Ms Roumeliotis credits her success as a business woman to a values-driven, entrepreneurial mindset.

“The organisations in which I’ve always taken an interest — both in the business world and not-for-profit sector — are those that operate like honey bees. They collaborate and generate value for themselves, their communities and their environment,” she said.

“Others serve their own interests, consuming whatever lies in their paths, like locusts. I like to think that as a person who has led teams in successful organisations, we have employed honey-bee-type practices that have seeded fruitful, sustainable organisations with positive outcomes for communities.”

Ms Roumeliotis said that at times, this has meant walking away from lucrative ventures that did not align with the values of herself or the organisation she heads, Settlement Services International (SSI).

“I’m inspired by a sector and peers who don’t play hard ball and compete ruthlessly. The main game for me is to create enduring value for everyone involved. By applying such principles, the organisations I have been a part of have thrived,” she said.

“At SSI, this approach has seen our organisation break the traditional not-for-profit mould and operate as a social business. We run efficiently and effectively so that we can reinvest to maximise our social impact.

“For example, we run five social enterprises that give new arrivals and other job seekers work experience opportunities. The most significant of these is our low cost supermarket, The Staples Bag, which also actively reduces Australia’s food wastage problem and addresses the growing issue of food insecurity. We have distributed over 500 tonnes of food in the last 12 months alone.”

Ms Roumeliotis will join other state and territory category winners in Melbourne on Tuesday 21 November for the National Telstra Business Women’s Awards.

About SSI:
Settlement Services International is a community-based not-for-profit organisation providing a range of services in the areas of refugee settlement, migrant support services, asylum seeker assistance, housing, multicultural foster care, disability support, employment services and youth support in NSW.

Media enquiries:
SSI Communications Coordinator Hannah Gartrell 0488 680 287

Carrying out the work of the Alliance will be the inaugural Alliance Council, which comprises community representatives and organisations that either represent or work with migrant and refugee women, including not-for-profit Settlement Services International (SSI).

SSI CEO Violet Roumeliotis said the establishment of the Alliance was the culmination of several years of advocacy by women’s groups across Australia.

“This is a critical first step to migrant and refugee women taking the lead in conversations with decision makers about the issues that directly affect them — whether that be employment, education or health and wellbeing,” she said.

“Migrant and refugee women have always been active within the Australian community, and there is strong appetite for community representatives themselves to advance migrant and refugee women’s participation in economic, social, cultural, civic and political life.

“The formation of a policy and strategy body just amplifies the reach of those voices, enabling migrant and refugee women to better engage in driving change.”

The Alliance Council also includes representatives from United Muslim Women Association, African Women Australia, Tongan Association of Canberra and Queanbeyan, Australian National Committee on Refugee Women, Access Community Services, InTouch, Multicultural Youth South Australia, Migration Council Australia, Multicultural Youth Advocacy Network, Refugee Council of Australia, and Settlement Council of Australia.

The Alliance is now one of six National Women’s Alliances that give voice to women, particularly those from marginalised or disadvantaged groups.

Media enquiries:

SSI Communications Coordinator Hannah Gartrell 0488 680 287

“Finding employment is often the primary goal for refugees of working age, but due to barriers – including the need to professionally retrain and lack of English language proficiency – many face occupational skidding and welfare dependency,” said SSI CEO Violet Roumeliotis.

“This situation is compounded for young refugees who, through major life disruption, may not have completed formal education or gained work experience.”

The Allianz Ladder program includes a series of workshops and mentoring sessions that will help participants develop foundation business skills such as problem solving, innovation, communication and teamwork.

The concept is a leadership and innovation pathway, providing access to employment opportunities for refugee youth who have exited compulsory education and are seeking their first job in Australia.

It will be delivered in a simulated learning environment known as the Experience Centre, to help familiarise young refugees with a realistic business environment.

SSI has been partnering with Allianz Australia for a number of years, and the relationship has had concrete outcomes; the Sustainable Employment Program established last year has provided 15 refugees with tailored development and career management plans, leading to permanent employment.

“At Allianz we are committed to social inclusion and tackling refugee employment is an important part of this,” Allianz Diversity and Sustainability Manager, Charis Martin-Ross said.

“This has only been possible through close partnership with SSI given their deep expertise in addressing barriers to employment for refugees and migrants.”

Martin-Ross added that it also makes good business sense for companies to build a culturally diverse workforce.

“Australia is a multicultural nation: four out of five people were born overseas or have a parent born overseas. In this regard, understanding and responding to the needs of our culturally diverse customers is vital,” she said.

Media enquiries:

SSI Communications Coordinator Hannah Gartrell; 0488 680 287

CEO Violet Roumeliotis said SSI would provide essential support and information to assist refugees to live independent, meaningful lives in Armidale, but she also encouraged the local community to get involved.

“We’ve already seen that welcoming spirit demonstrated in the strong push from within the community for Armidale to be a settlement location for refugees. Continued support and engagement from the community is critical to ensuring refugees feel at home in Armidale and can become independent, successful members of the community,” she said.

“Other critical factors during settlement include access to employment and education, and English language proficiency. The three ‘Es’ are areas SSI has emphasised during the current settlement program, which we have delivered for the past six years. We’re pleased that these have now been formalised as a key part of the HSP contract.”

Ms Roumeliotis said she had no doubt the settlement of refugees in the Armidale region would have dual benefits for both new arrivals and the local community.

“We’ve seen this play out on a smaller scale in Mingoola, north of Armidale on the Queensland border, where a small group of refugees have settled” she said.

“One big benefit of settling these families in that township was that the local primary school could stay open. It also meant that the newcomers, who were originally from rural areas in Africa, were living and working in an area that was a good match for them. I have no doubt that the settlement of refugees in the Armidale region will be similarly fruitful.”

Media enquiries:

SSI Acting Communications Coordinator Hannah Gartrell 0488 680 287

SSI CEO Violet Roumeliotis said this was exciting news for SSI and its team who had delivered settlement services for the past six years under the current Humanitarian Settlement Services (HSS) program.

“Winning these two regions was only possible due to the dedication, skill and passion of our staff in securing excellent client outcomes,” she said.

“I am excited by the prospect of leading SSI into this new era of settlement services for Australia’s humanitarian entrants with a greater emphasis on English language proficiency; education and development; and employment. Under our current HSS contract the three ‘Es’ are areas that SSI has incorporated for some years now as part and parcel of our service delivery.

“We’re very pleased that they’ve now been formalised as a key part of the new contract. We see this as positive reinforcement of our good work under the HSS program.

“I am confident that the move to a more outcomes-focused model will lead to improved integration for refugees and better social cohesion in our communities.

“We also recognise the opportunities offered by the additional time under the new program to meet people’s individual needs at the pace required by their particular situation.

“It is understandable that on arrival refugees have different capacities to settle quickly into their communities, work and education. The flexibility of the timeframe gives service providers the opportunity to meet individual needs and empower clients to commence building new lives in Australia.

“The new program continues a long and proud tradition of resettling refugees in Australia,” Ms Roumeliotis added.

The HSP, which is funded by the Department of Social Services, was awarded following a competitive tender processing beginning in September 2016. The program will build skills and knowledge for the social and economic well-being of humanitarian entrants through a needs-based case management approach. For more information: https://www.dss.gov.au/settlement-and-multicultural-affairs/programs-policy/settlement-services/humanitarian-settlement-program

Media enquiries:
SSI Corporate Communications Manager Angela Calabrese: 0422 304 578; acalabrese@ssi.org.au
SSI Communications Assistant Hannah Gartrell: 0488 680 287; hgartrell@ssi.org.au

Dakhil has more than 35 years’ experience as a sculptor and engraver, gathered both in his native country of Iraq and in Australia, where he has lived since being forced to leave his birth country in search of safety.

For Sameer, the festival’s name is synonymous with his own fresh start in Australia.

“I need a new beginning,” he said. “This festival represents a great opportunity for newly arrived artists like me to share our work and connect with the Australian public.”

New Beginnings Creative Producer Carolina Triana said the festival was an opportunity for Sydneysiders to come together and learn about the cultural heritage and vibrant artistry of some of Australia’s newest community members.

“Being a ‘refugee’ is not the singularly defining aspect of a person’s identity,” she said.

“We hope to facilitate creative exchanges between refugee and non-refugee communities. Getting to know someone through their art makes us focus on their creativity and potential — labels are no longer relevant.”

The New Beginnings Festival for Refugee Week program will also include the short film screening ‘Sydney Stories’, artist workshops and a Persian tea ceremony presented as part of the Community Kouzina project.

The New Beginnings Festival for Refugee Week event is part of the broader New Beginnings: Refugee Arts & Culture Festival 2017, an initiative of not-for-profit organisation Settlement Services International (SSI). It will be held from 21 June to 2 July at Redfern’s premier creative hub, 107 (previously 107 Projects). For more information or tickets, click here.

The festival will continue later in the year with a one-day music, dance, art and food extravaganza at Darling Harbour.

