‘The catch-22’: refugees to Australia struggle to find work

They might be qualified, committed and keen to work but newly arrived refugees face significant barriers to work – the “catch-22” of needing Australian experience to find employment but requiring employment to gain that experience.

Between November 2015 and July last year, Australia resettled an additional 12,000 refugees from Syria and Iraq in a one-off program to help people displaced by long-running civil conflicts.