Room For All - S2 E20 - Live at the 2025 Social Enterprise Festival - Natascha Consigli

Empowering Women with Criminal Records: Natascha Consigli on Barriers and Support Programs

Join us as we delve into an inspiring conversation with Natascha Consigli, the Employment and Training Program Coordinator at Success Works Partners. Natascha discusses the organization's mission to support women with criminal histories in finding meaningful and sustainable employment. With her own lived experience, Natascha sheds light on the unique challenges these women face, the critical support they need for reintegration, and the role educational programs play in empowering them. Learn about the importance of changing recruitment practices, the launch of a new social enterprise, and the impact that mentorship and community support can have on reducing recidivism. Tune in for an eye-opening discussion on creating inclusive employment opportunities and breaking down societal barriers.

00:00 Introduction and Guest Welcome

02:05 Role and Mission of Success Works Partners

02:23 Challenges Faced by Women with Criminal Records

05:26 Support Services and Employment Facilitation

06:57 Social Enterprise Initiative

09:22 Mentorship and Community Involvement

10:21 Final Thoughts and Call to Action

15:49 Closing Remarks and Contact Information

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction and Guest Introduction
• 2:05 Role and Mission of Success Works Partners
• 2:23 Challenges Faced by Women with Criminal Records
• 5:26 Support Services and Employment Facilitation
• 6:57 Social Enterprise Initiative
• 9:22 Mentoring Program and Community Involvement
• 10:21 Final Thoughts and Call to Action
• 15:49 Closing Remarks and Contact Information

Transcript

Empowering Women with Criminal Histories

[00:00:00] [00:01:00]

Speaker 2: OK. Natascha. Natascha Consigli. Yes. Yes. Italian 

Speaker: name. I'm so glad you did that. You pronounced that one. Say it again. 

Speaker 2: Natascha Consigli. I'm not going to affect even many Italians actually struggle with pronouncing ye when I come for, actually, they don't really do it properly.

They say Y instead of Gl. Okay. 

Speaker 3: Beautiful to hear Australian say, my surname in Australia, I get ConsiGLEY. 

Speaker: [00:02:00] ConsiGLEY. That's exactly what I would've said. I'm okay with it now. 

Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely used to it. So, um, employment and training program coordinator is Success Works. Yes. Partners Success Works Partners. That's the organization's name.

Okay. Tell us what that means. Okay. What do you do as a role? What's your role? What does the organization do? Who are 

Speaker 3: you? Yeah. Who is the organization? Yes. And you, and you, you're on. Yeah. So the organization Success Works Partners, um, we support women with a criminal history to find meaningful and sustainable employment.

Um, me, myself, I have lived experience, so in my role, I can walk in their shoes and understand what, you know, barriers they face around the employment space and having a record. Doesn't matter what kind of record or how long ago or how soon it could be, it can be 

Speaker: huge, right? Yeah. 

Speaker 3: The impact

Speaker: Yeah. 

Speaker 3: Can be massive.

Speaker: Yeah. 

Speaker 3: The barriers, um, people without a record probably don't even think about. Um, I, in my role, work with the women themselves in the workshops [00:03:00] and support them and empower them to also understand that they are not just their criminal history. Right. A lot of the women have that reflected back to them from society, and they believe that that is all they'll ever be seen as.

Or accepted as that no one will trust them, that no one will give them a fair go. So it's about role modeling that there is a cha, you know, if you want change, it's there and it's possible. And also about allowing them to understand that if you present yourself in a way that showcases your skills, your capabilities, and.

You can do that before it comes to the record check. You have that interview. You then when the record check comes around and you can go, that was a time in my life. I've now moved forward. This is what I've learned from it own, and this is who I am today. 

Speaker: Owning it. Owning it, a hundred 

Speaker 3: percent. It's owning it, knowing how and when to disclose, and also being prepared.

You can't just go in there and. Fumble about. So it's, it's these really [00:04:00] simple things that you don't think about and there's no one else out there telling them how to do this or showing them the way. Okay. Um, we, we are one of a kind. Fantastic. That's great. 

Speaker: So I've got so, so many questions, so don't worry about this.

