The Shire of Kondinin is working with the Federal Government’s Community Development Employment Projects (CDEP) program to provide local Indigenous people with employment opportunities.
Located in the Eastern Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, Kondinin is situated 300 kilometres east of Perth. With a population of just under 1,200 people, some 20 per cent are Noongar people.
Kondinin CEO, Peter Webster, said that in 2006 Council worked with community development group, Red Ochre Consulting, to approach the community and identify factors limiting reconciliation, work opportunities and the general wellbeing of the town.
“The community consultation found that unemployment, crime and antisocial behaviour were seen as major problems and employment was thought to be the solution,” he said. “As a rural community, we have problems attracting people to work. Indigenous people don’t seem to travel too far from their area and we compete with other farming and manufacturing businesses in trying to attract staff. As part of the consultation, we worked with the Noongar community to find out what they were interested in doing and we obtained an idea of their skill level.
“Western Australia’s State Road Authority, Main Roads, had approached Council to reconstruct nine kilometres of the Brookton Highway, so we used this opportunity to recruit and train people in this area.”
Following the consultation, Council initiated the Shire of Kondinin Indigenous Employment Strategy (SKIES) project and provided employment and training opportunities to ten Noongar men to work on road construction. The men received fully accredited training as well as a blue card enabling them to work on a construction site, and a roller driving ticket. Some were also trained to drive the loader.
Peter Webster said that the entire roadworks project took approximately 15 weeks.
“Most of the men stayed with us for ten weeks and then moved on to other jobs or for other reasons,” he said. “At the end of the 15 week period, we were left with six of the original men. Two have become full time Councils employees, while the others work three days a week for Council. They undertake regular maintenance duties, such as landscaping, gardening, road maintenance and so forth.”
Peter Webster said Council formed a host agreement with CDEP, whereby Council pays the employees for one day, while CDEP pays for the remaining two days.
“Under this agreement, we have since put on another two men, bringing the total number of CDEP workers back up to six people,” he said. “With 254 kilometres of sealed road and 1,200 kilometres of unsealed road in the Shire, there is sure to be plenty of work well into the future for these workers. By providing the men with a regular job with Council, we can ensure that when roadworks do become necessary, we have trained staff ready to go.”
For further information contact Peter Webster, telephone
(08) 9889 1006 or email ceo@kondinin.wa.gov.au
