Together with the Migrant Resource Centre, CVGT and industry partners, KEEN Partners are proud of the success of this recent workplace trial.

We’re committed to increasing the number of people who acquire the necessary employability traits to enter the workforce with our industry partners. This means looking beyond traditional recruitment methods, and provides opportunity to bring on board non-traditional sources, such as people of culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds (CALD). 

One of KEEN Partners’ values is ‘multiformity’ - it starts with diversity as a premise of being critical, to actually understanding the value that each of the various groups can add to fellow employees and industry partners. One example of KEEN living the multiformity value is by embracing people for their differences and helping people of all backgrounds prepare for their initiation into the workforce. 

With this as a major priority for us, we developed a pilot program in partnership with the Migrant Resources Centre (MRC) North and CVGT.

We selected ten people from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds to run a pilot program for the purpose of empowering them to move from seasonal work to semi-skilled regular work. It was funded by a Commonwealth Government grant under the Regional Employment Trial which operated for a duration of 13 weeks. 

KEEN’s role early in the program was the selection of the candidates together with MRC and CVGT, hosting a workplace and community visit and preparing visual procedures to overcome some of the literacy barriers.

The heart of the trial involved one week at TasTAFE’s campus at Alanvale to learn basic hand tool skills and workshop safety techniques in a highly controlled environment. Following this, participants spent five weeks working in three Engineering businesses located in the Bell Bay Advanced Manufacturing Zone, where they carried out a range of tasks in the workshops. Tasks included using hand tools and fixed machinery to manufacture engineering components.

At the conclusion of the trial, the results included:

• All ten candidates demonstrated sufficient competence to be considered as very suitable new starters for the typical production jobs in these workshops

• The three engineering businesses had openings for seven of the participants

• All seven accepted the jobs

• Within days, all seven were working away in their new profession!

We were thrilled with the positive outcome of the pilot program. We’ll continue offering CALD community members these equal employment opportunities including gaining the necessary skills to add value to industry partners.

Ella Dixon, CEO of the Migrant Resource Centre visited one of the workplaces during the trial.

She told us “It’s hard to describe the looks of optimism and excitement as men who were once welders picked up a welding tool for the first time since arriving in Tasmania. Eyes lit up and faces were beaming with pride. It was as if they had found their identities again.”

Growing people, with industry, for industry.