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More help pledged to young Aboriginal people in South Western Sydney
Natalie Pierson - Regional Consultant Aboriginal Education and Engagement: SWS Public School NSW, Cassie Jackson – State Training Services: Aboriginal Coordinator Southern and South Western Sydney, David Roberts - Manager of Aboriginal Education and Training SWSi, Murat Dizdar - Regional Director of SWS Public School NSW, Neil Davies - State Training Services: Senior Aboriginal Employment Advisor, and Peter Roberts – Institute Director: TAFE NSW SWSi. Image: Joseph Sassine
by Tim Fitzsimmons
T
hree regional units within the NSW Department of Education and Communities recently signed a joint agreement pledging to do more to help young Aboriginal people living in South Western Sydney complete school and find work. The regional units that are party to the agreement are: • TAFE NSW – South Western Sydney Institute (SWSi); • South Western Sydney Public Schools; and • State Training Services – Aboriginal Services (Southern & South Western Sydney Region) Under the agreement, the three units aim to improve the delivery of programs and services to meet Aboriginal education and training outcomes across the region. This strategy is aligned to the Aboriginal
Affairs Ministerial Taskforce. South Western Sydney is home to more than 46,000 Aboriginal people, making it one of the largest urban Aboriginal communities in NSW. High school retention rates of Year 11 and 12 Aboriginal youth within the region is a focus area for the NSW Department of Education and Communities. TAFE SWSi Institute Director, Peter Roberts said that the new collaboration agreement was aimed at developing better education and employment outcomes for local young Aboriginal people. “We believe that local young Aboriginal people, like all young people in South Western Sydney, have a lot to offer our community,” Mr Roberts said. “The challenge is finding the best ways of keeping our young people engaged in the education and training system and creating
pathways to employment. “By working together we hope to ensure a seamless transition from high school to training to work.” The agreement was signed at the TAFE SWSi annual Reconciliation dinner at the SWSi Campbelltown. TAFE SWSi also signed a memorandum of understanding with Tharawal Aboriginal Corporation, an organisation that delivers medical services along with various community health and wellbeing programs to local Aboriginal people in South Western Sydney. The MOU is aimed at strengthening the relationship between the two organisations. TAFE SWSi is one of Australia’s largest educational institutions, delivering programs to more than 72,000 students every year in nine colleges across South Western Sydney, in workplaces all over Australia and in partner colleges in China and the Philippines. Page 1