Um, the. The need for employment after, um, the impact of, um, I'm gonna lose my word. Uh, re-offending effectively, right? If you've got no purpose and that's all you've ever known. Sorry. So into this. Yeah. This is great. I love these podcasts. It, it's huge, right? You, A lot of women need a purpose. And when you, you're otherwise gone.

Speaker 2: Gone. Or recidivism and, and well, 

Speaker: when you're constantly being rejected for employment, like the re-offending rate would be huge. Mm. 

Speaker 3: Absolutely. Um, being released from prison. Some of the challenges women face, it's not just the employment space, it's homelessness. Yeah. Right. Um, then no, no one give you an opportunity to.[00:05:00]

Get employed and they get money. You need to live to, to live, um, the services that are available. There's some amazing people doing amazing stuff in that space, but there's not enough. 

Speaker: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. 

Speaker 3: Right. And, um, if you can't get a job and a place to live, you're gonna go back inside. Winter comes around, you're gonna sign, you're gonna go and commit petty crime to go back.

Yeah, of course. Have somewhere to sleep, of course. And eat and be, and that then becomes life. And you don't have a circuit breaker. So having. These support services, not just ours, we just focus on employment. We don't do the housing and the, yeah, and the mental health and all that kind of stuff. We refer out for those.

Um, uh. Issues that the women face when they come to us, we do require them to have safe housing, right, to be settled somewhere, um, to have their mental health, uh, in treatment or supports around that. And also their drug and alcohol programs completed and supports in place. Without those things, we've found that they're too unstable and it's too hard for them to then [00:06:00] be committed to doing our program and also to be presented to employers.

So the other side of my role is to go out into the community and speak to different businesses, organizations around how they recruit, whether they'd hire our women, if they're open to hiring women with the record. What are the barriers that organizations and businesses face when it comes to criminal history, um, and recruitment.

Maybe having a conversation about how they might be able to implement it differently. Yeah. Okay. Than what they're doing now, because it's about education. It's not about shaming people for doing the wrong thing or doing something differently. It's probably they've never thought that their recruitment practices.

Are creating discrimination. Yeah. For women with a record. 

Speaker 2: So do you employ yourself or you facilitate the employment? Some. Right. 

Speaker 3: So we fac at the moment we facilitate the employment. Um, we at the, we are all, um, most of our staff at Success Works have lived experience. Okay. So we lead that way. Um, we are in the [00:07:00] process of setting up a social enterprise.

Where we can directly hire the women that we support. Okay. And especially those that have absolutely no work experience or previous knowledge of how to take skills and yeah, just some basic things like. Time management being on a, you know, how to conduct yourself in a workplace, how to have conversations with clients, how to show up and have team meetings.

Those kinds of really simple skills that we all take for granted. But these women have never been exposed to that kind of environment. So we are really hoping that, um, the social enterprise will create. 

Speaker: Where, what, who, when are you allowed to say anything? 

Speaker 3: Like where It's in the process of being put together?

We are, um, looking for funding and it will be a testing tag business. So we'll go into organizations and businesses and do their testing and tagging 

Speaker 2: Like electrical? Yes. Yes. 

Speaker 3: So each, um, organization needs to do test and tagging. It's part of their requirement. So it's, that's kind of where we are going with the [00:08:00] social enterprise.

We are doing a kind of soft launch at the moment. We've got a flyer that's going around and we are really excited for these interest. Interesting choice. 

Speaker 2: Because without being sexy, that's a male dominated. That's right. It's a male dominated industry. I don't think 

Speaker: I've ever seen a female. 

Speaker 3: Well watch out boys.

Speaker: We come. There's not many women. Sparkies, right? Yeah. You look out, women can do it better. Just saying. 

Speaker 2: Yeah. Interesting. Well, if you think about it, I'm, you don't have 

Speaker: to be a Sparky dude. I'm being No, you don't have to be a spark. It's a 

Speaker 3: certificate that 

Speaker 2: you get that the test tagging. It's mean traditionally is the electricians that do that.

