By Sahar Foladi
An engaging employment program specifically designed for First Nations communities is tackling the barriers to finding a job.
The SYC not-for-profit organisation in Dandenong designed the program, with an employment expo held as a finale.
The program sprouted out of a meaningful discussion between SYC employment activity coordinator Christopher Matheson and Aboriginal employment mentor Gabrielle Gunderson.
“We sat down to discuss what she thinks we need to get better engagement across the state and since, the program was built,” Mr Matheson said.
“What we found was when we opened up to providers in the South-East region, we had 54 referrals come through in two days.
“We opened the conversation up to find out what they felt their barriers are, that stop them from gaining employment.”
The program is not merely a pathway into employment, but it also helps to connect First Nations participants to the community and to provide them with a positive experience.
“During the initial conversation people have said the system hasn’t been kind to them,” Mr Matheson said.
“So, we had to bring it all back to how can we get better engagement and more involvement.
“All sessions have been held off-site so there’s no (federal agency) Workforce Australia sites used at all – they’re based in the community in places like Casey Aboriginal Gathering Place in Doveton.
“It made them more comfortable to be able to connect with the community which was a big focus.”
The four-week program with one-to-two-day activities encourage participants to choose their own schedule without any unnecessary pressure or guidelines imposed.
“We made it a non-mandatory course as we wanted to give them the right to pick and choose the sessions they wanted to attend.
“We wanted to take away the stigma of being told what to do so they could attend to whatever part of the program they wanted to.”
According to Mr Matheson, there was noticeable change in the participants. The program has been deemed successful in keeping the participants engaged.
“Watching them grow from when nobody spoke to each other in the first session to now they’re all connecting outside of the program as well from different providers has been outstanding.”
The program sessions included success stories from within the Indigenous community which included a chef by trade from the National Indigenous Culinary Association.
“It was all about building hope and resilience, that you can get through anything you’re going through at the moment.”
The four-week block ended with an employment expo on Thursday 16 November in hopes that the participants would be able to either connect with a potential employer or to sign up to upskill.
“We hope that they’ll be better equipped and feel more confident in employment.
“We had a wide range of employment from corporate to large companies that are either First Nation themselves or they have a representative to support the Indigenous community.”
Various community organisations across the South-East had offered a helping hand in this initiative.
Groomed to Go transformed the participants to look their best for the final event of the program while Foundation Learning in Narre Warren covered the haircuts, colours and style.
Theodora’s Cheerful Givers in Seaford, a food bank, donated food hampers to hand to the participants on the last day.
Out of the more than 150,000 population of City of Greater Dandenong, only 615 identified as Indigenous or Torres Strait Islanders according to the 2021 Australia Bureau of Statistics.
According to ABS, 42.8 per cent (198) of those aged 15 and over are employed in the labour force.
