Partnership to help youths get ‘job ready’

The Broome-based Nirrumbuk Aboriginal Corporation has struck a three-year partnership with Shell Australia as part of the offshore Prelude FNLG project to get disadvantaged indigenous youths “job ready”.

The first intake started in May with all participants attending a personal development camp at the Balginjirr Community, about 70km south of Derby.

NAC chief executive Joe Grande said a local Aboriginal leader guided them through in-depth personal reflection that led to the building of self-resilience.

He said the camp experiences have been evident as the program continues.

“The participants are now on the pathway of becoming job ready as a result of intensive mentoring and support from Nirrumbuk,” Mr Grande said.

“Barriers to employment including literacy and numeracy have been intensively addressed and practical training has been used to encourage the participants to seek employment opportunities, traineeships, apprenticeships, and work experience.”

Mr Grande said Nirrumbuk’s employment pathways programs had equipped the youths for the rigours of employment thanks to support from Shell.

“Their progress is documented so any prospective employer can see the progress and development that is evident,” he said.

“The program is becoming a catalyst for change among vulnerable Aboriginal youth and will continue to do so over the next three years.”

Shell Australia’s Broome operations supervisor Rob Wilkinson said the partnership with Nirrumbuk was part of the Prelude FLNG strategy to support young Indigenous people in the Kimberley.

He said this was in conjunction with developing pathways for local people to potentially work on the project once it started operations in the Browse Basin, about 475km north-northeast of Broome.

“The partnership with Nirrumbuk is an example of how resource developments like Prelude can make a difference, by investing in the development of people in a way that we hope will have long term benefits for both the people directly involved, and the broader community,” Mr Wilkinson said.

The Prelude natural gas field was discovered by Shell in 2007 with Concerto found nearby 2009. Combined, they have about three trillion cubic feet of liquids-rich gas.

Up to 15 individuals are currently engaged with the opportunity for further placements over the period of the program.

Current participant Ian Hudson said he was glad to be involved in something that would help him get a job.

Brandon McKenzie said the project was “very empowering” and “helped me identify my strengths and weaknesses”.