Indigenous employment program closing the gap in New South Wales
Local employment service provider Employment Services Group (ESG), with support from MatchWorks, launched the successful Deadly Yakka program in Lake Haven today for Indigenous job seekers in the region.
The initiative, specifically designed for indigenous job seekers, focuses on real employment outcomes and assists people to find a job they will be passionate about.
Kyle Freeman conducts a traditional Welcome to Country and smoking ceremony.
The two-week course has delivered successful programs at Victorian, Queensland and South Australian locations, with job seekers gaining and maintaining employment after working with Indigenous mentors and trainers. The program was also successfully launched in Mount Druitt last month.
MatchWorks Executive Director Renae Lowry said the purpose of Deadly Yakka is to bring communities together and to give Indigenous job seekers a supportive network to make the transition into stable, ongoing employment.
“The Deadly Yakka program covers goal setting and personal development, life skills for work, interview skills, cultural awareness training, presentation advice, workplace expectations and job search skills; while also addressing personal barriers to understand what has been holding participants back in their journey to work,” she said.
“The program commences with traditional cultural activities where job seekers will have the opportunity to meet staff and various support services, such as employers, trainers and mentors who will assist them throughout the initiative.
“Once the formal training period is complete, job seekers will continue to workshop activities with their MatchWorks mentors and marketers to help increase their chances of gaining ongoing employment. We have already seen a lot of successful outcomes from this program”
Deadly Yakka launched in Victoria in 2014 and has run at locations including Bendigo, Sunshine, Bacchus Marsh, Noarlunga in South Australia, Caboolture in Queensland and recently at Mount Druitt in New South Wales and Gosnells, Western Australia. ESG and MatchWorks will continue to roll out the initiative at more locations in the future.