Jobs for Indigenous Youth

$480 a night top of the line room at Home Valley Station

Cassie Carlton catches a barramundi in the Kimberley

Good things are happening in the East Kimberley. Cassie Carlton wants to be a pastry chef and now, thanks to The Indigenous Land Corporation, she may well achieve her ambition. They are using their Home Valley Station in the East Kimberley to develop skills for indigenous kids that will put them into long-term employment. It's not easy for kids in remote areas to find work but now there are traineeships in tourism, agriculture, hospitality and horticulture.

The vast property of 250,000 hectares was once an outback cattle station but the ILC have upgraded accommodation into a sophisticated tourism and pastoral concern, a move strongly supported by the Aboriginal owners. In the past - distance, poor management skills and lack of commitment saw previous traineeships fall by the wayside.

But now the ILC employs experienced team leaders to get the kids motivated and onto the right track and most importantly, teach them a trade. Aboriginal employees now number almost half the station staff and that number is growing. Anthony Campagna is one of the team leaders, he's just signed a three-year contract with ILC to run Home Valley's restaurant. He used to work at Peppers and a fancy Melbourne golf club but he hopes he'll be replaced one day by Cassie or another indigenous youngster hungry for success. Dedicated people like this are making a huge contribution to our indigenous youth.

Cassie has almost finished her Certificate 3 in Commercial Cookery and loves her work. "It's a great environment to work in and I love my boss - he never shouts at me, even when I overcook some things. But I'm getting better... I know I can't rush things, I've got a long way to go but that's okay.

Go Cassie!