On Monday 14th June 2021, Centacare Employment and Training unveiled the new Centacare Fremantle training site. Centacare’s board members, staff and students got together to celebrate the grand opening with refreshments. Centacare was also joined by representatives from affiliated organisations and referral agencies, such as the Catholic Archdiocese of Perth, the Department of Education, Skills and Employment (DESE), AtWork Australia, Youth Focus, Maxima, Headspace, the City of Fremantle and St. Patrick’s Community Support Centre.

Guests were greeted on arrival and provided a tour of the facilities. This new site features a welcoming reception area, a meeting room, two spacious classrooms and a computer lab furnished with brand new computers. 

The Open Day celebration began with Centacare’s Aboriginal Community Development Officer, Simone Collard, providing an acknowledgement to the Whadjuk people of the Noongar Nation, the traditional custodians of the land on which the training site stands. The welcome speech started with Centacare’s Skills for Education and Employment (SEE) program Manager, Pauline Beck, giving thanks to the guests for their attendance and speak about the benefits of the new site for the SEE Program.

“This is where we will deliver the SEE Program,” Pauline explained, “which is changing as we cater to the high demand for more digital literacy.” She further announced that SEE Program’s current 650 capped hours no longer apply to the program. As a result, SEE participants will be able to stay in the program for as long as it takes to complete their certificate.

The previous Centacare Hilton site at Fremantle PCYC Centre has moved to this new Fremantle site, where Centacare’s SEE Program and the Avenues – Alternative Education Program (AEP) will continue to be delivered. This site is centrally located, right at the Fremantle city centre, and is easily accessible via public transport.

The DESE’s representative, Susan Elsberry, added that “The Government is very interested in transitioning people into jobs, and the SEE Program is pivotal and central to the mission. But it does rely on all the referring agencies as it is a partnership, and we certainly encourage the agencies to look at the SEE Program as an option. Also, on a personal note, we are delighted to be able to work with the Centacare team for so long. It is great to see this [open day] happening.”

Centacare’s Chairperson, Gwen Wood, continued the welcome speech by congratulating the Centacare team. “First of all, led by Lee-Anne Phillips (CEO) and also very much the work of Reena Masuria (CFO) and Kallan George (IT and Facilities) who have transformed the space into something enchanting. We are all thrilled, and we love the space. Thank you to all the Centacare team,” Gwen said.

She continued, “I suppose what I would say about Centacare is that we believe in chances. We believe in first chances, second chances and even third chances. With the SEE Program, people are open up to many areas to gain skills and a chance at the Australian way of life. Centacare also offers other chances with the Vocational Education and Training (VET) program, which is for people who want to enter the workforce. The other program that Centacare offers is the Alternative Education Program (AEP), which is for youth who may have gone to school and perhaps did not like it much, and let’s face it, that can happen easily. They then have the chance to re-engage with education. So I suppose we are talking about offering chances to people, and for all of you who are entering the program and coming to the centre, I would say seize your chance, take it with both hands and make as much as you possibly can. As I said, it is an important part in all of our lives that there is somewhere we can go to have another chance.”

Centacare’s CEO, Lee-Anne Phillips, was introduced to address the guests, “Many of you today have been supporters of our organisation for several years. You send your clients who come from disadvantaged, marginalised sections of society to Centacare’s supportive education programs, as mentioned earlier by Gwen, that will transition them into employment. We hope that they will like this training centre and will make it their home. We are a small team, but we have a big vision. What a privilege it is to stand before you to commemorate this auspicious occasion. What you observed as you walk around today is the combination of the vision, hard work and determination of many individuals.”

“Despite constant change and ongoing uncertainty, our organisation was able to weather the storm of the past two years of sweeping reforms and program funding, including a pandemic. We will continue to be innovative to encourage and attract participants who need our services now more than ever. We will expand our services and deliver with a focus on a supportive, flexible and holistic environment for the disadvantaged in our community. This training centre will certainly facilitate this,” said Lee-Anne.

Centacare Fremantle is our newest addition to the six training sites, and it has started delivering classes. The site will be open 8:45 am – 2:45 pm, Monday to Friday.

If you have any questions relating to our new location, please contact us on (08) 9482 7000 or email at see@centacarewa.com.au.