Indigenous Talent in Australia

We have come to the end of NAIDOC week, but the work to improve the lives of the indigenous population continues.

For my latest article in Ethical Corporation on overcoming the challenges of sustainable Australian indigenous employment, Part 2 in a two-part indigenous talent series, I had the pleasure of speaking with Sean Armistead.

“Where’s your mob from?” is a question regularly asked to Sean, the Indigenous Employment Programme Manager at Crown in Melbourne, the largest leisure complex in Victoria. With ‘mob’ referring to one’s extended family in Australian Aboriginal English, Sean usually responds that his mother is from an old traditional station in South East Australia called (Potaruwutj) Padthaway. 

When talking to Sean, his passion for improving the prospects of not only his mob but the wider Australian Indigenous community shines through and his own story led him to this. When Sean finished school and up until the age of 26 he went from job to job. Whilst he built up a broad skillset, he was harbouring much larger ambitions. However, Sean quickly came to realise that there was not enough help available to connect such life aims with jobs.

After studying law and commerce, Sean co-founded the not-for-profit CareerTrackers, which aims to help create career pathways for Indigenous university students through structured internship programs. The best thing about it, says Sean, is that it emphasises the individual and what they want to do in life.

This kind of passion is taking Sean to great places: he is currently running for election in Melbourne.