Growing the desert: Educational T pathways for remote Indigenous people—Support document EN PAM COLLIER SHARIJN KING KATE LAWRENCE M IRENE NANGALA MARILYN NANGALA MARGARET ORR EVELYN SCHABER METTA YOUNG CU CENTRE FOR APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGY JOHN GUENTHER AT ONATUS O C C JOHN OSTER DESART INC D This document was produced by the author(s) based on their research for the report Growing the desert: Effective T educational pathways for remote Indigenous people, and is an added resource for further information. The report is available on NCVER’s website: R <http://www.ncver.edu.au/publications/1911.html>. The views and opinions expressed in this document are those of the author(s) and O do not necessarily reflect the views of the Australian Government, state and territory governments or NCVER. Any errors and omissions are the responsibility P of the author(s). © Australian Government, 2007 P This work has been produced by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) on behalf of the Australian Government and state and U territory governments with funding provided through the Australian Department of Education, Science and Training. Apart from any use permitted under the S Copyright Act 1968, no part of this publication may be reproduced by any process without written permission. Requests should be made to NCVER. Contents Tables and figures 3 The Murdi Paaki Healthy Housing Worker program— replicable outcomes 4 Introduction 4 Background 4 Methods 8 Findings 9 Implications 16 Conclusions 17 References 19 DESART—Building on strengths: arts cultures, futures 21 Introduction 21 Aboriginal Art 22 Methodology 25 Training needs and Business Development Project 26 IT training and support 31 Building on strengths 34 Conclusion 34 References 36 Waltja Tjutangku Palyapayi: Organisational and individual journeys 37 Introduction 37 Waltja Tjutangku Palyapayi: The organisation 37 Methodology 40 The organisational journey 40 An individual’s journey 47 Conclusion 50 References 52 Newmont Tanami Case Study 53 Introduction 53 Context 53 Methodology 55 The Program 55 Conclusions 64 References 67 2 Growing the desert: Educational pathways for remote Indigenous people—Support document Tables and figures Tables 1 Selected statistics comparing Indigenous and non- Indigenous social indicators for remote New South Wales with the State and Australia as a whole 7 Figures 1 Murdi Paaki region map (based on the Bourke Indigenous Coordination Centre Region) 5 2 Healthy Housing Worker model 6 3 Waltja’s footprint 38 4 Northern Territory, showing Tanami location 54 5 Program participation and completion trends: 2001–2005 60 Centre for Appropriate Technology 3 The Murdi Paaki Healthy Housing Worker program— replicable outcomes Introduction As part of a project funded by the National Centre for Vocational Education and Research (NCVER) and the Desert Knowledge CRC (DKCRC), the ‘Growing the desert’ research team have conducted a broad-ranging analysis of the role of formal and non-formal training opportunities that lead to employment and enterprise opportunities in the desert region of central Australia. In the third and final stage of the project, the team has prepared four case studies of Indigenous training exemplars. This case study documents the story of the Murdi Paaki Healthy Housing Worker Pilot Project, initiated and managed by the Murdi Paaki Regional Housing Corporation. Training for the Project has been conducted by the Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education. The purpose of this case study is a) to investigate and report on the outcomes of training conducted for the Murdi Paaki Healthy Housing Worker program and b) to identify features of the program that could enable replication of the concept to other Indigenous housing contexts within Australia. The ‘outcomes’ to be considered are those impacting on the trainees, the Murdi Paaki organisation, the communities in which the trainees work, and other stakeholders identified. Consideration of ‘features’ will focus on aspects of partnerships, training provision, community engagement—in terms of both factors that enhance the probability of success and factors that may limit the opportunities for replication to other contexts. Answers to questions about the sustainability of the program, while discussed, will not be the focus of this paper. Background The Murdi Paaki Healthy Housing Worker (HHW) Pilot Program is an initiative of the Murdi Paaki Regional Council. The Program is managed by the Murdi Paaki Regional Housing Corporation (MPRHC), which was an initiative of the former Murdi Paaki ATSIC Regional Council. The functions of the Council in relation to MPHRC have now been assumed to a large extent by the Murdi Paaki Regional Assembly (MPRA). MPRA is the first such Indigenous representative organisation to be involved in a Council of Australian Governments (COAG) trial site. Murdi Paaki Regional Housing Corporation The Murdi Paaki region covers much of western New South Wales. Figure 1 shows the extent of the region and indicates locations of some key communities. The Murdi Paaki Regional Housing Corporation owns and manages about 600 houses within the region. The MPRHC provides support for a Shared Responsibility Agreement (SRA) with Healthy Housing Workers. 