Indigenous Leadership Training Attracts Huge Demand
17 March 2014 at 9:33 am
Hundreds of indigenous leaders from across the country have thrown their hands up to take part in indigenous leadership training, says the Australian Indigenous Leadership Centre (AILC).
According to AILC, more than 280 Indigenous leaders from around Australia applied for the 60 positions available in the February intake of the AILC’s Certificate IV course in Indigenous leadership.
The new course places have been made available through Australian Government funding – delivering high impact educational experiences that will have ongoing benefits to the employers, families and communities of Indigenous leaders who participate.
“Over the next decade, AILC will directly deliver an additional $600 million of income to Indigenous people across Australia if we can fulfil our enrolment targets – but more course funding is urgently needed to help close the gap,” AILC CEO Rachelle Towart said.
“It’s fantastic that Australian Government funding has enabled us to offer these 60 new places in Indigenous leadership programs – these programs will make a clear difference to families, employers and communities, as several studies have shown that graduates of our programs contribute more once they have experienced our specialised Indigenous leadership training.
“A KPMG review of AILC programs in 2011 found that graduates of accredited AILC courses earned almost $14,000 extra per year on average after completing a course and 79 per cent took on enhanced leadership roles.
“We have testimonials from hundreds of graduates saying an AILC course has changed their life.”
However, she said, the bittersweet reality was that each time AILC provided a course, the extent of unmet demand became a little bit clearer.
“We have been unable to offer an Indigenous leadership program place to more than 200 people, many of them outstanding Indigenous leaders who are desperate to find a new path to fulfil their potential,” Towart said.
“The cost of a place in an AILC course is far exceeded by the income growth that the average graduate receives in their first year – but most cannot afford to fund the course themselves because of their financial situation. Fresh funding is required to ensure we can make a significant contribution to Closing the Gap.”
The Certificate IV Indigenous leadership courses will be held in Broome and Newcastle, in order to be as close as possible to the majority of successful applicants. The first residential intensive blocks of the course will commence on March 17 and the courses will be completed by June 28.
