When Ai Group offered Bassem Kaawache a role as a tender/business analyst, it wasn’t just a job – it was a new life full of hope and opportunity.
Mr Kaawache, a married father of a toddler son with a baby girl due within days, was a Palestinian refugee living in Lebanon when he landed the life-changing role through Talent Beyond Boundaries, an NGO that connects skilled refugees with global employers in Australia, the US and Canada.
He and wife Dina and their son, Zaid, arrived in Australia in August last year to start their new life in Melbourne.
“Melbourne is a beautiful city,” Mr Kaawache said.
“It’s been a busy time, but we are in a better place. The situation in Lebanon is bad.”
The Middle Eastern country was rocked by a massive explosion in the capital Beirut in 2020.
A stockpile of ammonium nitrate stored in a port warehouse exploded, killing more than 200 people, displacing more than 300,000, leaving at least 80,000 children homeless and destroying 77,000 apartments.
Mr Kaawache was living 40km south of Beirut but still felt his building shake with the force of the explosion.
The UN says the blast brought into focus “systemic problems of negligent governance and widespread corruption”.
People in Lebanon struggle to access fuel, electricity, medicine and clean water and the currency has lost more than 95 per cent of its value over the past two years.
As a Palestinian refugee in Lebanon, Mr Kaawache’s freedoms were hugely curtailed, and he faced systemic discrimination.
He wasn’t allowed to buy a house or have a passport and was prevented from working in scores of professions.
When his employer at the time cancelled his resident permit, a friend suggested he apply for a new job — and a new life — through Talent Beyond Boundaries.
He submitted his qualifications and waited.
“A week later, I got a call, and they told me there was an opening in Australia,” Mr Kaawache recalls.
“Ai Group needed a tender/business analyst, and it matched my profile.
“I couldn't believe it was happening. The interview was lovely, and the people were so nice.
“After a month or so, they told me there was a contract and I still could not believe it. ‘Could I really be going to Australia?’”
The contract was signed, the visa obtained and eventually Mr Kaawache and his family were on their way to Melbourne.
Ai Group’s Director of Business Services Tim Farrah was instrumental in facilitating Mr Kaawache’s procurement and joined TBB representatives in greeting the family at the airport.
In collaboration with TBB, the Australian Government launched the Skilled Refugee Labour Agreement Pilot program in 2021.
The pilot removes many of the barriers that refugees and other forcibly displaced people face when trying to access employer-sponsored skilled migration pathways.
It also makes it easier for employers in Australia to hire from this often-overlooked talent pool of skilled professionals and tradespeople who have been displaced from their homes and are living in Lebanon, Jordan and other refugee- hosting countries.
Over the next two years, the pilot will give 200 displaced people the opportunity to move to Australia, with their families, for work.
Ai Group has been an official supporter of TBB for several years, with Chief Executive Innes Willox also Chair of Migration Council Australia.
Mr Farrah said Ai Group had benefited enormously from Mr Kaawache’s expertise.
“When we started to look for another project manager, we were really struggling to find one — as every business in Australia is,” he said.
“We gave TBB a job description and they sent back six or seven resumes.
“We ended up interviewing two or three. Bassem’s resume was extremely impressive. He’s worked on many big projects throughout Europe. He’s got experience that you could never get in Australia. He brings an enormous amount of talent that we wouldn’t have found in Australia.”
Mr Farrah encourages other businesses to consider using TBB to plug skill shortages.
“If we need further specialist help, we’ll certainly go back,” he said.
“This is an incredible way to achieve talent for your business and it also changes the lives of families.
“Bassem and his family have started a whole new life and their destiny has changed forever. It’s generational change; it doesn’t get much better.”
The visa approvals for Mr Kaawache and his family were processed by Visa Solutions Australia, which partners with Ai Group in supporting members with visa issues.
Visa Solutions Managing Director Dan Engles said: "Most of the process was similar to a standard visa application through the Labour Agreement stream.
"Once lodged, the Labour Agreement was approved in four days, and the Nomination was approved in three weeks.
"The support of TBB and the Department of Home Affairs helps make the process accessible and hopefully it will continue beyond the trial."
Mr Kaawache couldn't be happier.
“Melbourne is like a dream,” he said.
“It's an amazing city: very organised and clean and everyone is respectful. We are surrounded by parks and the safety here is amazing — even on the roads.
“We feel safe and comfortable here; we are so happy.”
Professionally, Mr Kaawache said using his skills to identify issues in a variety of major projects across Ai Group was rewarding.
“Hearing people say: ‘thank you, Bassem, you’re doing a great job’ is motivating,” he said.
“The biggest challenge has been the language. I thought (Australian English) would be like English!
“In the beginning It was hard, but I’m learning a lot.
“Every day, I’m learning something new.”
Wendy Larter is Communications Manager at the Australian Industry Group. She has more than 20 years’ experience as a reporter, features writer, contributor and sub-editor for newspapers and magazines including The Courier-Mail in Brisbane and Metro, the News of the World, The Times and Elle in the UK.
