BlackBiz Winter Edition 08

ISSUE 08 | WINTER 2013

CHAMPIONS of BUSINESS

page 6 MARKETING MIX

BIZPROFILE

Creating your Online and Social Media Strategy Part 2

Corporate Culcha BlackBiz chats to Paul Dodd about Indigenous workforce development INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Yothu Yindi Foundation BlackBiz chats with Denise Bowden about YYF and the Yolngu people it represents

BIZTECH - Do Search Engines Know Who You Are? 10 - 13 Business Feature - Workplace Diversity 14 - 16 INDIGCAREER - Graduation ... and much more.

29 - 30

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EDITORS DESK - Welcome to BlackBiz PUBLISHER DETAILS: Publisher BlackBiz P/L ABN 49 146 020 662 PO BOX 23 Revesby North, NSW 2212 Ph: 1300 739 769 Fax: 02 9475 0921 www.blackbiz.com.au

Editor Paul Newman editor@blackbiz.com.au

Senior Editor

FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK

Sarah Martin s.martin@blackbiz.com.au

Creative & Technical Director Matt Brady admin@blackbiz.com.au

Contributors Tamar Ferhad Lillian Haase Paul Newman

Photographers Phillip Philippou MyThinkingEye Photography Jessica Abraham

Design & Production CrewMark Pty Ltd

Advertising & General Enquiries Email: advertising@blackbiz.com.au Phone:1300 739 769 Stock Photography: iStockPhoto

Disclaimer The authors, editors, publisher and their staff and agents are not responsible for the accuracy or correctness of statements made or information contained in this publication or for the consequences of any use made of the products, services and information referred to in this publication. All liability of whatsoever nature is expressly disclaimed for any consequences arising from any errors or omissions contained in this publication whether caused to a reader of this publication or otherwise. The views expressed in the articles and other material published herein do not necessarily reflect the views of the editor and publisher or their staff or agents.

It is impossible for the publisher and editor to ensure that the advertisements and other material herein comply with the Trade Practices Act 1974. Readers should make their own inquiries in making decisions and, where necessary, seek professional advice. Many images used in BlackBiz are supplied by contributing companies and are accepted in the belief that they are the property of these companies and that they have the right to use them. The publisher does not accept responsibility for any image improperly supplied or acknowledged. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part, without written permission, is strictly prohibited.

Hello BlackBiz Readers, business news kBiz eMagazine, full of inspiring good Welcome to our latest edition of Blac another end of up wrap we to wet your reading appetite as stories and practical information t the EOFY, but abou y worr le activity. At this time, most peop financial year (EOFY) of business community or ess busin your cial ‘checks and balances’ of not only is it a good time for finan operations and s goal ess a mid-year review of yearly busin enterprise, it is also a good time for the remainder of the year. overall, to put you in good stead for the rich history of the mpions of Champions’ celebrates In this edition, our cover story ‘Cha also featured a Awards, of which the last 3 years have last 25 years of the Ethnic Business ess and cultural richn the to ng addi ds category, further national Indigenous in Business Awar ing business awards. diversity of Australia’s longest runn l women, Narren Young, one of Australia’s most influentia We also feature an interview with ral diversity in driving ralia, talking on the value of cultu CEO of the Diversity Council of Aust business success. our Indigenous bizprofile articles in this edition, including Enjoy reading our regular business t and flair from and diverse Indigenous business talen stories showcasing a taste of the rich NSW based company the Yothu Yindi Foundation, and around the country, with stories on e.

Corporate Culcha, and much mor on of BlackBiz, and be and enjoy reading our latest editi So until the next edition, sit back Winter advertising sale. bargain in our “BlackBiz’ 50% off quick to grab a yearly advertising

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BlackBiz Indigenous Business Magazine - issue #08 WINTER 2013

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BlackBiz Indigenous Business Magazine - issue #08 WINTER 2013

CONTENTS - ISSUE #08

COVER FEATURE ISSUE 08 | MAY - JULY 2013

page

Celebrating Business Champions of Champions Australia’s most successful migrant and Aboriginal business minds have been honoured in the 25th Annual Ethnic Business Awards - Paul Newman ............................................................................. 6 - 8

CHAMPIONS of BUSINESS

page 6 MARKETING MIX

BIZPROFILE

Creating your Online and Social Media Strategy Part 2

Corporate Culcha BlackBiz chats to Paul Dodd about Indigenous workforce development INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Yothu Yindi Foundation BlackBiz chats with Denise Bowden about YYF and the Yolngu people it represents

BIZTECH - Do Search Engines Know Who You Are? 10 - 13 Business Feature - Workplace Diversity 14 - 16 INDIGCAREER - Graduation

29 - 30

... and much more.

ARTICLES

page

End of Financial Year 2013 Time .................................................................................................................. 9 Aboriginal Literacy Foundation Gives Away 80,0000 Books ............................................................... 22 - 23

FEATURES

page

WORKPLACE DIVERSITY FEATURE An Interview with Nareen Young, CEO, Diversity of Council Australia - Tamar Ferhad.......................... 14 - 16

REGULARS

page

BIZTECH - Do Search Engines Know Who You Are? - Lillian Haase................................................... 10 - 13 MARKETING MIX - Creating Your Online and Social Media Strategy (Part 2) - Tamar Ferhad............ 18 - 21 BIZPROFILE Corporate Culcha ............................................................................................................................... 24 - 25 The Yothu Yindi Foundation - Tamar Ferhad ....................................................................................... 26 - 28 INDIGCAREER - Graduation celebration at Yuendumu ..................................................................... 29 - 30

BlackBiz Indigenous Business Magazine - issue #08 WINTER 2013

5

BUSINESS CHAMPIONS OF CHAMPIONS

Celebrating Business

Champions of Champions

founding partners

by Paul Newman photo Jessica Abraham

Australia’s most successful migrant and Aboriginal business minds have been honoured in the nation’s pre-eminent awards for diversity in business, the 25th Annual Ethnic Business Awards held in the Great Hall of Parliament House, Canberra on the 25th June 2013.

A

stellar celebration, hosted in the nation’s capital, with over 320 distinguished guests from Ambassadors, and representatives of

Diplomatic Missions of over 20 countries, members of both Houses of the Federal governments, Senate and

6

lower house, along with the many business and media luminaries from all over Australia.

The winners in the Champion of Champions included a Chinese migrant who established an empire based on the most common of necessities – tissue paper, BlackBiz Indigenous Business Magazine - issue #08 WINTER 2013

BUSINESS CHAMPIONS OF CHAMPIONS

a self-made supermarket tycoon, and an Aboriginal Australian who created a major mining business from scratch that now employs many Aboriginal Australians.