Right. Or, or, um, it's just men. Yeah. Yeah. I know. But it's sort of comes from the, but it's interesting. If you think about it, electricians, it, there's a lot of like, um, uh, small. Um, manual, uh, activities, the wise and so, no, no. Yeah. Wise, so it's actually really interesting that women have not been more attracted or, or into that.

It's probably just a men protecting their own field. You've got men protecting their own field. Maybe. [00:09:00]

Speaker: Yeah, it's interesting. Women are coming for everything. You watch out. Yeah, 

Speaker 3: we are. Watch out. Um, where are you based? So our office is in Parramatta and we run our workshops from there. We run workshops for the women once a month, but we also support women throughout the whole of New South Wales.

So we run online workshops also. And, um, we work with their supports there. And then once they've graduated from our program, they come and see myself for a career discussion where we, um, work more one-on-one with what they would like to do. And they also get matched with a mentor. So we have a mentoring program.

We have women from all walks of life from the community who volunteer their time to mentor. Do they have to have 

Speaker: a criminal record? 

Speaker 3: No, not at all. Um, it's. 

Speaker: Everyone. 

Speaker 3: Yeah. Anybody who has something to give back or would like to open pathways for women that have been. Affected by the criminal justice system can, uh, via our website, register their interest for the mentoring.

You keep 

Speaker: looking at me and is that me? Do I need to register? [00:10:00]

Speaker 3: Would you like 

Speaker: to? I would, absolutely. There you 

Speaker 3: go. 

Speaker: I don't think anybody would want me as a mentor though, but 

Speaker 2: I'll say, ah, that's underselling yourself. A lot of people look up to you. And 

Speaker 3: the mentoring is, uh, around employment. So we do a program for the mentors as well.

So it is an induction. Yeah. And on how to and what to do, um, and yeah. Yeah. Nice. Very, very 

Speaker 2: good. So if you could wave a magic wand, what would you puff from? Probably getting a pile of money to do what you want to do 

Speaker: to change the world. Yeah. 

Speaker 2: What's, what's one thing that needs to change out there? 

Speaker 3: Stop. Um, closing doors on people who have records, not just women.

Open up employment opportunities to anybody. What they've done in the past doesn't. Define who they are. And if we wanna change as a society and reduce recidivism, we need to be part of that change, and that includes everybody. 

Speaker: Mm-hmm. One of my favorite quotes, and I have, I actually have a tattooed on me, but, um, what defines us is how [00:11:00] well we rise after falling.

And I think that that kind of fits. 

Speaker 2: That's a long tattoo. 

Speaker: Yeah, I know. 

Speaker 3: I love that. One of the things that I like to say is, we are all more than the worst mistake or choice we have ever made. 

Speaker: Mm oh. Made some shockers, 

Speaker 2: so, yeah. Yeah. So let's lighten up a conversation to finish off. 

Speaker: Alright. 

Speaker 2: If your enterprise was a dish on a menu, what would it be?

This is gonna be interesting given what you considering. 

Speaker: She just said it on the last one. 

Speaker 2: Yeah. 

Speaker 3: What was it? I'm gonna, I'm gonna say it's gonna be sauerkraut 'cause not everybody's gonna like it. 

Speaker: Ah, so good.

Speaker 2: I love this question. I said it's the best question of the podcast. I said it's taken like it's reallys.

Such an amazing variety of, it's not 

Speaker: everyone's gonna like it and we're 

Speaker 3: gonna make people, we make people uncomfortable. Right. 

Speaker: Sour crate makes me very uncomfortable. There you go. I was just sandwiches like nailed it. I loved it. But you like it? 

Speaker 3: Yeah, I do too. But that's what I mean. It's not everybody's cup of tea and we is that, do you ever want a hot dog?

Speaker: No sausage. That's like sausages. [00:12:00] Sausages and stuff. 

Speaker 2: Um, yeah. Love the end. Ah, love the end. Very, very good. Very good. So we just need to finish off unfortunately, 'cause we don't have a huge amount of time. But, um, what's one thing that we haven't spoken about that you really want people to hear? 

Speaker 3: If you are an organization or a business and you do, um, employ people, please reach out to us.

We would love to have a conversation around supporting you to become more inclusive in this space. 

