Refugee Experiences of Finding Decent Work in the Australian Construction Industry
- Publisher:
- Association of Researchers in Construction Management
- Publication Type:
- Conference Proceeding
- Citation:
- http://www.arcom.ac.uk/-docs/archive/2020-Indexed-Papers.pdf, 2020, 1, (1), pp. 65-74
- Issue Date:
- 2020-09-09
Open Access
Copyright Clearance Process
- Recently Added
- In Progress
- Open Access
This item is open access.
Construction is a major source of employment for refugees in most countries yet there
has been a surprising lack of research into their experiences of securing work in the
industry. Addressing this gap and also the lack of voice for refugees in the
construction management literature, this paper reports the results of a survey of
refugees who have worked or attempted to seek work in the Australian construction
industry. Findings reveal that the main perceived barriers to securing decent
employment in construction relate to lack of local work experience, employers
discriminating against refugees and not recognising previous qualifications, skills and
experience and both employment agencies and employers not understanding the
challenges they face. Government procedures and systems are also perceived to be
overly complex. Recommendations are made to address these barriers including
initiatives to provide refugees with work experience in the industry, education to
break-down negative stereotypes of refugees among employers and simplification and
targeting of government and employment agency systems and procedures.
Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: