Social enterprise SisterWorks was a dual winner at City of Greater Dandenong’s Australia Day Awards 2026.
The not-for-profit received the Community Group of the Year award, as well as its Dandenong-based manager Nika Suwarsih receiving the Community Leadership accolade.
Chief executive Ifrin Fittock says the award is an “endorsement” for the difference they make for more than 2500 women from 105 countries with skills training and job opportunities..
“It’s an endorsement that what we do matters.”
For migrant, refugee and asylum-seeker women, paid work can seem an “impossible task”.
Many have never been in paid work, don’t know how to apply and are facing language and cultural barriers.
Often vulnerable and marginalised, the women – termed as ‘Sisters’ – are “empowered” to gain work, and hence confidence and economic independence.
“The struggle for them is real,” Ifrin says.
“The problem isn’t a lack of jobs but it’s a lack of connections between job seekers and the jobs out there.
“We’re into empowerment, with programs that lead to jobs. We’re not just training to given them a certificate, we’re training to get them into work.”
At Dandenong, SisterWorks offers free employment training in retail, small business, hospitality and warehousing, including OH&S, resumes and interview preparation.
It helps to place most of its trainees in jobs at corporate partners such as Priceline, Amazon and L’Oreal’s warehouses in Dandenong South, IKEA in Springvale and the Australian Open.
Unlike most training providers, SisterWorks provides crucial support for Sisters during the first three months of placements.
They help them work with their employers and teams, and clue them up on payslips and superannuation.
Trainees that aren’t ready for placement or are available for limited hours are largely employed at SisterWorks’ manufacturing workshop in Springvale.
Up to 40 Sisters at a time are employed at Springvale to re-upholster tram seats or make wheel shunts for Yarra Trams, as well as sewing labels on sports uniforms and fashion brands.
SisterWorks’ unique service is much in demand, with up to 70 trainees at a time and a waiting list of 180 women.
“We see ourselves as part and parcel of the Greater Dandenong community and that operates for the community,” Ifrin says.
“I wake up to do this in the morning because I believe this will change women’s lives.”