For more information, head to https://www.newbeginningsfestival.com.au

About the New Beginnings: Refugee Arts & Culture Festival:

The New Beginnings: Refugee Arts & Culture Festival 2017 is a celebration of the artistic vibrancy, cultural expressions and heritage of people from refugee backgrounds. Since its inception in 2015, the New Beginnings: Refugee Arts & Culture Festival has offered a free celebration of the diverse and rich creative talents of refugees and people seeking asylum.

Media enquiries:

For interviews, media passes and other enquiries, contact SSI Communications Assistant Hannah Gartrell (M: 0488 680 287; E: hgartrell@ssi.org.au). Interviews can be arranged both on the night and in the lead up to the event.

Held as part of Vivid Ideas on 7 June, Borrowed Voice: Freedom of Expression vs Cultural Appropriation will question the concepts of identity politics and political correctness in Australia’s creative industries through a ‘reversed-debate’ format. ‘Affirmative’ speakers will argue the negative standpoint to highlight the shortcomings of the opposing view, and vice versa.

Mediated by journalist Stan Grant, the debaters will include:

• Deng Adut — lawyer and author
• Chris Taylor — comedy writer and member of The Chaser
• Caroline Marcus — reporter and columnist
• Thomas Keneally — writer
• Bronwyn Bancroft — artist and illustrator
• Daisy Cousens — writer and journalist

Caroline Marcus, who joins the negative team, said the very concept of cultural appropriation was laughable.

“It’s not just the policing of harmless fun under the guise of targeting so-called ‘cultural appropriation’’ that should concern us, but attempts to shut down discussion – and indeed criticism – of dangerous cultural practices for fear of causing offence,” she said.

“Think about the treatment cartoonist Bill Leak had from the Human Rights Commission when he tried to illustrate the problem of high levels of child abuse and neglect in Indigenous communities. It’s a very worrying trend in Australia and around the world.”

Author Mark Isaacs from Sydney Pen, which co-organised the event with not-for-profit Settlement Services International (SSI), said the limitations of freedom of speech and expression had become the latest political and ideological battleground in Australia.

“Our right to free speech does not give us the right to abuse, to discriminate, to slander, to disseminate hatred. Championing the right to bigotry or the right to humiliate sullies the philosophy from which these freedoms were born,” he said.

“Creative works that ignore cultural, religious or ethnic boundaries have the potential to silence those on the fringes of society by allowing the dominant culture to monopolise the creative space. I believe we should try to achieve a balance where artists are encouraged to have freedom in their creativity but not to restrict the opportunities of others.”

SSI Arts & Culture Coordinator Carolina Triana said the line between cultural appropriation and appreciation was a hotly contested issue in Australia’s creative industries.

“Many creative professionals believe they should have the freedom to ‘try on other people’s hats, as author Lionel Shriver put it at last year’s Brisbane Writers Festival,” she said.

“The problem with that view is it can lead to the exploitation of the stories and experiences of, what are often, marginalised communities. It’s a complex issue — does the right to freedom of expression supersede the right to retain control of one’s cultural identity and experiences?”

The event will take place as part of Vivid Ideas on 7 June from 6–8pm at the Cell Block Theatre in Darlinghurst.

Vivid Ideas is Asia Pacific’s annual celebration of innovation, creativity and change community, and is held as part of Vivid Sydney, the world’s largest festival of light, music and ideas. For more information or tickets, click here.

For interviews, media passes and other enquiries, contact:

Benjamin Riley 
SSI Communications Coordinator
0488 680 397
briley@ssi.org.au

Interviews can be arranged both on the night and in the lead up to the event.

 The study found that 68% of refugee graduates of the Ignite Small Business Start-ups Program had moved off Centrelink payments, with some also paying company tax and generating jobs for others.

• In-depth interviews with 35 of the refugee entrepreneurs identified savings of $880,000 a year in Centrelink benefits – or a potential $4.4 million over five years – among this group alone.
• More than 60 new refugee enterprises emerged from the program, generating company tax revenue for the government
• At the time of the study, 20 staff had been taken on by the program’s entrepreneurs
• The entrepreneurs were also contributing to innovation in Australia

The Ignite Small Business Start-ups Program, an initiative of humanitarian organisation Settlement Services International (SSI), was launched in 2013 to assist newly arrived humanitarian migrants or refugees to set up businesses.

Now at the end of its three-year pilot, the program has helped to establish 66 new refugee businesses – the majority in retail trade, followed by cultural and recreational services and construction.

“The stand-out finding is the diversity of business types set up by the refugee graduates of the Ignite program,” Professor Collins says. “There is no typical refugee business enterprise. Businesses established by successful Ignite clients cover many different industry classifications.”

Overall, of the 240 SSI refugee clients accepted into the Ignite program 25 per cent were running their own enterprise, the study found.

