SSI Speakers’ Series explores rights at work for migrants, refugees and people seeking asylum

The SSI Speakers’s Series participants.

What can be done to improve vulnerable workers’ knowledge about their rights? What work needs to be done with employers? What role can refugee and migrant settlement organisations play in advocating for fairer conditions at work?

Register now for your chance to hear our distinguished panel of speakers discuss what can be done to inform and protect these vulnerable workers.

Date: Thursday, November 24, 2016
Time: 6-8pm
Location: Settlement Services International, 2/158 Liverpool Road, Ashfield

Speakers’ Series guest speakers

Mel Gatfield

Mel Gatfield was elected Secretary of the NSW Branch of United Voice (formerly the Liquor, Hospitality & Miscellaneous Union) in May 2016, prior to which she was the Assistant Secretary for eight years. United Voice is a union of workers organising to win better jobs, stronger communities, a fairer society and a sustainable future. Mel is responsible for the campaigning and organising, and community engagement work in the branch. Prior to working at United Voice, Mel worked for 16 years at the Finance Sector Union (FSU) holding the positions of organiser, industrial officer and Branch Assistant Secretary. Mel has a Bachelor of Arts from UNSW majoring in Industrial Relations and Political Science.

Michele Grigoletti

Michele (Mike) Grigoletti is the founder of Australia Solo Andata, an independent research group that documents the contemporary migratory phenomenon of young Italian citizens in Australia. The group has partnered with Migrantes Foundation of Italy – the Italian Bishops’ Conference’s reference body on migration – to film the documentary 88 days on Australian farms and to publish the research Giovani Italiani in Australia: un “viaggio” da temporaneo a permanente (Young Italians in Australia. From a temporary to a permanent “journey”, Italy 2016).

Nicola Piper

Nicola Piper is Professor of International Migration at the University of Sydney where she also is Director of the Sydney Asia Pacific Migration Centre. Her research focuses on international labour migration and advocacy politics in relation to global and regional governance as well as the Asia-Pacific region. She is co-founder and Vice-President of the Global Migration Policy Associates and external advisor on migration research to the United Nations Institute for Social Development in Geneva.

Jenny Stanger

As a co-founder and staff person at the Coalition to Abolish Slavery & Trafficking (CAST) in Los Angeles, Jenny has worked as a case manager and advocate for survivors of human trafficking and slavery since 1998. Jenny relocated to Australia in 2005 and co-founded the Anti-Slavery Project in the Faculty of Law at the University of Technology Sydney. In 2007, Jenny became the Supervisor of Australia’s only refuge for women who have experienced human trafficking, slavery and/or slavery-like practices, a project of The Salvation Army. Currently, Jenny is National Manager of the Salvos The Freedom Partnership to End Modern Slavery, which addresses slavery in Australia through policy reform, community organising and private sector engagement. Jenny is a member of the Australian Government’s National Roundtable on People Trafficking and Slavery convened by the Minister for Home Affairs and she has consulted for the US State Department Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

Facilitator

Anna Patty

Anna Patty is Workplace Editor at the Sydney Morning Herald. She is a former Education Editor and a state political reporter at the Herald and has previously worked at The Times of London, The Daily Telegraph in Sydney and The Sun Herald in Sydney, where she focused on health, education and political reporting. She started her career at the Illawarra Mercury in Wollongong and the Southern Highland News in Bowral. She has a Bachelor of Arts majoring in English Literature, a Master of Arts degree in Journalism and is close to finishing a Law degree.

About the SSI Speakers’ Series

During 2016, Settlement Services International (SSI) is hosting a series of talks and panel discussions on current refugee and asylum seeker issues and related topics. The SSI Speakers’ Series aims to inform, connect and challenge SSI staff, stakeholders and the wider community by providing opportunities for discussion that enhance knowledge and awareness about relevant issues impacting the organisation’s clients and their communities.

Register now