Career pathways for Indigenous youth
Warrmijala Murrgurlayi (Rise Up To Work) is a Shell-supported employment program in Western Australia’s Kimberley region. It’s helping young Indigenous people find meaningful career pathways on Yawuru country. Find out how it’s empowering the participants.
Just outside of Broome in Western Australia’s Kimberley region, young Indigenous people are completing an eight-week intensive program at a local cattle station to develop a career in the agricultural industry.
A chance to live and work on Yawuru country
The Warrmijala Murrgurlayi (Rise Up To Work) program is helping young Indigenous locals in Broome gain work-ready skills for a career in the region. Supported by Shell and delivered by Nyamba Buru Yawuru (Yawuru), the program’s agricultural component is encouraging local Indigenous youth to feel a greater connection to their culture and country. “At Roebuck Plains cattle station they can become upskilled and trained in agriculture. Young people love being out on country. They feel a greater sense of contribution because Roebuck Station is owned and operated by Yawuru,” says Nini Mills, CEO of Yawuru.
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Title: Career pathways for Indigenous youth| The power of local community
Duration: 2 minutes and 53 seconds
Description:
Warrmijala Murrgurlayi (Rise Up To Work) is a Shell-supported employment program in Western Australia’s Kimberley region. It’s helping young Indigenous people find meaningful career pathways on Yawuru country. Find out how it’s empowering the participants.
Rise Up To Work Network Transcript
(MUSIC PLAYS)
DESCRIPTION:
An aerial view of a red dirt road cutting through bushland that stretches in all directions.
TEXT: Gumaranganyjal (Roebuck Plains Station), Western Australia
Sunshine glistens through the metal blades of a windmill. A herd of cows loiters in a dusty field beneath.
A woman, Timeah, sits beneath the shade of a tin roof shelter. She has long dark-brown hair and wears a tan wide-brimmed hat and a pale blue collared shirt and jeans.
TEXT: Timeah Archer – Coordinator Youth Training and Employment (Ewamian & Djungan, Far North QLD)
TIMEAH ARCHER:
When you're serving a community where their Aboriginal young people are the majority in that group and in their communities, ensuring that culturally appropriate and safe services and programs are provided to them is what's going to be attractive for them.
DESCRIPTION:
An indigenous man sits on the metal rail of a fence and watches a herd of horses kick up dust inside a pen. He wears a black baseball cap and an orange collared shirt.
Two women wear cowboy hats and stand at the edge of a large stable complex. One of the women operates some hydraulic machinery.
The indigenous man from early walks beneath a large tin shelter.
A herd of cows gather at the edge of a dusty pen.
TIMEAH ARCHER:
Part of the Rise Up to Work program and the strong component of having culture embedded in that through the Yawuru practices really helps young people to thrive.
DESCRIPTION:
A drone view of a large herd of cattle congregating at the edge of a bush stable complex.
An aerial view of a circular stable and pen area on flat hard-packed red dirt. Cows filter in from surrounding holding areas.
Elsewhere, a woman, Nini, sits alongside a stretch of lawn near some shady trees and green metal-clad buildings. She has long black hair and wears a blue dress and pink dangly earrings.
TEXT: Nini Mills – CEO, Nyamba Buru Yawuru
NINI MILLS:
Broome on Yawuru country, it's the regional town of the Kimberley region. Warrmijala Murrgurlayi was established in 2018 to provide opportunities for young people.
DESCRIPTION:
Outside, a young man walks across a sandy stretch of ground. He has a dark moustache and wears a white cowboy hat, teal collared shirt and blue jeans.
Later, he leans on a fence rail alongside a smiling Timeah.
NINI MILLS:
There was a gap in capacity of our young people, particularly. So, it was intended to support them to upskill so that they can gain those meaningful employment opportunities.
DESCRIPTION:
Cattle kick up red dust as they dash across an open grassy field.
NINI MILLS:
At Roebuck Plains, they can become upskilled and trained in agriculture. Young people love being out on country.
DESCRIPTION:
The young man from earlier sits in the shade of a large tree with a group of people. His baseball cap is turned backwards.
