Indigenous opportunities in State Government: Indigenous people wishing to kick start a career with the State Government are being encouraged to apply to the Department of the Premier and Cabinet’s Aboriginal Employment Program. The program recruits Indigenous people for administrative/clerical positions and traineeships with the State Government and every year there are about 500 of these vacancies. Most administrative/clerical positions are Level 1 fixed-term and usually last for three to six months, however these may lead to permanent longer-term contracts. For more information call Aboriginal Employment coordinator Maude Walsh on 9222 8744 or email mwalsh@dpc.wa.gov.au. Click here to visit the website.

Geraldton Indigenous Basketball Carnival: The annual Geraldton Sporting Aboriginal Corporation Basketball Carnival will be held this weekend in Geraldton, with teams from as far away as Roebourne, Onslow, Karlgoorlie, Narrogin and Pinjarra taking part. The carnival starts at 8am on Saturday, April 15 at the Eighth Street Basketball Stadium. Teams will be competing for the Kathleen Gregory memorial shield, in honour of carnival regular Mrs Gregory who sadly passed away last year. The carnival has been providing fun and competition for Indigenous teams for almost 30 years.

New Indigenous radio station: The Geraldton Aboriginal community can now tune in to Indigenous news and views from across Australia, through new radio station MAMA Radio. The station broadcasts programs from stations such as Radio National, Wanggi, CAAMA and Goolarri throughout the day and night. The station committee hopes to have a program up and running by June, when it will have its grand opening. Listeners can tune into 100.5fm on their radios to hear MAMA radio.

NAIDOC art competition: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists are invited to show off their creative flair by submitting works to the National NAIDOC Poster Competition. The artwork should reflect this year’s NAIDOC theme: Respect the Past – Believe in the Future. The winning piece will be used as this year’s official NAIDOC poster and the winning artist will receive $5000. Submissions close on Friday, 5 May. For more information visit the updated NAIDOC website: www.naidoc.org.au.

Australian memento awards: Designers, artists and craftspeople across Australia are invited to enter a national award recognising authentic Australian mementos for travellers. Judges are looking for authentic, contemporary designs and products that tell a story about WA’s spectacular regions. Entries should be of high quality, be compact, reflect, interpret or comment on the character of any city or region in Australia, be available for supply and offer value for money. Memento winners will share in a prize pool of more than $20,000 as well as receive national media exposure and access to stockists and retail outlets. Entries close on Friday, 30 June. For more on the competition visit www.mementoawards.com.