Meet Narelle transcript

Narelle: That's all I knew was being a mum, like half my life. I knew I had to change, not only for me, for my kids, too. My name is Narelle. I work at Perth Mint.

Austin: I met with Narelle and she was referred to the Matera Foundation Pathways to Employment program. So I kind of got to know where she wanted to go and which career path she was looking for, and it just happened to be that she contacted me while up on a mine site. So I told her that as soon as she gets back to contact me. I then referred her to the Perth Mint.

Riaana: We were going through a really busy time last year, and I contacted Austin at APM. He sent me quite a few resumes, and Narelle's stood out. She'd previously worked on a mine sit as an operator, so for me, that showed a lot of focus and attention to detail.

Narelle: I inspect the coin, but mostly bullion, and I just make sure everything is perfect, shiny for the customer. I make sure that there's no defects, no scratches. You have to weigh the coin and make sure it's the right weight.

Riaana: Narelle's been fantastic. She came in as a casual and she learned the job really quickly. We were getting positive feedback pretty much straight away, and Narelle's now a permanent employee at the Perth Mint.

Narelle: I was quite nervous, but the girls are great. If you don't know anything, you just ask, and they'll tell you.

Austin: Narelle was the first Indigenous client that I placed at the Perth Mint. She went from a casual role to a full-time role pretty quickly. And I went in there and had a look to see what she's doing, and it was pretty cool just to see her in there doing here thing, so very rewarding.

Narelle: Perth Mint is a big industry, and me being one here. I'm Aboriginal. My family is so proud of me. My kids are proud of me. It's good.