INDIGENOUS pastoral workers from across the Northern Territory have for the first time been able to share 10 years’ worth of knowledge and experience with peers from West and South Australian cattle stations.
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More than 40 people took part in the annual three-day workshop at Katherine Rural Campus last week to share their experiences, achievements and industry concerns with one another.
Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association Pastoral Real Jobs program manager Tara Fulwood said it had been really positive to see the pastoralists present to the group this year, when normally they were the ones being presented to.
“This is the first year the pastoralists have been able to share what they’ve been learning and, for some of them, for the past 10 years,” she said.
“It shows that the program works and they are engaging with it.
“The training and information is being delivered in a way that they can understand it and they are able to take it home and apply it to their stations.”
The indigenous cattlemen’s workshops have been running for the past decade through a collaboration by the NT pastoral sector and focus on a different key industry area as suggested by the attendees each year.
Department of Primary Industry and Fisheries pastoral industry development officer Jane Tincknell said this year’s focus had been on occupational health and safety standards.
Lindsie, Annie and Joanne Craig from Ooratippra station said they had found the workshops to be informative and inspiring.
Getting other people’s ideas in what they are doing and the occupational health and safety stuff plays a big part in it.
- Robin Yeeda
“There’s not too much information [that it’s overwhelming],” Joanne Craig said.
“It gives you ideas for when you get back home.”
Robin Yeeda from Lamboo Station, in Western Australia, heard about the workshop through work and enjoyed the workshop environment.
“It’s good; a lot of information,” he said.
“Getting other people’s ideas in what they are doing and the occupational health and safety stuff plays a big part in it.”
Ms Tincknell said the workshops had been getting larger each year and 2015 had been the first year that it had been a tri-state event.
“In the past, the people who are here choose what topics they want to talk about and we find the people who can deliver that information,” she said.
“The topics are getting more technical as people advance.
“At the end of the day, it’s about getting information to make informed decisions.”
