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Where are they now?

Shazia Syed

Celebrating International Women’s Day on 8 March was great timing to catch up with Shazia Syed, ICAN Learn graduate, and passionate women’s advocate, to see what she’s been up to since graduating in 2020.

So much has happened since my last interview.  2020 was a big year for me – I graduated from ICAN Learn and CBA’s Multicultural Diploma of Financial Counseling Scholarship and had my baby daughter one month later!  I thought I would need to take time off to look after her, but suddenly COVID hit and we were all working from home, so I could do both.  I achieved a lot during that time, and it showed me that as women and mothers, we can work from home and still do amazing things for our community.

As an immigrant, I’m passionate about celebrating women of diversity.  I want every woman to have the same opportunities that I’ve had.  I really wanted to be part of this sector, so completing the Diploma of Financial Counselling gave me the skills I needed to advocate for others and ensure they had access to the right services and information that would improve their lives.  The Diploma also included the Financial Literacy Skill Set.  Financial capability and wellbeing is a career in itself, and I use the information I learned in the financial literacy education course every day.

I currently split my time between two important projects, as Health Promotion Officer/Financial Capability/Content Manager with Women’s Health In The North (WHIN) Let’s Talk’ Money project; and at Juno as an EMpower (Economic Mobility Power) coach.  I’ve also developed a series of study design books for children in my language of Urdu, which is published by the Victorian School of Languages and used in classes across Victoria.

Financial Pressures

Many immigrants have already faced trauma and can quickly become isolated, especially when language barriers come into play.  Due to cultural obligations, people can face the additional financial pressure of supporting two families – their family in Australia and their family back home.  

It’s not always about sending money back either.  It may take the form of purchasing electronic or household items to send to siblings, parents, or other family members; often purchased on credit.

In Australia, it’s easier to get credit than it is to secure a basic need, like housing.  People new to this country don’t understand our credit system or their financial rights, like having an interpreter help them understand a contract they’re about to sign.  Financial pressure can lead to more trauma, including domestic or financial abuse. 

Community Support

Having more Financial Counsellors and Financial Capability Workers in the sector from different cultural backgrounds provides education and support to the wider community.

Having more women in the sector would also encourage other women to seek help.  Women from diverse backgrounds are particularly vulnerable as they can be very shy about seeking help, especially if there’s a language barrier.  It’s very easy for them to end up homeless.  My aim is to empower women and to see them in paid work, they do enough unpaid work at home.

Two of my own clients are now financial capability workers, educating and giving hope to other women.  One has just become a team leader; the other is working for a large organisation.  They have overcome disability and family violence to create new lives for themselves after realising their own power and worth.  It’s amazing to see their transformation.

From my experience as an educator, community leaders would also benefit from completing the financial literacy skillset to support their communities.  Most leaders are unaware of what support is available, like the utility relief grant, or local financial counseling and financial capability services offered free of charge.  It’s a powerful way to help the people in their community.

I feel very proud of being a woman, to be thriving, and to be empowering others like me.  I’m learning so many amazing things about the community sector, including the opportunities it provides to start a new chapter in life.  I’m so grateful for the opportunities afforded to me since moving to Australia.  As women, if we want to do something, we have the right to do it.  With the right education, we can do so much.

View the EMpower coaching program here: EMPower_Flyer__2022 (juno.org.au)

Multi-Cultural Scholarship Program Rising Stars – Part 1

The first Multi-Cultural Scholarship Program [MCSP], generously funded by CBA commenced in Melbourne in October 2017; giving an opportunity to develop the financial counselling skills of people from diverse backgrounds, building their capacity to provide information and support for members of their own communities. ICAN Learn’s Bernadette Pasco worked with a Multi-Cultural Commissioner, Sonia Vignjevic to contact interested organisations; Women’s Health in the North [WHIN] referred Shazia Syed to ICAN Learn’s Diploma of Financial Counsellng program.

1. Tell us a little about yourself, how long you have been in Australia and why you decided to undertake the Diploma of financial counselling.

Shazia Syed came to Australia from Pakistan as a skilled migrant in 2016, with her husband and 4-year-old son. Shazia has qualifications in political science and education.

“I am a very community-minded person,” says Shazia “I speak Urdu, Hindi and French/ Creole and got a job working with the Victorian School of Languages as a language instructor, faculty coordinator and course design. I ended up working with WHIN as a peer educator on a project called ‘Let’s Talk Money’, delivering financial literacy information to women in their own language.”

The Diploma of Financial Counselling gives Shazia more knowledge and understanding to use in her financial literacy work. Shazia’s family are incredibly proud of her achievements.

2. Are there any challenges in learning about financial counselling as a new Australian?

“When I was offered the opportunity for this course, I prepared myself and was very concerned that language might be a barrier; but once I came to the first classes and met my teachers, I relaxed and thought – ‘I can do it!’ “Shazia is undertaking her placement with an experienced financial counsellor at the Salvation Army and sees clients in Brunswick and Craigieburn. “When clients realise I know their language, they relax, tell me their problems, and we can do a lot of good work together.”

3. Tell us about how do you think your financial counselling knowledge will benefit people in your community?

“I am already seeing how financial counselling benefits many people in my communities; many people have health issues and I see financial issues like health problems – it’s a disease and when we fix the disease, people get better.””The people who come on skilled migration programs are skilled in their professions, but many don’t know how to stretch the money and get into financial trouble. When they learn about this and when financial counselling helps them with accessing their rights, things really improve for them.”

4. You are involved in financial literacy education, can you tell us a bit about the work that you do with WHIN and how this is impacted by your financial counselling knowledge?

“I’ve had a peer educator financial literacy education role at WHIN for 12 months and recently we had our AGM, and the program can continue. Being a peer facilitator is changing generations. With my new financial counselling knowledge, I can give women more understanding of their options and educate them about financial counselling. Practical debt solutions and understanding their financial rights and responsibilities is what people really need before they can make a change to their financial behaviours. This work is changing generations.”

5. As a woman from a diverse background, what are the key things that will influence your work in financial counselling and capability, and what do you see as important for financial counsellors to focus on when working with multicultural clients / are there additional practice considerations?

Shazia says that all financial counsellors should have more training on different cultures. “As a financial counsellor, I also work with clients from other cultures with which I am not familiar; learning about the culture enriches our work and means we learn more about why problems occur. Then we can help educate to prevent harm and empower people to change ways of thinking and doing things.”

6. If there was one thing you could say about financial counselling sector development, what would it be?

“People don’t know about financial counsellors everywhere; we need to tell more people about Financial counsellors and how they can help. Financial counsellors and financial literacy educators should be employed in every community services organisation in Australia- it would make a real difference to individuals and communities. When people come to Australia, access to financial literacy and financial counselling support is crucial to their wellbeing and success.”