The management and directors at Worn Gundidj see the organisation not just as a place of employment, but also as a training and educational institution. The textiles work program at Worn Gundidj is an interesting example of this approach. The participants work their allotted CDEP hours per week (17.5 hours) but in addition a textiles and screen-printing course is delivered by the local TAFE college on site at Worn Gundidj. This qualifies as an accredited full-time course as it amounts to at least 14 hours per week, and therefore the participants are eligible for ABSTUDY. Although participants are not allowed to be on ABSTUDY when they come into the CDEP (they could not be classified as clients of Centrelink if they were in receipt of ABSTUDY), there is nothing to hinder them from going onto ABSTUDY once they have become employees of Worn Gundidj. In this manner Worn Gundidj can offer textiles participants both accredited training, and top-up money (in the form of ABSTUDY). Management at Worn Gundidj see this as a strong recruitment point, and it gives CDEP a real edge over Centrelink income support, especially for those adult participants who could get the same on income support, without having to work, as they would on CDEP. This training and top-up money cocktail has made the textiles program a vibrant hub of the organisation, as the classes and work are undertaken in the main office buildings. This work program, then, is in part dependent on ABSTUDY to make it a viable and attractive option for adult participants.

The other incentive that Worn Gundidj can offer is accredited certificates in horticulture for those participants under the horticulture work programs. Training for these participants is delivered by Wimmera and Grampians Group Training (a member of the Group Training Australia) who are based in Horsham. What it true of the textile stream is also true of the horticulture streams at Worn Gundidj—access to ABSTUDY dollars has made these programs very popular for both social and economic reasons. Thus, in these three work programs CDEP is closely linked to third party education and training providers, and is partly reliant on ABSTUDY dollars as a form of top-up.