The Kimberley has high Indigenous unemployment and a shortage of hospitality workers.(ABC Kimberley: Giulia Bertoglio)
Cameron Victor is shaking a little as he strums his guitar for customers dining at a resort in far northern Western Australia.
Today he's on stage, but on any other day you can find him in the kitchen, prepping food and washing dishes.
The show must go on, he says.
Cameron was also pretty nervous when he re-entered the workforce as a kitchen hand at Lily Lagoon, but his suck it up and smash it attitude helped him through.
Getting a job as a kitchen hand gave Cameron Victor and his family new opportunities.(ABC Kimberley: Giulia Bertoglio)
The Kununurra resort offers employment and training to local Indigenous people.
Life has been pretty hard for me — growing up and hanging with the wrong crews, I've been down some sad roads before, Cameron says.
This is a life-changing opportunity for me and my family. It gave me a brand-new start.
Seventy per cent of employees at Lily Lagoon are Indigenous.(ABC Kimberley: Giulia Bertoglio)
For Cameron, the job represents a second chance after a prison term.
For others, including Miriwoong woman Shartne Duncan, the resort offers a first taste of employment.
Her experience as a barista helped her find employment elsewhere, but now she's back as a housekeeper and wants to train as a receptionist.
You wouldn't know what to do at first, but once you get the hang of it it just goes as a routine, Sharnte says.
It's the best feeling you'll ever have, even if you never worked before.
Sharnte says she has never felt afraid to ask for help from her colleagues.(ABC Kimberley: Giulia Bertoglio)
For the money and for the soul
The men in the maintenance crew share laughs and a love for motors.
One of them, Trason Simon, 17, bought an electric scooter with his first pay.
Trason got a job with the maintenance crew at Lily Lagoon after he decided to leave school.(ABC Kimberley: Giulia Bertoglio)
He got a job at the resort after he dropped out of school, which has inspired some of his friends who aren't working or studying.
Some of the boys saw me getting a job and they got jobs — they just need a bit of a push from the homies, from the brothers, Trason says.
Life's just boring staying home, not getting up to much, humbugging family.
Getting a job also dramatically changed the life of one of Trason's colleagues, Tremayne Reid Ryder.
Tremayne working on the resort's grounds.(ABC Kimberley: Giulia Bertoglio)
I wasn't in a good place when I wasn't working. Then I started working and things started coming good, Tremayne says.
But he says employment is not the most obvious path for those stuck in a cycle of disadvantage and trauma.
Our Indigenous people aren't exposed to this sort of stuff, Tremayne says.
They want to point the finger, but for non-Indigenous people it's a bit easier when you've grown up around that sort of life.
Jobs for locals
Linking local workers with the regions's hospitality and tourism businesses, which perennially struggle for staff, is a long-running goal for many Kimberley community groups.
Prue Jenkins, the chief executive of Lily Lagoon operator Wunan, says helping local Indigenous people join the workforce boosts the wider community.
The hospitality industry has been staffed largely by backpackers or visa-holders coming through, which accommodates the seasonal nature of the employment, she says.
However, we want local people coming into these jobs.
Prue says Lily Lagoon is not just an employer but a pipeline for local talent to come through to other jobs.
Prue Jenkins hopes more Indigenous people can gain the skills and confidence to get tourism and hospitality jobs.(ABC Kimberley: Giulia Bertoglio)
Indigenous workers account for 70 per cent of the resort's staff and many of them are assisted by Job Pathways, which connects jobseekers and employers.
What we see is a skills gap. Closing that skills gap sits at the heart of this program, Job Pathways interim chief executive Henrik Loos says.
Lily Lagoon has been federally funded for three years for 17 positions under the Remote Jobs and Economic Development Program (RJED).
The program, which creates 3,000 remote jobs across Australia, replaces the old Community Development Program, which failed to reduce high unemployment.
Senator Malarndirri McCarthy visiting Lily Lagoon, one of the government's remote jobs trial sites.(ABC Kimberley: Giulia Bertoglio)
Henrik thinks better mentoring can help keep people in jobs.
The new program is much more tailored towards the industry-specific needs, he says.
Therefore, we believe it will be much more successful.
Henrik says employment services should meet the needs of jobseekers and employers.(ABC Kimberley: Giulia Bertoglio)
But there are also some barriers that make workers drop out.
Providing a lot of the wraparound supports is absolutely critical, Prue says.
So the first thing we look at is 'does that staff member have safe accommodation locally?'
After ensuring secure accommodation for staff, Wunan also looks at transport options.
Some employees use the bus, but others are given a bike, assistance to gain a drivers licence and financial counselling to save up for a car.
A workplace of belonging
Growing confidence is as important as building skills and the resort aims to provide a work environment Sharnte describes as comfortable, like family.
Sharnte says getting a job and help securing accommodation has made her feel proud and hopeful.(ABC Kimberley: Giulia Bertoglio)
She is proud of having a customer-facing job and hopes it inspires others in her community to work in hospitality.
When other people see a local working in a big place like this, it makes them feel excited and happy, Sharnte says.
Future-wise, I hope I see young people like me working here, to make them feel good on country.
Employing locals has helped to boost the community as a whole.(ABC Kimberley: Giulia Bertoglio)
Cameron found his happy place in the kitchen.
Sometimes our fears just hold us back, he says.
I say to those people, 'Just give it a go. You never know until you give it a go.'
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-07-11/kimberley-indigenous-remote-hospitality-workforce/105509460
