Milingimbi Community Work and Job Fair a great success

A Community Work and Job Fair held at Milingimbi in the NT recently was a great opportunity to showcase the Government’s new Community Development Programme (CDP) as well as for employers, organisations and people from the local region to come together and talk to each other about employment and training opportunities.

The day was a great success with over 300 community members attending. Stalls were set up and people were able to wander around and talk to representatives from a variety of organisations including the Arnhem Land Progress Association, Norforce, Indigenous Business Australia and the Crocodile Islands Rangers.

There were also food stalls, children’s activities and lots of different styles of music happening to keep everyone entertained.

But at the end of the day it was all about engaging with people about the benefits of training and employment.

Lisa Pullen from the Top End Health Service was very keen to get locals talking about jobs in the health sector.

“We are here today to spread the word about opportunities for people in health especially in East Arnhem. We have cadetships and apprenticeships available that we want to encourage school age kids who are in their final years to take up, so they can do a seamless transition into a health position when they graduate, “Lisa said.

Michael Rotumah from Intract Indigenous Contractors, a 51% owned Indigenous company was there to look for people willing to work in mining and civil construction.

“There are opportunities out there if you are willing to move away from home, we can teach people how to drive graders and loaders or excavators and train to become carpenters or electricians. So we are here to show who we are and to support the day,” Michael said.

Kim McCreanor from Animal Management in Rural and Remote Indigenous Communities or AMRRIC is looking at training more people to work in animal management.

“We have just finished a 3 year programme where we employed animal management workers to work in their own communities. This means having local people trained so that in between veterinary visits they can work with their communities to assist with any animal management issues.

We will build on this and make more training opportunities available for local people in their own communities,” Kim said.