First job at 31 … and it’s a winner: [2 All-round First Edition]
Stapleton, John. Weekend Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 02 Sep 2006: 8.
Abstract
Mr [Leonard Ritchie] now works as a car detailer in the Aboriginal-run enterprise Deadly Detailers at Wagga Wagga in southwest NSW. Although his past is chequered, he says the reward of working is that he can stand tall before his two-year-old daughter, Tiajay.
Finalists in the awards included the Wangka Maya Pilbara Aboriginal Language Centre in Western Australia, which is dedicated to preserving the 30 Aboriginal languages of the region, and the Wunan Foundation, also from the West, which provides a business service centre supporting remote community organisations.
Full Text
AT the age of 31, Leonard Ritchie has his first job.
“I was brought up criminal-minded and I just decided to change my ways,” he says. “I can see that I am doing something for the community other than doing wrong.”
Mr Ritchie now works as a car detailer in the Aboriginal-run enterprise Deadly Detailers at Wagga Wagga in southwest NSW. Although his past is chequered, he says the reward of working is that he can stand tall before his two-year-old daughter, Tiajay.
“People treat me with respect,” he says. “It’s good to say I’ve done an honest day’s work.”
Mr Ritchie’s workplace has won the Indigenous Governance Award for Australia’s best-run Aboriginal enterprise less than 10 years old.
Maria Rodgers, manager for Gannambara Enterprises, owner of the business, said it was not unusual for Aborigines in their mid- to late-20s to have never worked in a formal job. She said a successful business such as Deadly Detailers improved race relations.
“This gives the indigenous people credibility within the whole Wagga Wagga community,” Ms Rodgers said. “They have low self-esteem because they feel they are not worthy of anything. Part of our role is to make them feel they are equals in society.”
One of the judges for the award, Australian Industry Group chief executive Heather Ridout, praised the scheme. “All Australians should take their hats off to these people.”
Reconciliation Australia director Mick Dodson said indigenous success stories helped break the cycle of despair and promoted the wellbeing of Aboriginal communities.
Finalists in the awards included the Wangka Maya Pilbara Aboriginal Language Centre in Western Australia, which is dedicated to preserving the 30 Aboriginal languages of the region, and the Wunan Foundation, also from the West, which provides a business service centre supporting remote community organisations.