Indigenous Workabout

Local Aboriginal trainees recently put their new land care skills to practice to help rejuvenate a prominent parcel of Water Corporation owned land in Dunsborough Lakes.

Water Corporation partnered with Aboriginal workforce organisation Indigenous Workabout to plant more than 800 native seedlings and create an ecological buffer for local fauna near the Clubhouse Drive entrance to Dunsborough Lakes.

Catchment management group GeoCatch and more than 30 community members began rehabilitation efforts last year, converting the site from grass to native waterwise vegetation to help improve environmental outcomes.

As expected, a number of seedlings did not survive the summer heat, calling for further rejuvenation which was undertaken by Indigenous Workabout this winter.

Water Corporation Regional Manager John Janssen said the project demonstrated how investing in training and education opportunities for Indigenous people in the South West could lead to real work and employment opportunities.

“Indigenous Workabout did an outstanding job – they revegetated the site with seedlings sourced from local community land care nurseries and ensured a thick layer of mulch was spread out to help safeguard plants throughout the hotter months,” he said.

“Water Corporation has a strong commitment to supporting and providing meaningful opportunities for Aboriginal people around Western Australia – both directly and through contracting opportunities – and this project is a great example of this.

“We are incredibly fortunate to work alongside so many valued Aboriginal employees here in the South West who have openly shared their culture with us and taught us so much about being more inclusive employees and better people.”

Since 2007, Water Corporation has awarded more than $7.8 million in contracts to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander suppliers across the State.

As part of its 2019-21 Reconciliation Action Plan, Water Corporation has also pledged to increase the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees to a workforce target of six per cent by 2021.