Indigenous Engagement Blog

2007-12-10T15:47:00.001+10:00

some photo's from the showcase forum....

2007-12-10T15:13:00.001+10:00

Successful Showcase for 2007

The Indigenous Engagement end of year forum had a stand out attendance with 150 people from various organisations and communities across Australia.

Guests had an opportunity to experience how real examples of technology are being used to engage Indigenous people in education and training across Australia.

The event also provided an opportunity to experience testimonials and presentations from each of our six national projects with a hand on approach to the e-learning resources developed and being implemented throughout the year.

These included virtual class rooms, digital stories; video conferencing, creation of blogs used as an RPL assessment and knowledge gathering tool and pod casting to name a few.

Feedback given from the days event was that the forum through its projects provided a very informative and confirming flexible approach to training and that it is all about the quality and meaningful partnerships between RTO’s and communities that this project has developed.

Project Manager Rhonda Appo congratulated each team on the success of the Forum and said “it is great to see that out of these projects has emerged a number of Indigenous leaders equipped with the skills and confidence to continue on the good work into the future”

Key note speakers were Metta Young from the Centre of Appropriate Technologies in Alice Springs and Stephen Hagan NAIDOC person of the year in 2006 and esteemed author presentaiton can be accessed here:http://www.flexiblelearning.net.au/flx/go/home/projects/2007/indigenous2007/pid/237

2007-11-21T12:13:00.001+10:00

Registrations Now Closed

Due to a high volume of interest we have now closed our registrations from 12 noon today for our end of year forum “Working Towards Better Practice”. If you would like to see how the day has progressed we will be adding audio and visuals onto our Blog which you can easily access here.

In the new year expect to view our six individual case studies with their e-learning resources attached to each of them which will also be available free of charge.

Keep posted for further details.
The IEP team

2007-11-16T16:08:00.001+10:00

After the Split Rock Alliance received their award at the Australian Training Awards in Tasmania, Noel Gertz, Indigenous Training Project Manager, Construction Skills Queensland flew to Melbourne where he met with Project Manager, Rhonda Appo to present one of four case studies to The Way Forward Indigenous VET Taskforce Forum.

Presentations will be posted soon

2007-11-12T09:19:00.000+10:00

A Round of Applause!

After winning the Inaugural Premiers Award for Innovation at the Queensland Training Awards in September, the Split Rock Inca Alliance have exceeded their expectations and taken out first place in Hobart last night at the Australian Training Awards (Training Initiatives), for its efforts in training Indigenous people in civil construction and hospitality during the course of the project last year.

Colin Saltmere (Myuma), project champion for the 2006 Indigenous Engagement Project, Peter Trim (Main Roads) and Todd Stubbings (Seymour Whyte) were present to receive the award. In accepting the award, Colin thanked everyone who have had a part to play in the SRIA project, and all those who have been involved since the project concluded. They wished we could all have been there to feel the significance of what we’ve achieved, and bask in some of the recognition!
Rhonda Appo had the opportunity to speak to Colin after receiving the award to congratulate him on behalf of the project.
“Colin was genuinely humbled by the award. We are all inspired about the work and support he has given to the Indigenous Engagement Project over the past two years and congratulate him and his team, project partners and participants”.

Well done team, we are all proud of your work.
Indigenous Engagement Team

2007-09-19T14:32:00.000+10:00

Indigenous Traitional Blessing and Welcome

The Indigenous Engagement project team were invited to be guests of the Indigenous Australian Peoples Unit, Traditional Blessing and Welcome of their new building at the Southbank Institute of Technology. Along with 150 members of the community, dignitaries, staff and students, we were welcomed with a performance by the Nunukul Yagera Aboriginal Dance Troupe and the Torres Strait Islander Wagga Dance Company. Formal proceedings included an address by the Institute Director, Mr Craig Sherrin and Deputy Director General, Department of Education, Training and the Arts, Mr Rod Arthur and a warm welcome by Uncle Charlie Watson from the Advisory Committee urging the community to be part of such an important learning space. Mr Neil Appo, Manager fo the Indigenous Australian Peoples Unit attributed the success of the unit’s longevity to its dedicated teaching and support staff including Mr Kieran Walsh who has been at the college for 24 years.