For the 25th year of the Ethnic Business Awards, three categories made up of the winners and finalists of the past 24 years; Including All Finalists Category, All Winners Category and Indigenous in Business Category.

They were selected from a group of nominees made up of past finalists and winners of Ethnic Business Awards over the last quarter of a century – as part of the Ethnic Business Awards 25th anniversary celebrations.

Winners receive $10,000 in cash and a Business Management Package from founding partner, the National Australia Bank (NAB), a hand crafted crystal trophy and 2 return Business Class Tickets from China Southern Airlines.

“Our nation’s diversity – from the first Australians to more recent waves of migrants – has changed our business landscape forever, and brought countless opportunities to this great land and its people,” said Awards founder and Chairman, Mr Joseph Assaf.

Group Executive Business Banking for NAB, Joseph Healy, said that the Award’s 25th anniversary was testament to the longevity and interest in the stories captured by finalists and winners.

“In celebrating 25 years of the Ethnic Business Awards, we celebrate thousands of stories of Australians from diverse backgrounds who have demonstrated our treasured national values of innovation, hard work and enterprise in achieving their dreams.

“Tonight is particularly special because it’s the 25th anniversary of the Ethnic Business Awards. The NAB is very proud to be the founding partner of the awards and the leading sponsor once again in 2013. I’d like to thank the Ethnic Business Awards for creating the opportunity 25 years ago to celebrate excellence among our migrant and indigenous entrepreneurs and to recognise the important contribution they make to Australian business and our economy.” Mr Healy said.

Winners are judged by an expert panel made up of leading Australian business and community identities including Carla Zampatti, Don Argus, Allan Gyngell and Eve Crestani.

WINNER IN ALL FINALISTS CATEGORY Romeos Retail Group Antonio Romeo, Italy (SA) Prior year(s)/category: 2004 and 2009 (Medium – Large Business) In 1987 when Antonio Romeo purchased ‘Tom the Cheap’, a small grocery store in South Plympton, SA, little did he know that this would be the first of nearly 30 supermarkets owned by his independent family-owned supermarket chain, Romeo Retail Group.

Migrating from Italy to South Australia in 1956, Antonio initially worked as a brick layer/builder before establishing his own building and construction business. Two decades later, Antonio and his family decided that together they would embark on careers as convenience store owners.

Language and communication barriers were quickly overcome through good customer service and trust by the local community which they served.

Today the Romeo Retail Group employs around 1800 staff across nearly 30 supermarkets, including the IGA, Foodland and Foodworks brands. These supermarkets offer a large range of fresh food, as well as gourmet, continental, health, organic and gluten-free products.

Romeo Retail Group adopts a personalised approach, with each store catering to the particular needs of its local area.

The success of the Romeo Retail Group can be attributed to a number of factors. The family lists attention to detail, hard work and teamwork as the base of their success.

The Group’s support of local producers and suppliers is another feature which gives it a unique edge over its competitors. Over the past 25 years, the Romeo Retail Group has strongly supported local producers and suppliers from many regions across South Australia,

BlackBiz Indigenous Business Magazine - issue #08 WINTER 2013

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BUSINESS CHAMPIONS OF CHAMPIONS

including McLaren Vale, the Barossa Valley, Kangaroo Island and Adelaide Hills.

The most significant achievement of the Romeo Retail Group in recent times has been the acquisition and subsequent opening of two stores in New South Wales, making the Group one step closer to achieving its dream of becoming a leading Australian independent supermarket chain.

WINNER IN ALL WINNERS CATEGORY ABC Tissue Products Henry Kei Shing Ngai, China (NSW) Prior year(s)/category: 2004 (Large Business) Success is rarely simple, but for Henry Ngai it was as simple as ABC. Migrating to Australia in 1985, Henry soon established a tissue paper business, ABC Tissue Products. Henry started by importing finished tissue products from Hong Kong, using his home as an office, his garage as a warehouse, and operating as both salesman and storeman. Within six months Henry began renting a small factory in Lansvale, NSW, before soon importing a napkin folding machine, a facial tissue machine, and then step-bystep growing his business.

From modest beginnings, ABC Tissue Products has grown to encompass over 30% share of the Australian market. It’s most successful product is its ‘Quilton’ brand 3-ply toilet tissue, which has become the number one best-selling sanitary tissue in Australia.

ABC Tissue Products is the only Australian-owned business among the large tissue manufacturers, and is in the final stages of building Australia’s most technologically advanced paper mill. Henry attributes his success to persistence, teamwork and excellent relationships with employees, customers and suppliers. Henry adopts the philosophy that personal products deserve a personal business approach, with Henry working hard to ensure that his business reflects that.

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WINNER IN INDIGENOUS IN BUSINESS CATEGORY Carey Mining Daniel Tucker (WA) Prior year: 2010 (Winner) In the face of many hardships and struggling to raise investment capital, in 1995 Daniel Tucker established something which was unheard of at the time, namely a 100% Indigenous privately owned and managed contracting business focused on providing professional services to the mining and resources sector, while at the same creating meaningful and long-term employment and training opportunities for Indigenous Australians. Earlier attempts were met with stereotypes and dissuasion, with at one point Daniel being offered a gardening contract and work to set up fences, instead of a mining services contract.

Today Carey Mining is a multi-million dollar business completing significant contracts with AngloGold Ashanti, Barrick Gold, BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto, Downer EDI Mining and FMG. Its core disciplines include mining and civil services, alternative energy, consultancy and training. Carey Mining’s point of difference is that it is able to develop strong working relationships with local communities for specific indigenoussupported contracts.

As part of its Indigenous involvement charter, Carey Mining also employs a significant Indigenous workforce and creates real opportunities for Indigenous Australians through the Wongatha Education Trust and Carey Training, a nationally accredited Registered Training Organisation currently providing training to over 1250 people across Western Australia and South Australia, 350 of which are Indigenous Australians.

Daniel draws on his experience to advise and encourage other Indigenous Australians to ‘have a go’ in their business start-ups, and is regularly invited to speak at international conferences on the concept of Indigenous participation in large mining companies, a concept which he pioneered in the industry.

More information www.ethnicbusinessawards.com

BlackBiz Indigenous Business Magazine - issue #08 WINTER 2013

ARTICLE - Tax Time

EOFY 2013 Time A

nother end of the financial year (EOFY) business activity is upon us. At this time, most people worry about all the financial administrative activity the EOFY brings, but not only is it a good time for financial ‘checks and balances’ of your business or community enterprise operations, it is also a good time for a mid-year review of yearly business goals and operations overall, to put help put you and your business in good stead for the remainder of the year.

