The Jawun Secondee Experience
5:28 A.M. (C.S.T) Wellington on the Murray River, South Australia
Nathan Heaton – Jawun Secondee – Department of Immigration and Border Security
I’m working for the Ngarrindjeri Regional authority, hoping to improve the IT systems and actual processes around those IT systems.
A lot of smaller communities and organisations struggle with that, so hopefully I can help and improve that.
8:25 A.M. (E.S.T) Matraville, Sydney, New South Wales
Shenae Riding – Jawun Secondee - Allens
Coming from a very Anglo-Saxon background and not getting much of an understanding through school curriculum, I really wanted to learn more about the culture, learn more about the struggles and challenges that they're facing and just get involved in the community and give back, I guess.
9:07 A.M. (E.S.T) Wangetti Beach, Cape York, Queensland
Sarah Alderding – Jawun Secondee – The Boston Consulting Group
The biggest challenge for me, I think, is achieving the project I've been assigned and feeling like I've had some kind of impact in that organisation.
9:11 A.M. (C.S.T) Meningie on Lake Albert, South Australia
Nathan Heaton – Jawun Secondee - Department of Immigration and Border Security
The biggest challenge, I think, is the short time frame I'll have to actually set something up and deliver it and handed over, and then whether it will be actually used in 2–3 years' time the same way that I've left it or it has been improved. Hopefully, that's my challenge, I can actually get there to that point and the guys actually use that way.
7:00 A.M. (W.S.T) Lake Kununurra, Kununurra, Western Australia
Sharon Pottenger – Jawun Secondee - Wesfarmers
This week for the induction, I've looked at the itinerary and it's pretty full on, so we're busy all day from morning to night. Four-wheel drive training can't wait — all the Outback experience, the camping, the crocodiles. I can't wait.
Kim MacLeod – Jawun Secondee – C.Y. O’Connor Institute
Well, the Welcome to Country was an absolute joy. It is a wonderful experience, and I'll certainly cherish that, because I don't think very many non-indigenous people would have seen a Welcome to Country in such a terrific sort of manner.
10:20 A.M. (E.S.T) Yarra Bay House, La Perouse, Sydney, New South Wales
Shenae Riding – Jawun Secondee - Allens
Typically, in the first week you just don't want to be a pain in the butt and you don't want to be that annoying, Jawun secondee, that is kind of stuck in the background and not adding much value. The aim of the program is to not only get, yeah, immerse yourself in Aboriginal culture, but also to add value to the organisation you're going too.
So, I guess there was a bit of nerves, a bit of anxiety around whether or not I will be able to actually add value and do what they wanted me to do. I was there.
9:27 A.M. (W.S.T) The Habitat, Broome, Western Australia
Kim Davis– Jawun Secondee – National Australia Bank
So, I'm really hoping just to add some value to the organisation and ultimately the community off the back of that. Hopefully add something that's sustainable so that they can implement after I've gone, that can continue to add value. Hopefully trying to bring, stretch my skill set as well as to bring the skills and expertise that I've got, put into a different field than what I'm used to working in, and yeah, hopefully just supporting the community in whatever way I can.
10:11 A.M. (C.S.T) Murray River, The Coorong, South Australia
Nathan Heaton – Jawun Secondee - Department of Immigration and Border Security
Every day has been different so far. I've had days where I've been in an office typing like I normally would, but for the last few days for example, I’ve been driving around meeting people and just trying to show them, just giving things a crack. You just go out and see if they’re there, it can be hard to pin people down, that’s one of the things we're giving them shared calendars for, because we don't know where people are. We got to try and organise things and go out and just bit of admin.
10:30 A.M. (W.S.T) Kununurra, East Kimberley, Western Australia
Anna Adams – Jawun Secondee – Wesfarmers - Coles
I initially wanted to be here to learn, to have certain real-life examples about indigenous culture, rather than, as I say, from books. Everyone who I've talked to who's been part of this Jawun program before has said they’ve grown as a person, probably a little bit challenged, outside of their comfort zone, and that can't be a bad thing. I'm looking forward to that. I hope, like a number of us have said, I hope that I can give something back.
Aboriginal man
We’ve been here; we've been living on. Thank you.
11:08 A.M. (C.S.T) Raukkan, The Coorong, South Australia
Nathan Heaton – Jawun Secondee - Department of Immigration and Border Security
The biggest thing I’ve taken about the indigenous culture for the area is actually the context of what it actually means to be indigenous. So, they have a nation in this area which I didn’t really understand before I came, which I have a deep understanding of now. Also, where I come from near Sydney, so it's a little bit different, on how the colonisation occurred.
and the people who are actually living here originally, and they shared their stories, and I learned a lot about the history, and gave me a lot of personal understanding of where people are now and why some of the problems exist, just in regard to the reliance on government and so forth. I understand where the history of that is and why it exists today.
12:04 P.M. (W.S.T) Beagle Bay, Far North Coast, Western Australia
Mary O’Reeri – Deputy Chair - Aarnja
We would never do it on our own. We couldn't do it on our own. We had the ideas, but we didn't have the skills.
And that's the beauty of this secondment program, that they were able to give us this — the people who had the skills — and it is about empowering the people, and Jawun was able to do that.