2007-09-19T09:32:00.000+10:00

Congratulations Jobs for our Mob!

Once again the Jobs for our Mob project team from 2006, funded by the Indigenous Engagement Project have won yet another accolade for their hard work and dedication in supporting training and education for Indigenous learners across Australia.

Last Thursday at the Queensland Training Awards the inaugural Premier's Innovation in Skilling Award for 2007 was awarded to Split Rock Inca Alliance, comprising Queensland Main Roads Department, Seymour Whyte Construction and Myuma Pty Ltd, an Aboriginal owned company.

This award was presented in recognition for an organisation or partnership that has demonstrated the spirit of the Queensland Skills Plan

Myuma Managing Director Colin Saltmere was project champion for Jobs for Our Mob in 2006. Through this project an interactive training resource was developed which is now being used to help Indigenous people develop skills and gain employment in industries that are suffering chronic skills shortages.

The Jobs for our Mob CD-ROM engages indigenous participants through the use of multimedia resources featuring virtual worksites, safety practise, and animations, all using culturally suitable language.

Here is what Colin had to say after receiving his award:

Myuma Managing Director Colin Saltmere said there was a big void of all labour types in these industries right across the country.

“There’s lots of work with the construction and mining sector in Queensland,” said Mr Saltmere. “Our mobs have been sitting there for a long time and people have been ignoring them. We want to see them out there and holding their heads up high in society through real work.

“Through our new e-learning centre, the Jobs for our Mob CD-ROM, and Work Ready Programs, our trainees are gaining a trade qualification that makes them competitive on the open market.”

Once again congratulations to Colin and team for all their hard work and dedication, from the Indigenous Engagement Project.

2007-09-07T11:50:00.001+10:00

Queensland Training Awards

The 2007 Queensland Training Awards will be held in Brisbane on Thursday, 13 September. Keep an eye out for nominee's Colin Saltmere from Jobs for Our Mob project who has been nominated with Main Roads, Myuma and Seymour Whyte Construction and the Split Rock Inca Alliance for the Premier's Innovation in Skilling Award.

click on the Queensland Training Awards link to check it out!

Good luck Colin and team!

2007-07-30T13:19:00.000+10:00

CLICK HERE

2007-07-30T13:14:00.001+10:00

Congratulations Champions

To all our participants, firstly we would like to send you a big thank you for your support and taking part in the Indigenous Engagement Project Champions’ Workshop for 2007.

The Indigenous Engagement Project is part of the national training system’s e-learning strategy, the Australian Flexible Learning Framework (Framework).

On 18 June, the Indigenous Engagement Project held the Project Champions’ Workshop in Darwin over three consecutive days supported by team members, guest speakers, Framework participants and project team supporters.

Through building partnerships with registered training organisations (RTOs), small businesses and Project Champions we have worked collaboratively to create better employment outcomes and sustainable futures for Indigenous people through e-learning.

The Project Champions are attached to six pilot projects which are being funded and supported by the Indigenous Engagement Project this year.

Without our Champions, project managers, trainers and supporters these visions would not be possible.

A re-cap on our time in Darwin…

Day 1
Our first day started off at a searing 33 degrees. Participants arrived from various locations around Australia to the Darwin Airport Resort, where we made our way out to the Charles Darwin University, Palmerston Campus. After introductions were made we were soon into our first day of the workshop. Champions and guest speakers spoke of their project objectives and outcomes followed by an overview from the Indigenous Engagement Project Manager Rhonda Appo.

Once acquainted our guest speaker, Colin Saltmere took the floor and bought inspiration to his eager listeners. Colin, a participant in last year’s Indigenous Engagement Project told his story of the hard work and dedication to Myuma, an Aboriginal owned and operated earth moving business. Myuma, based at Mount Isa, has a ever expanding construction camp in Camooweal.

