It’s a daunting prospect leaving a home country and moving to another; doubly so when you don’t speak the language, with many newcomers relying on family, friends and the local community to help them navigate our financial system and work issues.

Siva Manmatharasa arrived in Australia from Sri Lanka almost two years ago.

“When we arrived, we had a lot of trouble understanding our working rights because we didn’t grow up here and didn’t speak the language. The language barrier affected our understanding of how finances work in this country,” he said.

Siva Manmatharasa found the financial system difficult to navigate when he arrived in Australia.Credit: Rhett Wyman

He and his wife reached out to family and the Sri Lankan community as their main support system and attended English classes three times a week.

“The community encouraged us to learn the language and gave great advice on finding jobs and suggested what kind of questions to ask the bank,” he says. “After doing that for a couple of years, we were able to obtain our working rights, and we could better understand how finances work........

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