“This success rate must be set against the substantial barriers that these refugees faced in order to appreciate its significance,” Professor Collins says.

“At first glance refugees are the most unlikely entrepreneurs. They lack capital to start up a business, they have no credit history, no assets or security. In many instances their educational qualifications are not recognised and they have no social networks.”

The report also found that newly arrived refugees who are women are equally passionate about entrepreneurship and have the potential to succeed as new entrepreneurs in Australia. “One in five Ignite clients are women and one in four of the Ignite clients who succeeded in setting up a business are women,” Professor Collins says. “This is an important finding because many refugee families who arrive in Australia are single-parent families headed by a woman.”

SSI CEO Violet Roumeliotis noted it was not because of a lack of passion, a business idea or commitment and ability that other Ignite clients had not set up a business. “Rather, the constraint was the time of the enterprise facilitators. With more resources for the program to hire additional enterprise facilitators the success rate would have been much higher.”

The Ignite program is based on the Sirolli Trinity of Management® model and tailored specifically to newly arrived humanitarian migrants or refugees. “This model has led to an innovation in thinking and tailoring of support to entrepreneurs of refugee background,” Ms Roumeliotis says.

“The report has demonstrated the success of Ignite and suggests it has the potential to be rolled out nationally, with modification and consultation.”

SSI now plans to expand the model to support passionate entrepreneurs with disability, their families and carers through a new pilot program Ignite Ability.

SSI is a finalist in the Settlement Innovation category of the Australian Migration Settlement Awards on Wednesday, March 22, which will be attended by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. The Ignite program was part of the nomination.

To speak with SSI CEO or for entrepreneur case studies:

Rekha Sanghi
SSI Communications Coordinator
0422 304 578
rsanghi@ssi.org.au

Professor Jock Collins
Professor of Social Economics
UTS Business School
0425 341 083
Jock.Collins@uts.edu.au

Lesley Parker
Media Officer
UTS Business School
0422 000 249
lesley.parker@uts.edu.au

SSI CEO Violet Roumeliotis said: “As a leading humanitarian settlement provider, we know from countless individual stories of migration and displacement since post WWII, including many victims of terrorism, these new members of the Australian community would strongly agree that the Australian Government should place the highest priority on security and safety.

“We understand that the people we work with value a free, diverse and harmonious society and embrace the opportunities offered to them to make a fresh start here. The higher than average entrepreneurial spirit of our refugee population is well documented.

“At a time when there are continuing calls for radical change in our immigration and multicultural policies, we welcome the confirmation that the Australian Government is committed to harnessing the advantages of our cultural diversity as an asset which sparks innovation and creativity and which contributes to the economic and social prosperity of all Australians.

“We’re also pleased to note the statement acknowledges that the Australian settlement framework is widely considered best practice, an approach that is the envy of many comparable countries.”

There were performances, gardening workshops and art demonstrations, along with craft, henna designs and a pampering corner with nail art, hair styling and make up.

One attendee, Iman, displayed artworks that she developed in the five years she has lived in Australia.

“I used to just paint animals, now I just paint women. In my country, women are oppressed, so now I paint women enjoying freedom,” Iman said. “Freedom is dancing. Freedom is wearing what you want.”

Held at the Auburn Centre for Community, the event activities were suitable for people of all ages and genders, with the aim of encouraging attendance from both men and women.

SSI Community Engagement Manager Trina Soulos said gender equality was an issue affecting the whole community, so it was important for all community members to be involved in celebrating International Women’s Day.

“Gender equality is not just an issue for women. Including fathers, husbands and sons in community celebrations like this is just one of the ways we can fight stereotypes and create more positive change for women,” she said.

“We wanted to capture the inclusive spirit of International Women’s Day and create a space where everyone was welcome to celebrate unity, gender equality, resilience and hope.”

Around 200 people attended the event, where lunch was prepared by sisters Sharon and Carol Salloum supported by SSI staff and volunteers. The culinary duo run Sydney restaurant Almond Bar and have been regular contributors at SSI events for refugees and people seeking asylum.

The event was a great example of community coming together, with contributions from Cumberland Council, the House of Welcome and the Women’s Creative Hub, Community Migrant Resource Centre, Auburn Diversity Services Inc, Olivetree Women’s Network, Aunty’s Ginger and Tonic, Australian Asian Cultural Association, Playgroup NSW, Reverse Garbage, Cumberland Women’s Health Centre and Parramatta Holroyd Family and Domestic Violence Prevention Committee.

Media enquiries:
SSI Communications Assistant, Hannah Gartrell, 02 8799 6740