Partnership between Balund-a and TAFE a success for Indigenous offenders

Aboriginal offenders at a correctional centre in Tabulam, New South Wales, are getting a second chance at life through TAFE. The Balund-a correctional centre houses male and female residents aged between 18 and 35 years, who are mainly from the Bundjalung nation.

A partnership between the centre, North Coast TAFE, and Southern Cross High School distance education, has seen teachers from TAFE travel to Balund-a to provide classes on everything from literacy, numeracy, hospitality, and tourism.

The hospitality students from Balund-a have had a chance to show off their kitchen skills in a real restaurant at Wollongbar TAFE, and some are even considering hospitality as a career. Bundjalung man Aaron Henderson is completing a Certificate Two in Hospitality through TAFE and hopes to open his own catering van.

TAFE programs co-ordinator Janine Laki said that the skills learnt at Balund-a through the classes are taken into account when offenders reappear for sentencing, as offenders can be sent to Balund-a after conviction, or on bail before the magistrate decides upon a sentence.

Source: Northern Star

Contacts

Balund-a
186 Welsh Road
Mookima Wybra via
Tabulam NSW 2469
Ph: (02) 6660 8600
Fax: (02) 6660 8636

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