Qualified migrant women forced into 'survival jobs' are paying price

Despite four years of experience in accounting when she lived in Afghanistan, Farukh Tahery had to start from scratch when the Taliban took over in 2021 and she moved to Australia.

"When I came to Australia, I found out, yes, finding a job is hard," she said.

"Every time I received feedback from employers, they told me that 'You're not qualified'… I was feeling [like] I'm not enough."

Recent research from not-for-profit Settlement Services International (SSI) found migrant women in Australia were 20 per cent more likely than migrant men to be over-qualified in a job.

It took about a year living in Australia before Ms Tahery found work, with support from SSI.

She worked at The Social Outfit, a fashion brand based in Newtown, which hires refugee and migrant women, training them in retail and the industry.

Ms Tahery learnt how to make sales, mail orders, and recently, helped design a new line of clothes, which included a skirt worn by Governor-General Sam Mostyn.

However, Ms Tahery said fashion was not a "long-term career" for her.

"I finished a Certificate IV of Accounting and Bookkeeping at TAFE, and I tried to find a job [but] I couldn't, and then I started a Diploma of Accounting. I'm trying to get that qualification to find a job as an accountant," she said.

Forced to navigate 'fragmented system'

About 340,000 migrant women working in Australia were employed below their skill level, SSI research showed.

Malini Raj, Executive Director of the Australian Multicultural Women's Alliance (AMWA), said migrant women unable to get their overseas qualifications recognised in Australia were forced into "survival jobs".

"And therefore they're in a cycle of lower income, lower superannuation, and lower long-term prospects," she said.

"There's psychologists, engineers, teachers, nurses, all unable to get their qualifications recognised because of a costly, time consuming and complicated process."

Ms Raj said it takes a woman with overseas GP qualifications an average of $50,000 and two years to get recognition and work in Australia.

"They're forced to navigate a fragmented system on their own, and therefore, they don't have a clear pathway to get their skills recognised.

"And the longer they are away from their jobs, the harder it is to get back into their profession."

Eager to work

Consuelo Castillo migrated to Australia from Chile with seven years of teaching experience, a bachelor's degree in secondary education, and a master's degree in early childhood and primary education.

"When I first started to look for jobs here … my only option was working as an assistant in after-school care," she said.

Finding work, she added, was like trying to get "behind closed doors".

"The most common answer was, 'You have to restart what you already know'."

While Ms Castillo enjoys her current role as an early childhood teacher, she hoped for a more linear pathway, and said the current system was "creating problems within itself".

"Classrooms have more students and less teachers, and [there are] teachers with more workloads, when we could be there helping them," she said.

Waiting for a chance

SSI and AMWA have called for a national commissioner to be appointed to oversee the skills recognition process for new migrants and refugees.

Ms Raj said it takes years for most migrant women in Australia to get their qualifications recognised.

"We also have skills shortage in those professions which they are qualified for," she said.

"We've invited them into the country for those skills, so it's time that we recognise them."

Ms Tahery hopes to find her way back to accounting once she has completed her TAFE qualifications.

"If [employers] accept the qualifications that we bring with us, if they gave us a chance to show that, 'Yes, we can do it', that would make everything easier," she said.