DISADVANTAGED STUDENTS GAIN A DOSE OF CONFIDENCE
FORTY-SEVEN unemployed and disadvantaged North Queenslanders have turned their lives around, graduating from an education program teaching them skills, confidence and hope to succeed.
It was the largest cohort to graduate from the North Queensland Cowboys’ Dream, Believe, Achieve program after they completed their studies during a Covid-affected 2020.
Tabitha Humphreys is a 25year-old mother of four, with another on the way. She had found herself living week to week, relying on Centrelink.
She said after a while she got to a point where she was earning her own money.
“I want to know that I did that, I earnt it myself, and I’m not just getting money because the government said I can have it,” she said.
“My mum did the course back in 2016 and she was encouraging my cousin to do it, but then I signed myself up.
“I’m proud of myself that I can show my kids as they grow up that you don’t have to stick to a certain stigma in life, don’t be bound by what other people think of you.”
With her Certificate III in Hospitality, Tabitha is now in permanent part-time work while balancing her stay-at-home mum duties. She is working towards buying a house with her partner.
It’s the sort of success story that makes program mentor Albey Reuben wake up each morning.
“For me, that’s worth more than silver and gold, that’s worth more than any pay cheque, seeing these students come through this program,” he said.
“You see them at the start, then the back end of the program, how much they’ve developed financially, how much they’ve gained (and) how their family unit at home has improved because they have purpose.
“Especially seeing them a year or two down the track where a student’s bought themself a car, or have moved out of home, that’s the rewarding part.”
Three cohorts who completed the 10-week program will now use their nationally recognised vocational qualification to find employment or further their studies.
Training in the Certificate III in Hospitality is delivered by club training partner Allara Learning, and the program is funded through the Queensland government’s Skilling Queenslanders for Work initiative.
Graduates have achieved a responsible service of alcohol certificate, responsible gambling services certificate and food safety cate.
But 20-year-old graduate Kylara Reardon said the most important skill she gained was confidence.
“I was stuck at home doing certifinothing,” she said. “I’ve definitely come out of my shell, being Aboriginal and coming from community, you open yourself up to people you don’t know and that’s a big change.”