BVET has approved funding for the continuation of the successful Way Ahead for Aboriginal People training and apprenticeship program for a further 12 months.

Mr Rob Macdonald, Area Manager of Sureway Parkes and Forbes district, said that the program has had a positive response in the area.

‘We are running the program with the support of the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations and the board, to foster local indigenous clients into the workforce,’ Mr Macdonald said.

‘Sureway is a strong supporter of getting local indigenous people into work,’ he said.

As part of the program, Sureway has provided business administration traineeships to two young women.

Billee Holdsworth is a trainee at the Sureway Forbes office, and Monique Hartley works in the Parkes office.

The members of the Board visited the Parkes Sureway office earlier this week.

The purpose of the visit was to meet with the Sureway staff and the local trainees to gauge and discuss the success of the program and its feasibility for the future.