Barrawarn Program

In partnership with the Collingwood Football Club Foundation, AFL SportsReady have created a program designed to increase Indigenous participation in employment and education with a strong community football and local government involvement.

The program was officially launched at the Westpac Centre in June 2012 with Eddie McGuire presenting the AFL SportsReady trainees with a certificate.

Collingwood Football Club and AFL SportsReady share a commitment to providing opportunities to enable improved sporting, leadership, education and employment outcomes for Indigenous Australians.

In order to stimulate change and to support Indigenous communities both Collingwood Football Club Foundation and AFL SportsReady have created the ‘Barrawarn’ program, a three year initiative aimed at providing young Indigenous people with education and employment opportunities in metropolitan and regional Victoria.

Barrawarn is the Woi wurrung (the language of Wurundjeri people) word for ‘Magpie’. The Barrawarn program has provided 15 Indigenous Australians with the opportunity to kick start their careers. There are 5 full-time trainees that will be placed within AFL Victoria’s regional development areas with the aim to increase football engagement amongst regional Indigenous communities. The 5 trainees will work closely with the Regional Development Managers and Regional Manager.

Additionally, the Barrawarn program provides 10 school based traineeships for secondary school students to undertake a traineeship whilst continuing their secondary education. School-based trainees are fully supported by an Indigenous mentor through AFL SportsReady who will provide personal and career pathway support. The trainee will work for a range of different organisations within the cities of Yarra and Darebin.

Investing in the careers of young Indigenous people is a major focus of the AFL SportsReady business and will continue to play a pivotal role in the future of the company.