Many migrant and refugee workers experience workplace problems like racism, underpayment, unsafe work, bullying and sexual harassment, but might not know their rights or where to get support.

Community workers and community leaders are often the first trusted people workers speak to.

This free 3-day training is designed to give community workers, bicultural workers, settlement staff, employment support workers, and community leaders the confidence, knowledge and tools to support migrant communities in Melbourne’s West to know their rights, confidently access free legal services and make informed decisions to resolve issues at work.

What You Will Gain

Across the program, graduates will

-Be trained in understanding Australian workplace laws;
-Develop skills in identifying common workplace issues that impact migrant communities;
-Understand how best to communicate accurate and accessible information about workplace laws and rights to migrant communities;
-Develop confidence in using referral pathways for community members to obtain free and confidential legal advice;
-Learn how to deliver community education sessions using culturally safe and equitable approaches to education.

You will receive ready-to-use training resources you can share with your community

Previous training feedback

“Train the Trainer program will help my community because they will know now who can help them with employment law issues, in English, and also in the language which they speak. The Community Leaders have the first-hand knowledge of the employment law problems faced by their community and also have the knowledge of the organisations that can help. They can confidently refer their community to those organisations. Having the knowledge of the employment law will empower the community and people will gain confidence in taking action when their employment rights are breached.”

“The presentation skills training has benefitted me immensely. It is great to focus on what content will be relevant for my community and how to present it in an appropriate and engaging way”

Eligibility: Who is this training for?

This training is ideal for:
-Community workers who support newly arrived or migrant communities who face disadvantage at work, E.g.:
-Community leaders and peer educators
-Bicultural and Bi-lingual workers
-Community employment connectors
-Settlement, community or social service workers
-Community Leaders or Faith Leaders supporting migrant or refugee communities

Training Details

This is a 3-day program delivered over three weekly sessions in-person.

Dates:
Day 1: 6 October 10:00am – 3:30pm
Day 2: 20 October 10:00am – 3:30pm
Day 3: 27 October 10:00am – 3pm

Cost: Free training
Training materials and resources included
Catering to be confirmed
Registration is essential as places are limited.

Opportunities post-training

We wish to collaborate with and support graduates to:

Share worker rights legal information with clients and community
Co-deliver a workshop for your community members and/ or clients about employment rights
To support these activities graduates will receive:

Resource and training materials to share with community and/or clients
Support to coordinate sessions
Support to translate materials in-language

Accessibility

Upon request we can arrange:
-Auslan and/or In-language Interpreters
-Accessible learning formats e.g. larger text, image descriptors
-Our training venue will be wheelchair accessible at our sunshine office

About Westjustice
Westjustice is a rights-based Community Legal Centre servicing Melbourne’s West on the lands of the Bunurong and Wurundjeri peoples and including the LGAs of Wyndham, Maribyrnong, Hobsons Bay, Melton and Brimbank, a population of over a million people. Melbourne’s Western Suburbs are the thriving backbone of the state, and home to Australia’s most diverse and fastest-growing population.

We work to uphold peoples’ rights by providing free legal, social work, financial counselling services, community engagement, and advocacy for systemic reform across Workers’ Rights, Children and Young People’s Rights, Women and Gender Diverse people’s Rights, and Economic and Housing Rights. We provide place-based, multi-disciplinary programs, and partner with values-aligned organisations to focus on servicing those most impacted by these issues, and to ensure people have access to the services they need where they need them.

Through our work, we consistently see complex legal issues and the cyclical impact they have on longer term justice, economic, health, and life outcomes. This is why our services and programs focus on prevention and early intervention in the cycle of economic precarity, criminalisation, violence and housing insecurity. It is also why we advocate for legal, social and policy reform to ensure the people of Melbourne’s West have access to services and the best version of justice.

About the Workplace Justice Program

This training is part of our Workplace Justice Program which supports migrant and refugee communities by providing:

-Targeted and culturally safer legal services to address individual employment issues, including free legal advice and representation
-Train the trainer workshops for community workers and community leaders
-Co-delivering community education and outreach on workers’ rights with community workers and community leaders