So instead of worrying too much about crunching the numbers of the last financial year, put your strategic business ‘checks and balances’ thinking cap on to objectively review your business financial outcomes and associated operations over the last financial year, and begin planning for the next financial year. To help you in this process be sure to seek appropriate professional advice and assistance suited to your particular type of business and industry. An objective review of your business or community enterprise EOFY operations and financial results, may highlight that it may not just be additional professional financial advice and support that is needed, it may also indicate other associated

BlackBiz Indigenous Business Magazine - issue #08 WINTER 2013

professional advice and support is needed in a number of areas critical to successful business operations, such as areas like, human resource and industrial relations management, legal and specific technical expertise just to name a few.

The other important area to remember at the annual EOFY time is to keep abreast of both the State and Federal budget announcements and associated political climate and any planned legislative changes coming into place for the new financial year, which may directly or indirectly impact on your business or community enterprise. For example the government and political climate change may foreshadow certain tax or superannuation changes that may have a direct financial and administrative impact on your business operations. Again, be sure to seek appropriate professional advice and assistance if you are unsure, and happy planning for the next financial year.

For more EOFY information check out the Australian Taxation Office website at www.ato.gov.au 9

BIZTECH - Lillian Haase

Do Search Engines Know Who You Are? There are over 200 different factors that determine where a website ranks naturally in the search engines.

Y

ou can hire help with Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). Companies offering SEO services work with you to optimise your website so Google and other search engines deem the website relevant to certain search queries (keyword phrases).

10

BlackBiz Indigenous Business Magazine - issue #08 WINTER 2013

BIZTECH - Lillian Haase

...

They will also ensure your site has high quality off-page links (links from other websites and social properties). These links work as are a signal to Google and other search engines.

Google and other search engines use these signals to determine your position as an authority in your field.

The best SEO companies use best-practice (commonly called ‘White Hat’ in the digital marketing community) to make sure that you don’t give the wrong signals to Google.

Giving the wrong signals to Google can implicate your site as being spam.

This results in terrible rankings and sometimes they ban your websites from their search engine.

So, needless to say it’s extremely important not to resort to anything other than bestpractice SEO! The work of SEO companies involves strategic keyword mapping to ensure that websites rank for clusters of terms that bring in the most relevant and qualified visitors to your business. The best companies know the do’s and dont’s and can help you reach popularity online, the right way.

Here is an article written by one of the leaders in the SEO community, Jill Whalen.

Reading this will help you start to see the complexity of SEO and the things you can do to help your site get found.

...

4 Google Trust Factors That Can Provide Negative Signals About Your Website

By Jill Whalen

W

hen Google first came out with their Panda algorithm, Amit Singhal (Google’s Chief Engineer, who designed it) provided a list of potential factors that Google looks at to determine the trustworthiness of any website.

This means that it’s more important than ever to review your websites for the first 17 SEO killer attributes that I’ve previously written about, but also to look at that last one, #18 (trustworthiness), which we don’t hear so much about.

This was more than two years ago, but many of the sites I review today still show signs of “untrustworthiness” in Google’s eyes.

While just about anything you do with your site that makes it seem spammy (such as keyword stuffing, for example) would also make it seem less trustworthy, Google now looks beyond just the obvious.

To top it off, Google has clamped down even harder on its Panda and Penguin algorithms during the past 2 years.

Because many of them are somewhat redundant, I’ve distilled Mr. Singhal’s

BlackBiz Indigenous Business Magazine - issue #08 WINTER 2013

trust questions down to 4 main factors: 1. Expertness 2. Comprehensiveness 3. Redundancy 4. Lack of Proofreading Below is more information on each these factors as well as the questions Google wants you to ask yourself about your site, how your site might be sending a negative signal with respect to each factor, how you can fix your site, and some key information you can learn from each of them.

11

BIZTECH - Lillian Haase

... that doesn’t make it true. By having a name, face, and bio associated with your content, you’re standing by it and its factualness (and vice versa).

Therefore, it makes sense for Google to use this as part of their algorithm.

Google Trust Factor #1: Expertness What Google asks: Is this content written by an expert or enthusiast who knows the topic well, or is it shallower in nature? Similarly, is the site a recognized authority on its topic? In addition, does it contain insightful analysis or interesting information that is beyond obvious?

How

your site might be sending a

negative signal: You’d be surprised how many websites I see with blogs that have no byline attached to their posts. They’re usually posted by some default “admin” or maybe a first name only, with no bio at the beginning or end of the article, or any sort of link to a bio page.

The fix: Whether or not you write your own blog posts, you need to associate a name with them. If you’re a small company, you’ll often want to use the CEO, owner, or president’s name. It’s also fine to have multiple authors if you’re a larger company.

But you will need to establish the credibility of each of them. Of course, beyond just having a byline and bio, you should also mark up your code with the rel=“author” markup.

Key takeaway: Anyone can write or say anything on the Internet, but 12

Google Trust Factor #2: Comprehensiveness

The fix: Remember why blogs exist.

The idea of a blog (and content marketing in general) is to add value to your site. It enables you to go above and beyond talking about the products or services you offer. In short, it’s a way to demonstrate your (or your company’s) expertise. Write about what you know and know well.

Key takeaway: Forget about SEO when you’re trying to decide what to put in your blog and instead think about hot topics in your industry -- not so you can rank for those keywords, but so you can provide your own unique perspective. This in turn will be exactly the sort of content Google is looking for -- that is, content that people bookmark and share.

What Google asks: Is this the sort of page you’d want to bookmark, share with a friend, or recommend?

Does the content provide complete or comprehensive description of the topic? Are the articles short, unsubstantial, or otherwise lacking in helpful specifics?

How

your site might be sending a

It’s not surprising that most of the blogs I saw that weren’t associating any name with their posts were also not very comprehensive. In fact, they often didn’t appear to be written for real people at all. They seemed to exist only because someone (probably some “SEO”) told the site owner they needed a blog for SEO purposes.

And of course most of the posts were useless drivel only there to link to other parts of the website via keyworded anchor text. Which of course misses the whole point of having a blog in the first place.

negative signal:

Google Trust Factor #3: Redundancy for the Sake of Keywords What Google asks: Does the site have duplicate, overlapping, or redundant articles on the same or similar topics with slightly different keyword variations? Are the topics driven by genuine interests of readers of the site, or does the site generate content by attempting to guess what might rank well in search engines?

BlackBiz Indigenous Business Magazine - issue #08 WINTER 2013

BIZTECH - Lillian Haase

...

How

your site might be sending

This is such an old-school SEO technique that apparently worked for so long that some website owners are loath to give it up. I mean, why have one page on any given topic and be relevant for one or two keyword phrases when you can have 10 or more and corner the market on all the relevant phrases?

At least that’s how the thinking went.

And to a certain extent it did work well in Google before Panda. But when you’ve lost a huge percentage of your organic traffic, you can’t keep clinging to the spammy practices of yore. a negative signal:

The fix: Find all the pages of your website that focus on the same or very similar topics and combine them into just one. (If they’re different enough you may be able to keep a few, but be completely honest with yourself here!) It’s especially necessary to remove those pages that are basically just “madlib spam.” After you’ve got them combined, be sure to 301-redirect all the old URLs to the one new and improved page’s URL. Key takeaway: The good news is that the newer Google algorithms understand synonyms and the overall meaning of words and phrases.

This means it is no longer necessary to have all the keywords you’d like to be

found for on the page itself. Sure, you want to use lots of variations within the page content, but don’t worry if you miss some. If you have a great site that others like to recommend to their audiences, your pages will show up in the search results when relevant.

Google Trust Factor #4: Lack of Proofreading What Google asks: Does this article have spelling, grammar, stylistic, or factual errors? How much quality control is done on content? Was the article edited well, or does it appear sloppy or hastily produced?

How

your site might be sending a

This trust factor goes beyond merely having typos on your website. While it should be an obvious bad signal, you’d be surprised how many sites I’ve reviewed have content that doesn’t even make sense! It’s as if the people writing

negative signal:

the content were only concerned with using keywords, rather than making sense. (What a shocker!)

I’ve also seen content that has been pasted onto sites from elsewhere that didn’t even have proper formatting such as paragraph spacing, or had weird characters that show up in the process.

The fix: Pay attention, for goodness’ sake! Don’t use automated programs to pull content from elsewhere unless you’re prepared to carefully review it and fix all errors. Write for your target audience, not the search engines. (Where have you heard that before?) And treat your website like a precious child. Love it, nurture it, pay attention to it, and take care of it in all aspects!

Key takeaway: If even you can’t read your content to make sure that it looks okay and makes some semblance of sense, why would anyone else? And consequently, why would Google want to showcase it?

While Google certainly looks at other trust factors, these 4 are the main troublemakers for most of the websites I’ve reviewed. (Along with the usual technical issues and spammy link building techniques, of course.) What others have you seen with your own sites or those of your clients?

Jill Whalen has been an SEO Consultant and the CEO of High Rankings, a Boston area SEO Company since 1995. Follow her on Twitter @JillWhalen If you learned from this article, be sure to sign up for the High Rankings Advisor SEO Newsletter so you can be the first to receive similar articles in the future! www.highranking.com

BlackBiz Indigenous Business Magazine - issue #08 WINTER 2013

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FEATURE - Workplace Diversity

Workplace Diversity and Business Success: An Interview With Nareen Young, CEO, Diversity of Council Australia

By Tamar Ferhad

14

BlackBiz Indigenous Business Magazine - issue #08 WINTER 2013

FEATURE - Workplace Diversity

S

even years ago I attended a ‘diversity in the workplace’ event. The message resonating most with me was that an organisation embracing diversity in ideas and people are more innovative. If you like to employ a workforce and create a culture of remaining agreeable and not challenging the status quo, then problem solving would not be your strong point. In a ‘smaller’ world today whereby we can select graphic designers, computer programmers and others from a pool of people around the globe (which in itself is embracing diversity), innovation needs to be one of your organisational values.

This perspective is shared by and drives membership to the Diversity Council of Australia (DCA) organisation.

According to DCA’s findings published on their website, www.dca.org.au, diversity is clearly linked with commercial success: • “Studies in Australia and overseas have found that companies with more women directors on their boards delivered better financial performance.

• A survey of work-life balance for Australian employers found that best practice organisations reported significant business benefits from worklife initiatives.

• A U.S. study found that racial diversity in the workplace is associated with increased sales revenue, more customers, greater market share and greater relative profits.”

The Diversity Council of Australia has been lead by CEO Nareen Young since 2007. In 2012, she was named by the Financial Review and Westpac Group as one of ‘Australia’s 100 Women of Influence’, and received the top honour in the diversity category.

She was also named one of the ‘Twenty Most Influential Female Voices of 2012’ by ‘Daily Life’. - See more at: http://dca.org.au/about-dca/our-team. html#sthash.JfEiAkD2.dpuf. After my interview with Nareen I appreciated how influential she really is, however with admirable humility she shares the credit for the improvements in Australia’s diversity in the workplace with other organisations and key historical events, like Kevin Rudd’s historic 2008 apology to the Stolen Generation.

TF:

Your profile on the Diversity Council of Australia website states that you aligned the DCA to the contemporary needs of Australian workplaces. What did the DCA look like prior to you joining as CEO in 2007 and how has it been transformed?

NY:

Prior to being appointed as CEO in 2007, the Diversity Council of Australia had 7090 members (members pay annual subscription fees to receive a range of services and benefits). And the organisation was more of a consultancy undertaking diversity investigations and delivering training like Diversity 101.

I had a really strong belief that there is a need for an organisation in the Australian business space as a peak diversity body. The DCA already had the infrastructure in place and I didn’t want to lose that.

Members join and then access our broad range of services and products, which as a business model, is working very well. (These services include advisory services, speakers’ bureau, research, events, knowledge sharing and others, visit http://dca.org. au/our-services.html for more information).

We run a member survey every year, to find out what they do and don’t like, because as a member-driven organisation, I’m a true believer in people getting value for money and delivering the absolute best you can.

Compared to 2007, the proof is in the pudding, we have grown our membership by over 120 members which tells me our organisation is delivering value to Australian businesses.

TF:

In what ways have you contributed to the awareness and understanding of diversity in Australian business and what were the results of this contribution

NY:

As a peak body and not-for-profit organisation, we turn out high level research, keep the business community honest, are in touch with diversity practice and are the ‘go-to’ body for diversity in Australia.

However, we are not solely responsible for the success in building awareness and understanding of diversity in businesses. Over the last five years, there has been an enormous change in how diversity is viewed in

BlackBiz Indigenous Business Magazine - issue #08 WINTER 2013

15

FEATURE - Workplace Diversity

Australian businesses. Five years ago, diversity was treated as an ‘add-on’, a ‘nice to have’, and more so the responsibility of HR. Now gender equality and Aboriginality in employment are becoming more and more understood, and mainstream.

TF: NY:

have different needs and aspirations to mothers with teenagers.

Other identities in the Australian population are where people are from, where their families are from and these impact on who we are and how we identify with ourselves.

What happened to cause this change?

A lot of things happened around gender due to a report published by the Department of Employment and Equal Opportunity in 2008 saying that equal opportunity for women has gone backwards, which was the catalyst for an enormous flurry of activity.

TF:

Of the research conducted by the DCA, which one provided the most astonishing

results?

