Certificate II in Leadership begins at Harvey’s South Regional TAFE campus

A new TAFE course bolstering leadership skills to help create pathways for employment is now running out of Harvey for the first time. The Shire of Harvey and Harvey Aboriginal Corporation have worked together to bring the Certificate II in Leadership to the town’s South Regional TAFE campus. The course includes subjects such as self-development, communication and teamwork, as well as promoting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural safety and working in socially diverse environments. It comes after Noongar elder Lesley Ugle, who is head of the HAC, told the Harvey-Waroona Reporter last month more needed to be done to support Aboriginal people looking for jobs or those already employed. Ms Ugle said the course was about understanding people from all different backgrounds in the workplace. “Our communities are multicultural now and it is teaching us to be accepting, gracious, kind and respectful to others about their cultures and learn more about them,” she said. “We don’t know anything about (people from other cultures), so it is about time we learnt.” Ms Ugle said the course had participants from many of the different backgrounds that made up the Harvey community. “A lot of us are trying to find work and to be able to be successful in that we have to know how to get along and accept others no matter what walks of life they come from,” she said. Noongar man Stuart Little, pictured, is also taking the course after working at Harvey Beef for 18 years. He said he chose to participate to challenge his way of thinking. “I have worked all my life and have done things a certain way and now I want to do something from a different perspective,” he said. “I also want to be someone supportive and a leader within my community. “There is a lot of differences in our community and the world at the moment and this teaches us to step away from that, to support people and lead people. “That’s why people like Lesley and I are doing this course, so we can be a leader (for other Indigenous people) to bridge the gap between them and non-Indigenous people.” A local Indigenous man has already secured work at Harvey Beef since the course began.