Learning for Livelihoods

1
Learning for Livelihoods

• Lessons from training in diverse desert contexts

2
Diverse desert contexts

• The arid zone 45 of the continent crossing 5
  jurisdictions
  
• 34,000 Indigenous peoples and high population
  growth rates high mobility
  
• 457 discrete communities 72 with less than 50
  people
  
• 54 speak Indigenous language as first language
• Volatile participation in vocational education
  and training with signs of recent decline
  
• Significant declines in labour force
  participation of remote Indigenous people since
  2002

3
Snapshots data and emerging trends

• ? subject-only enrolments
• ? participation in health and education fields
• ? gap between school outcomes and skills required
  for participation in VET
  
• ? informal training funded from diverse areas
• ? chronic illness and disability, ? incarceration
  rates, ? tensions between place based mutual
  obligation activities and push/pulls to service
  centres
• Sweeping changes across Indigenous affairs
  crunching with mainstream education service
  provision
  

4
The desert andlearning sites
Newmont Tanami
Waltja
Murdi Paaki
DESART
5
Healthy Housing Workers program Murdi Paaki

• Training for rapid response house repairs and
  maintenance teams across 6 communities in the MP
  region
  
• Improving housing lifecycles, environmental
  health, cost effectiveness and local employment
  
• Strong partnershipsstrategic focus
• Strong leadership, local ownership, good
  coordination
  
• Capacity building alongside formal learning and
  clear pathways to work opportunities
  
• Sustainable and replicable

6
Waltja Tjutangku Palyapaicreating futures

• Evidence based job creation initiative known as
  Training Nintiringtjaku
  
• Developing community and individual capacity and
  real work whilst providing support for training
  organisations to deliver on-site
  
• Strong partnerships, local ownership
• Critical role of NGOs in brokering engagement
  and relationships
  
• Building on strengths, assets and enabling new
  skills leads to expanded opportunities

7
Newmont Tanamilearning to work

• Training and employment initiative funded and
  driven by Newmont
  
• Strong partnerships maintained and developed
• A model of continuous improvement attending to
  work operations and training issues
  simultaneously
  
• Formal training supported by building work
  readiness, cultural sensitivity in the workplace,
  elders mentoring programs initiatives
  
• 100 training completion and work transition in
  2005

8
DESART keeping building business

• Aboriginal Art a multi million industry whose
  niche and edge is strong contemporary cultures
  
• Social enterprise leading to economic
  development
  
• Scope of training needed unavailable training
  for artists vs training to work in the industry
  
• Recognition of prior learning and assessing
  skills on the job required
  
• Business mentoring, industry support networks,
• strong partnerships, brokerage, code of conduct
  and regulation
  
• Economies of scale and scope and connectedness

9
Key findings

• Partnership approaches essential but they need
  to be formalised, invested in, include local
  people/communities, have clear and explicit
  objectives and goals and adopt continuous
  improvement strategies
• Strategically devolve ownership and
  responsibility to the local level over time.
  
• The role of NGOs is critical to brokering and
  monitoring engagement at all levels and
  stimulating innovation and outcome
  
• Real opportunities, tangible outcomes, work to
  strengths not deficits, attract investments
  
• Scale is an issue but building economies of
  scope at organisational level is a practical and
  effective strategy
  

10
Lessons for new times

• New waves of incentives and punishments will bed
  down new issues and demand new responses
  
• Harnessing the mainstream mainstreaming
  innovation and strategic additional investments
  
• Threshold of engagement and participation
  required for success
  
• Investments in a continuum of learning and
  development opportunities with a suite of
  partners
  
• Identify clear objectives, build commitment from
  all parties, expand scope of activities and
  investments based on effective processes.

11

• Economies of scale

• Economies of scope

Small fragmented markets Efficiencies thru divers
ity
Larger scale, less cost mass markets
12
A NCVER and Desert Knowledge CRC research project

• Metta Young (Centre for Appropriate Technology)
• John Guenther (CAT Conatas and CDU)
• Alicia Boyle (Charles Darwin University)
• With many, many thanks to
• Pam Collier,
• Kate Lawrence, Margaret Kenny Orr. Irene Nungala,
  Marilyn Nungala, Sharijn King
  
• John Oster, Tania Beattie, Jill Gientzotis,
  Neville King
  
• Bruce Graham, Peter Stephenson, Zane Hughes
• Brian Fowler, Len Carter, Kailas Kerr
• Jan Richardson
• Evelyn Schaber
• and
• The Murdi Paaki Regional Housing Association,
  Waltja Tjutangku Palyapai, Desart Inc, Newmont
  Tanami, Batchelor Institute of Indigenous
  Tertiary Education, Tangentyere Artists, Keringke
  Artists, and everyone who assisted along the
  way.