Gavin Pearce (Braddon, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Health, Aged Care and Indigenous Health Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to update the House on the outstanding work that Brumby Hill Aboriginal Corporation is doing right across the great electorate of Braddon in Tasmania. Brumby Hill is based in the rural town of Smithton on the far north-west coast of Tasmania, but their work reaches right across the entire coast. They're an organisation that's helping Aboriginal people to find sustainable, meaningful employment, and this is an employment model that is working. Brumby Hill has developed a successful mechanism by which they get jobseekers on the first rung of the employment ladder. It's a model that works because it's local and it's aimed at locals. It's meaningful and it's driven by a passion to make a real difference in the lives of young Aboriginal people. The statistics speak for themselves. Since the organisation began in 2017, Brumby Hill has supported over 200 clients, and over 80 per cent of them have been connected with meaningful employment. Among their many successes and their stories is a young Indigenous woman undertaking her first-year apprenticeship at Alpha Electrics as a fitter. A couple of young fellows are working at Rodney Collins's earthmoving business as plant operators and fitters. There are also placements at the William Adams CAT dealership.

Brumby Hill is not just about getting people into work and walking away. Providing an ongoing face-to-face mentoring mechanism and being there for them when the road gets a little bumpy is important. Providing the advice and the calm assurance that young people sometimes need is the secret behind this fantastic success. Closing the gap is complex. But I firmly believe that, in order to do that, we need to instil self-confidence and a sense of self-esteem and pride in our young people and get them standing on their own two feet, with their shoulders pulled back and their chests puffed out. That's what we need for our young Indigenous people: the pride that comes from employment, hard work and achievement. When you have to work hard at something in order to achieve it, that's what builds this pride. They can hold their heads up high, as I said, and look forward to what the next day will bring because they can meet any challenge head on. Having a job often leads to getting a better job. Success breeds success.

This contribution from Brumby Hill is making a real difference. They're, indeed, a force multiplier in our region when it comes to employment. Thank you and congratulations to the team—Leonie, Scott and Graeme. You genuinely care about the future of young Indigenous people in Tasmania.