Five migrants and former refugees who sought help to find employment after arriving in Australia are now part of a team successfully supporting newly arrived refugees and migrants build new lives in Australia.

The five all became clients of the AMES Australia’s employment service in in Melbourne’s northern suburbs over the past three years.

From left to right: Hani, Luma and Firas

Now, in an extraordinary transformation, they are part of the AMES team that delivers employment services to the region’s large population of newly arrived refugees and migrant. The team has helped almost 800 multicultural jobseekers resume their careers in Melbourne’s northern suburbs over the past year.

Their own journeys have inspired the five to help others following in their footsteps.  

Hani Abushaban, arrived last year as refugee from Gaza, is now an Employment Mentor with AMES.

“I arrived as a job seeker with one suitcase and little hope. AMES believed in me and gave me dignity, a future, and a purpose. Now I sit across from the next scared refugee, speak their language, and prepare them to begin their life again,” Hani said.

Firas Balhawi, who arrived as a refugee from Iraq in 2021, is also an Employment Mentor.

“For me this isn’t just a job — it’s a new way of seeing the world. Each time a client succeeds, it feels like my own victory,” Firas said.

“My own journey of perseverance became the tool I now use to help others. My own struggles gave me a deep empathy for the people I mentored.

“I understood exactly where they were coming from. I don’t just teach them job search strategies, I show them that they can make it through, just like I did,” he said.

Luma Khoshaba, also a refugee from Iraq, started working with AMES in 2024 as a Client Support Officer and has progressed into a role as an Employment Mentor.

Luma says she faced several barriers in starting a new life in Australia, including a lack of local networks and the feeling of being invisible.

“This now fuels way I supports my clients. I try to give them what I needed when I arrived – belief in oneself,” she said.

The two other team members with lived experience are Sandy Hasado and Rabab Aldresi.

Sandy, a refugee originally from Syria, and now a Client Support Officer, says starting work with AMES changed her life.

“When I got the job, it felt like life had opened its doors again. Now I’m proud to be part of an organisation that once supported me,” she said.

Rabab, a former refugee from Iraq, says his employment journey in Australia began through volunteering.

“Now, I’m proud and happy to be an Employment Mentor at AMES, making a difference in people’s lives just like my mentor did for me,” he said,

AMES Australia Service Delivery Manager Rashi Gupta said watching the five clients become colleagues was a joy.

“Our support for jobseekers is about counselling, encouragement, and walking alongside our clients until they can stand with confidence,” Rashi said.

“With staff from every corner of the world, AMES Employment is enriched by languages, cultures, and lived experience. Our five former jobseekers now use their journeys as powerful tools in guiding others,” she said.