INDIGENOUS STORYBOOK

Pre-employment Programs
We also run pre-employment programs.
The first one, which still means the most
to me, was in partnership with Abi Group
who approached me with a contract offer
to fill 20 entry level roles across their sites.
They specifically wanted to employ younger
Aboriginal people.
So we consulted our database and started off
with a pool of 120 people who were screened
through our recruitment process. We then
narrowed the number down to 30 people. Abi
Group selected their final 20 who were given
a letter of commitment promising employment
if they successfully completed four weeks
of training. Their positions were as trainees
starting on around $100, 000 a year. All 20
people made it through the training process.
These people were long-term unemployed and
living on around $15, 000 a year. It was mind
blowing to watch this process and to capture
it all on camera. You can view the vision on
Ochre’s website:
http://www.ochreworkforcesolutions.com.au/
Registered Training
Organisation
In 2012, two years after I’d started Ochre,
I was getting inundated with applications
from Aboriginal people seeking employment
in the mining industry who didn’t have the
background or the expertise, tickets, or
training. However, there were a lot of entrylevel
opportunities so I decided to, quite naively,
become a Registered Training Organisation.
Although the process was challenging as I knew
nothing about training and had to re-invest
$350, 000, thereby taking a huge risk, I managed
to pass all the necessary criteria. This process
was very challenging and physically draining due
to the amount of pressure I put on myself to
ensure it happened. Being an RTO has given me
a lot more scope to help Aboriginal people, as I
am now able to both train and recruit.
Blogs
There is a blog section on our website,
which now has a readership of over 6000
people. The blogs discuss real life issues and
tell the story of an Aboriginal woman in the
Aboriginal community sharing information
with the Government, industry leaders and
business people on what steps are needed
to get Aboriginal people moving in a positive
direction. If industry wants to employ
Aboriginal people then they need to have an
understanding of the generational issues, which
impact on many of the social problems. The
blogs provide an opportunity for people to
start that conversation in a diplomatic, nonblaming
balanced way and hopefully begin to
implement the changes needed for our people
to move forward.
iTraining Program
Ochre has just been approved for a
Government initiative which allows us to
provide training and computers to Indigenous
people who want to learn basic computer
skills. These people can then set their
computers up at home and purchase them
through their Centrelink payments. This is
a national initiative and we are currently
entering an agreement with Harvey Norman
to provide the computers across Australia. We
are really excited about this initiative.
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