This year Datacom celebrated the graduation of its inaugural JY Indigenous Development Employment Program (IDEP) cohort.
Drew Grant and Jake Fenwick-Scott, now associate network engineers, along-side Todd Rose, a field engineer, all supporting a major customer in New South Wales, completed the three-year IDEP in November.
Rose has also been appointed to Datacom’s Australian First Nations Advisory Board which commences next year. This board is a key element of Datacom’s Reconciliation Action Plan.
The Advisory Board’s mission is two-fold: to provide a forum for consultation on substantive matters affecting First Nations Peoples, and to guide Datacom’s reconciliation agenda, including initiatives to boost Indigenous employment.
Sam Knight, Practice Lead Australia and Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) working group Co-chair at Datacom, emphasises that the Advisory Board is designed to strengthen the company’s engagement with and support for Indigenous employees.
“Our ultimate goal is to become the IT employer of choice for Indigenous peoples in Australia,” he says.
Building on this commitment, Datacom will welcome another 10 IDEP trainees in February next year.
Rose’s own career path is a testament to the opportunities created by the IDEP. He began his Datacom journey in end user support as a customer lead, before progressing to associate network engineering and eventually leading the field engineering team. This represented a major career shift for Rose, who previously worked as a fitter, a pastry chef and in indigenous aged care.
Encouraged by his brothers, both of whom have longstanding careers in technology, Rose pursued IT courses and discovered the IDEP opportunity through the Indigenous Defense and Infrastructure Consortium (IDiC). He changed from studying web design to network engineering, seizing the chance to enter the tech industry.
“This is my first job in tech, and I’ve witnessed how, in other industries, Indigenous people have sometimes been taken advantage of. Datacom stands out for its diverse and respectful culture, where everyone’s heritage is valued. The support provided here is what I believe every employee deserves. Starting out and learning was made easy,” Rose says.
He also acknowledges the challenges faced by Indigenous Australians in the workforce: “Before 2000, we were often turned away from jobs because of our skin color or culture. While the workplace has become more inclusive, societal challenges remain. The ongoing question for us is how to navigate the mainstream world while staying true to our culture.”
Rose was raised in a white middle-class environment and only began learning about his heritage at around 25 years of age, thanks to a family friend who shared dreamtime stories — an experience many Aboriginal children grow up with. “It can be difficult to reconcile these worlds, but ultimately, we all seek the same things,” he says.
From trainees to highly skilled experts, Datacom is committed to developing, retaining and promoting diverse talent. We want to help you grow your current skills and give you the opportunity to learn and develop brand new ones.
