As an outback town struggles with a worker shortage, leaders have vented frustration at the local TAFE campus which they say often sits unmanned with the gate padlocked.
The remote Kimberley town of Halls Creek sits on the fringe of the Great Sandy Desert and about 70 per cent of people there are Indigenous.
According to census data, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander unemployment rate is 26 per cent, more than double the national average.
But leaders say while there are many jobs in the town, too often they are filled by outsiders — mainly from Perth and overseas.
The problem was raised at a Commonwealth-run community consultation seeking feedback on the potential replacement of the Community Development Program, which funded initiatives to get more remote people into full-time work.
Yura Yungi Medical Service CEO Brenda Garstone was among those at the meeting who said the North Regional TAFE campus often appeared closed and was not serving the needs of the community.
"It feels like it's been part of a money-saving situation where they've centralised their administration and they see Halls Creek as being a little, isolated, remote town," she said.
Ms Garstone said her medical service wanted to hire more local people, but in many instances they lacked the skills which could be taught at the TAFE.
"Some aren't even job ready. They've got potential but it's just unfortunate that they didn't complete year 12," she said.
"Literacy and numeracy levels are quite low. It makes it really hard because when we go to employ them, if you don't have the right skills, it makes it harder on the organisation."
She said her medical service desperately needed aged care, health, and admin workers.
"Those positions can be filled by local people but they still must be certified," Ms Garstone said.
TAFE blames staff shortages
North Regional TAFE managing director Helen Smart told the ABC in a statement that a "drive-in, drive-out" model had been in place in Halls Creek since mid-last year due to staff shortages.
"[That] model has been a successful interim measure as the TAFE works to re-establish a permanent staff presence at the Halls Creek campus," she said.
"Staff attendance at the Halls Creek campus depends on courses being delivered and ranges from daily to fortnightly visits."
Halls Creek Shire president Malcolm Edwards said the local government was crying out for more TAFE-trained young people to fill positions.
"It's not good enough," he said.
"We seem to be struggling for staff at the post office. With the cafe we opened up we're having shortages there. The visitor centre is not open at the moment.
"Sometimes to keep the post office going we have to steal staff from those other places. We definitely need some people in those positions."
Call for more incentives
Ms Garstone told the community workshop that there should be more incentives to encourage unemployed people to seek out training and for the workplaces that take them on.
"It needs to be a partnership between community and job providers as well as the trainers," she said.
"It's got to be something these people want. How do you engage them into something positive that they're not really used to."
Ms Smart said she planned to trial the re-opening of the TAFE at the beginning of next year, once sufficient staff were recruited.
"If we were going to trial something we would need the community to really engage. It's hard to keep staff if they're just on the campus but nobody is coming in and nobody is enrolling," she said.
"It would have to be us putting our efforts in and also the community putting their efforts in."
The WA government currently offers incentive payments of up to $15,000 for TAFE lecturers to work in the Kimberley and Pilbara.
