About scarf

Scarf transforms the lives of young people by getting them into work while adding flavour and heart to the hospitality industry. We're a social enterprise that runs awesome training, mentoring and paid work experience programs for young people seeking protection, and those from refugee and migrant backgrounds. We partner with Melbourne's best restaurants to create a positive, real-world experience for our trainees, who have faced significant barriers to work. They are paid, valued, become part of a learning community, and move on to meaningful jobs with confidence, supportive relationships, and excitement.

Do More Than Drink raises crucial funds to support Scarf programs, and raises awareness about the barriers to fair work opportunities which are faced by young people seeking protection, and those from refugee and migrant backgrounds. Humanitarian migrants face unemployment rates of up to 43% compared to the national average of around 6%. Barriers to employment are complex and intertwined, and include limited English, lack of Australian work experience and local references, impacts of past trauma on health and wellbeing, low confidence and discrimination. Scarf has been working hard to break down these barriers for the past eight years.

Scarf’s vision is a society which celebrates diversity, where all young people have equitable employment opportunities. We’re working towards this vision by running awesome programs which directly support young people with great training, mentoring and paid work experience, and by running campaigns like Do More Than Drink and events like Do More Than Dine to advocate for equitable and more inclusive hiring practices in the hospitality industry. After participating in Do More Than Drink ‘16, we asked our bar partners if they were now more likely to hire a young person from a refugee background. 77% of them said yes.

quick scarf facts

8 years and 25 programs
208 graduate trainees
14,500 hours of hands-on training
6,900 hours of paid work experience during Scarf Dinners
240 volunteer hospitality mentors and trainers
100+ restaurant and hospitality industry partners
14,500+ diners served during Scarf Dinners
70% graduates in employment