New Initiatives
27 September 2012
Employment and Education are two of Wunan’s five strategic priority areas. In each area, government is tendering a new initiative that will impact the East Kimberley Aboriginal community. Wunan is pursuing both tenders with the aim of delivering improved services to those seeking better outcomes for themselves and their families.
1. In remote areas, the Remote Jobs and Communities Program (RJCP) will replace a number of existing employment-related initiatives. A key aspect of the new model is that there will be only one provider of federally-funded employment services per region. This consolidation greatly simplifies things for the job seeker and will enable the provider to work closely with each community in the region to ensure job and participation outcomes support community objectives.
Wunan currently holds a Job Services Australia (JSA) contract for the East Kimberley; JSA is one of the programs that will be rolled up into RJCP. Our recent JSA results have been encouraging with 239 job seekers placed into employment in 2011 and results for 2012 placing Wunan 2nd in remote Australia. Wunan has also produced good results under the Indigenous Employment Program in conjunction with Bina-Waji Nyurra-Nga Aboriginal Corporation, training and placing job seekers into the pastoral industry.
With these outcomes and our strong relationship with local communities, Wunan is confident that it could achieve strong outcomes as the selected provider in the three RJCP regions covering the East Kimberley.
2. The Kununurra Children and Family Centre is approaching completion. The Centre is being built by the Western Australian Department of Education under the Closing the Gap: National Partnership Agreement on Indigenous Early Childhood Development. Wunan is committed to providing child care and associated services to Aboriginal communities, to encourage early learning and meet the health and development requirements of mothers and children. To this end, Wunan has partnered with Save the Children Australia and Yawoorroong Miriuwung Gajerrong Yirrgeb Noong Dawang Aboriginal Corporation (MG Corp) in a tender to manage and operate the Centre. Other organisations have agreed to work with the partners to ensure the centre provides both a comprehensive range of services and training and employment opportunities for those seeking a career in child care. These organisations include the Mirima Dawang Woorlab-gerring Language and Culture Centre, Allied Health Services, Gawooleng Yawoodeng Children’s Services, Kimberley Aboriginal Medical Services Council and Kimberley Training Institute.
Wunan currently operates the Halls Creek Children and Family Centre in partnership with Little Nuggets Early Learning Centre and Save the Children. The Centre has proven itself to be a valuable resource for the entire Halls Creek community. With the learnings from Halls Creeks and our ability to establish effective partnerships, Wunan is confident that the partnership with Save the Children and MG Corp could operate an equally successful centre in Kununurra.