Business
10 September, 2021
A Swift look at a career
EMBARKING upon a career can be both exciting and also a daunting for many students leaving school. For 20 Indigenous students contemplating a career in the marine industry, the opportunity to visit and review Northern Australia’s biggest shipping company was an opportunity not to be missed.
Last week, the Year 11 and 12 boys and girls from AFL Cape York House toured the facilities of Sea Swift Cairns, as they reviewed the opportunities available under the Sea Swift’s highly successful marine cadetship program.
The visit to review operations was a result of a new partnership between Sea Swift and AFL Cape York House.
Sea Swift Chief Executive Officer Dr Rochelle Macdonald said the company was delighted to invite the students to tour its facilities and highlights the importance it places on investing in future generations, including young Indigenous people.
“Our cadetship program is our way of giving young local people a head start with on-the-job experience and formal training.
“It has always made perfect sense to Sea Swift to appoint locally where we can, and one of our aims is to provide long-term job opportunities to local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples,” she said.
AFL Cape York House Careers and Transitions Officer Peter Cushway said the organisation’s Careers and Transitions Program focuses not only on post-schooling career pathways, but also provides the tools and knowledge required to transition into working life.
“By providing opportunities for our young people to visit businesses and industries, we hope to open up new pathway options and allow our young people to investigate the industry and look at the potential opportunity of the environment.
“We are continually looking to build positive relationships with key industries and organisations like Sea Swift, who are culturally appropriate for our young people given the connection to community through Cape York and the Torres Strait.”
The tour is the brainchild of North Marine Director Courtney Hansen, who helped connect Sea Swift and AFL Cape York House to provide the opportunity to students.
Ms Hansen was the first ever female to join Sea Swift’s cadetship program, was named Cadet of the Year in 2013, and created history in 2015 after being appointed Sea Swift’s first permanent female captain.
