About the Cathy Freeman Foundation

The Cathy Freeman Foundation was established in 2007 to work with remote Indigenous students, families and communities to improve education outcomes and inspire Indigenous students to achieve their goals and dreams.

The Foundation acknowledges the strength and wisdom that lies within remote Indigenous communities. Our work demands strong and trusting partnerships with community, Elders and school leaders. We partner with communities for the long haul, as we journey through the complexities of the work required to create sustainable social change.

The Cathy Freeman Foundation works with 1600 Indigenous children and their families across four remote Indigenous communities in Queensland (Palm Island and Woorabinda) and the Northern Territory (Wurrumiyanga and Galiwin’ku).

The Cathy Freeman Foundation implements five key programs across these communities, working with children from pre-prep through to year 12. The key outcomes of our programs include increased school attendance, increased Year 12 attainment, building the self-belief and self-esteem of Indigenous students to achieve their dreams and increasing the engagement of families and communities in educational events and activities. The Cathy Freeman Foundation inspires children to realise their own gold medal journey.

Values

The team at the Cathy Freeman Foundation share the following values, which generally attract like- minded community, school and funding partners.

• Experience – we take the voice of community seriously and build upon what already works.
• Learning – we share a love of learning amongst our staff and with our school and community partners.
• Loyalty – communities respect that we are there for the long term.
• Integrity – we follow through on our word.
• Initiative – we take the small necessary steps to create positive social change.

The role

The Horizons Program includes educational and personal development camps offered to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students from grade 6-Year 12 in each of the Cathy Freeman Foundation partner communities. The foundation currently run six Horizons camps per year in Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra, Darwin and Brisbane.

The Horizons Program Coordinator will be responsible for all aspects of program management and implementation of the Cathy Freeman Foundation Horizons Program including camp design and logistics, implementing pre-and post- camp activities within each partner community and attending and coordinating each of the camps in collaboration with our program partner Cottage by the Sea.

A key aspect of this role is to facilitate educational and personal development workshops with students on each camp. This role is based in Melbourne and will involve significant travel opportunities across Australia. 

The Horizons Program Coordinator will report directly to the Director of Programs and will work closely with the whole Programs team across each of our community based offices as well as in Melbourne.

This role will be responsible for all aspects of program implementation and management, including monitoring and reporting and will be responsible for ensuring that the program meets its stated objectives and outcomes.

Responsibilities

Program Management

• Manage and implement all aspects of the Cathy Freeman Foundation Horizons Program
• Run up to six Horizons camps per year in various locations across Australia (including Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra, Darwin Brisbane)
• Design each individual Horizons camp in accordance with the relevant age group in order to ensure camps achieve intended outcomes
• Manage Horizons program budget

Workshop facilitation

• Facilitate educational and personal development workshops with students

Relationship Management

• Liaise with Cottage by the Sea, partner schools and other relevant stakeholders to ensure smooth implementation of each Horizons Camp
• Support community based Program Coordinators to implement community based camp activities (including classroom lessons, community engagement and collection of key information etc)

Skills and experience-

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander applicants are strongly encouraged to apply for this role.

• Tertiary qualifications in a relevant sector of Education, Indigenous Affairs, Community Development, Youth Work or similar (Bachelor’s degree minimum, post-graduate qualifications will be highly regarded)
• Demonstrated ability to facilitate participatory group workshops to achieve intended outcomes.
• Demonstrated ability to work with students and/or young people to support them to build their skills, resilience, self-esteem and self-belief
• Event and/or camp management including design and logistic management
• Highly organised, detail-oriented, reliable and flexible. Ability to problem solve and change and adapt plans in reaction to constantly changing circumstances
• Excellent verbal and written communication and interpersonal skills, an ability to listen to and balance, negotiate and work with a variety of internal and external stakeholders.
• Personal qualities of integrity, credibility and a commitment to the Cathy Freeman Foundation’s mission.

Salary and Conditions

This is a full-time role within the Cathy Freeman Foundation, a salary commensurate with the sector is offered, the role will also have access to salary packaging. The Cathy Freeman Foundation prides itself on being a flexible and inclusive workplace, additional benefits include:

• Up to two weeks’ additional paid leave at Christmas (exact dates determined by the CEO)
• Flexible working hours and locations
• Travel opportunities
• Comprehensive Time Off in Lieu (TOIL) policy

A full position description is attached below.