Speaker 2: I'll vote for it. Very good. Very good. Yeah, because there is no. It's not like in the disability space or in other spaces where there's subsidies to employ people or is it through like you, there are government programs there.

Speaker 3: There are, and you know, for long term unemployed, there's a wage sub that they can then apply for. There's definitely, you know. Monetary benefits, but that's not what it's about. Right. Agreed. Agreed. We agree absolutely, completely wholeheartedly. We, we all wanna change recidivism. We're all going. We want people to be inc uh, included back into this society.

This is an integral part for it. And rather than going, [00:13:00] oh, that's somebody else's responsibility, let's all come together and make it our own. 

Speaker 2: Agreed. It's really tricky, right, because. Lot, like many, if not most organizations now do a criminal record check when you employ. So we do ourselves for a number of reasons, obviously, uh, especially working with vulnerable people, but that straight away sort of marks people off unless, you know, like you, you decide that that's, and 

Speaker: I surely like, there's gotta be like a, a year, like what 

Speaker 2: amount of time?

Well, maybe not murder, 

Speaker: but like yeah, there should be an amount of time 

Speaker 2: if you have a record. No, but it also, uh, my understanding is that when you do a criminal record check. Whatever the result is, the, the decision needs to be, it's still up 

Speaker: to the company. 

Speaker 2: Yeah. But it needs to be based on what the job is.

Exactly. Yeah. You can, you can't exclude someone from agreed a job if they've done something that's got completely unrelated to that. Right. I

Speaker: think the only way that would be would be like maybe fraud and financial advice. 

Speaker 3: Look, but that will be other things we are not asking anybody to employ. Let's, it's not going to the [00:14:00] banks and going, C can you Yeah.

Please hire these women who have committed fraud like we are being, we are managing expectations on both sides. Yeah. And it's also the women need to understand that due to either the choices or the situation they found themselves in, some doors are not open yet. Right. It doesn't mean they'll be closed forever.

It more along the line of now they have to think differently around. What they can do and where they sit. And then they can make choices to go into jobs that are more open and, uh, to recruiting within that space. Yes. And that don't have a relevance to their role. You know what? It takes 

Speaker: one champion in an organization.

It takes one person, 

Speaker 3: but also I don't want to work with people that don't wanna hire people with a criminal history because how is that en environment going to help our women grow and feel like they're included? So it's really about. Um, finding organizations that are open to genuine. Just giving people a chance.

Speaker: Yes. Yeah. Yeah. We we're the same. Yeah. We're, do you find, do you find 

Speaker 2: that. [00:15:00] People that maybe have had a history themselves are more prepared to do, to do that. 

Speaker 3: Absolutely. And also who have had somebody else that they know affected by the criminal justice system. It's, it's really interesting if you haven't been affected by this or you haven't, um.

Lived it yourself. Those tick boxes on, on those recruitment pages, you don't even think twice about them. Right. So then sometimes when I have conversations with employers, they go, I've never thought that that might be a barrier for somebody. Right. So it's just, it's common from your life. It's conversations.

Speaker: Yeah. 

Speaker 3: It's about changing the way we view. People with a record and allowing them to be part of what we do. I 

Speaker: think we need to get rid of tick boxes altogether on everything. 

Speaker 3: Agreed. A hundred percent. I'm 

Speaker: all for it. 

Speaker 2: Yeah. I suppose there are so many areas where that, do you have a disability? They 

Speaker: shouldn't be that on the floor.

Ah, for sure. I've just, 

Speaker 3: yeah, 

Speaker 2: Natascha, Natascha, Consigli. Um, thank you so much. Thank you for being our guest. I really enjoyed the conversation. Uh, where can people find. You, 

Speaker 3: our website is, [00:16:00] um, success works.org au. Fantastic. Um, all the information around what we do and, and how to become part of what we do is on there.

And we're also on socials, Insta, um, you know, LinkedIn. LinkedIn everywhere. Perfect. Facebook, we'll put it in the show 

Speaker: notes as well. Great. 

Speaker 3: Thank you so much for having, enjoy the 

Speaker 2: rest of the day. Thanks. 

Speaker: Bye.