Voyages - IES Summary February 2021

Project overview

Voyages Indigenous Tourism manages the Ayers Rock Resort which is located 10 minutes from the Connellan Airport, the gateway to the World Heritage Listed Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park and the Central Australian outback. NAIF supported Voyages by providing finance for a number of improvements at the Connellan Airport including airport runway, taxiway and apron upgrade, runway lighting and provision of contractor accommodation. The upgrades enable the continued provision of emergency services and flights for remote communities in the region.

With the completion of the construction of the project in December 2019, the Indigenous Engagement Strategy has been revised focussing across the Anangu Advisory Program covering the operational phase of the project. Voyages will continue to report on IES outcomes until the NAIF loan is fully repaid.

Indigenous Engagement Team

The Indigenous Engagement Team seeks to provide a functional and strategic Indigenous engagement approach to deliver outcomes through effective engagement, education and training, employment and economic development, underpinned by a social and emotional wellbeing program.

Community Engagement and Relationships

An Anangu Advisory Group has been established to improve collaboration and partnership in economic participation, tourism, training and employment and activities at the Ayers Rock Resort.

Support and promote the Anangu Communities Foundation to develop a pipeline of regional projects in partnership with Anangu people at the grass-roots level, Anangu communities and organisations, building capacity and trust to deliver projects and share success stories.

Supporting Stronger Communities

The Real Jobs Program focuses on developing capacity of Anangu through effective support, mentoring, case management, formal and informal training and Language, Literacy, Numeracy support to transition through the Real Jobs Program into employment, and to develop confidence and skills to operate at industry level standards.

The Employment Pathways Program (NPY and Central Australia Region) supports job seekers at the community level to understand opportunities, and provide community-based skills development activities, on-site work experience activities, to lead into supporting interested job-seekers through the Voyages recruitment and human resources pre-work processes. This work is done in partnership with CDP and Job Network providers, and post-placement training and wellbeing support is provided to all people transitioning into employment opportunities.

 The Education Pathways Program works closely with local and regional partners across the NPY and Central Australia regions, to support stronger education and career pathways opportunities for students. Including community-based skills development activities, accredited and non-accredited school-based training support, through to structured Ayers Rock Resort site visits and work experience programs.

 The National Indigenous Training Academy seeks to employ Indigenous youth into Cert III level traineeships through skills development building LLN and foundation skills, implementing retention strategies and building a post participation Indigenous trainee community to facilitate career development.

The Wellbeing Program seeks to deliver a Social and Emotional Wellbeing (SEWB) framework that is culturally responsive to the needs of Indigenous staff, as well as enhancing the capacity of all employees to work appropriately and effectively with Indigenous staff.

View the Case Study factsheet on Voyages Indigenous Tourism Australia