Beacon 'Real Jobs': a project in real job creation

Beacon's No Dole program, with its focus on students choosing to reject the dole as an ambition, is complemented by another program which has a focus on real (wholly commercially independent and sustainable) job creation.

The focus of this program is on “real job” creation for young people in their local community.

Through Real Jobs a new wholly commercial and sustainable small business is established, where young people are integral to the business process and its management.

Beacon’s first 12-month demonstration project, “Salty Seas”, at St Helen’s on the East Coast of Tasmania was an outstanding success and gained much acclaim.

The business processed wild oysters for the Sydney fish markets, providing on-going employment for many local young people and producing the Australian trainee of the year.
 
Beacon’s current Real Jobs project “Something Concrete” is tackling the dual issues of Indigenous youth unemployment and a lack of public housing in the outback town of Kununurra, in the far north of Western Australia.

Through the project 14 trainees have learnt the skills and developed the expertise to build precast concrete houses, helping the local young men break the generational cycle of welfare dependence.

The project is now moving to Stage 2, with the construction of a precasting factory to expand the business throughout the east Kimberley region.