NY:

Most research is conducted around a developing trend and something we have identified because we are pro-active and know what’s happening in the Australia business scene, therefore results mostly confirm and support trends.

The most astonishing result was the lack of conversation around cultural diversity. Until recently, we were simply seen as all Australian, which we are, but we all have multi and shifting identities, which is not even discussed. These identities are being discussed now and that’s fantastic.

TF: NY:

What do you mean by multi and shifting identities?

Women make up 52% of the population and are still under-represented in leadership roles, however, the progress to date is due to women ‘getting off their butts’ and being active, and all credit to them. The discussion which didn’t happen in the past, but is starting to now is about women being seen as different. Women are born in different places, their parents are born in different places, they identify with different cultural backgrounds and want different things from their careers, this simple acknowledgement of the differences is being sorted out and it’s positive. As for multiple and shifting identities women are mothers, partners, aunties, sisters, cousins, etc, however their life stage and the stages of those around them means they have different aspirations. Mothers of toddlers 16

TF:

Do you believe Kevin Rudd’s 2008 apology to the Stolen Generation has had an impact on diversity in the workplace?

NY:

The apology to the Stolen Generation was a very significant and symbolic acknowledgement, which has definitely had an impact.

The volume of organisations with Reconciliation Action Plans is a welcomed development, a trend post apology and all credit needs to go to Reconciliation Australia and their supporters for that achievement.

TF:

The world is becoming smaller and more multicultural, so how is Australia compared with other countries in terms of embracing diversity?

NY:

I don’t think we can compare, as it’s bit dangerous. Every country has it’s own type of diversity due to culture, type of immigration and impacts of colonialism, therefore it’s not fair to compare. I know there is a lot of leadership around embracing diversity.

TF:

How have Australian workplaces changed from your experience? How far have we come, and how far do we have to go?

NY:

The differences are incomparable to 20 years ago. When I first started off in the workplace, 25 years ago, people were fighting for part time work and return to work after maternity leave. Community expectations changed quicker than workplaces. Workplaces are starting to catch up and business leaders are starting to get it, it’s still not perfect, but it’s definitely on the right track. Workplaces are very important and influential places, and have set community standards, including the revolution due to anti-discrimination legislative frameworks. These need to be maintained so we can continue to move forward.

For more information on the great work of the Diversity Council of Australia check their website at www.dca.org.au BlackBiz Indigenous Business Magazine - issue #08 WINTER 2013

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BlackBiz Indigenous Business Magazine - issue #08 WINTER 2013

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MARKETING MIX - Tamar Ferhad

Creating your online and social media strategy PART 2

The key to social media and online marketing is content. And the key to the content is quality as well as commitment.

18

T

he online space has experienced explosive growth over the past few years. 18 years ago, my university lecturer was educating us about the power of the Internet, 10 years ago, I was consulting to my clients about Blogs, online newsletters and current content on their website. Today, the myriad of platforms available for you to promote your organisation and self are enormous, and coupled with that enormity is a lot of volume or noise that your clients have to sift through in order to hear your voice. As a result, you are faced with the following questions:

BlackBiz Indigenous Business Magazine - issue #08 WINTER 2013

MARKETING MIX - Tamar Ferhad

1.

Where should you be promoting your organisation?

about how you do it. With all social media, you can reach a wide network of people very easily, in theory.

2.

What is it you will communicate?

3.

How regularly will you do it?

So, here’s the theory, I post something really interesting on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. My audience are going to find the content so interesting and compelling that they need to share it with their friends, and those people will believe the content is equally interesting and will share the content with their friends etc, etc, leading to exponential market reach.

In every marketing article written for BlackBiz, I have expressed the importance of understanding your market, giving them what they want and being unique by setting new benchmarks in your industry. So with all that in mind, I’ll continue with the choices you have regarding Social Media. Remember, that with all social media, there is a lot of “noise”, so know what your competitors are doing and do something different and better so you can stand out!

The potential for marketing yourself through Social Media is enormous, however, you have to be clever

Now, the trick is, what does your audience find interesting and compelling? If you can answer that question, then you have the basis for your strategy.

The beauty of these platforms is that you are able to identify what they find interesting, and in doing so make adjustments to your strategy. However, first impressions do count, so be careful about where and how you’re experimenting.

Facebook Facebook boasts some interesting statistics, like •

There are over 800 million users around the world.

•

50% of Facebook members log in everyday to check with their updates.

•

The average Facebook user creates 90 pieces of content each month - let’s do the math here, if over 800 million users create on average 90 pieces of content per month, that is over 7.2 billion pieces of content per month.

What does this mean to you?

Every business, serious about business has a Facebook page. This is an unavoidable truth. You have to ensure you’re using it effectively. If you are running an organisation with an authoritative ‘voice’, like a consultancy of any type, then you need to provide content like case studies, articles, research and interviews. If you are running a retail store, then you can engage with your audience by posting quirky comments, quotes, electronic postcards or youtube clips relevant to your product or service. If you are running a community organisation then you need to post information about your events, profile the members of your community as well as your team, discuss topics relevant to your community, be it from the media, or from your work and post heart-warming or touching stories.

The key is not to continually ‘sell’, this gets tiring for your readers and they’ll very quickly block you. You need to add value, be interesting and/or be emotive, whether that is posting something interesting to confirm your expertise, making somebody laugh, making somebody cry, or making somebody think, and then respond.

Remember, Facebook is very visual, and pictures always speak louder than words.

Facebook also has some great statistical tools so you are able to see which posts were popular and how many people they reached. Please do not post for the sake of it, develop a strategy so you know what type of content you need and try to post daily or at least 3-4 times per week.

www.facebook.com

BlackBiz Indigenous Business Magazine - issue #08 WINTER 2013

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MARKETING MIX - Tamar Ferhad

...

LinkedIn LinkedIn is similar to Facebook, however it is more of a professional online network than a social one. LinkedIn members want to be informed about industry information, and are interested in expanding and maintaining contact with their professional network.

Similar to Facebook, your content should be regular and more importantly of high quality.

LinkedIn allows your organisation, as well as your employees to have a profile. Ensure your organisation and your staff profiles tell the same story and present you in a professional manner. This includes your photograph on your personal profile. Ensure it reflects your personality, as well as your integrity and credibility in your industry.

The beauty of LinkedIn are the Groups and Discussions. Every industry has a group. Make sure you join it, if one doesn’t exist create one and get your colleagues to join. Within these groups, discussions are usually generated. Join in on the discussions, become visible and demonstrate your expertise. You can create specific groups, but only do so once you have a strong network and you know that your network would be interested in joining. Don’t limit yourself to only joining discussions, but create discussions, get people talking, engage with your industry or clients or prospective clients in an intelligent manner in order to develop credibility and to build a good reputation. www.linkedin.com

Google+ Now Google + is relatively new in the social and professional online network game, with only 85000 members in Australia. It is more like LinkedIn, in terms of its target market, professionals, however because it’s only new you will probably consider leaving Google + out of your strategy. Please Do NOT! Established social and professional online networks have enormous audiences, which, as highlighted with the Facebook example above, means there is a lot of content that people have to sift through.

