Corey’s VTEC Placement Success

Noongar man Corey Northover was unemployed when he heard about the Wirrpanda Foundation’s VTEC program, and how it could assist.

Connecting with the Wirrpanda Foundation, he was put in touch with mentor Melissa to assist him with his job search.

Through our VTEC program our mentors connect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander job seekers like Corey, to guaranteed job opportunities, while providing support to maintain continuous and meaningful employment with post-placement mentoring.

Having the preference of working local instead of FIFO to stay close to his family, Melissa put Corey forward for a traineeship opportunity at Roelands Village, Bunbury.

Once a mission for children of the Stolen Generation, Roelands Village is now home to a bush food farm where it employs local Indigenous people, 17 of which are participants of the Foundation’s VTEC program.

Corey gained fulltime employment at Roelands where he is also working towards a formal qualification and will soon have a Certificate III in Civil Construction.

Roelands staff have been impressed with Corey’s attitude towards his work, something that mentor Melissa noticed in him instantly.

 “Corey is a vibrant strong Noongar man and he has been great to mentor.”

“He has the natural ability of adapting to different areas of his employment and he isn’t afraid of getting in and being involved with everything,” Melissa said.

After now being in fulltime employment at Roelands for over 9 months, Corey is thankful not only for the work and training opportunities but also for the connection to culture it provides him.

“The thing I love about it here is having that connection to culture. I’m also gaining so much experience which will help give me access to jobs,” Corey said.

He recommends any Indigenous jobseekers to connect with the Foundation to see how they can help.

“They have a lot of great opportunities for young people,” Corey said.