Gary Gray (Brand, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for Western and Northern Australia) Share this | Hansard source

Despite having strict parents, this young woman still did not attend school on a consistent basis from the time that she had enrolled in the college. It was not until the school and the academy had discovered her talent for singing that her attendance improved. She was asked to sing at a number of school functions but was told that she had to be there to practice with the school teachers’ aide. Student A came every day in anticipation of the event and soaked up every opportunity to learn from her new singing tutor. Student A successfully performed at two school functions and continues to be at school everyday in preparation for year 12 in 2010. This is what Student A said:

Singing in front of people is a really big fear of mine, but I think practicing with Judy and being a bit more proud of myself made me a bit more confident. Singing at the Girls Academy Awards and Mass was a huge step for me. I was nervous on both days, but I think getting back a positive response from the audience definitely boosted my confidence more. It was a great experience for me and I enjoyed myself.

To have young Indigenous women reflecting that they not only enjoyed the experience at school but got from it greater pride and personal confidence speaks volumes for the way in which these programs work. I will read from case study B:

As the Girls Academy began interviewing for the Development Officer position earlier in the year, one of the candidates expressed her concern for a young relative of hers located in Cairns, Queensland. The young woman, aged 17 was not expected to graduate high school because she had disengaged the year before and become involved in drugs and alcohol. She loved to play basketball and it was widely known she was quite a talented young player.

She had a significant presence about her, but was not confident that she could make it to graduation for a wide range of reasons. With the help of Ricky, the Academy was able to negotiate the terms of her transfer from her previous high school and basketball club and got her started at the school in a the core curriculum available at the school.

Staff were not sure how city life would fit in with her, but she seemed to have a relatively stable home life to help her cope. It was first thought that this student did not have the capacity to communicate verbally as well as any other student. It was also thought that this student could not understand directions or written English beyond the age of 11 according to her carer.

As she progressed through her classes, the Academy continued to push her limits. She started to demonstrate a vast array of abilities in the classroom and in the sporting arena. While her punctuality and occasionally, attendance, was an issue, she continued to excel and soon became one of the most competent students in the school.

The young woman eventually graduated and has requested help from Academy staff to help her jump to the next chapter in her life. Here is an example of her writing as seen in her Academy journal in response to a guest speaker:

I thought the guest speaker spoke about a lot of important things in regards to our Indigenous mentality. She also addressed a few issues that we have here at school, such as the listening part. She was very inspirational and I really enjoyed her life stories, especially about the missions and the dreamtime.

I could go on with outstanding case studies that demonstrate the importance of the Clontarf Academy. I could go on with case studies that point to the importance of the work that Ricky Grace and Role Models does, but I do not need to do that. Suffice to say that these institutions are wonderful. They do a great job and it is appropriate that the government, through this initiative, supports these programs. It provides the right enduring mechanism to help get young Indigenous people job ready so that they can take up job opportunities such as those made available through Generation One through a whole range of companies, today. I commend this bill to the House.

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