Marrickville Legal Centre is hosting a free webinar on young people, criminal records and employment discrimination. The webinar will take place tomorrow, Friday, November 6 at 1 pm.
The webinar will focus on changes in legislation, and the impact on young people trying to move on with their lives.
“In recent years we have seen an exponential increase in employers requiring a criminal record check as part of standard recruitment processes, alongside an increase in legislation that prevents people with a criminal record from participation in certain types of occupations,” the description of the event states.
“How does criminal records discrimination impact young adults who have limited training and workforce experience? How can employers in the public and private sectors implement less intrusive and discriminatory recruitment practices?”
Eleni Psillakis is the program manager for the Success Works program. That is an initiative of Dress for Success Sydney. As one of the speakers at the event tomorrow, Eleni emphasises the need for meaningful employment for those with a criminal record.
“When will rehabilitation and correction be recognised? One of the protective factors to reduce re-offending is finding meaningful employment. However, this proves difficult for those with a criminal record and often leads to the risk factors of low self-worth that impacted offending in the first place,” Eleni stated.
Deadly Connections aiming to help young people find meaningful employment
Co-Founder & Ambassador of Deadly Connections Keenan Mundine is also speaking at the event, alongside the Justice Specialist at Deadly Connections Dean Lloyd.
Keenan is a proud First Nations man with connections to the Biripi Nation in NSW and Wakka Wakka Nation in QLD. Raised on Gadigal land in Redfern, Keenan had a rough start to childhood after losing both parents at a young age. He was placed in care and separated from his siblings.
After making some self-confessed poor decisions as a young person, he ended up with a long involvement in the criminal justice system. Now he runs Deadly Connections alongside his partner Carly Stanley which is a unique, community-led solution.
Deadly Connections disrupts the cycle of disadvantage and trauma and aims to build stronger and safer communities, developing a “deadly future” for all First Nations people.
The business runs various holistic programs throughout all levels of offending and ages. Breaking the Cycle is a program designed for any Aboriginal young people and adults at any stage of their justice involvement. Comprised of two key components, the program provides targetted support through specialist providers, and a series of programs including counselling, cognitive behavioural therapy, employment-related programs and more.
You can hear Keenan, Dean and Eleni tomorrow at 1pm.
