‘Indigenous skills’ boosts Aboriginal

By Dion Teasdale
SCHOOL is out for aboriginal educator and Yarra Glen resident Anne Jenkins.
Ms Jenkins has graduated from a new training program aimed at boosting management of indigenous community organisations.
The Senior Indigenous Education officer at Swinburne University, she completed the Certificate IV in Business Governance last month.
Aboriginal Affairs Minister, Gavin Jennings, awarded her and 13 other graduates, with the new qualification at a special ceremony held in Kilsyth.
The course, funded by the State Government, has been designed for members of indigenous boards to help them better understand and execute management roles and responsibilities.
Ms Jenkins has been involved with Aboriginal community organisations for the past 12 years and currently sits on several boards across the Yarra Valley.
She is a board member of Worawa Aboriginal College in Healesville, the Healesville Indigenous Arts Enterprise and the Indigenous Health team with Yarra Valley Community Health.
Ms Jenkins said the new course, the first of its kind in Victoria had offered participants an innovative approach to understanding the demands of being a board member. “As students, we were given the training, skills and knowledge needed to run effective indigenous organisations,” she said.
Ms Jenkins said the course had helped her build confidence.
“The management and service-delivery skills we studied were a far cry from where I was when I was first elected to sit as a board member,” she said.
“Back when I started out you were given very little opportunity to learn about how boards of management operated.”
Ms Jenkins said indigenous community organisations had often got into trouble because boards guiding them hadn’t always understood their roles and responsibilities.
“This course educates indigenous people on how to manage a business, on the various financial and legal responsibilities organisations have, and that’s a great thing,” she said.
“It means Aboriginal people will be able to better service community organisations and will hopefully encourage more people to take on leadership roles.”