[Sub ID 4761] Indigenous Hair and Beauty Study (Mallee Family Care)

Submission ID: 4761
Organisation name: Mallee Family Care
Contact name: Ms Tania Brookes
State: VIC

Which priority group of the Try, Test and Learn Fund does your idea support?
Young carers, Young parents, Young students at risk of long-term unemployment

What need or issue are you trying to address?
The Mallee Region is one that unfortunately is impacted upon by a number of social issues. For young people in our community there are many barriers that prevent long term employment:
• One in five of their parents when they reach 15 will be unemployed
• Drug and alcohol problems are double that of the average Victorian rate
• Child protection rates are three times higher than the state average
• Out of home care placements are double the state average
• The Mallee rates second highest for family violence in Victoria and 1 in 3 children are witness to this
• One in Ten parents have a history of mental illness
• Our juvenile crime rate is double that for Victoria
• The Mallee is the third most socio-economically disadvantaged area in Victoria
• Of those 900 babies born each year, 300 of them when they reach the ages of 15 – 19 years are not in education, training or employment
• 48% of Mallee students enroll in University compared to the state average of 68%
• Youth unemployment rate is 9.3%

What is your idea?
With this level of disadvantage facing young carers, young parents and young students we are proposing a program that will be focused on young indigenous women in the area gaining employment and training in the area of Hairdressing and Beauty.

We are proposing to work in collaboration with the Aboriginal Services and other agencies that provide support to young carers, parents and students to conduct a comprehensive training in business studies then move toward designing, developing and managing of a business.

We would be looking at enrolling and supporting a core group of young women in Certificate courses in Business studies then move onto Hairdressing and Beauty.

Alongside this will be modules in Occupational Health and Safety and gaining support from other local business for mentoring of the young women. Counselling and support services will be offered as well in order to assist the young women to develop a healthy sense of themselves and assist them to remain empowered through the process of studying, implementation and providing a service.

Providing this opportunity to young people in our region would assist in them gaining a purpose, a career path and also offering a service to the community that is not currently provided or accessible to many indigenous women. At a recent pampering day for Indigenous women it became apparent that the last time many of the women had received hair and beauty services was more than 7 years. During the pampering day hairdressing services were the most frequented.

The overall potential positive impact could be reaching as the young people benefit, yet so do their families, their friends and the community. Additionally local service providers are able to work jointly on the design of the program and collaboratively to achieve positive outcomes for young carers, parents and students.