Fair Work For Small Business In Arabic

Fair Work for Small Business in Arabic

13 November 2009

Australia's Arabic-speaking small business people their first language, to help them better understand their rights when it comes to employing staff.

The Parliamentary Secretary for Multicultural Affairs and Settlement Services, Laurie Ferguson MP, and local MP Julie Owens, joined with the local Arabic community to support the launch of the new service at prominent Western Sydney Lebanese sweet shop, Abla's Pastries.

Julie Owens MP said she was delighted to support the Fair Work for Small Business initiative providing employment relations information in a range of languages.

"Small businesses thrive in areas like Western Sydney where large proportions of the community come from diverse backgrounds," Ms Owens said.

"When you consider the most recent Census figures show up to 15 per cent of the po kilometres of Sydney's CBD don't speak English well, if at all, this initiative definitely fills a community need."

Council of Small Business CEO, Jaye Radisich, said the website's translation to a variety of languages including Arabic will help even more Australian business people access reliable information about the new Fair Work Act.

"With nearly 1/3 of Australian business operators born overseas it's important to ensure that inf Australia's employment laws reflects the diversity of small business in this country," Ms Radisich said.

"Language translations on the website are designed to allow Australian small businesses owners who do not speak English as a first language, to understand their rights and obligations in a matter of minutes."

This multi-lingual initiative draws support from several key business and community figures including Ethnic Communities Council of NSW Chairman Jack Passaris OAM, and Executive Director Arab Council of Australia Randa Kattan.

Information on the Fair Work Act will soon be available on the www.fairworkforsmallbusiness.com.au website in other languages including Cantonese, Greek, Italian, Mandarin and Vietnamese.

Fair Work for Small Business is an initiative of the Council of Small Business of Australia (COSBOA), together with Workforce Guardian and Telstra Business and is funded by the Australian Government.

Media contacts:
Anneliese Reichelt, Council of Small Business of Australia, 0437 807 669
Paul Grainger, Office of Julie Owens MP, Federal Member for Parramatta, (02) 9689 1455

SOURCE: Council of Small Business of Australia