Refugee With Disability Lands Sydney Airport Job as 230 of 1,480 IEA Clients Enter Work
Updated
Updated · ABC News · Aug 11
Refugee With Disability Lands Sydney Airport Job as 230 of 1,480 IEA Clients Enter Work
1 articles · Updated · ABC News · Aug 11
Summary
March brought Suhail, a 54-year-old Pakistani refugee, into a baggage-screening role at Sydney Airport after years of unstable work in Australia.
Inclusive Employment Australia support helped him overcome unrecognised qualifications, limited English, no local network and trauma-related psychosocial issues through Settlement Services International and a same-language case manager.
SSI says the new program is outperforming the old Disability Employment Services model: 230 of 1,480 clients found jobs in its first eight months, and only about 35 had left those roles.
The shift targets a long-running gap: Australians with disabilities had a 7.5% unemployment rate in 2022 versus 3.1% for those without disabilities, while participation was 60.5% against 84.9%.
Nationally, the government says more than 31,000 participants are now assisted by specialist providers and about 51,000 people with disability — including 1,900 refugees — are in jobs supported by IEA.