Migrant workers struggle to even get an interview, survey finds

A survey by a refugee and migrant resettlement agency has found foreign sounding names and a lack of local work experience are significant barriers to finding work in Australia.

There was another strong rise in construction work during the September quarter. Source: AAP

It's hard enough for migrants and refugees to settle in a new country - but when they can't find work because they lack local experience or have a foreign sounding name, it's all the more difficult.

A survey by refugee and migrant resettlement agency AMES Australia canvased 357 migrant and refugee job seekers in Hume and Dandenong in Victoria, and Bankstown and Auburn in Sydney.

Those areas are significant as they have unemployment rates of about 7.2 per cent, which is significantly higher than the national adult jobless rate of 5.6 per cent.

The areas mentioned also have high populations of culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) people.