A national report released today reveals 341,500 migrant and refugee women are working below their level of skill and qualification, locked out of their professions by a system that fails to recognise their experience and delivers deeply gendered outcomes.
Released today by the Australian Multicultural Women’s Alliance (AMWA), an initiative of the Federation of Ethnic Communities’ Councils of Australia (FECCA, in partnership with Settlement Services International (SSI), the Activate Her Skills report uncovers a major disconnect between Australia’s workforce needs and how its skills recognition system operates in practice.
Only 41% of migrant women surveyed by AMWA are working in roles aligned with their qualifications, and they earn 31% less than Australian-born women with similar qualifications, according to the report, which is part of the broader Activate Australia’s Skills campaign calling for a faster, fairer and more affordable skills recognition system. “Australia does not lack talent, we are underutilising talent that is already here,” says Malini Raj, Executive Director of AMWA.
“Migrant and refugee women arrive in Australia with tertiary and postgraduate qualifications, years of professional experience, and a strong desire to contribute. We do not have a shortage of skills, we have a failure of the systems designed to recognise them.”
Highly skilled migrant women, including teachers, nurses, engineers, psychologists and IT professionals, are being sidelined not because they lack capability, but because the system designed to recognise their qualifications is slow, costly, difficult to navigate and not gender-responsive.
“Migrant women are also 20% more likely to be underutilised than migrant men in a system designed for someone with time, money and flexibility. That is not the reality for many migrant women,” Malini Raj added.
The report doesn’t just point to what is broken, but also offers clear solutions and recommendations for reform including the appointment of a commissioner to oversee the system and address barriers, support with skills assessments and the creation of an online skills recognition portal.
“Nearly one in three women we surveyed said they want to return to their profession but feel structurally blocked from doing so,” said Ms Raj.
“When migrant women can work in their professions, families are stronger, services improve and businesses gain desperately needed talent. It’s a win for women, a win for employers and a win for our economy.”
Report Highlights:
- 341,550 migrant and refugee women are working below their level of skill and qualification.
- Only 41% of migrant women are working in roles aligned to their qualifications.
- 31% earn less than Australian-born women with similar qualifications.
- 20% are more likely to be underutilised than migrant men.
- Nearly one-third said they wanted to return to their profession but feel structurally blocked from doing so.
- 59% said time delays were a major barrier
- 56% said cost was a major barrier
- 37% pointed to rigid, paperwork-heavy processes
- 27% said pathways were confusing and unclear
For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact:
Mia Ferreira
mia@fecca.org.au
