Mingaletta forms agreement with engineering company

Mingaletta, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Centre based in Umina, has come to an agreement with a Somersby civil engineering company to support young people to gain employment and apprenticeships.

Now in its 15th year, Mingaletta's main focus is to enhance the quality of life for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families by creating life opportunities, according to chairperson Ms Dianne O'Brien.

Ms O'Brien said she and her team had been successful in forging a relationship with Robson Civil Projects at Somersby, where people from the Mingaletta community can be supported to pursue a career at Robson.

Over two years ago, Tom Dwyer, now 26, was struggling to find work, so sought support from Mingaletta, where he received assistance to write his resume and apply for a job with Robson.

Ms O'Brien said the company was impressed with the young man's commitment to finding work, and employed him as a labourer.

"If it wasn't for the help I received from Mingaletta to find a job, I don't know what I'd be doing right now," Mr Dwyer said.

"At the time, I felt really lost, and I'm so grateful for Mingaletta supporting me to find my dream job where I work with awesome people, get loads of training and I've now been promoted to plant and machinery operator."

Robson is a 50-year-old family-owned business that now has over 200 employees who work on civil projects around the east coast of Australia.

Robson human resources manager Ms Cindy Short said: "Tom is a really hard worker and has gained extensive training, increased responsibilities and has become a valuable member of the Robson team.

"Since Tom started with us, we have also provided apprenticeships to a number of other young people from Mingaletta who are doing really well," Ms Short said.

"Robson have been impressed with the hard work and determination of Dianne O'Brien, and the team at Mingaletta, who genuinely care about the wellbeing of people in their community, and it has been a privilege to develop such a successful bond."

Robson has indicated it is willing to consider recruiting new apprentices from Mingaletta early in 2018.

Although Robson, so far, have employed only male employees, "we are keen to employ female apprentices also," Ms Short said.

"As long as they have the right attitude to work, we are willing to give suitable candidates an opportunity to pursue a career with us."

For more information, contact Linda Hillmann at Mingaletta on 4342 7515.

Source:

Media release, 4 Sep 2017

Jodi Storey, Mingaletta Advisory Committee