Stars Foundation is thrilled to announced that it has been awarded a Federal Government contract to expand its First Nations girls’ programs across the Northern Territory, Western Australia, Victoria and South Australia.
The $10m three-year contract comes after a competitive tender process and will see Stars expand to manage 20 further programs in the NT and WA, and to establish new programs in VIC and SA.
“Stars is grateful for this opportunity to provide intensive support to many more First Nations girls and young women across Australia,” Stars Founder and CEO Andrea Goddard said.
Since being established in 2015, Stars has provided evidence-based, intensive in-school support to over 1000 First Nations girls and young women, with consistently outstanding outcomes among participants.
Despite the impact of COVID-19, Stars achieved a 98 per cent Year 12 completion rate in 2020 among the senior students in our programs – a remarkable outcome for these young women. As of November 2020, 91 per cent of our 2019 graduates had successfully transitioned into work or further study.
“Our approach is to work closely with schools, communities and families to deliver the best possible outcomes for students”, Ms Goddard said.
“We use a strengths-based model, specifically tailored to meet the needs of First Nations girls and young women, with the aim of promoting positive education, employment and life outcomes.”
Stars is overseen by an Indigenous-led Board, with the highest level of Indigenous and business leadership represented. This not only allows Stars to gain the confidence of communities and families, it also ensures that our programs reflect First Nations priorities and are responsive to community needs and feedback.
Stars Chairperson Donisha Duff said, “We are both building and modelling the futures for our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young women from our communities and schools and into the Boardroom”.
“It’s important for our young women to explore what is possible and what they can achieve. They are future leaders in our communities and industry.”
It is Stars Foundation’s understanding that the NIAA will be funding the salaries of Role Models and Leaders staff while the transition to the new providers takes place and that the NIAA will be working with the new providers, including Stars, to secure employment for existing staff where agreement can be reached between the parties.