Colin, a humble achiever, seeks no praises for the great work he and his team continue to achieve.It is fair to say that the audience was moved and motivated by his achievements and what he has done towards Indigenous people and we congratulate him for that.

Our Training and Assessment (TAA) trainers from Wide Bay TAFE in Queensland, Phil Wheeler and Michelle Robinson, gave an overview of the Certificate IV in Training and Assessment and ways in which to gather evidence. Phil and Michelle will be working with our Project Champions over the next few months to support them in completing their training.

At the end of our first day, and no time to relax, we returned to the formal lauch of the 2007 workshop with invited guests to welcome our Project Champions for 2007.

Attendees at the launch were: Cathy Curry and Marcia Kelly, from CHARTTES in the Northern Territory (NT), who continuously supported us in organising the event; Melanie Brenton, NT Framework Coordinator, who very kindly donated Framework communication tools to be distributed; Ross Lindsay, NT Flexible Learning Advisory Group member; Alison Anderson, Member for Macdonnell; John Hassed, Deputy Chief Executive of the NT Department of Employment, Education and Training; and NT Australian Council for Private Education and Training (ACPET) Board Director Sean Mahoney.

Day 2
On day two, we resumed with presentations from each project team, giving a brief overview of their project objectives and what their roles will be in the project.

Sharon McDonald represented JobTrain WA for the Indigenous ICT: I Can Too! project. Sharon presented a very visual direction of where JobTrain WA is heading with linkages to Community Development Employment Project (CDEP) offices and Telecentres to link in with Indigenous communities in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia.

Fred Binge represented Queensland’s Sunshine Coast TAFE One Mob Together project. Fred discussed the development of a pilot e-tool for recognised prior learning (RPL) for Indigenous community organisation members wanting to acquire their Certificate IV in Business (Governance).

Kimberley TAFE, in Western Australia which is leading the Working From Our Strengths project, was represented by Carla Davies, who discussed how they will build on the work of Indigenous enterprise operators across the top end of Australia to develop effective strategies to ensure relevant quality training and qualifications are implemented.

In 2006, the Certificate IV in Business (Governance) was delivered by TAFE NSW Western Institute into very remote communities using a combination of satellite, video conference and online technologies. Lou Townsend and Ross Sullivan presented the objective of the project for 2007 Improving Indigenous E-governance project.

Also attending from country NSW was Alister Ferguson, Chairperson of Bourke Aboriginal Community Working Party in NSW. Alister has strong linkages with community and was one of the first students to complete the Certificate IV in Business (Governance) course through the inaugural E-governance in Indigenous communities program.

Before lunch we listened to a very inspring story by Meredith GurrangGurrang.

Meredith comes from Gawa, a small Indigenous community approximately 50 kms north east of Galiwinku, located on the north eastern end of Elcho Island in the Northern Territory.

We were honoured to be shown a story by Meredith through digital storytelling with visual drawings from a local artist and voice recordings to interpretate the language. Meredith’s grandmother is keen to develop the 'e- Books' so the younger generation can learn their traditional language for years to come.

The afternoon ended with some group activities taken by Marcia Kelly who demonstrated how to create a digital story, Ruth Wallace took her group through the online survey creator SurveyMonkey. Phil Wheeler and Michelle Robinson both took groups through TAA and face-to-face evidence gathering.

The end of our second day finished by networking with each other and gathering information on what we had learnt before heading off for dinner in Darwin.

Day 3
A little weary but ready to complete our final day we set ourselves up for an information technology extravaganza from Phil who took us through a number of free e-learning tools available online. Cala Davies also gave a polished presentation representing her Institute using the video conferencing softeware Elluminate.

The week was nearing an end and participants were soon on their way home after a successful, exciting and interactive workshop. It was a great opportunity for us to all meet and see where our ambitions lie within the project and what the future may hold with e-learning in Indigenous communities.

The Indigenous Engagement Project team, Brisbane