Migrants and refugees want to settle and contribute to their new communities, but language difficulties and red tape can make it a challenge, as settlement advocate Kenny Duke knows firsthand. She talks to CARISSA MASON.
Kenny Duke was four when she arrived in Australia as a refugee.
Civil war was raging in her home country of El Salvador, on the western side of Central America, where tens of thousands of civilians were killed or “disappeared”.
Kenny and her family – parents Thelma and Juan and brother Carlos, 5 – were among about 10,000 Salvadorans helped to escape through Australia’s Special Humanitarian Program.
“It was a difficult time for my family,” Kenny says.
They spoke Spanish. Kenny and Carlos started school soon after arriving, first at Woodridge State School, before moving to St Paul’s School and then St Francis College at Crestmead.
Kenny says starting school straight away helped them to learn English, which helped them to translate for their parents.
“It’s the job of children to help their parents with settlement. That’s how I ended up in this space,” she says, of her 20 year career working in migrant settlement services.
“We were one of the first families to arrive in Logan [from El Salvador] so we had this sense of responsibility to help other families,” she says.
“My dad started a soccer team and tried to create that sense of community.
“Mum helped start a dance group at the Multicultural Neighbourhood Centre that used to be where the [Logan] council chambers are.
“It was very much like a house. We’d go there to do our homework and meet other young people and perform at events.
“We always felt this sense of pride in being El Salvadoran.”
Kenny grew up in Logan, studied social services at Griffith University’s Meadowbrook campus and started working at Access Community Services, which has since merged with Settlement Services International.
“I love working in the multicultural space,” she says.
“Everyone wants to feel welcome and safe and that they can achieve their hopes and dreams.
“A lot of people that we see have experienced trauma and loss, they are grieving from being separated from family and friends, their homes, their livelihoods. There’s impacts from war.
“They’re having to uproot their lives and leave with just the clothes on their back.
“That type of grief and loss can take a lot to overcome.
“Starting in a new country where everything feels foreign can be really hard.
“I want to make sure families that arrive get the opportunity to develop their pathway; whether that’s getting their children settled, getting employment or a young person wanting training.
“My dad didn’t get to work to his potential as an architect.
“He faced discrimination and worked as a taxi driver for most of his life, which was really frustrating for him.”
Kenny Duke with her late father Juan Duke. Photo: Eve Photography
Kenny says many new arrivals are skilled professionals, but the red tape they have to navigate to have their qualifications recognised can be so complicated it takes years.
“A lot of the people we work with want to work and contribute and make their lives better for their children.
“It can be hard seeing the hope they have when they arrive diminish when they see how complex things can be,” she says.
“The biggest thing we hear is that people want to contribute.
“We need to make it easier for them to do that – of course within our regulations and standards – but don’t make it impossible for people.”
Research by Deloitte Access Economics estimates almost half of permanent migrants are working below their skill level and changing that could unlock $9 billion a year for the nation’s economy.
Kenny says cutting red tape has broad support, but change takes time.
“It’s a no-brainer but it’s still hard.”
She says people value the multicultural community’s obvious contributions of food and events, but Logan’s strength is its personal connections to so many other parts of the world.
“It’s the workforce, business and the young people with great mindsets and being able to see all these different perspectives,” Kenny says.
As head of clients and community connections at Settlement Services International, Kenny and her team help new arrivals to navigate services and access interpreters.
She says the need for human interaction has been even more pronounced since the COVID-19 pandemic, when social distancing meant so many services were moved online.
“We aim to get people to a point where they can navigate on their own,” she says.
Settlement Services International has just moved into a new $16.7 million building – the SSI Logan Hub – at Logan Central.
Kenny says it’s primarily an economic hub for people to connect, feel like they belong and access opportunities, with tenants that provide wraparound support across maternal and child health and family and youth programs.
There’s space for employers to run training and childminding for mums who are studying.
As well as working at the grassroots level, Kenny’s experience has seen her step into roles where she can provide leadership and advocacy at a state and national level.
“There were times when I didn’t feel seen or heard. I have that influence now.
“I can give a voice and create platforms for others to talk about what’s important for them and the changes we want to see in the system,” she says.
*Kenny Duke is co-chair of the advisory group for the National Multicultural Children Scoping Project and co-chair of the Logan Together leadership table. She is the Queensland representative for the national Multicultural Youth Advocacy Network and recently finished a term on the Queensland Multicultural Minister’s Advisory Council.
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