From little things big things grow
Ben Brown is a young man who, thanks to the Australian Government’s Community Development Programme (CDP), has gone from being unemployed to one of the youngest CDP Supervisors in the Upper Darling region of New South Wales.
When Ben Brown arrived in Cobar last year he was unemployed. Now he’s one of the youngest CDP Supervisors in the Upper Darling region.
Ben and his young family relocated to Cobar last year when he was unable to find suitable housing in Dubbo and, determined to support his family, Ben commenced a seed propagation activity funded under the Australian Government’s Community Development Programme (CDP).
Administered by Murdi Paaki Regional Enterprise Corporation (MPREC), CDP is an essential part of the Australian Government’s agenda for increasing employment and breaking the cycle of welfare dependency in remote areas of Australia.
Ben’s enthusiasm for his work impressed Murdi Paaki so much that after just six months he was offered a CDP Supervisor’s position, an opportunity he jumped at. So now, aged 24, Ben manages a crew of ten job seekers in the seed propagation activity.
“I’m pretty lucky to find a job I love and I take great pride in the work that my crew and I do,” Ben said.
While Ben’s transition from job seeker to Supervisor was eye-opening for him, he’s glad he got the job.
“This job entails a lot. A lot more than I thought it would, but it’s fun, it’s educational and you learn a lot. I love it,” Ben said.
The CDP seed propagation activity is located on a 22 hectare (54 acre) block five minutes out of Cobar. The job seekers Ben supervises have built a nursery to grow native plants from seeds that have been collected from the surrounding area. Once matured these plants will be used by the local mines for their land regeneration projects.
Over the course of the activity job seekers learnt skills like seed propagation techniques, welding and seed collecting and are hoping to try hydroponics soon. And Ben, like the jobseekers, is relishing the chance to learn new skills that will help him get his dream job.
“I’m really enjoying welding now,” Ben said.
I never welded before I started this CDP activity. I could barely use an angle grinder and I was terrified of them.”
Now Ben is confident and enthusiastic about his future and wants to complete an apprenticeship in boiler making.
Find out more
Having a job helps people build the future they want for their families and their communities.
Getting adults into work and making sure everyone has the opportunity to own your own home, run your own business, and provide for yourself and your families will mean a strong future for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
To make this happen, government and communities are working together to increase the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people working in real jobs and train more people for local jobs in their communities.
The Murdi Paaki Regional Enterprise Corporation (MPREC) is a non-government organisation which provides government funded services to Indigenous communities in Western NSW.