7 December 2011 – Jobfind Centres Australia today launched a new-look website for its Indigenous pre-employment training program, Budda-Jitja.

The new website has been developed to better showcase the content, learning outcomes and Indigenous “virtual mentor” characters contained within the revolutionary computer-based training program.

Literally meaning “Brother, Sister”, Budda-Jitja is Australia’s first pre-employment training program designed specifically for Indigenous job seekers. Launched in June 2008 the Budda-Jitja program was built and designed by e-learning developer OmniAP, with a team of Indigenous people at Jobfind, to help job seekers prepare for working life and to better understand what employers want. The program offers 14 animated education courses that use Indigenous characters (“buddas” and “jitjas”) and real-life examples to help people develop the necessary skills to “Work for Life”.

Offered to job seekers free of charge via the Government’s Job Services Australia (JSA), Budda-Jitja has been successfully used by over 10,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to learn skills such as adjusting to working life, time management, dealing with money, reading and mathematics, and using a computer.

The new website offers a wealth of information on the Budda-Jitja program, including an outline of each module with screenshots, a show-reel of some of the content and testimonials from Indigenous Australians who have benefited from the completion of Budda-Jitja training.

“The revamp of the Budda-Jitja website means that job seekers, employers and community partners can now gain a better understanding of how the program prepares Indigenous people for gaining meaningful and sustainable employment”, said David Rossiter, Jobfind’s National General Manager of Education Services. “The look and feel of the site is now also more in line with what participants experience when completing modules, so visitors are in for a real treat.”

The site also provides further information on ‘Classroom in a Box’, the program’s innovative delivery method for people in remote communities. ‘Classroom in a Box’ makes use of rugged, suitcase-sized portable containers that each hold as many as 8 laptops networked to a local server so that an internet connection and power are not required. Each ‘classroom’ can fit into a small car, four-wheel drive or helicopter, meaning that Budda-Jitja is truly accessible anywhere.

The new website is online, right now at: www.budda-jitja.com.au

Above: A screenshot of the new Budda-Jitja website

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NOTES TO EDITORS: About Jobfind Centres Australia Pty Ltd

Jobfind is a division of the Angus Knight group of companies, an Australian-owned organisation with a proven, decade-long record of providing quality employment and training services. A provider of the Australian Government’s Job Services Australia, Jobfind has placed almost half a million people into jobs since its inception. For more information on Jobfind and the Angus Knight Group, please visit www.jobfindcentre.com.au