Five years ago, Robert Vidler, CEO of Yabur Yelgun Aboriginal Corporation, approached TAFE NSW – North Coast Institute to deliver training in growing crops and machinery maintenance to the remote Aboriginal community of Malabugilmah in Northern NSW.
Since then, a more comprehensive training program has been developed and delivered in collaboration with members of the community and a number of other organisations, helping improve employment prospects and morale.
Aiming to address environmental concerns, ongoing health issues and limited educational and employment opportunities in the community, the project provided the resources and training to teach members of the community how to install, operate and maintain a state-of-the-art waste water treatment and re-use system.
Poor health was an issue in the community largely due to the quality of the sewerage system which was in need of repair and upgrade. This led to a proposal to install an eco-friendly and sustainable sewerage system specially designed for use in remote communities such as Malabugilmah and which could be installed and maintained by the community.
Q: |
Looking to increase employment skills? |
|---|---|
A: |
TAFE NSW can deliver training to meet your requirements. |
Participants enrolled in Certificate I in Rural Operations. Once all modules were completed they continued their studies, with all but one of the original group completing Certificates II and III within four years.
‘We made sure the training was relevant by reviewing and modifying the different units and working out how they could be delivered most effectively,’ said Warwick Hardwick, Faculty Manager, Primary Industries and Natural Resources, North Coast Institute. ‘This helped the group complete training to Certificate III level.’
He acknowledged the assistance of the Premier’s Department which helped coordinate other government services involved in the project, including NSW Health and NSW Department of Aboriginal Affairs.
‘Additionally, we were lucky to have the support of a number of organisations, namely Eco Technology Australia who supplied the waste water system, Irrigation and Water Technologies who supplied the materials for the irrigation, as well as Geoff Green, a local earthmoving contractor who let us use his machinery for training.’
Keith Bolton, Founding Director, Eco Technology, said he believed the project had ‘created a model that was transferable to other remote communities facing similar issues’.
Steve Watt, CEO of Irrigation and Water Technologies Pty Ltd (IWT) said the company ‘really enjoyed being part of the project at Malabugilmah in the role of design, installation, partnering and ongoing maintenance of the sub-surface irrigation system which uses geo-textiles* infrastructure to safely irrigate the new football field with the community resource water’.
Mr Hardwick said the project had achieved ‘triple bottom line benefits’ for the community: environmental benefits through an improved use of waste water; solving of sewerage issues and provision of an artificial wetland; social benefits due to improved health; and economic benefits thanks to the development of real work and skills.
‘The level of pride in the community and their self-esteem are much greater and so are their opportunities for outside employment,’ he said.
*Geo-textiles are permeable fabrics which, when used in association with soil, have the ability to separate, filter, reinforce, protect, or drain.