12:14 P.M. (W.S.T) Ivanhoe Crossing, Ord River, Western Australia
Brenda Garstone – Regional Coordinator - Wunan
The thing that I really liked about it was, we had people coming in with a passion to work with Indigenous people, to offer their skills and support, to somehow address the disadvantage that's been faced by our people for many, many years.
2:30 P.M. (E.S.T) Wangetti Beach, Cape York, Queensland
Sarah Alderding – Jawun Secondee - The Boston Consulting Group
It's a bit of a rollercoaster, an experience like this, and I don't think I spent one single night alone. I think every single night I had dinner with someone, or at least a cup of tea with someone. I had somebody knocking on my door.
2:44 P.M. (C.S.T) Raukkan, The Coorong, South Australia
Clyde Rigney – C.E.O - Moorundi ACCHS
We're quite used to trying to operate our organisations with quite limited resources, so to be able to bring in people secondees to the level of experience and with the knowledge that this qualities do have, there's a huge bonus for any Aboriginal community, particularly ours.
2:00 P.M. (W.S.T) Lake Argyle, Ord River, Western Australia
Neala Fulier – Jawun Secondee - KPMG
With this secondment, I hope to get out just a deeper understanding of the indigenous culture and also how the corporate world can really add value and help transform and improve, I suppose, their communities to make them, you know, to help close that gap, I suppose.
3:58 P.M. (C.S.T) Camp Coorong, The Coorong, South Australia
Nathan Heaton – Jawun Secondee - Department of Immigration and Border Security
By working with different guys within the community and also my secondee group, I learned different new skills and how to approach things in a different way, and also to work in a team in a way I haven't done for many years, which has been great. Yeah, I think it's good for my personal development.
4:10 P.M. (E.S.T) Yarra Bay House, La Perouse, Sydney, New South Wales
Shenae Riding – Jawun Secondee - Allens
I think one of the most rewarding things for me would actually be the friendships and the people you meet. They’re just amazing people. They're trying to build up their community. They're trying to do such wonderful things, and the time that they give to doing that is incredible. And a lot of it is unpaid for, voluntary, and it's just incredible to see how much these people actually want to give back.
2:38 P.M. (W.S.T) Wirrjilwaram, (Molly Springs) North of Kununurra, Western Australia
Janaki Tampi – Jawun Secondee – Herbert Smith Freehills
The Jawun program for me, is just giving me so much. I'm learning so much, and I'm really growing as a person up here. As much as I capacity build with them, I'm learning ridiculous amount from them. So, Brenda Garstone, who I work with, who is the regional coordinator for the empowered communities up here, she's a Jaru woman who grew up in Halls Creek and working with her and just sitting in a car with her every day has just enriched my life.
3:02 P.M. (W.S.T) North of Beagle Bay, Western Australia
Chris Davies – Regional Director – Jawun, West Kimberley
People really need to understand the region that we're working in, in some of the challenges that we're working in. So, the West Kimberley is quite a remote part of Western Australian and Australia in general. A lot of the people here are different from other parts of the country, so they need to really understand the context in which their project brief is being written.
A part of that as well is them getting to know each other, because their support mechanism is a group of secondees as themself. So, I'm always here as a regional director, but the secondees need to be able to support themselves and care for each other.
4:10 P.M. (E.S.T) Yarra Bay House, La Perouse, Sydney, New South Wales
Chris Ingrey – C.E.O – La Perouse Local Aboriginal Land Council
In our organisation, our secondees are a part of our staff and part of our team and interact with a number of different community members on every single day. We're located here in the La Perouse Aboriginal community, so they see our community more broadly and they're exposed to community issues and community events.
Culturally, we try and increase Jawun secondees cultural awareness by going out and visiting sites and giving them a better understanding of our history and culture in this area of Botany Bay.
3:34 P.M. (W.S.T) Wuggubun, Southeast of Kununurra, Western Australia
Elise Jacobs – Jawun Secondee – National Australia Bank
I feel like this is such a great experience to work on my personal resilience and make myself stronger and know that I have valuable skills to share with other people and learn as much from others as I can.
3:58 P.M. (W.S.T) Middle Lagoon, Dampier Peninsula, Western Australia
Mary O’Reeri – Deputy Chair - Aarnja
Being on this journey has given me so much, so much that it is unbelievable, and you could see the fruits of my journey with Jawun at Beagle Bay today.
6:15 P.M. (C.S.T) Murray Bridge, South Australia
Clyde Rigney – C.E.O - Moorundi ACCHS
I guess I wanted my secondees to have the full experience of the broader Indigenous community, or whether it's just with the broader community, like my football club, which I've been a part of since I was seven years old. So, my view is, if you're going to be here community, I want you to experience as much more community as you can.
8:09 P.M. (W.S.T) Wuggubun, Southeast of Kununurra, Western Australia
Ian Trust – Executive Director - Wunan
They've done a great job here, and we sort of, you know, I mean lots of organisations only would have benefited from the support we get from the secondees, and we’ve had a couple of secondments here at Wuggubun.
In terms of looking at sort of policy issues, in fact we're on the verge of building a new hall in two weeks, but as a result of a secondment round, they got us the money through the local list here.
So even in a small community like this, it's been sort of immensely, immensely beneficial.
Jawun. Since 2001