'
‘Oh, I made that’: the hidden story stitched into Melbourne’s ‘iconic’ tram seats
International

‘Oh, I made that’: the hidden story stitched into Melbourne’s ‘iconic’ tram seats

author
6 minutes, 33 seconds Read

When Farah Shirkool boards a tram in Melbourne, she doesn’t just see a seat. Her eyes are drawn to the seats – familiar, personal and hard-earned.
“I keep thinking, ‘Oh, I made that,’” she told SBS News.
For most of the three million people who ride Melbourne’s trams every week, the seats are little more than a brief respite during the daily commute.

But for Shirkool, they symbolize something much bigger: financial independence, confidence and a sense of belonging in a city she now calls home.

Shirkool arrived in Australia in 2012 as a single mother who fled Iran amid political turbulence, violence and economic hardship – conditions that left her deeply fearful for her future.
“I moved to Australia for a better life for my daughter, and because Australia is a very safe country,” she said.
With a young daughter, limited English and no local support network, Shirkool’s priorities were simple and urgent: survival and independence.
“Money is very important for life; if you don’t have money, you have no life,” she said.
“The first time I came here I was very scared,” she said, explaining that she spent a long time at home after first arriving in Australia, isolated and unsure of how to start over.

Her turning point came in 2018, when a social worker introduced her to SisterWorks – a Melbourne-based social enterprise that supports refugee, asylum seeker and migrant women to achieve economic independence through employment and entrepreneurship.

A place where you belong

Nervous but curious, Shirkool attended her first session and quickly found a sense of belonging.
“For the first time I made friends… I was really happy to find work here because I didn’t speak English and SisterWorks was really supportive,” she said.

“Maybe I wouldn’t have found a job out there.”

For Farah Shirkool (left), each chair represents hours of labor, a new start and a life rebuilt. Source: SBS news

After completing English, computer and social skills training, Shirkool joined the organization’s manufacturing hub. There she rediscovered a skill – sewing – something she first learned as a teenager on the streets of Tehran.

“I love sewing. I started as a 19-year-old in Iran making uniforms for doctors, nurses and schools,” she said.
She began producing items such as bags, candles, soap and towels, sold through SisterWorks’ social enterprise model.
Years later, Shirkool now works as a sewing instructor with 15 other women, affectionately known as “sisters.”

“SisterWorks is like family to me, it’s good for the heart, you know, the ladies help me and I help other sisters – it feels really good,” she said.

Bridging the employment gap

Ifrin Fittock, CEO of SisterWorks, said Shirkool’s journey reflects the structural barriers many migrant women face when trying to enter the workforce.
“When you arrive in a new country and you don’t know anyone, it’s difficult to break through,” she told SBS News.

“Migrant, refugee and asylum seeker women take 18 months to get into work, as opposed to their male counterparts taking six months… some of these women are falling through the cracks in the mainstream support system here in Australia, and that’s a shame because there are quite a lot of them.”

A woman stands next to another woman sitting on a chair. They are in a sewing workshop and wear yellow hi-vis vests.

Ifrin Fittock, CEO of SisterWorks, said Farah’s journey reflects the barriers many migrant women face when entering the workforce. Source: SBS news

Over the past twelve years, SisterWorks says it has supported more than 3,500 women from 105 nationalities, providing tailored help based on each woman’s skills, background and ambitions.

“Women are really the great foundation of the CALD [Culturally and Linguistically Diverse] community here in Australia, and they are an untapped workforce,” Fittock said.
“They are willing to put in the effort and want to go to work, want to grow themselves and be just like you and me, the taxpayers of this country, save some money, buy a house, buy cars and send the kids to school – it’s almost their dream to be able to do that.”
She said SisterWorks plays a critical role in bridging the gap between motivated women and the network of employers they rely on.

“We love doing what we do because we’re trying to close the gap between what they do [migrant women] have, what they have done, what employers need, and that is how this system works,” she said.

‘Not just any chair’

A community partnership with Yarra Trams – which saw a specially wrapped tram transport SisterWorks’ mission around the city – eventually led to a social purchasing partnership between the two organisations.

A photo of a streetcar driving along a road with SisterWorks' mission taped to it in multiple colors.

Through a community partnership with Yarra Trams, a custom-built tram showcased SisterWorks’ mission across the city. Source: Delivered / Yarra Trams

“After several discussions with Yarra Trams, we came across the tram seat renovation project, realizing that many of our sisters are crafty,” Fittock said.

“They are very meticulous in their work, and those are exactly the skills needed to maintain, reupholster and refurbish the Yarra Trams seats.”
What started with just a handful of women has since grown significantly.
Today, SisterWorks teams renovate almost 80 percent of Melbourne’s tram seats.

On average, the women renovate around 70 chairs every month, which represents more than 1,500 hours of paid work and diverted more than 1.2 tonnes of waste from landfill in the past financial year.

For Francesca Maclean, Yarra Trams’ social procurement manager, the partnership shows how public institutions can create impact beyond their core services.
“It’s not just a seat, it’s actually an economy and livelihood that’s being created,” she told SBS News.

“It’s our way of demonstrating that we can use taxpayer money to operate the streetcar network, to deliver value beyond dollars.”

Turning skills into infrastructure

Maclean said the rail industry has historically been inaccessible to women, particularly migrant and refugee women, and this partnership helps break that pattern by recognizing the skills already present in Melbourne’s multicultural communities.
“SisterWorks has the entrepreneurial spirit and power of women, and together we have built their ability to meet our technical safety and quality requirements as the world’s largest tram network,” she said.

“We really saw the potential to create not just work hours for them, but really meaningful work that they can see when they get on the streetcar… it allows them to be role models within their community.”

A woman with curly hair, wearing a hi-vis jacket, stands in front of a tram at the depot.

Yarra Trams social procurement manager Francesca Maclean says the partnership with SisterWorks shows how public institutions can create impact beyond their core services. Source: SBS news

Yarra Trams operates approximately 35,000 services each week and carries approximately half a million passengers daily, with seats in constant use.

“If your child spilled some food on the seat because they got a little hungry halfway through the trip, or if someone spilled water or coffee, this is the cause of the wear and tear,” Maclean said.

Care with every stitch

When a chair is damaged or stained, it is removed from circulation and sent to SisterWorks for a multi-step repair process. Depending on the damage, the sisters replace the fabric and foam and even test the chair for comfort until they are satisfied.

A composite image of a man holding a tram seat in a warehouse, a hand wearing a glove inspecting a tear in a seat, a woman working on a sewing machine and the interior of a tram.

When a chair is damaged or stained, it is sent to SisterWorks for a multi-step repair process. Source: SBS news

‘They are literally sitting on it [the seats]we’re told, and we think, ‘Would I like to sit in this seat if I took a tram?’, which is great, right? It shows the care,” Maclean said.

Fittock said the sisters are thrilled to be part of the ‘iconic’ project and are proud of every stitch.
“It’s like every time they’re on the streetcar they can see that this is actually my job, this is something that I fixed and put back on the streetcar,” she said.
“It’s also about self-freedom, self-confidence and the confidence that they are an active participant in this country.”
For Shirkool, the future feels more stable than ever.
“I’m happy because I’m busy.
“A job is very important for a good life.”

#hidden #story #stitched #Melbournes #iconic #tram #seats

Similar Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *