohorts will require high level support, and must be provided with opportunities for face-to-face engagement. 

Youth Employment Package

FECCA welcomes the Government’s focus on youth employment, and reiterates the importance of providing culturally appropriate and competent services for young people from migrant and refugee backgrounds.

The New Enterprise Incentive Scheme (NEIS) will be expanded to allow access to self-employment training and mentoring for job seekers who are not on income support, including those who are not in employment, education or training.  An additional 2,300 NEIS places each year will also be funded, making a total of 8,600 places available annually.

The Government will encourage entrepreneurship and self-employment by engaging young job seekers to explore self-employment as an alternative pathway to employment through ‘Exploring Being My Own Boss’ workshops, self-employment and entrepreneurship starter packs, and engaging inclusive entrepreneurship facilitators in areas of high youth unemployment.

Additionally, $751.7 million will be allocated to established the Youth Jobs PaTH (Prepare – Trial – Hire) initiative over four years from 2016-17.  The program will target job seekers aged under 25 years to improve youth employment outcomes, providing up to 30,000 young people each year with real work experience.  The program will include industry-endorsed pre-employment training, internship placements of 4-12 weeks, and youth bonus wage subsidies.

Work for the Dole will be reformed to be better targeted and more cost effective.  From 1 October 2016, the most job-ready job seekers (Stream A job seekers) will enter the Work for the Dole phase after 12 months of participation in jobactive, instead of the current 6 months.

Child Care reforms

The Government’s Child Care reforms will be deferred by one year to 1 July 2018 due to the Family Tax Benefit reforms required to fund the child care package not being passed by the Senate.

FECCA has previously raised concerns that the proposed three-tiered activity test will disproportionately affect migrant and refugee families, due to the high proportion of CALD workers, particularly women, in insecure, casualised and variable employment.  FECCA reiterates its concerns about the way that the Child Care reforms will affect children from migrant and refugee backgrounds and calls on the Government to restore 24 hours of subsidised child care per week, irrespective of whether the parent is able to meet the activity test.  See our submission here.

The Inclusion Support Program will commence on 1 July 2016, with an investment of $543 million over 4 years.  FECCA holds concerns about how the Inclusion Support Programme will affect children from CALD backgrounds, and the delivery of bicultural support in early childhood education.  See our submission here.

Early Learning Languages program

The Early Learning Languages Australia program will be expanded to all preschool services nationally from the 2017 school year, with an additional $5.9 million over 2 years.  The program will provide more preschool children with the opportunity to study a language other than English on an opt-in basis through play-based learning using mobile devices.

FECCA welcomes the expansion of this initiative, highlighting the importance of implementing mandatory second language education, facilitating quality and responsive language services and fostering individual, cultural and intellectual development in our population.

SBS

FECCA welcomes the provision of $814.2 million for SBS over 3 years from 2016-17 in base operation funding.  This funding is determined on a 3 year rolling basis for the operation of television, radio and online services.  The Government will also provide $6.9 million in 2016-17 to replace revenue that could not be raised (due to delayed passage of legislation on SBS advertising).

Adult Migrant English Program (AMEP)

The Government will re-design AMEP to improve client participation, English language proficiency, and employment outcomes.  Changes will include offering additional hours of English tuition to eligible clients, introducing better monitoring of improvements in client English skills and establishing two new AMEP service streams – Social English and Pre-Employment English.  The cost of this reform will be met with existing Department of Education and Training resources.

Community Engagement

The current Community-Based Employment Advice Services Program will be replaced by the Community Engagement Grants Program from 1 July 2016 to provide employment advice services with funding through a competitive selection process.  The Government has committed $7.3 million over 4 years from 2016-17 to establish this new program.  The program will continue support for community organisations to provide employment advice to disadvantaged and vulnerable people in the workplace.

Domestic and Family Violence

The Government has pledged $100 million will be invested in initiatives under the Third Action Plan 2016-19 of the National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children 2010-2022.

FECCA reiterates the call for women escaping violence to be entitled to crisis payments, regardless of their visa status.  Access to crisis payments will ensure that women on temporary visas are financially supported while they seek assistance following a violent relationship, this can include accessing legal and justice support and meeting the basic needs of their children.  See the open letter here.

Countering Violent Extremism

The Government has reallocated $5 million in 2016-17 to counter violent extremism, including:

• $4 million for the Attorney-General’s Department to establish and trial community support and advice services in conjunction with the States and Territories; and
• $1 million for the Office of the Children’s eSafety Commissioner to develop and distribute online resources promoting digital resilience.

Media Comments: FECCA Office – (02) 6282 5755, media@fecca.org.au.