2009 is a very exciting year for 370 degrees group’s original Warrang Jarri Lian program as we celebrate the graduation of the programs first group of apprentices. The now licensed Plumbers are Alan (AJ) Moore (from Broome), Tehani Mahoney (Broome), Corey Thorpe (Victoria), Mungara Brown (Victoria), Jonathan Mullins (Darwin) and Ethan Corpus (Broome). 

The program included some driven local people who wanted to become qualified plumbers. It also brought talented Indigenous people from Broome and Darwin to live, work and study in Melbourne as Plumbing Apprentices employed by victec apprenticeships (then VICTEC Ltd.). victec apprenticeships along with the Plumbing Trades Employees Union (PTEU) provided a work placement for the apprentices as well as accommodation to assist them to establish a life in Melbourne.

Left to right: Corey Thorpe, Jonathan Mullins, AJ Moore, Ethan Corpus, Terry Shadforth 

The VICTEC Employment Manager flew to Broome to meet with the principal of St. Mary’s College to create the relationship between students and VICTEC Ltd. The students were then able to express their interest in the program and become candidates. It took a few trips to Broome to finalise the recruitment process, meeting with the candidates and their parents and guardians to ensure everyone involved had a good understanding of what was to come.

The group of three shortlisted candidates from Broome were then flown to Melbourne for a week to be exposed to the environment they would be living and working in (including the very different weather!). With the guidance of victec apprenticeships Field Officer Terry Shadforth they visited worksites and the VICTEC premises to become accustomed to the surroundings they would experience during their apprenticeship. Before they left Broome to settle in Melbourne a farewell dinner was held for the apprentices and their families. They were then accompanied to Melbourne by Terry.

Throughout their apprenticeships, the interstate apprentices faced the challenges of living away from home and their communities while trying to focus on the bigger picture of gaining invaluable skills and the license to practice a trade which would eventually benefit their future as well as their communities. VICTEC organized Aunty Val, a respected person in Broome’s Indigenous community, to live with the apprentices for the first six months to help them to adjust to their new life.

  
Tehany Mahoney                                Corey Thorpe and AJ Moore                   Mungara Brown

For the term of the original program and the subsequent programs that have followed every year since, victec apprenticeships Field Officer Terry Shadforth, himself originating from Broome, has been an invaluable resource for ensuring the success of the program. Terry’s dedication to each apprentice coupled with his own experience undertaking refrigeration mechanic apprenticeship (four years) was a critical part of the program’s success.

Terry will be attending a graduation dinner to be held for the apprentices this coming September by the PTEU. Tehani Mahoney and AJ Moore will be travelling from Broome where they are now working for Nirrumbuk Union Jalmadangah as Plumbers, as will Ethan Corpus who completed his apprenticeship in Broome. Mungara Brown has gained full time employment with his former host employer AG Coombs, Corey Thorpe is working as a full-time Plumber with the Yarra Council and Jonathan Mullins is currently playing VFL football for Port Melbourne. Jonathan wants to work in Melbourne as a Plumber and victec apprenticeships are assisting him to find work.

370 degrees group would like to offer sincerest congratulations to the former apprentices and wish them all the best in their future endeavors which will certainly be worth keeping an eye on.

  This project is Funded by the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations under the
  Structured Training and Employment Program