Industry leaders are banding together to guide First Nations employees along the path to success.
It takes a village, they told those who attended our National NAIDOC Week (July 6-13) webinar about empowering First Nations trainees and apprentices.
Webinar host Vivienne Filling said: “Apprenticeships and traineeships are key stepping stones to highly esteemed and sought-after careers.
“Australian Industry Group, through our Apprentice and Trainee Centre, is a national leader in the employment of apprentices and we currently have more than 25 apprentices and trainees who identify as First Nations employees.”
Sharing their experiences and challenges in hiring First Nations apprentices and trainees, as well as insights on effective recruitment and training practices were:
▪ Noel Gertz, On Common Country;
▪ Sofie Camili, Aggreko Australia and
▪ Krissy Regan, Set to Succeed.
“Many of us in the workforce forget what it's like to start out,” Ms Regan said.
“We assume young people understand more than they do about the employment journey, so we're not necessarily taking the time to guide them through the basics during the induction process.
“Don't expect them to know what annual leave is or what onboarding involves.
“If it's an apprentice, sit down and talk about what TAFE blocks mean.
“Breaking it down and taking it back to basics will set the foundation for success.”
Set to Succeed helps provide pathways for young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people following their time at boarding school.
“If a young person is from a remote community, there's a high chance they attended their senior schooling in Townsville, which has more than eight boarding school facilities,” she said.
“Unemployment tends to be high if they go back to community after finishing Year 12; only about a third end up in employment.
“Townsville has a very high demand for skills, so Set to Succeed was established to provide supported pathways for young people from those boarding facilities to stay in the region and connect with employers.”
The not-for-profit offers everything from supported housing to life skills, financial literacy and driving lessons.
“Our program is yet to receive government funding, but we are powered by industry,” Ms Regan said.
“We've been able to secure a number of houses where we can provide those pathways for young people to stay and have that supported environment.
“They learn skills such as paying rent, being a good neighbour, learning how to cook — the kinds of things you’d normally learn from your parents.
“It’s providing holistic support for young people to continue their training-to-employment journey here in Townsville.”
“We've been able to co-design our pathways with employers,” Ms Regan said.
“We sit down with this year’s cohort of Year 12 students and talk about what the following year looks like.
“With our knowledge of the various sectors, skill gaps and upcoming jobs, we can start to do what I call ‘supported matchmaking’ — brokering opportunities for young people with employers.
“Intensive one-on-one support goes into providing these opportunities.
“We know from research that the first two years following school are critical for retention in years three and four with any training.
“We’re here to provide aspirational momentum for young people, so they become independent and self-sufficient and can achieve their goals to become the future leaders in their communities.
“It's vital they have strong support systems.”
Set to Succeed has partnered with fellow Townsville-based organisation, On Common Country (OCC), on many projects.
OCC is an Indigenous-owned and operated project engagement company, providing Indigenous Australians with pathways to training and employment across a wide range of industries and major Queensland projects.
“We set up work experience, align apprentices and trainees with employers and continue to support them throughout their employment journey,” Managing Director Noel Gertz said.
“Once we establish a vacancy, we invite the candidate for a chat about the job, the industry it’s in and the implications of taking the job.
“Sometimes, and particularly in mining projects up here in the North, we've got to explain remote rostered employment.
“We spend much time in creating awareness and understanding of what the road ahead might be. We involve members of their family, whether it's a partner, spouse or significant uncle or aunty, in this process.
“We ask the HR people to join the conversation to explain specific issues related to that employment.
“As well as this early awareness development, we try to arrange work experience and create opportunities for the candidate to work with the employer and meet the supervisors.”
Aggreko is a global provider of mobile modular power, temperature control and energy services, with a workforce in Australia of 350 full-time employees.
“At the beginning of our RAP journey in 2000, we realised the importance of engaging local communities in the remote areas where we operate,” Communications & Indigenous Engagement Manager Sofie Camili said.
“We have long-term contracts in those mining communities, anywhere from five to 20 years.
“We realised the younger generation would be the ones who would be our future engineers and power station operators.”
“STEM skills are critical for future employment and economic empowerment, especially in the energy and infrastructure sectors,” Ms Camili said.
“Supporting STEM aligns with national goals to close the gap in education and employment outcomes and helps address the underrepresentation of Indigenous Australians in technical and engineering fields.
“With this in mind, we collaborated with a charitable organisation called DeadlyScience, to provide schools near our long-term power projects with STEM tools and literature.
‘It not only gave Aggreko a profile in those regions, it also helped to encourage students to consider STEM as a career path.
