Dressed in high-vis, wearing a hardhat, goggles and steel-capped boots, Tariq Zia arrives at a long stretch of roadworks in Melbourne’s southeast.
With a laugh, the 27-year-old says the biggest difference between building roads in Australia and building roads in Afghanistan is the safety precautions.
Tariq Zia, 27. Source: SBS News
"I had never worn safety boots before coming here. Here everything starts with safety and ends with safety, to make sure everyone is safe, happy, and at the end of the day, goes back to their homes.”
Tariq Zia (fourth from left) with a team of engineers inspecting the Darul Aman Palace site in Kabul.
After graduating with a Bachelor of Civil Engineering from Dawat University in the capital Kabul in 2015, he started his career at the Ministry of Urban Development and Land of Afghanistan. But working for the government made him the target of attacks by extremists.
Tariq Zia at his university graduation ceremony with his father.
"I was lucky I survived — I was shielded by other cars. I was slightly injured, but I saw lots of colleagues killed and injured in that incident.
"I saw lots of people buried alive, screaming. It’s like a nightmare for me."
He decided to continue to work in Afghanistan after that explosion in 2018, but as rumours grew last year of the withdrawal of coalition forces he knew he’d have to flee.
Tariq Zia (centre) and Abdulwahed Salloum (right) on the work site.
“We think we will have a very easy life but when I came to Australia I saw that idea was wrong. You have to fight, you have to work harder and harder to get a nice job, get your qualifications recognised.”
It’s a frustration Abdulwahed Salloum, 28, knows all too well.
“I applied hundreds and hundreds of times, never once getting an interview. Never once getting a chance to say ‘hey this is me, I’m more than just some text on a CV,’” he says.
Abdulwahed Salloum dreamed of being an engineer since childhood.
He went to university in Malaysia and the UK, before arriving in Australia in 2018 on a skilled graduate visa designed to facilitate engineers to work in Australia. But with no local experience or connections, he says the only job he could get was on production lines, pick packing or delivering food.
Abdulwahed Salloum at his graduation ceremony.
"I didn’t mind working that job, I would work any job. Even though when I got here, I was just looking to become an engineer, that quickly faded away.”
That experience sparked the creation of the Engineering Pathway Industry Cadetship (EPIC) program with Victoria’s major infrastructure projects.
Initially, cadets were recruited into level crossing removal works around the state.
I applied hundreds and hundreds of times, never once getting an interview. Never once getting a chance to say 'hey this is me, I’m more than just some text on a CV.'Abdulwahed Salloum
Rajiv Ramanathan, from Major Road Projects Victoria, says it is the first batch of overseas-trained engineers building Victoria’s new roadways.
“These applicants keep getting the same knockback, saying 'no local experience, no local qualification.'''
"This program was specifically created to bridge that barrier, to provide local experience and a local qualification.”
Tariq Zia (centre) and Abdulwahed Salloum (right) on site in Melbourne's south east.
Mr Ramanathan says as many industries continue to battle a skills shortage, programs like this — connecting workers with the industries that need them — have become invaluable.
“There’s a huge amount of work happening across Victoria, across road, rail and bridge construction. We need more people and this is an untapped talent pool sitting in our own backyard.”
Rajiv Ramanathan says many industries continue to battle a skills shortage.
Around 70 engineering cadets have been admitted to similar programs in the past two years, with other states and industries in talks to replicate the program.
HOST International deputy CEO Mitra Khakbaz says the answer to Australia’s skills shortage is already in the country.
“Despite their skills, despite the willingness of the people wanting to work, despite the language competencies, it is really difficult for people to get into the job that they have already worked and have the experience and are able to fill the shortages we have.”
She says it requires a wider rethink of how industries and employers view new arrivals in Australia, to ensure refugees aren’t just assigned a job, but a chance to establish a life and a career.
“We need to think above and beyond diversity and inclusion and think about facilitating engagement, supporting people to bring their learning and experience from their country of origin and facilitate transition to a new community.”
Abdulwahed Salloum and Tariq Zia look at plans for the new Latham Road project.
“I am the only financial support of my family, all the time I have that concern about what will happen to them over the next day. Hopefully, the government will allow me to bring them to Australia.”
For Mr Salloum, the cadetship has helped him achieve his lifelong goal of becoming an engineer, and the chance to leave a lasting legacy in his new home.
“Look at the pyramids, when you talk about them, they are a civil engineer project, " he says.
"When you talk about a civil engineer project, you’re leaving your mark there. My name will be forgotten one day but I know for sure I have contributed something to build that and leave it on the map."
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