The Victorian Government is boosting support for Aboriginal organisations, creating jobs and ensuring we can all recover strongly from the global pandemic.
Minister for Aboriginal Affairs Gabrielle Williams announced the roll-out of the first tranche of the $40 million Aboriginal Workforce Fund at Goolum Goolum Aboriginal Co-operative in Horsham.
Goolum Goolum has received $150,000 to create culturally-appropriate supervision and debriefing services for local communities.
State-wide organisations, including Djirra, Victorian Aboriginal Health Service and Aboriginal Housing Victoria will each receive major boosts of $400,000 to support communities across the state.
These are among 44 organisations of all sizes across Victoria who are sharing in a total $11.2 million to boost the workforce and contribute to social recovery following the challenges of 2020.
The fund supports upskilling, training, worker health and wellbeing, organisational capability building, as well as extra staff to assist service delivery.
The funding empowers Aboriginal organisations to drive their own recovery priorities with their communities.
The Victorian Aboriginal Social Recovery Advisory Group, consisting of key Aboriginal leaders and CEOs from local and state-wide Aboriginal organisations, was convened to guide the fund design, priorities and approach.
These efforts build on $10 million the Victorian Government has already invested in the Aboriginal Community Response and Recovery Fund, to support Aboriginal groups in leading local responses to the pandemic, including emergency relief, outreach, and social and wellbeing initiatives.
Source: Vic Government