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Continually diversifying, Tribal Warrior is an
organisation that makes the most of Jawun secondees
to achieve its vision. At a Jawun Inner Sydney
induction, Shane explained the value of secondees:
You guys may not know it yet but you’re going to
impart your wisdom and skills to an organisation
that will use and benefit from them. Sometimes
you may feel out of your depth, or think they’ve
not gained much from what you’ve tried to bring.
But trust me, when you finish your secondment
and go home, when the dust settles, they’ll grab
that stuff and start to make it theirs. They may
not have all the qualifications you have, but you’ll
each plant a really important seed. After time,
we’ll see the fruits of those seeds you planted.
Shane’s dedication to the empowerment of
Indigenous youth in Redfern reflects the community’s
belief that this is central to their self-determination
and ascendancy. One young person at a time, Tribal
Warrior seeks to value children and young people
and give them confidence and practical skills for
their future. Shane’s vision of success includes young
people becoming so competent that their skills are
highly sought after, and the secondment program
turns full circle:
If we keep working like this, one day we can
pay someone from Tribal Warrior to go on
secondment, they’ll be skilled enough to be a
Jawun secondee. We can say to Jawun, ‘Look,
we’ve got someone with specialised skills, have
you got a brief that fits them?’ That to us is our
big game.
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