Now, with a newer player like Google +, the advantage you have by joining is twofold. Firstly, you can stand out easier because it is not a “noisy” place yet. So by marketing yourself, you can start building a reputation quicker. Secondly, although Google say that your Google + profile does not affect your organisation’s search results, just quietly, between us, it coincidently does. So, when Google, who likes to list organisations with a strong social media presence, is looking at your organisation, and compares it to similar ones without a Google + account, you will be placed in good stead. plus.google.com

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BlackBiz Indigenous Business Magazine - issue #08 WINTER 2013

MARKETING MIX - Tamar Ferhad

...

Twitter If volume of posts into a social medium were heard and not read, Twitter would be noisier than 20 preschool kids, locked inside on a rainy day, after drinking red cordial.

Twitter is very “noisy”. There are two reasons, I believe, for why this is the case. Firstly, one of the ways of promoting yourself through Twitter is by following your target audience. Your existing contacts should be following you, and will do so, to be polite; Twitter users do follow an unwritten law of ‘scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours’. If you know a lot of people you can build your followers very quickly, and probably faster than your LinkedIn and Facebook networks. If you have something interesting to say for your industry, clients, networks, that too will boost your followers. Secondly, posts are only short, 140 characters. So as a communication tool, twitter users master the art of getting to the point very effectively. These two factors result in a lot of people, tweeting and retweeting information. (Tweeting is when you post on Twitter, retweeting is when you want to share something you found interesting.) Twitter was also born on the delivery of topical and timely information. Celebrities use it to update their fans as to what they are doing by the minute (naturally, through ghost writers). Media use it to update their readers when they are at an event and want to keep their readers engaged in a story they are covering.

A lot of noise means that in 1 minute you can receive, up to 10 new tweets by the people you follow.

Resulting in your tweets getting lost very quickly amongst all the other tweets.

As Facebook and LinkedIn are not so busy, your posts are more likely to be visible throughout the day.

Therefore, when your network logs in, they will more often than not see your posts. With Twitter, if you have something important you want to say, you need to find out which time of day is the best time to Tweet. The advantage, is that you can experiment and chances are people will not notice. So to test the waters consider tweeting a message 3 times over a day. Before work, at lunch, and after 6pm. If your tweet is interesting enough people will retweet or reply to you and you can gauge which time had the best response. You can also experiment with content. Twitter is about timely content. www.twitter.com

Content Hopefully you have understood the different audiences and the differences between Facebook, LinkedIn, Google + and Twitter. The biggest reason I love social and online media is that analytics are available for you in order to develop your strategy and measure its effectiveness. Your marketing plan needs to be based on you standing out from your competitors, and the best way to do this online is through content. You can measure the interest in your content by looking at your website statistics and identifying the most popular pages in terms of traffic, as well as the period of time

website visitors spent on those pages. You can also measure the most effective delivery mechanism for this traffic by marketing separate pages and articles through the different social media. This will allow you to have a malleable marketing plan, one that is not set in stone, but responds and changes according to your market.

Next edition, I’ll go through Google Analytics to show you how to measure the effectiveness of your marketing.

BlackBiz Indigenous Business Magazine - issue #08 WINTER 2013

21

ARTICLE - Healthy Living Book Series

Aboriginal Literacy Foundation

GIVES AWAY

80,000 BOOKS T

he Aboriginal Literacy Foundation (ALF) recently launched its new ‘Healthy Living’ book series of early-reader books at an event at Minimbah Public School in Armidale, NSW. As part of the launch, 80,000 books have been funded by the ALF which will be given away to disadvantaged Indigenous children throughout Australia in coming months.

The ALF says that the need in Indigenous communities for books such as these is long overdue.

The initiative aims to address the lack of literacy resources written specifically for the Aboriginal culture and environment. The books were written and illustrated to reflect Aboriginal characters, interests and the remote Australian landscape.

“These books have been written especially for Aboriginal children. We have needed a product like this for far too long, and I am delighted that from today we can start to provide this.”

The four books in the Healthy Living books series each carry a health and wellbeing message which will help to educate children – with their families – about essential life lessons such as healthy eating, safe play, feeling good and self-esteem.

22

“Children want to read books with characters and stories that they can relate to and that interest them.

They are far less likely to enjoy reading about a plot with foreign themes and characters that are nothing like themselves”.

The project will see 20,000 Indigenous children throughout Australia given the four-book series to take home and keep. The recipients will largely come from remote Indigenous communities and will be chosen based on their economic and educational disadvantage.

BlackBiz Indigenous Business Magazine - issue #08 WINTER 2013

ARTICLE - Healthy Living Book Series

...

For a large majority of the children who receive these books they will be the very first books they have ever owned themselves.

The book series was written by author and literacy expert Jennifer Cooper-Trent who has also written Fantastic Phonics, renowned phonics reading program.

Ms. Cooper-Trent says the reading program has been used in many disadvantaged communities with incredible results, including Rwanda and Liberia, South Africa, Bangladesh, Sudan and now Australia. Many students have demonstrated an improvement of phonic fluency by 250% - the equivalent of three years schoolingwithin one year of using the program, based on the results of 3 years of research by USAid,� she said.

The four books include original cover art by Bibi Barba, an acclaimed Indigenous artist, with a strong sense of story-telling which represents the dreamtime and Indigenous art.

The ALF hopes that the books will not only advance progression towards closing the literacy gap, but also improve upon the startling health disadvantages that plague remote Indigenous communities.

A wide range of health problems are prevalent in remote communities, many of which exist through a lack of basic health education. Whilst we improve the literacy standards of these young children we hope that we can also instil some simple but essential healthy living messages.

health, nutrition and safe play.

The ALF will begin the distribution of the 80,000 books this month, with the aim to reach 20,000 children during the next six months. Over 25 communities in the Kimberley, Pilbara, Far North Queensland, Central Australia, and the Northern Tablelands region of NSW have been chosen for the first distribution round, with many more communities to follow.

The ALF expects that the delivery of the Healthy Living book series will improve phonic fluency amongst over 70% of the children, an essential skill for literacy progression. By improving literacy at this early stage of development, children are much more likely to progress to higher levels of education.

