Opening the Doors

Working with refugee & migrant young people

Strategies

To plan an effective service for migrant and refugee young people in your community you first need to:

1. Find out how many people in your local government area (LGA) were born overseas or speak a language other than English at home (visit www.immi.gov.au/media/publications/multicultural/index.htm- click on the people of Australia.)

2. Find out the country of origin and languages spoken of migrants and refugees in your LGA (visit www.immi.gov.au/living-in-australia/delivering-assistance/settlement-database/index.htm)

3. Learn more about the migrant communities that are in your area such as their religion and cultural background. There are good summaries available at www.immi.gov.au/media/publications/statistics/comm-summ/index.htm

4. Find out about other services in your area that work with migrants and refugees.

Your local Migrant Access Centre or Migrant Resource Centre is an excellent starting point for finding out this information. You can also find out information and statistics for your LGA by reading the Social Plan produced by your local council. (Each local council is required by law to produce a Social Plan which details the needs of local groups, including migrants and young people).

Work with local migrant services
Many migrant services do not have expertise in working with young people and many youth services do not have expertise in working with migrant communities. Too often refugee and migrant young people do not have their needs met by either youth or migrant services.

One way to address this issue is to develop a partnership with a local migrant service. They will be able to provide advice and links to the community you are trying to reach while you can use your expertise to make sure the program is appropriate for young people.

Many migrant services are aware of groups of young people who want to participate in social and recreational activities but migrant services may not have the expertise or funding to run youth programs. Your service may have resources to offer that a migrant service may not have, such as a venue suitable for activities, sporting, entertainment and recreational equipment, staff with a bus driving licence, small amounts of funding for food etc.

Contact details for your local Migrant Resource Centre and Community Settlement Service are available at the end of this section and at www.immi.gov.au/grants/mrc_msa_b.htm. There may also be a local interagency for migrant services which can be a useful way to contact many services at once.

Be aware that many services funded by the Commonwealth Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs are not allowed to work with refugees who have been given a Temporary Protection Visa (TPV). If you are funded by the NSW Government, such as the Department of Community Services, you do not have this restriction. It is important that you work with TPV holders because they miss out on many Commonwealth funded programs.

Interpreting (verbal communication)
You may come into contact with young people or parents who do not speak a high level of English. Provide an interpreter on these occasions.

Interpreting can take place face to face or alternatively over the phone.

Points to remember: 1

• Your client has a right to confidentiality and professionalism, so do not use children, relatives, friends or unqualified bilingual staff members as interpreters.

• Don't make assumptions about the language or dialect that the client speaks. Sometimes more than one non-English language or dialect may be spoken in the family. The best way to find out which they prefer is to ask the client. Also ask if the client prefers an interpreter from a particular country.

• Ask the client whether a female or male interpreter is required. This may be important for cultural or religious reasons.

• Use short statements and no jargon during the interview.

• Face the client and direct your questions to the client, rather than the interpreter.

• Take time at the start of the interview to talk about your role and the purpose of the interview. Explain how the interview will work. Ask the interpreter to interpret everything that is said such as side remarks or explanations so that the client will feel comfortable in knowing everything that is being discussed about them.

The Translation & Interpreting Service (TIS) provides fee-for-service telephone interpreting (contact details at the end of this section). If you are funded by the Department of Community Services, or the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs you can use TIS for free - contact your funding body to register and gain further advice.

Translations (written communication)
Many government departments such as health and Centrelink services provide written translations of their main publications. It can be a good idea to request these publications in advance in the languages which are most common in your community. These publications are usually available on government websites.

When translating information about your service make sure that you avoid jargon wherever possible and provide an explanation for terms that refugees or migrants may not be familiar with such as "counselling" or "community development", unless you provide an explantaion. Do not use acronyms. 8

Use words such as "we" and "you" so that your document explains things from the reader's point of view. 8

Avoid, or explain, the word "camp" as some families may have had negative experiences of refugee camps or detention centres. 7

Remember that about 50% of adult Australians cannot cope with a level of writing more complex than a daily newspaper. The Daily Telegraph is a good example of "plain English" that most people can read. Try to use short sentences and paragraphs. 8

In promotional material, include photos of your staff next to their name.

A useful guide for "plain English" writing is available at www.detya.gov.au/archive/publications/plain_en/writing.htm .

Working with families
Always provide clear information to families about the programs you provide.

The Multicultural Youth Issues Network of NSW (MYINN) has produced a manual which explains the role of a youth service and a youth worker. This is a good resource to provide to parents and is available in 14 languages from YAPA.

Translated permission notes for activities can be downloaded from www.cmyi.net.au/publications/translations.html .

If you work with refugee and migrant families you will need to gain the trust of parents. Best practice strategies include:

• Have translated information available about your service.

• Have clear information about what activities you run, how they will be run and what times they will run.

• Work closely with local migrant services who already have contact with parents. You may be able to attend a group that parents attend and explain your program.

• Have open days at your service for parents where they can meet your staff face to face.

