Social enterprise and CALD refugee settlement experience

Social enterprise and CALD refugee settlement experience

The Australian Federal Government announced in early September 2015 that the country committed to take an additional 12,000 Syrian refugees in the face of the current Middle East crisis which is one of the world’s largest to date (Bourke, 2015). This one-off intake is in addition to the existing humanitarian program of an intake of 13,750 refugees. The existing humanitarian program is set to increase to 18,750 over the next three years. This commitment represents a very significant increase in Australia’s humanitarian intake and is a generous response to the current emergency in the Middle East. The resettlement does not always mean a smooth journey to all culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) refugee settlers. While some people from CALD refugee backgrounds experience success and enjoy positive outcomes, many of them are facing challenges when settling in Australia. For instance, they may have language issues or face difficulties adapting to life in Australia. In the long run possibly the most significant challenge that these people face is having difficulties transferring prior labour market experience into the Australian labour market, and thus they often have higher unemployment rates or are at an earnings disadvantage that may lead to disaffection and community unrest (Green et al., 2007). One way to create pathways to better settlement experirence for these people is through social enterprises.

Social enterprises have emerged as a strategic response to the challenges that traditional non-profit organisations face since the introduction of the public sector reform movement in the 1980s (Weerawardena and Sullivan-Mort, 2006). The organisations help to formulate social capital that fosters greater social interaction and learning in a diverse society (Hasan, 2005). In the case of resettlement experience, CALD refugees are more likely to be able to practise day-to-day English, gain necessary skills for social interaction and networking, advance their knowledge and skills for employment or for becoming entrepreneurs, and participate equitably in the society if they are involved in social enterprises during their settlement. This book chapter aims to critically review the literature and argues that social enterprises can help to facilitate life satisfaction and self-reliance for CALD refugees in Australia. A qualitative storytelling narrative research method (Webster and Metrova, 2007) was conducted to review whether social enterprises would be useful for a group of CALD refugees resettling in Toowoomba, a city in the Darling Downs of Queensland in Australia.

Files associated with this item cannot be displayed due to copyright restrictions.