For further information on the initiative, contact CEO David Perrin at the ALF on email: davidperrin@aboriginalliteracyfoundation.org, or the book series Author, Jennifer Cooper-Trent, Healthy Living Books can be viewed at www.early-reading.com

These educational messages are also expected to have positive impacts on families and the wider community. As children often read with their parents, the books will indirectly educate the whole family BlackBiz Indigenous Business Magazine - issue #08 WINTER 2013

23

BIZPROFILE - Corporate Culcha

The ‘Corporate Culcha’ Touch

H

eaded up by CEO, Paul Dodd, Corporate Culcha is an Indigenous owned and operated business commencing operation in 2008 with an initial focus on Indigenous workforce development.

In just a few years, with the right ‘corporate culcha’ touch, the company has grown to provide a broader range of services and products to assist companies, government and organisations to successfully engage with and work with Indigenous Australian people and communities in urban, regional and remote locations.

Key elements of the Corporate Culcha business philosophy include:

EXPLORE Explore and investigate ways to improve your programs and service delivery to Indigenous communities and people, through our research and evaluation expertise.

EDUCATE Educate your workforce about diversity and inclusion, Indigenous culture and history to build and enhance respectful relationships and partnerships within and outside of your business.

24

ENGAGE Engage with your business and workforce to facilitate and develop partnerships, sustainable procurement and employment strategies in collaboration with Indigenous communities and external service providers.

INNOVATE Innovation is at the forefront of Corporate Culcha’s approach – we develop and deliver products and services using modern IT and digital technology resulting in time and cost savings for business.

An example of the key elements in practice is Corporate Culcha’s recent completion of a major project for the Commonwealth Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, in delivering outstanding results to remote Indigenous communities undertaking CDEP projects by improving mentoring capabilities and empowering local Aboriginal people and communities.

“Our team at Corporate Culcha put in an outstanding effort to deliver and exceed program targets set by the BlackBiz Indigenous Business Magazine - issue #08 WINTER 2013

BIZPROFILE - Corporate Culcha

... department,” said Corporate Culcha CEO, Paul Dodd.

Key program successes included:

“To have achieved this demonstrates our capability as a team to deliver large projects in remote communities and in a culturally respectful way with outstanding success rates.”

• Trained and/or supported over 406 Mentors and Community Development Officers in accredited or non-accredited mentor training, and in their mentoring roles.

Corporate Culcha delivered the “CDEP Mentor Training and Support Service” across remote Northern Territory, Western Australia and Queensland over a period of just 22 months.

• Delivered 36 x 5 day mentoring workshops across remote Northern Territory, Queensland and Western Australia during the course of the project (27 within a 3 month period as required by FaHCSIA).

“We exceeded key performance indicators and this resulted in high success rates for accredited mentor training in remote Aboriginal communities.”

“To be able to have helped grow Aboriginal communities by training their own people and key non Aboriginal staff to become mentors means that many more Aboriginal people will benefit from what they’ve learnt and this will be passed on through the mentoring Aboriginal people provide to others in their communities.”

Corporate Culcha was the first joint winner of the Australian Indigenous Minority Supplier Council (now Supply Nation) Connect 2012 Award for Supplier Diversity Partnership of the Year with the department for the project.

“It was a large and challenging project with not only geographical and social challenges, but also restrictive time constraints on initial rollout,” said Mr Dodd.

“It required commitment, respect, innovation and resilience by our team of staff to deliver the program.”

• Successfully supported 87% of training participants to complete to accreditation stage (27% higher than the KPI).

• Provided ‘next level’ training and support for 43 of those Mentors and Community Development officers to successfully complete Certificate III in Mentoring.

• Improved the retention rates to 83 % (33% higher than the KPI).

• Developed an interactive online training and information portal for participants.

For more information contact Paul Dodd, CEO, Corporate Culcha on email: pdodd@corporateculcha.com.au and/or visit website at www.corporateculcha.com.au

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25

BIZPROFILE - Yothu Yindi Foundation

PROFILING

the Yothu Yindi Foundation

In profiling the work of the Yothu Yindi Foundation (YYF), Black Biz recently caught up with General Manager, Denise Bowden.

By Tamar Ferhad

W

hen you are privileged enough to talk to Denise Bowden, who, as the General Manager of the YYF, is representing the Yolngu people of NE Arnhem Land, then sit forward, get comfortable and listen. For there is much to discuss on behalf of the projects being undertaken by YYF that provide economic opportunities, wellbeing projects and educational opportunities for the Yolngu people of the region.

1. Education - literacy and numeracy 2. Economic development; and 3. Cultural Awareness and Education.

YYF is a not-for-profit organisation established in 1990 by five clan groups of Arnhem Land. An exciting period of time for the Foundation, as Denise is juggling some exciting yet challenging projects which will have long lasting benefits for a people who are actively pursuing improved education delivery, hurdles such as remote living, price escalation, and addressing lack of housing and ongoing health needs.

Currently on Denise’s radar is the 15th annual Garma Festival on August 9, and the ongoing establishment of a bush university called the Garma Institute. This is currently being undertaken through the following avenues: 26

Education - The Garma Institute is affectionately referred to as the bush university, and was developed when YYF was first established. In order to build the Institute, Denise decided to set aside the 2012 Garma to focus on upgrading the facilities onsite at Gulkula with a plan to extend their flagship event by another ten years. The building of the infrastructure has included underground trenching of plumbing to avoid rogue bush fires sweeping across the site. It includes a new 270,000 water tank to cater to an audience of 2000.

The Garma commercial kitchen is all stainless steel and includes hot water for the first time ever in it’s 15 years of production. A new auditorium stretched across the escarpment seats more guests, and is media wired and professionally outfitted to ensure discussion on Indigenous Affairs is recorded and media exported to a national and international audience.

New permanent toilet and shower blocks are standing

BlackBiz Indigenous Business Magazine - issue #08 WINTER 2013

BIZPROFILE - Yothu Yindi Foundation

... awaiting the August event. The Garma Institute will be a major program focus, and all work has been completed in order to coincide with their 2013 Garma event on 9 August. Given the environment surrounding the recent Gonski report and the Indigenous vote placing a Liberal government into power due to the Indigenous vote, collectively, this means Denise certainly has her work cut out for her. In any case, the construction of the Garma Institute is a massive undertaking, and the support they’ve received from the FAHCSIA Minister, who has trusted the YYF to ‘get on with it’ and develop the institute has assisted greatly. Additionally John T Reid Charitable Trusts, the Gumatj Corporation and the Indigenous Land Corporation have also been great supporters.

corporations to make the journey to NE Arnhem Land each year as she promotes the Yolngu business-owned organisations that are emerging from the region. “NE Arnhem Land is a very exciting hub of activity at this time, and there are very impressive business structures being implemented which are community driven and community owned.” Denise said “My 30 year career to date has focused on Indigenous communities and regional development, and I must admit that the possibilities currently being undertaken in NE Arnhem Land have very positive implications for this region, and our strength comes from the hands-on approach of some of our senior Yolngu Elders. Without their unity and contribution, we would not have been able to achieve these enormous milestones to date.

