Dick Estens

Sydney Morning Herald

Monday June 8, 2009

Peter Hawkins

IN 1997, the cotton farmer Dick (Richard) Estens decided he was going to do something about the social problems surrounding Aborigines in his home town of Moree, so he started a not-for-profit employment agency, Aboriginal Employment Strategy."I guess it was a troubled town back in the 1990s and everybody kept saying jobs were the answer, but no one seemed to be dealing with the problem," he says. "I'm not sure what motivated me; it was the challenge I guess."What started as a project run by the Gwydir Valley Cotton Growers Association is now a national service, staffed and run by indigenous Australians. It finds jobs for about 1300 indigenous people a year.Estens has been made an officer in the general division of the Order of Australia. He said the AO was a "significant award for a humble farmer". One of the most rewarding initiatives was getting Aboriginal students involved in work placement programs.