• Always make a point of introducing yourself and having a chat to parents who visit the centre or drop their children off. If you give a young person a lift home always offer to meet their parents.

• If a young person is not allowed to attend your program always offer to meet with their parents to introduce yourself.

• Encourage young people to bring their parents to events such as award nights or talent quests.

• Consider holding parent events such as mother & daughter evenings.

• If you are working with a particular community which does not allow their children to attend events alone, you may want to hold two separate events at the same venue, for example a consultation for young people in one room and a consultation for parents in another.

The Young Women section of this manual provides advice on how to work with Muslim families so that young women can attend your program.

Health
Young refugees face many barriers to using health services such as a lack of knowledge and information about services, language and cultural barriers.

For further advice on health programs for refugee young people contact the NSW Refugee Health Service. This service provides assistance to refugees and advice to professionals working with refugee communities.

If you are running programs that discuss sexual health or relationships make sure that you speak to parents or elders in the community, and involve health professionals. This is important because issues such as female genital mutilation, practiced in parts of Africa, the Middle East and parts of South East Asia, may be raised by participants and you need to be able to provide factual advice in a sensitive way.

Social and recreational activities
Your service may have a lot to offer refugee and migrant young people. Activities such as excursions, workshops, and creative arts have many benefits for young people.

These benefits include the opportunity to make friends and reduce social isolation, practice English skills, have a break from heavy family responsibilities and the opportunity to simply enjoy fun activities.

Games and activities
Many youth services use fun games as a way of engaging young people and developing teamwork in a group. According to the Centre for Multicultural Youth Issues, many of these activities may not be culturally appropriate for migrant and refugee young people. 3

Adapt games or activities so that they don't:

• lead to a feeling of loss of control, eg. blindfolding
• invade a young person's personal space or involve physical touching, eg asking people to hold hands or carry each other
• contain surprises, because these could trigger traumatic memories
• contain war-like themes, eg, laser games, paint ball
• contain high challenge activities where young people are asked to take sudden or unexpected risks
• make people feel uncomfortable or ashamed
• make people reveal intimate details about themselves.

Many of these activities can be adapted to ensure the involvement of migrant and refugee young people. For example, if you are running a physical contact game then split the group into separate groups for males and females. If you are running a challenging activity take the time to explain the activity in advance and allow young people a choice as to whether to participate.

Structured sport
To increase participation in structured sport, provide practical support to young refugees and migrants including:
subsidised registration fees, your local council may be able to provide a grant to cover these costs
transport or car pooling to events
a simplified registration process, eg. not too many forms
support from schools or youth services. 5

Gender issues
As mentioned earlier, some migrant and refugee families do not allow their daughters to participate in activities which young men also participate, or activities which involve physical contact with young men.

If you speak to parents about their concerns you may be able to work out a way to adapt your activity. For example if a young woman is not allowed to attend an overnight camp alone you may allow a parent to also attend.

You may also consider the types of activities you provide. For example, a service in Western Sydney organised excursions to the swimming pool each summer holiday. They found that many Muslim families would not allow their daughters to attend due to concerns about modesty of swimming costumes in the presence of young men. The service changed their regular roster of excursions to include a girls only swimming day which visits a women's only pool at a Sydney beach. Many young women from Muslim families now participate in the swimming program. Remember that it is not just Muslim young women who benefit from this type of program, other young women who may be feeling self-conscious of their body can now also enjoy the program.

Other strategies to promote the access of young women include:

• using female tutors and coaches
• if your service runs activities which require a uniform such as netball or soccer, allow modifications such as long pants instead of shorts or skirts. 5

Racism
Racism has a major impact on the mental health and well being of young refugees and migrants. Take active steps to prevent and address racism at your service including the development of clear rules and policies.

Actively promote the value of multiculturalism and increase the awareness of different cultures at your service.

Ideas:

• Take part in special events such as Community Harmony Day or multicultural events or festivals.

• Promote positive images of people from a range of different cultural backgrounds, for example in the graphics you use in promoting your service, and the posters you display.

• Talk to young people about their culture and background as part of your normal conversation.

• Organise activities for young people that increase their awareness of other cultures. For example some services in areas with a low number of migrant young people organise combined activities with services in other areas which have a high number of migrant young people. These activities provide an   opportunity for young people to learn about other cultures and experiences through fun and social programs.

Torture and trauma experiences
Young people who have experienced torture and trauma should be referred to services such as the NSW Service for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture and Trauma Survivors (STARTTS).

There are a number of steps that your service can also take to assist the young person, such as:

• restore safety and enhance the young person's control
• restore attachment and connection to other people
• restore meaning and purpose to life
• restore dignity and value.

A fact sheet with more information has been produced by STARTTS and YAPA and is available at www.yapa.org.au .

Networking and professional development
A useful way of improving your knowledge about working with migrant and refugee young people is to participate in your local migrant interagency or in the Multicultural Youth Issues Network of NSW (MYINN).  

Training and professional development opportunities will also help to develop your skills, knowledge and confidence in this area.

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