Page 28 - Australian Defence Magazine Dec-Jan 2023

28 DEFENCE BUSINESS INDIGENOUS RECRUITING DECEMBER 2022-JANUARY 2023 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
and Navy, and Air Force have a really good understanding of some of the needs that they require. And if we put up a good enough case, we can actually get them then recruited into Air Force as well.”
The Army Indigenous Development Program (AIDP) and Navy Indigenous Development Program (NIDP) are de- signed for young Indigenous adults that want to join the ADF but who may be challenged by reading, writing or fitness.
Each consists of a five-month residential development course (Kapooka, NSW or Berrimah, NT for Army candidates and Cairns, QLD for Navy candidates) where trainees achieve a TAFE Cert II in Foundational Skills, aligning education re- quirements for General Entry roles, while earning a salary.
The courses improve literacy and numeracy, self-confi- dence, resilience, awareness and leadership skills, equip- ping them to move forward into their Navy or Army re- cruit training.
include the Indigenous Pre-Recruitment Program, Indige- nous Development Program, Year 10 or 12 Bridging Course, Recruit When Ready pathway and Recruit to Area pathway.
The Recruit To Area pathway, for example, is offered to those for whom working in a specific location is important, such as being close to home for family commitments dur- ing a recruit’s first posting.
BEYOND THE ADF
While Defence offers a plethora of job roles across a num- ber of categories – combat security, aviation, trades, engi- neering, healthcare and science, logistics, hospitality and support, communications and IT, and business and admin – WO2 Eivers stresses the importance of encouraging re- cruits towards roles that will qualify them with skills they can apply beyond their time in service.
“We offer hundreds of roles, but the most important thing about these job roles is that when we recruit these young guys and girls, we don’t just get them to go be an infantryman, we don’t get them to go be a boatswain's mate on a navy ship, we don’t get them to be an AGI on an air- field,” he said. “We look at the sort of job roles that they’re going to take qualifications away from that and bring back to their home community. Because you’re not always going to be in Defence.
“We look at the potential of where they come from, what’s their geographic location, what jobs are in those locations, and try to map them across in Defence to have those same sorts of jobs. So, once they leave Defence and they go back to their home community, they’re bringing those jobs back into their home community, and they’re still employable.”
Additionally, WO2 Eivers says, these skills allow them to transfer over into the reserve sector if they choose, or any other sector which has similar job roles on offer.
This way, candidates leave these programs set up for success in employment and in life, whether or not they choose to continue a long-term career in Defence. ■
LEFT: A Thursday Island local discusses Australian Defence Force career opportunities
“THEY’RE ALWAYS WILLING TO LEARN AND WILLING TO MOVE FORWARD, YOU’VE JUST GOT TO GIVE THESE YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN A CHANCE TO DO THAT”
“In one calendar year, we’re looking at getting roughly 160-170 Indigenous guys and girls that go through these programs combined together,” WO2 Eivers said. “At the end of that, they’re offered a range of jobs. Initially, there were only three jobs that Army offered them – transportation, infantry or combat engineer. Now, Army of- fers them up to 100 different op- portunities that they can take up to be in Defence.
“A lot of them are also doing extra study whilst they’re in Defence, to upgrade utilising our educational teachers, so they can then apply to do a trade. They’re always willing to learn and willing to move forward, you’ve just got to give these young men and women a chance to do that.”
Alternative entry options are also offered to make the process as inclusive and accommodating as possible: these
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