UNE > News and Events > Browse by article > Aboriginal diploma breaks new ground

Next Competition unearths creative talent at UNE November 23, 2005  

Previous Honours for Vice-Chancellor in her final year at UNE November 21, 2005 

Aboriginal diploma breaks new ground

November 22, 2005

Sally HunterEmployers in schools, community care organisations, hospitals and Aboriginal Medical Services are encouraging their Aboriginal employees to enrol in a ground-breaking diploma course at The University of New England.

UNE’s Diploma in Aboriginal Family and Community Counselling began in 2003, and its first seven graduates received their diplomas earlier this year. “Our graduates are working in a wide range of organisations,” said the Acting Course Coordinator, Sally Hunter, “because counselling is applicable to so many medical and community-service fields. They are all using their newly-developed counselling skills to help their communities, and we are hoping that many more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people will graduate in future.”

Ms Hunter, who lectures in the School of Health at UNE, said the Diploma was “a very good qualification for people working in the field of social and emotional wellbeing”. “There’s such a need for this in Aboriginal communities,” she said.

“Many of our students have learnt counselling skills informally through their work,” Ms Hunter continued, “but need a formal qualification in counselling. To gain entry to the course, all you need is to have been working in Indigenous health or social and emotional wellbeing, or in an Indigenous community, for at least two years. The Diploma can also serve as a reintroduction to study for people who have been working for some years after leaving school.”

The Diploma was developed in collaboration with the Indigenous Regional Centre for Social and Emotional Wellbeing in Armidale. It is a two-year distance education program, enabling students to continue to work in their regular employment. Students come to Armidale twice a year for intensive skills training, building strong supportive networks with other Aboriginal health professionals.

“Employers see the course as a high-quality form of professional development,” Ms Hunter said, “and often support students by offering days off for study and even some form of financial assistance.”

She said those interested in starting the course next year should ring (02) 6773 4444 for an application form as soon as possible.

Media contact: Sally Hunter, School of Health, UNE, on 0412 677 322.

A photograph of Sally Hunter is available at:
http://photodatabase.une.edu.au/albums/incoming/2005/staff/Sally%20Hunter007.JPG

Posted by Leon Braun at November 22, 2005 01:11 PM