Work-Experience Programs – Jigalong

Abstract

Jigalong is an Aboriginal Community some 180 kilometres by road from the large mining centre of Newman in Western Australia’s Pilbara area. Originally an Apostolic Church mission, it is now an incorporated Aboriginal Community. The Community owns and operates a cattle station which is a large employer of workers from the Community. Nearby stations also employ Jigalong people as workers. The Community is made up of about 350 people who originally came from the Western Desert Region of Western Australia.

I am in my second year of teaching at Jigalong. During this time I have attempted to establish a program which suits 14 to 18 year-old boys and is designed to help these boys find work in the local pastoral industry. It is hoped that some of the ideas developed in this article will be of interest to others when they find themselves posted to a remote Aboriginal community.