Partnership provides a boost to education

As part of the program - which aims to connect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities with technology to support educational opportunities - Missy Dooly and Jet James have received laptops to assist with their tertiary studies in 2022.

Missy is looking to commence a Bachelor of Childhood Education and Primary Education at Deakin University while Jet is enrolled in a Bachelor of Engineering and Applied Chemistry at RMIT University.

For Missy, the donation means she will no longer have to try and complete her online course through her mobile phone.

“If I didn’t have this laptop I would try to do the course on my phone, but I feel I’d be struggling because all my lectures would be online and writing and submitting assignments would be much harder,” she says. “It’s also taken a lot of the financial burden off.”

Representatives from ANZ and partner companies with Missy and Jet receiving their laptops.

Essential skills and connections

Missy has been enrolled in Ganbina’s Aboriginal school-to-work transition program since she was in Year 7, where her education and employment journey has been supported through scholarships, help with networking and finding employment and driving lessons.

Missy credits Ganbina’s program with giving her essential skills and connections that will help her to achieve her education and career dreams.

“When I first joined Ganbina, I joined for the opportunity to interact socially with other Aboriginal kids and for the financial support they offered for school expenses,” Missy says. “But now I realise Ganbina supported me with so much more - from financial support, to schooling and then job-wise, they supported me after finishing school to find a job.”

“Now that I’m older I realise I need those connections to help me get a job, go to university…. I’m now thinking about who can support and help me? A couple of names come to mind and those connections are entirely because of Ganbina,” she says.

Missy also enrolled in Ganbina’s drivers’ program and is now a licensed driver, which she realises was an essential skill for her to pursue further education and career opportunities.

“The lessons provided by Ganbina helped me get my licence. When you’re 16 and you do the driving program you don’t realise how much it will help you in the future. If I didn’t have my licence now, I wouldn’t have as many options available to me for study and work,” she says.

Missy highly recommends Ganbina’s program to other Aboriginal kids who may be considering joining. “You have nothing to lose by joining Ganbina, you can only gain. Once you join, you don’t realise how many things Ganbina can help you with that you might not think about when you’re younger,” she says. 

Boost to education

For Jet, a laptop computer provides a boost to his education due to the highly technical nature and design requirements of his degree.

“I feel very honoured to receive the laptop, being with Ganbina for so long it feels like a great reward and I’m really grateful for it. It lifts a huge financial burden from me,” he says.

Jet believes Ganbina has helped him feel more connected to his Aboriginal heritage and encourages other Aboriginal kids to join if they can.

“It motivates you to study a lot harder and you feel you’re giving back to the community by achieving high goals,” he says. “The big advantage of joining Ganbina is that you become more connected and prouder of your culture.”

In the future Jet would like to work in an industry where he can contribute to the community.

“I’d love to work in the environment or medicine industry,” he says. “I would feel like I’d be giving back to the community and I want to make the world a better place.”

Samantha Lenkic is the Media and communications manager at Ganbina.