“It cemented our objective to be a role model in the energy sector and demonstrated how industry can support Indigenous youth and build future-ready skills.”
“We've had quite a difficult time attracting and retaining First Nations employees, particularly in technical roles,” Ms Camili said.
“Over the past five years in Weipa in North Queensland, we worked closely with Rio Tinto's community relations team to explore opportunities for locals to work for us.
“They run their own paid school leavers program and have some school-based apprenticeships.
“Those programs are highly sought after — they've got more applicants than jobs available.
“We’re hoping the boys — both called Billy — will transition into apprenticeships once they finish this traineeship.
“So far, we're really impressed with both.”
Ms Camili applauded Australian Industry Group for its role in nurturing “the Billys”.
“This is the first time we've ever run traineeships for First Nations teenagers at Aggreko, and Australian Industry Group’s support has been tremendous,” she said.
“The boys have a lot of support from the Australian Industry Group with regards to staying on top of their schoolwork while they undertake their Cert II in Engineering.
“That all-round support from everybody — their school and families, too — to encourage them to continue their study while they're also coming to site one day a week is vital.
“It really does take a village.”
“First Nations people are very relational, so building trust and providing guidance and support to help get them through the employment journey is key to their success,” Ms Regan said.
“So, when I talk about supported matchmaking, it really is brokering that opportunity with the young person and the employer, because the young person doesn't know what they don't know.
“I know the questions to ask of the employer and can reframe them in a way that’s more relative to the young person's circumstances.”
“There are subtle and simple ways to demonstrate cultural safety in the workplace — through words, actions, strategy and engagement,” Ms Regan said.
“When I was scaling up for a project a couple of years ago, I created a First Nations engagement strategy to fulfil a goal to have 50% First Nations staff as part of a 13-member team.
“I had 10 steps and followed them through.
“I flipped the recruitment process on its head, rewrote job descriptions, held information evenings and conducted group interviews so candidates could build relationships with each other in that process.
“The last part was a little more formal, in terms of a selection panel, but we didn't start off with formalities; we focused on the cultural building side of things first.
“I even went on to Getty Images and bought new photos so our literature featured First Nations faces.
“That's something our big corporate brands may forget; we're not showing the faces of First Nations Australians on a regular basis.”
Mr Gertz says cultural safety is a two-way process.
“While the employer, and supervisors in particular, need a generic background about the job seeker or the community in which they live so they can understand some of the issues like Sorry Business, the potential job seeker needs to understand the workplace requirements,” he said.
‘Because a lot of our young people have a thing called Shame, where they're a bit frightened to talk to people outside of their immediate family, we try to build their confidence as part of our work preparation program.
“It helps them to be able to ask questions and communicate to their employer issues like needing a couple of weeks off in advance to attend a significant cultural event.
“We emphasise the need to talk to their supervisor well ahead of time.
“The other thing a direct supervisor could do to get a new employee — not just First Nations youngsters — on board a lot quicker is to take a personal interest in them.
“Find out what they're interested in and try to relate to those areas of interest.
“A lot of that support around cultural safety involves establishing personal relationships.
“The mentors from our training organisation and the support they provide are very important in preparing people for onboarding.
“Technical mentors can help with issues around formal training and the technical side of work but equally important are those who provide pastoral care and support.
“They're the ones who keep an eye on how someone is faring at home or whether they have issues around transport etc”.
Ms Regan agrees awareness and communication are needed on both sides.
“I recently had a young person absent from work for about eight weeks for Sorry Business, and her family lived more than eight hours north of here.
“So, it's engaging with the employer, keeping connected with the young person, recognising a lot of that time would be without pay and supporting both sides through that.”
“Cultural awareness is probably the most important issue in an organisation — before you even start to think about recruiting any new First Nations employees,” Ms Camili said.
“You need to ensure your environment is safe and welcoming for them.
“Don’t be ignorant. Be a decent person. Learn about all cultures and especially about First Nations cultures here in Australia.
“There are so many resources to help with your own personal understanding and practices you can introduce in your businesses.
“Just be a good human being.”
Australian Industry Group is pleased to offer NEW Cultural Humility Training to help employers create awareness and knowledge about First Nations cultural practices and how that translates into a professional setting. Find out more here.
We have also released new research that shines a light on the experiences of employers in Australia’s apprenticeship and traineeship system. Click here to view the full report and register for our next webinar on July 30 which explores the findings.
Mentorship and pastoral care are provided to all Australian Industry Group apprentices and trainees. Click here to find out more about completing an apprenticeship with Ai Group Apprentice and Trainee Centre.
