Beacon Foundation
Beacon Foundation is a national program designed to combat youth unemployment. The innovative framework allows young people to develop critical skills towards achieving a sustainable future without welfare.
Being a major sponsor of the Beacon Foundation, Alcoa provides funding and in-kind support with the specific aim of enabling Beacon’s projects to be replicated across Australia.
BEACON FOUNDATION’S PROGRAMS
'No Dole' Program
The Beacon No Dole program, which originated in Tasmania in 1995 to combat youth unemployment is now operating in 60 schools across Australia. The program involves getting Year 10 students participating in making a conscious and public commitment to not go on the dole, but to either continue in full-time education, training or employment. This is achieved with active support and involvement from local businesses and a focus on individual career planning have proved key ingredients in assisting young people make a positive transition from their school years.
Some activities, like Work Placements, Adopt-A-Class and Girl’s and Boy’s Day Out, help them to understand the world of work and the skills they’ll need to be employable.
Other activities, like Choices Workshops and Industry Visits help them understand their options so they can plan their career pathway. The Mock Interview activity walks them through the process of applying and being interviewed for a job.
The program has grown since its beginnings in 1995 with new activities being piloted or added each year. At the end of 2005, there were approximately 75 schools running the No Dole program nationally.
The activities of students participating in No Dole are tracked in order to evaluate the program’s success. In its first year the number of students going on to the dole at Brooks halved, within a few years it was down to 1%, a result that’s been maintained for the last 10 years.
'Real Jobs' Program
It was realised early on that on-going alternatives to welfare had to be available to young people, and this meant that real, sustainable, viable jobs would also need to be created for local young people in their local region and within their communities. To achieve this, Beacon developed “Real Jobs”, with the aim of creating viable small businesses that could offer young people permanent on-going employment.
Beacon’s very first 12-month demonstration Real Jobs Program at St Helen’s on the East Coast of Tasmania was an outstanding success and has gained much acclaim.
Trading initially as “Beacon Seafoods” within the prescribed 12 months subsidised establishment period, 15 real jobs for young people were created, based on harvesting and processing wild oysters for the Sydney fish markets. These jobs were created out of nothing at a real cost of $5000 each; in other words, about the cost of the dole for half a year.
One of the participants became Australian Trainee Of The Year in 2000/2001 and ultimately assumed joint ownership of the continuing enterprise.
After this initial 12-month period the enterprise changed its name to Salty Seas.
Salty Seas has since gone from strength to strength. Trading today as a self-sufficient entity, Salty Seas has seen the number of associated jobs double.
This Real Jobs template is now being used to replicate the project elsewhere in Tasmania and nationally.
We are currently looking at replication sites in Echuca - VIC, Port Stephens - NSW, Palmerston - NT and Huonville, New Norfolk - TAS.
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Coodanup High School, near Mandurah, is one of five schools in Western Australia to take the 'No Dole' challenge.
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