An urban-regional partnership sees Swan Hill’s agricultural skill shortages met by African trainees
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July 12, 2005Trainees in Swan Hill (vic) are working on fencing, machinery and tractor operations at NutriGreen, the farm that grows ingredients for the Nutrimetics cosmetic company. Funded under the Government’s Community Jobs Program, trainees from Victoria’s Horn of Africa community, which traditionally has high levels of unemployment, has completed initial training in Melbourne to get them ‘job-ready’. They will receive further ‘on-the-job’ training through the City of Maribyrnong.
This is a regional-urban partnership between:
– Murray Mallee Training Co Ltd Swan Hill (MMTC)
– Horn of Africa Communities Network Footscray (HACN)
– Victoria University Footscary Campus (VU)
– the City of Maribyrnong
– Swan Hill Rural City Council.
Key players MMTC, HACN and VU have informally developed a program over three years. The relocation program is not just about employment and meeting skills shortages. It also promotes refugee and migrant communities to Murray Mallee people as a positive addition to their community socially, culturally and economically. All the partners bring individual areas of expertise.
Jacinta Allan, Minister for Employment and Youth Affairs, notes how well the trainees are doing, learning skills that will help them get more work in the future, while contributing to the local community.
