Time to Listen Cape York Partnership

A talk on the passive welfare underclass and the urgent need for a universal Job Guarantee with Cape York Partnership founder Noel Pearson

With jobseekers outnumbering available jobs in many Cape York communities, many find themselves in the grips of passive welfare that strips them of their purpose and self-worth and places them at high risk of being left behind by the real economy.
The benefits of employment go far beyond an earned income for one individual. A genuine, meaningful job restores personal pride, builds resilient families and creates safer communities.
On this episode of Time to Listen, we hear the second and final part of Noel Pearson's oration on the passive welfare underclass at the 12th Renate Kamener Oration – a fundraising event for Melbourne University's Ormond College Indigenous Scholarship. 

In part two of Noel's speech, he explores the work of Professor Bill Mitchell, the founder of the Job Guarantee concept. The concept is simple. It is a job for all those who are able to work. The job pays the minimum wage, superannuation contributions and leave entitlements. It brings the dignity of work to every Australian including the disabled, mentally ill and extremely disadvantaged. 

Thank you for taking the time to listen.
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A talk on the passive welfare underclass and the urgent need for a universal Job Guarantee with Cape York Partnership founder Noel Pearson

With jobseekers outnumbering available jobs in many Cape York communities, many find themselves in the grips of passive welfare that strips them of their purpose and self-worth and places them at high risk of being left behind by the real economy.
The benefits of employment go far beyond an earned income for one individual. A genuine, meaningful job restores personal pride, builds resilient families and creates safer communities.
On this episode of Time to Listen, we hear Noel Pearson's oration on the passive welfare underclass at the 12th Renate Kamener Oration – a fundraising event for Melbourne University's Ormond College Indigenous Scholarship. 

Thank you for taking the time to listen.
Support the show

An Introduction to Ngak Min Health with Charmaine Nicholls, Melanie Dunstan and Matthew Carson

Indigenous Australians have an average life expectancy 19 years below that of wider Queensland and an unparalleled lack of access to healthcare services.  And the health gaps start early.  So what if we could improve early intervention by opening a holistic health clinic on an Indigenous school campus? 

Introducing Ngak Min Health, a clinic co-located on the grounds of Djarragun College in Gordonvale, just south of Cairns.

On this episode of Time to Listen, we speak with Ngak Min Health General Manager Charmaine Nicholls, Nurse Practitioner Melanie Dunstan and Doctor Matthew Carson.

Being located on a college campus helps Ngak Min reduce inequalities in health outcomes by developing health-seeking behaviour and giving control to the students and families to make decisions about their own health.

Of the student population who attend Ngak Min, 10% already have a chronic diagnosis and more than 75% did not have a health check in the 12 months before their enrolment.
"The advantage for us working in this space is that we have a school here, so we can screen the school kids and pick up things before they even get sick. We have the opportunity to do health promotion so we can teach kids how to brush your teeth, how to cough, how to a clean your ears, how to look after your skin... We've got a great opportunity to change lives and change lives early," says Mel, Ngak Min Health Nurse Practitioner.

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Would you like to learn more about the Ngak Min Health? Check out their website:
Ngak Min Health
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Do Indigenous Australians get more welfare than non-Indigenous Australians? 
Should the Commonwealth Government stop funding welfare? 
What can be done to close the employment gap? 
Is there a viable replacement for Community Development Programs (CDP)? 
Why haven't employment programs in Indigenous communities led to the empowerment of community members?
How can the Commonwealth Government increase individual agency, responsibility and community participation of unemployed community members?

We explore these questions and more with Cape York Institute Head of Policy Prue Briggs in this episode of Time to Listen. 

Prue speaks about the difference between employment programs and full employment and where government expenditure would be best directed. Prue also addresses the historical economic exploitation of Indigenous peoples, universal basic income versus a jobs guarantee, the affordability of a jobs guarantee, productive work versus working for the dole, and sources of erroneous economic assumptions and criticisms leveled at Indigenous employment interventions.

As a passionate reformist, Prue has over 15 years of experience in public policy having worked for three premiers, ministers and at the executive level of public service. Prue has an extensive background in political strategy and public policy specialising in strategic coalition building, policy reform and campaign management. 

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With no connection to the national grid, many remote communities of Cape York currently rely on diesel generators to power their lives. But what if there was a greener solution?  One that was not only better for the environment, but brought long-lasting economic benefits to the community. 

Cape York Hydrogen plans to find out.

In this episode of Time to Listen, we talk to Cape York Hydrogen Project Lead David Thompson and HDF Energy Project Manager and Engineer Bryan Dumail about their plans to work with communities at Northern Peninsula Area and Torres Strait to develop green hydrogen energy solutions and remove their reliance on diesel generation.

These hybrid energy solutions will combine solar farms with an energy storage system based on hydrogen to create renewable energy. They will also create training and job opportunities for locals and build the community's energy independence. Power to the people by the people.

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 The National Centre for Vocational Education and Research has published its student equity in VET data tables. It revealed an eleven percentage point gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous completion rates of VET qualifications.

In their report, Indigenous Participation in VET: Understanding the Research, NCVER revealed that the VET sector needed to improve and adapt to better engage Indigenous students with VET. More successful engagement, they said, is built on community ownership, genuine partnerships with communities, respect for cultural knowledge and local capabilities, integration of cultural knowledge into training, and alignment of education and training with aspirations and, in the case of remote areas, local employment opportunities. 

So what if educational institutions designed and delivered VET programmes with cultural awareness accompanied with a likelihood of employment in the communities students plan on returning to?

Introducing Djarragun College's  Academies of Excellence - a recent and profound innovation providing VET learning and qualifications to its predominantly Indigenous student body.

In part two of this episode of Time to Listen we speak with Mandy Ross, Djarragun's Dean of Academies of Excellence and Noel Mason, Djarragun's Dean of Academy of Creative and Performing Arts. 

"To improve the attraction and retention of our Indigenous students in VET programmes it really is all about the cultural connections. It starts at the beginning when the students are being informed about the VET opportunities or the courses that are available to them. We need to see Indigenous people in the marketing material. We need to see them and we need to hear their voices. When students are watching a clip with Indigenous people, they will sometimes know them and immediately the engagement goes off the scale. It's a relative or, you know, someone even closer to them that they know from their own community. And it's very exciting to watch the engagement. They also need the face to face contact from Indigenous people who are working in those areas. So here at Djarragun, we try to take the students out at least once a term to industry and connect with Indigenous people working in those areas. We have made connections with a couple of employers in the Cairns community and they do provide time for their Indigenous staff to come in and speak to our students and we really appreciate that. They're the sort of experiences that our kids need to keep involved and be reminded that the end goal is is really worth it," says Mandy, Djarragun's Dean of Academies of Excellence.

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Find the NCVER data here: Student equity in VET: participation, achievement and outcomes (ncver.edu.au)
Find their report Indigenous Participation in VET: Understanding the Research here: Indigenous participation in VET: understanding the research (ncver.edu.au)

Find out more about Djarragun College here: Djarragun College - Cape York Partnership
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