This year’s theme for National Reconciliation Week is ‘Be Brave, Make Change’.

As a Department, we’re committing to being brave in changing our ways of working, to constantly strive to be more inclusive and to work directly alongside our Aboriginal Community.

This Reconciliation Week saw the launch of the new Aboriginal Marketing Kit for Australian School-based Apprenticeships (ASbA).

“It’s important that young Tasmanian Aboriginal learners can see themselves and their community, in our resources” says Ruth Batge (Manager, Apprenticeships and Traineeships for School-aged Learners).

It is through directly working with Caleb Nichols-Mansell, local artist and Tasmanian Aboriginal, and talking to Community, that we have been able to fully understand the value and importance that these artworks provide when attempting to reach out to our Aboriginal learners.

“For me it was really important that we had a visual presence,” says Caleb, “not having [one] makes the initiative or the program basically lose its value.”

9-12 Learning also have a dedicated Aboriginal Project Officer – Vocational Learning, who is jointly employed by Aboriginal Education Services and 9-12 Learning. This type of collaboration is key to striving for Reconciliation and ensures that an Aboriginal voice is brought into the work and considered for every project.

To learn more about Australian School-based Apprenticeships and the inspiration behind the visual resources, watch the video below!

If you are a young Tasmanian Aboriginal person who wants to know more, contact aboriginal.voceducation@decyp.tas.gov.au