Kalgoorlie-Boulder’s Clontarf Academy helps Indigenous boys connect with mining industry at Diggers & Dealers

A not-for-profit group is helping Indigenous boys connect with potential employers in the mining industry at Australia’s leading mining forum in Kalgoorlie-Boulder. The Year 11 and 12 Clontarf Academy students met delegates from all corners of the mining industry at the 2024 Diggers & Dealers Mining Forum this week. The academy’s Eastern Goldfields High School director Kyrone Bradley said the experience had been “fantastic” for the six students. “The fellas are going through, basically, to meet potential partners for the foundation and it’s helping the fellas with getting in and networking with potential future employment,” he said. “It means when they are ready to go and head out into the big world that they’ve got the confidence to have these conversations and they will be able to do it easily.” Mr Bradley said the event fitted well into the academy’s vision of helping Indigenous boys complete Year 12. “It is making sure our fellas get to school and complete school to the best of their abilities and go on to find the right kind of work for them that they’re going to enjoy,” he said. “Diggers & Dealers has been great exposure for our boys to see what goes on in and around the town and where they can end up if they do everything right.”