In Darwin 14 Aboriginal school student have partaken in two day of work experience at Darwins Robertson Barracks with the Indigenous education program Clontarf Academy.
Daniel McNamee from Clontarf said work experience played a part in the Academy’s broader work keeping young Indigenous men engaged in school and thinking about the future
The 14 young men partook in activities such as a simulated night rescue missions run by officers from the Royal Australian Regiments 5th Battalion, The program also includes an overnight camp as well as physical fitness exercises.
Commanding officer Major Jamie Smith helped oversee the exercises and said while he would encourage the boys to think about a military career, the skills they would develop on the base could serve them anywhere.
“The key skills we’re hoping to give these young men are a sense of teamwork and camaraderie, the ability to form and work in small teams, We’re a behavioural change program,” He said that effort was particularly important as the Northern Territory reckoned with a royal commission into youth detention and ongoing community anger over instances of youth crime.
Daniel McNamee from the Contarf Academy praised the young men on the work experience program for taking up the opportunity saying its quite a challenging course and commended them on working outside their comfort zones.
