From the Porter Report July 2010 - Indigenous Cadetship Support

Jack Simpson, Frank Gafa and Mary

This year’s theme for the National NAIDOC Week celebrations is Unsung Heroes – Closing the Gap by Leading the Way.

Mary said, “It’s important to recognise the many Indigenous people who are working as volunteers behind the scenes as well as those in front line positions such as our armed forces, Police and Emergency Services”.

She also took the opportunity to commend the Australian Government for the Indigenous Cadetship Support initiative (ICS), which aims at improving professional employment prospects of Indigenous Australians.

ICS is part of the Australian Government’s Indigenous Employment Policy (IEP) that focuses on generating more employment opportunities for Indigenous tertiary students by enabling them to gain professional qualifications and experience and move into employment on completion of their studies.

Mary, a long time supporter of the ICS policy, has engaged Frank Gafa and Jack Simpson for the past year, through these cadetships.

“There isn’t, to the best of my knowledge, another Indigenous person employed in the ACT Legislative Assembly,” Mary said. “There are also no Indigenous elected members of the Legislative Assembly and there has only ever been two Federal Indigenous MPs,” Mary added.

Mary’s affinity with Indigenous cultures stems from her working as a nurse for an extended period (12 years) in central Australia. “I’m happy to be playing a role in increasing the level of engagement of indigenous people in politics,” Mary concluded.