Please get in touch if you would like to know more about our work or to discuss collaboration or research opportunities.
Email Dr Karen Dunwoodie
+61 3 9244 5661
Centre for Refugee Employment, Advocacy, Training and Education
Developing research-based solutions that support people from refugee backgrounds
How our research enables refugees to rebuild their careers
The Centre for Refugee Employment, Advocacy, Training and Education (CREATE) conducts research that is translated into programs to support refugee integration into the workplace and the vocational and higher education sectors. As a result of our work, industry partners have changed their hiring practices to be more inclusive of people from refugee backgrounds.
What we do
Through our research and advocacy, we develop and deliver initiatives to help young people from a refugee background in Australia.
Career clinics
Our career clinics help people from a refugee background navigate and gain a greater understanding of the employment landscape in Australia. These 7-week clinics match participants with mentors to help guide them through the program.
Resources
Our valuable resources include law fact sheets, tertiary institution guides, crisis support information, interactive workbooks and more.
Scholarships
We want to provide access to higher education for students from refugee backgrounds. To reduce the cost of study, we have scholarship opportunities for both undergraduate and postgraduate study.
Deakin Sanctuary Scholarships
Deakin Sanctuary Scholarships offer 100% payment of your tuition fees, plus an additional $6000 stipend for living and study expenses. The scholarship program is open to students considering undergraduate or postgraduate study.
Deakin CREATE PhD Scholarship
This PhD scholarship provides an exciting opportunity to undertake cutting-edge research. Applications are welcome for topics that support people from refugee backgrounds, including employment and workplace inclusion policies and practices; career guidance and pathways; and job quality.
Help refugees reclaim their careers
Philanthropic support is crucial so that we can continue to improve educational and career opportunities for refugees in Australia. If you would like to make a real difference in the lives of these new Australians, support our research.
Deakin CREATE is the only research centre of its kind that focuses on the topics of refugee education and employment.
Director, CREATE
Our researchers
Our world-leading researchers come from diverse scholarship backgrounds and are universally committed to improving access to education and meaningful employment for refugees in Australia.
Dr Karen Dunwoodie is the director of CREATE. Her research focuses on career development and adaptability for people from refugee backgrounds as well as the impact access to tertiary education and training has re-establishment of livelihoods.
Professor Lucy Taksa is the deputy director of CREATE. Her research considers labour force participation and employment of humanitarian migrants, and the demographic and social dimensions of migrant ageing and wellbeing in Australia.
Bis Hakimi is a PhD student in Human-Computer Integrations at Deakin and an associate research fellow at CREATE. His research sits at the intersection of technology, equity and refugee employment.
Professor Shiri Krebs (she/her) is a Professor of Law at Deakin University who has published on the impact of human rights discourse on support for displaced persons.
Professor Marilyn McMahon is Acting Dean at Deakin Law School and a registered psychologist. Her scholarship and publications are primarily in the areas of criminal law and procedure. She is Chair of the Sentencing Advisory Council and serves on several independent statutory bodies.
Dr Tebeje Molla is a Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) Fellow, leading a nationally funded project exploring higher education participation among African Australian youth from refugee backgrounds.
Dr Amy Nethery is a senior lecturer in politics and policy researching the development and impact of asylum policies in Australia and Asia, in particular, immigration detention, its history, diffusion, and human impact.
Associate Professor Tania Penovic served for a decade as a deputy director of the Castan Centre for Human Rights Law and has worked as a volunteer lawyer in the refugee sector in Australia and the United Kingdom.
Dr Kim Robinson is a social work researcher with three decades of expertise working with asylum seekers and refugees and advocating for ethical work with them in health and social work settings.
Dr Maria Rojas is a Deakin CREATE researcher whose PhD and practice focus on equitable employment, refugee and CALD communities and participatory, culturally informed career development.
Dr Anna Xavier is a research fellow and career clinic coordinator at Deakin CREATE. She holds a PhD from UNSW focused on refugee student integration with expertise in refugee education, employment and program evaluation.
Our partnerships
CREATE’s nationwide education and employment programs are based on insights gained from world-leading research. This critical evidence base of what works – and what doesn’t – is created through partnerships with, and support from, government, service providers, educational institutions, and employers across the nation to help them help refugees to forge future careers and serve their communities. These include:
- Bendigo Bank
- Bennelong Foundation
- Decjuba
- Helen Macpherson Smith Trust
- Hume City Council
- Refugee Council of Australia
- Salaam Foundation
- Salvation Army
- Sidney Myer Fund
