Job training leads to supporting remote communities
A local Aboriginal man has been trained for his important new job driving frail-aged and disabled people between their remote communities and appointments in distant towns through Australian Government funding, administered by the Murdi Paaki Regional Enterprise Corporation (MPREC).
Terry Doolan couldn’t be happier with his new job helping frail-aged and disabled Aboriginal people travel from remote communities to vital appointments and community events in Broken Hill, regional NSW.
His new employer, Far West Home and Community Care Service (HACC), saw the need for bus services linking remote communities with Broken Hill. This service allows residents to attend medical appointments, community activities and shop for goods unavailable in their local stores.
Terry, from Menindee, has been employed as the bus driver on the newly created Menindee-Broken Hill daily bus service.
Terry was trained and licensed through funding from the Australian Government, administered by the Murdi Paaki Regional Enterprise Corporation (MPREC), and Terry is excited about his role helping his community.
“I love my job,” Terry said.
“This is a new and important service helping elders in my community and I’m grateful to MPREC for assisting with uniforms and paying for police checks, licenses and log books – everything needed to actually come in and get the job.”
Without them, I wouldn’t have been able to do what I do today,” Terry said.
HACC offers bus services, including a wheel chair lift, for disabled persons, their carers and the frail-aged as well as passengers who need to visit their loved ones in residential care. Terry is very happy to be helping his relatives and other community members gain a degree of independence and confidence they had previously not enjoyed.
“I’d highly encourage other Indigenous people to become bus drivers, or ambulance transport officers, helping people in your community. It can be very satisfying to know you have helped elders or people with disability in your community to become more independent,” Terry said.
Terry is now involved in setting up a bus driver training programme in the region to help other remote communities.
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.