Economic Development

Garma is Australias Leading Indigenous event, and this year the Yolngu clans are gearing up for a significant Yolngu ceremonial celebration. The Yolngu matha theme is Garma wu’ Guku_Lungthurra which means Getting People Together. This event is held on site, at the traditional and remote meeting ground called Gulkula. The Garma Ambassador is actor Jack Thompson, who boasts “It’s dynamite,” features in the adverts being run by Qantas airlines in June. The Garma Festival boasts 2000 participants, whereby they take part celebrating cultural traditions and practices, especially traditional dance (bunggul), song (manikay), art (miny’tji) and ceremony as well as the academic presentations within the Key Forum platform

Economic development is another key area of work undertaken by YYF. Partnerships with the Gumatj Corporation (the organisation belonging to the traditional land owners of the Gulkula site) has provided training for young men in milling, carpentry and building, to establish a team of Yolngu builders to develop housing and cattle farms, park benches for the public and the local gidayki stringybark timber strongly features within the fit out of the Garma Institute.

Opportunities for economic development is also a focus of the Garma Festival, given that Denise spends a large percentage of her time encouraging large

BlackBiz Indigenous Business Magazine - issue #08 WINTER 2013

27

BIZPROFILE - Yothu Yindi Foundation

... on language, culture, education, economic development and other Indigenous issues.

Politicians, like Federal Minister Jenny Macklin & ex-Timorese President Jose Ramos Horta attend almost out of their security zones in the more relax Yolnguframe of mind. Companies and organisations like Pacific Aluminium, Jawun, Forestry Tasmania, Generation One, NAB, CBA, respected local Elders and many more get involved in the festival each year.

Cutural Awareness and Education Fast becoming a mini-Garma in itself are students from around Australia who participate in a program of reconciliation.

Students stemming from interstate schools such as St Columbans in Brisbane, Scotch College & Geelong Grammar in Melbourne are able to participate and mix with pupils from an array of remote schools, the closest being Yirrkala School and Gove township school students. Denise relays that “The programming of the 2013 Youth Forum is structured this year to ensure that the youth are aware of the history of the 1963 Yirrkala Bark Petition as we mark its 50th anniversary this year with a significant Yolngu ceremony”.

Additionally, there will be mentors on hand to clearly explain the background of the national push for Constitutional Reform. “It is difficult for Australians of any age group

28

to completely understand the subject of Constitutional Reform,” Denise Bowden said. “Some of Australia’s leading thinkers will speak with the youth about these important matters, plus general issues such as career pathways, wellbeing, social justice and reconciliation”.

The Garma Youth Forum will begin with a traditional smoking ceremony, a talk on the 6 Yolngu seasons, guided walks detailing the significance of medicinal plants and the bush pharmacy surrounds, cultural activities, dance & music workshops and much much more.

Don’t forget to put the 2013 Garma Festival In your diary, and check out the YYF website www.yyf.com.au for more information.

BlackBiz Indigenous Business Magazine - issue #08 WINTER 2013

INDIGCAREER - Graduation

Graduation celebration at Yuendumu contributing to Remote Early Childhood Indigenous Workforce Batchelor Institute Indigenous students receiving Certificate III in Children’s Services at a graduation ceremony, Yuendumu, Northern Territory

Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education honoured Indigenous students of the Building the Remote Early Childhood Workforce (BRECW) Project who are studying Certificate III in Children’s Services. The graduation ceremony was held on Thursday 2 May in the remote community of Yuendumu in the Northern Territory.

The graduation ceremony was part of a career expo that was organised by the Yuendumu Training Network Group, chaired by Ms Liz Banney. Ms Banney is the BRECW embedded educator/trainer living in Yuendumu. Ms Banney also provides educational support for students studying with Batchelor Institute.

The ceremony was an opportunity to recognise student efforts and achievements.

One of the Indigenous students, Ms Ormay Nangala Gallagher, was recognised on the night for having achieved an Advanced Diploma of Teaching.

Batchelor Institute is a Registered Training Organisation (RTO) for the Project. The Institute has developed project specific workbooks (Learning at Work books) for course use. The project is supported by the Department of Education and Training Northern Territory.

The aims of the Project are to: • deliver training which builds on the individual strengths of students • increase qualifications and skills of the Yuendumu-based Indigenous Early Childhood workforce • support a more integrated, culturally competent early childhood workforce that can work collaboratively across early childhood development services.

The model will support development of core skills which value local Indigenous views and knowledge, including generic early childhood development, family engagement and collaborative practices Erica Naparrurla Ross, an inspiring Indigenous student who received a Certificate I in Work Preparation said, ‘I was happy and proud to get a Certificate in front of lots of people and family and to let people know that we work at child care and in the school’.

BlackBiz Indigenous Business Magazine - issue #08 WINTER 2013

29

INDIGCAREER - Graduation

...

Mary Napangardi Butcher also received her Certificate I and said, ‘It was really important for us to get the certificate. It gives us a lot of opportunities and we can teach our kids together, Yapa and Kardiya, working as a team’.

“The graduation ceremony was a chance for the women to be acknowledged for their hard work in studying and for their leadership roles within the community in working with child care, in schools and with families. There are not a lot of opportunities for people to celebrate their achievements in remote communities and it was very special to see the students’ excitement and pride. It was a special night.” Ms Banney said.

The expo proved a wonderful showcase for Indigenous students and hundreds of people from the community, as well as up to 20 outside groups/agencies exhibiting at the expo. There was an atmosphere of fun and celebration and the night ended with dancing and laughter as the local band concluded the event.

Batchelor Institute offers Vocational Education and Training programmes for Indigenous people to build their

30

future. These qualifications prepare students for work readiness; providing opportunities to develop skills in English literacy, numeracy and employability, including computer training, training for employment outcomes in a range of industries including Conservation Land Management, Community Services, Construction, Mining, Health and Wellbeing, Creative Arts and Languages.

Employers are encouraged to contact Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education to discuss training options for their workforces.

The Institute has a free call number (Ph) 1800 677 095 to assist Indigenous people to find out more about the VET courses on offer.

For industry interested in supporting workplace training please contact Business Development Manager at 8939 7263.

Email enquiries can be sent to enquiries@batchelor.edu.au or visit www.batchelor.edu.au

BlackBiz Indigenous Business Magazine - issue #08 WINTER 2013

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Contact the editor now at editor@blackbiz.com.au www.blackbiz.com.au