4 Growing the desert: Educational pathways for remote Indigenous people—Support document Figure 1 Murdi Paaki region map (based on the Bourke Indigenous Coordination Centre Region) Source: OIPC 2005 Program background The Healthy Housing Worker Program had its genesis following the recognition of the needs associated with Aboriginal housing in the then ATSIC region. In 1997 the MPRHC managed four houses. Balding and Graham (2005) describe the process as follows: In 1999, the Murdi Paaki Regional Council established an Aboriginal Environmental Health Forum to bring together representatives from the Regional Council of ATSIC, Indigenous housing agencies, State and Commonwealth agencies and the community through a Community Working Party structure. A priority of the Murdi Paaki Aboriginal Environmental Health Forum was to look at ways to address environmental health issues through a housing repair and maintenance program that would work well in the Murdi Paaki Region. Today, the Corporation manages about 600 houses. The Healthy Housing Worker program currently operates in six communities within the region: Enngonia, Weilmoringle, Ivanhoe, Dareton, Gulargambone and Coonamble. Expansion of the program into three other communities is currently being considered. The program is consistent with the goals of the NSW Aboriginal Health Strategic Plan (NSW Health Department 1999) and a related strategy called Housing for Health (NSW Health 2006). However it is the Commonwealth’s Maintaining Houses for Better Health (MHBH) program within the Fixing Houses for Better Health (FHBH) program with strategies embedded in the National Indigenous Housing Guide (FaCS 2003) that ‘forms the front end of the HHW Pilot Project in the Murdi Paaki Region’ (MPRHC 2004:1). The MHBH component of FHBH projects employs and trains local community members to maintain health hardware in working order and encourages communities to take responsibility for ongoing maintenance once the health hardware has been fixed. (McPeake & Pholeros 2005, p. 3) The Healthy Housing Worker program Pilot extends and formalises this training under the management of Murdi Paaki Regional Housing Corporation so that workers can achieve formal environmental health qualifications. The operational model is shown in Figure 2. It shows how the Centre for Appropriate Technology 5 core function of the Healthy Housing Worker is to ‘find and fix minor problems’. External organisations are called upon for major repairs, upgrades and capital works. Figure 2 Healthy Housing Worker model Source: MPRHC 2004 Rationale: connections between health, housing and training The Australian Bureau of Statistics and Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (ABS/AIHW 2005) state that: Overcrowding, poor dwelling condition and inadequate basic utilities such as facilities for washing clothes, sewerage systems or safe drinking water have all been associated with higher rates of infectious and parasitic diseases. (p. 37) The link between quality of housing and occupiers’ health is well documented in the international literature (BMA 2003; Jacobs 2003). The issues of inequality and inadequate maintenance apply to Indigenous peoples in other countries (Dunn 2002). More specifically, in Australia recent research conducted in the Northern Territory shows the direct connection and measurable links between ‘Healthy Living Practices’ described by Pholeros et al. (1993)—on which the Healthy Housing Worker concept is based—and child health outcomes, particularly skin diseases (Bailie et al. 2005). Drawing from research evidence it is possible to see several potential health impacts of the Healthy Housing Worker program. Firstly, the skills developed in the Workers may contribute substantially to the capacity of the community they live within, to address the basic environmental health and maintenance needs of housing in their community. This in effect becomes a ‘capacity building process’ with direct consequences for community and individual health (Bauert et al. 2001; BHC 2003; HRSCATSIA 2004). Secondly, in ways similar to the ways that Aboriginal Health Workers operate in many Indigenous communities, Healthy Housing Workers may act as mentors and role models within their communities. In a sense these trained