This is the first time the scholarship program, which received the Australian Human Rights Commission Business Award from the Australian Human Rights Commission in 2017, is supporting recipients in Queensland and Victoria, thanks to Allianz's additional funding.
On June 15, Allianz and SSI unveiled the 37 new refugee scholarship recipients at the Allianz SSI scholarship ceremonies in Sydney, Brisbane, and Melbourne.
“At Allianz, our purpose is to help secure the future for our customers, employees, and the community,” said Allianz managing director Richard Feledy. “The more we can bring together people with different experiences, ideas, and backgrounds and create environments in which people can use their unique skills and perspectives, the stronger both businesses and societies will be.”
Allianz and SSI have been working together to deliver education and career opportunities for refugees and migrants since 2016. They have designed the scholarship program to directly support people from refugee backgrounds by minimising the financial barriers they experience in secondary school, vocational education and training, university, and skill and qualification recognition.
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“Quality education is a critical step in the journey of all young Australians to establish rewarding careers; however, many young people of refugee backgrounds are facing significant financial barriers to accessing that education,” Feledy said. “I am so proud of the work that Allianz and SSI are doing together to support these deserving young people in their journey to learn and achieve their goals,”
SSI CEO Violet Roumeliotis added that pushing through with the scholarship program is crucial during the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, specifically considering the lockdowns' role in interrupting education.
“As schools and other education institutes moved online over the last two years, we saw how a lack of access to technology or digital literacy was negatively affecting newly arrived students,” Roumeliotis continued. “With the help of organisations like Allianz and other partners in the community, we hope to close that divide and support students as they continue their education.”
To date, 214 refugee education scholarships totalling over $400,000 have been awarded via the partnership. Meanwhile, 36 refugees have been supported into permanent employment with Allianz in skilled roles across finance, human resources, claims, IT, underwriting, workers' compensation, and marketing.