A dusty sign reads ‘Gumaranganyjal (Roebuck Plains Station)’. Further lettering below reads ‘You are on Yawuru Country’.
NINI MILLS:
They feel a greater sense of contribution because the station, particularly Roebuck Plains Station, Gumaranganyjal, is owned and operated by Yawuru.
DESCRIPTION:
A brahman cow eats hay beneath the sunshine.
An aerial flyover of cattle gathered in a holding pen at the red-dirt station.
NINI MILLS:
Yawuru has had a long-standing connection to that country. If it wasn't for the investment from Shell, the program wouldn't be available.
DESCRIPTION:
Sunshine glistens through the metal blades of a windmill.
A large flock of pale birds zip through a cloudless sky.
Young men and women work in the cattle pens beneath the shade of the large tin roof.
NINI MILLS:
It means that we can provide greater supports to our young people, having pathways into meaningful employment. Through their engagement, they become empowered, and their empowerment contributes to our community nation building.
(MUSIC PLAYS)
DESCRIPTION:
In a montage: the young baseball cap man from earlier stands and smiles; Timeah stands and smiles; the moustachioed man stands and smiles.
Later, the young moustachioed man, Jeremiah, is interviewed alongside the other young man, Tyrell, who wears his black baseball cap.
TEXT: Tyrell and Jeremiah – Warrmijala Murrgurlayi
JEREMIAH:
I just thought there must be something about this place than I'll ever try. Probably the sense of family, community, working with animals, being out, especially if you're from Broome, this is pretty much like your country. Good for your liyan.
DESCRIPTION:
Various cattle roam around the dusty dry pens.
Tyrell walks along the side of a cattle holding pen. Later, he sits on the metal rail of the holding pen. A horse nuzzles gently at his hand.
NINI MILLS:
Country is a spiritual connection to our environment. That connection fulfils our liyan, so our sense of spirit and our sense of belonging. Yeah, it sustains us. It empowers us.
DESCRIPTION:
Tyrell interviewed and at work on the station.
Birds flock and dart above the tin roof of the station.
TYRELL:
It's good being out in the country in that. I can work with animals and that more, never get to do that when I was in town.
DESCRIPTION:
A montage of the station and the people who work on it.
NINI MILLS:
We very much value our young people. Investing in them is important for us because they will become our leaders of our community, they will become major contributors to, hopefully not only Broome, but to the region, nationally, and perhaps even internationally. Shell certainly extends themselves to taking that responsibility seriously.
TIMEAH ARCHER:
All these Aboriginal young people leading the way because our ancestors and our Elders kind of, they set the foundation.
DESCRIPTION:
Horses roam a large pen.
Timeah leans at a fence near some machinery and chats with Jeremiah.
TIMEAH ARCHER:
They are our leaders, and they're the next generation to come along and take over. And it's exciting to be able to see that we are making an impact on that.
(MUSIC PLAYS)
DESCRIPTION:
On an aerial view of the circular cattle holding yard, the yellow and red ‘Shell’ logo. White text below reads ‘The power of local community’.
(END OF RECORDING)
113 local participants have gained sustainable employment
Established in 2019, the program is part of Shell’s commitment to support stronger First Nations. From conversations with the Broome community, Shell understands that educational pathways to meaningful employment are a key priority for Indigenous people in the region.
Since the start of 2021 to the end of 2023, over 190 participants in the program have gained training and support, with 113 gaining sustainable employment.
Culture embedded in the program and contributing to Mabu Liyan
Warrmijala Murrgurlayi delivers culturally integrated training and employment services aligned with the Yawuru’s Mabu Liyan Framework. The notion of liyan is expressed through relationships beyond the individual. It’s a model of living well in connection to Yawuru values of Mabu Liyan (good well-being), Mabu Buru (good-country) and Mabu Ngurrangunil (good-community). “It sustains us and empowers us,” says Nini.
When Shell talks to First Nations groups where our operations are based, many want pathways to real jobs, to strengthen their cultural identity and to share their own future through good governance. Through the support we’ve offered in this area, 467 Indigenous Australians gained sustainable employment through our programs in 2023.
