CANDICE BURVILL

Community Engagement Officer

“From a very young age I learnt to say, ‘Stand up, even though your knees are shaking’, and say, ‘Hey, I don’t like that’,” says Candice Burvill, a First Nations woman who grew up amid the rugged beauty of the Pilbara and began working at a mine at age 19.

The company she was working for presented itself as safe and inclusive, but she knew that wasn’t the reality for Indigenous people – racism was rampant. In the end, the hypocrisy got too much – she had to walk away from a job she loved. “I gave notice over what I didn’t think was right,” she tells The Weekly. “They were promoting something that I didn’t see on the ground.”

For years, Candice, 51, pursued other opportunities. She walked the beat as a cop in Kalgoorlie and even ran her own business but, she says, “the Pilbara draws you back”.

Now, she’s out there again, working as a community engagement officer with Indigenous businesses and individuals, creating pathways to work and economic empowerment. It’s a role she wishes had existed when she was starting out. Candice says she has seen reform in mining, and that gives her hope. “We’ve still got a long way to go, but it’s supported from the top down,” she says. Meanwhile, she’s determined to empower the workforce from the ground up. She knows that, if she can help someone find a role that’s right for them, it can make a difference for their family and their community as well.

“I like to get out and meet people, do that face-to-face,” she says. “As they progress, their confidence seems to build. It’s about making a connection to someone seeking work and saying, ‘Don’t give up. There’s going to be someone who believes in you.’”

“WE’VE STILL GOT A LONG WAY TO GO, BUT IT’S SUPPORTED FROM THE TOP DOWN.” – Candice Burvill