Blog: First Nations People Leverage The Power of VET to Switch to New Career Paths
Written by Cara Jenkin
First Nations people are harnessing the power of vocational education and training (VET) to climb their way up the career ladder.
Whether it is getting a headstart in the world of work while still at school or gaining the knowledge to take the next step in their career and secure a promotion, VET is giving them the skills and hands-on experience to enjoy newfound success.
Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows 24% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 20 years and over now have a certificate III or certificate IV qualification, up from 9% at the start of the century. Another 8% have an advanced diploma or diploma qualification, compared to just 6.6% that have a bachelor degree.
National Centre for Vocational Education and Research data also shows VET also increases the chance of achieving sustainable employment for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples by 19%.
Poppy Chalmers, 19, is one of the First Nations teenagers who are starting their careers while still at school and using their vocational education and training to obtain their high school certificate.
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“School wasn’t quite the right fit for me and I wasn’t quite engaged,” she says.
“I knew there was a better option out there for me but I wasn’t sure what that was.”
A friend introduced her to the concept of an Australian School-based Apprenticeship (ASBA) when she started one at a childcare centre.
Poppy followed in her footsteps and was also offered an ASBA in childcare, but her school knew there was another option that would better suit her initial career ambitions to be a nurse.
Her school suggested an allied health assistant school-based traineeship instead, which included a Certificate III in Allied Health Assistance. Poppy completed it through the peak body for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health, Indigenous Allied Health Australia.
Many indigenous bodies provide careers pathways programs for First Nations students.
Apprenticeship Support Australia also offers a range of support to businesses that want to independently hire First Nations Australian apprentices, including induction support, personalised advice and problem-solving guidance and tools to create a culturally respectful environment.
“I really felt that health was the path I wanted to go down, I was set on being a nurse and I knew I’d still get some exposure to that and go in the right direction (through this traineeship),” Poppy says.
“The program they run is quite incredible and there’s a lot of different aspects to it.
“The placement was in hospital was exactly what I thought it would be and I did get that experience in a health setting.
“But the highlights of my experience were that there was cultural integrity included in the training and the people that we were surrounded by and there was the opportunity to work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and connect with the other students.
“At the time, I was set on being a nurse but through doing that, I decided social work was a path that I was interested in going down and I knew there was a need for workers in that space.”
Poppy finished the allied health traineeship in Year 11, completing the 24 months of training in just 12 months.
She found the responsibility of working and studying suited her style of learning and pushed her to be more adept at time management.
So Poppy asked to complete a second ASBA during Year 12, this time in an area more related to her new social work career goal – a Certificate III in Community Services.
It enabled her to finish Year 12 six months early and she has been working in allied health social work settings ever since.
One day she aims to study a social work at university and her vocational qualifications and connections can help her gain entry into that degree.
But for now, she is enjoying her work and studying a Certificate III in Business to gain professional skills.
“I would say VET has been a game changer for me in a lot of aspects but I think it pushed me into a position that I might not otherwise found or pushed myself into,” Poppy says.
“It gave me the opportunity to get more experience while I still had the opportunity to learn and be supported and to grow as a person.”
However, vocational education and training is not just for those starting their careers, with First Nations people harnessing the benefits of gaining a qualification long after they have left the school yard.
For Bradley Maynard, 45, vocational education and training has given him the extra knowledge he needs to improve his employment prospects and take the next step in his career.
He first started his foray into mid-career study with a short course and has become a true lifelong learner, with seven qualifications now under his belt and another one underway.
He is so excited about the opportunities that VET presents that he not only has encouraged his workmates to use study to improve themselves but he has also inspired his wife to study a VET qualification to make a career change.
“I explain to people what’s out there and want them to find something they enjoy,” he says.
“There are a few challenges along the way but once they get into vocational education and training and they realise they actually do like it, it makes study a lot easier.
“Some people just don’t know what’s out there and I want to start promoting that.
“I think that’s the gap we have – the government is piling all this money into courses and training but I don’t think a lot of people know what’s out there and what’s available.”
Bradley started on his VET journey with a boilermaking apprenticeship, obtaining a Certificate III in Engineering (Fabrication Trade).
He worked in the trade for many years until a Facebook advertisement for a short testing and tagging course, run through TasTAFE’s Aboriginal Training Programs, piqued his interest to continue learning. Once he completed that, he was hooked.
Each state TAFE has its own support service for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, providing services such as tutors, career counselling, fee-exemptions and accommodation assistance.
Bradley asked what other courses he could pursue and then enrolled in a Certificate IV in Project Management Practice. Since then, he has completed a Certificate IV in Work Health and Safety, Certificate IV in Training and Assessment, a Certificate IV in Leadership and Management, a Diploma of Leadership and Management and a Diploma in Business.
Now, he is studying a Diploma in Work Health and Safety.
While he studied for self-improvement and to gain knowledge, his employer Crisp Bros. and Haywards recognised his investment by awarding him a promotion to safety manager.
“It was a self-guided journey and that got picked up by my current employer and they rewarded me for getting in there and working and studying and doing it in my own time,” he says.
“I’ve gone from boilermaker into a position of leadership and safety to be able to look after 300-odd workers.
“Vocational education and training pretty much has (given me anything I needed) and it’s still giving me more knowledge and abilities to do more jobs.”
Bradley says it can be a juggle to combine study with work and life but the teachers are supportive of each student’s individual circumstances and will help their students overcome challenges.
“I finished my project management course while I was deployed on bushfire assist on Kangaroo Island, as part of the Tasmanian (Army Reserve) contingent, we helped out after the fires there,” he says.
“The teachers were pretty understanding of the situation and gave me an extension and I managed to get that done when I was deployed.
“You’re knackered after working 10 or 12 hours but then I’d sit down and do the online stuff but the teachers work around any challenges or problems that crop up.
“That planted the seed and I just tried working and doing courses that aligned up with each other and there was the ability to get a bit of Recognition of Prior Learning and get things signed off already that took the pressure off of doing study.
“VET has given me that extra knowledge that I need to better my employment chances and it’s helped me take that next step through my career path.”
READ MORE FIRST NATIONS VET SUCCESS STORIES AT YOURCAREER.GOV.AU
Cara Jenkin is a freelance journalist with more than 20 years’ experience working in the print, digital and television media. It included 10 years as the editor of NewsCorp’s Careers employment section, covering topics ranging from education and training to workplace career advice.