National Indigenous Culinary Institute provides work pathway for indigenous apprentice chefs
/Opening doors to the foodservice industry for young chefs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander descent, the National Indigenous Culinary Institute (NICI) was founded in 2012 by industry leaders including Neil Perry, Matt Moran, Luke Mangan and the late Michael McMahon. Other luminaries including Terry Durack, Bill Wavish and Bill Sweeney have lent their ongoing support to the institute, which provides opportunities to work in some of the country’s best restaurants. To find out more we spoke to NICI CEO Nathan Lovett and Mason Hennock, one of the young chefs who has participated in NICI’s program.
Nathan Lovett came to NICI in March 2020 from a background in Aboriginal programs and has overseen a significant growth in the institute’s profile in recent years. “Prior to 2020 our main footprint was in Sydney and Melbourne, we then had a couple of weak years due to minimal urban placement opportunities during Covid – but we used that time to our advantage to expand into other areas like the Hunter Valley, NSW South Coast and regional Victoria. We gained a presence in Southeast Queensland in 2022 and we now cover the east coast of Australia and all of NSW. There’s now a strong awareness of us within the industry as our alumni base continues to grow.”
NICI ADVOCATES INCLUDING ROCKPOOL’S LUKE BOURKE (2ND FROM L) WITH FSR CONSULTANT CHEF ADAM MOORE (R)
“There’s now a strong awareness of us within the industry as our alumni base continues to grow”
A major focus of Nathan’s has been building stronger connections between NICI and potential industry sponsors – “Prior to 2020 our sponsorship was limited, we were backed primarily by banks and insurance companies and while it’s great to have that support, it’s important that we’ve since built strong relationships with those who are operating in our own industry, like Breville, Star Entertainment Group, Menulog, Porkstar, Mt Yengo Wines, The Cru and most recently Nestlé Professional. These are businesses which work with the restaurants and chefs we work with so that increases our ability to drive awareness and opportunities for our alumni and significantly improves our effectiveness.”
Apprenticeship placements in top restaurants
NICI prides itself on delivering pre-employment training and work experience programs as a pathway to chef apprenticeships in some of Australia’s top restaurants including Rockpool Bar and Grill, Margaret, Catalina, Aria and Movida. “Everyone who does our program has a guaranteed job opportunity, which is the really important part – this is what the founders established, they guarantee us placements in their restaurants to prove that our program works.
“Australian Venue Co, who are our latest corporate partner to come on board, are extremely good at this in the three states in which we operate and they’ve even just helped us out with a placement in Darwin – they have a national footprint which is advantageous for us because we help people in so many different locations.
“Once a program participant has been assigned a placement, we continue to mentor and support them – from cultural and mental health support to shoes, uniforms and utensils such as chef’s knives. We also support the venues via a HR mechanism, through which we’re able to provide any assistance they require such as understanding of the various nuances that exist between cultures - this can be quite important for some of our students if things aren’t quite going to plan, plus we make sure they’re continuing to progress on the academic side of things as well.”
ROCKPooL’s LUKE BOURKE AND SAM MAY ARE BOTH STAUNCH SUPPORTERS OF NICI’S PROGRAMS
As these industry connections continue to grow, NICI has been able to keep raising its industry profile. “The connectivity within the industry is really strong,” Nathan affirms, “so the more people we work with, the bigger the advocacy gets, which means there’s a lot of goodwill to support us. Nestlé Professional has recently come on board as a corporate partner and through that I’ve had a meeting with the head chef of a venue in Sydney because he heard we had partnered with them.
“What this means is that if we’re looking for an introduction to someone we don’t know, we can usually get it pretty quickly, whether it’s through a restaurateur, chef or corporate partner. That helps us out a lot when we do our commercial based programs of Connection to Culture through Food. These are run as masterclass workshops in high schools, currently in western Sydney although we’re looking to roll them out on a wider basis. We’ve been able to bring in chefs like Corey Costello, Tom Gorringe and Luke Bourke to come and run these each week so the students are being nurtured by the best in the business. It’s a great way to expose students to see who they can be as a chef.
“We’ve had over 500 people pass through our training programs and we currently have about 40 active apprentices”
“And of course, we have real accessibility to the top class venues through our connections. We currently have two apprentices at Aria honing their skills with top chefs who can take them above and beyond, challenge them, stimulate their creativity above what they’re learning in school and prepare them for that next step in their career. We’ve had over 500 people pass through our training programs since we started and we currently have about 40 active apprentices.”
Nathan emphasises that while support from industry is strong, NICI is still actively seeking out more corporate partners. “We are a not for profit so we rely on that support – and we’re also looking to Government to provide us with opportunities via contracts. We don’t expect handouts but we are providing services which are beneficial so we would appreciate the opportunity to continue to do so, via renewed contracts particularly from NIAA.”
Nestlé Professional comes on board as NICI partner
Nestlé Professional Communications and Sustainability Manager Karlie Durrant says coming on board as NICI’s most recent corporate partner exemplifies a commitment to fostering diversity and inclusion within Australian foodservice. “I think it’s fair to say that Nestlé as a business has been dedicated to supporting the next generation of chefs through skills development, mentorship and training and we believe those opportunities should be available to all,” Karlie says. “Partnering with NICI helps provide opportunities for young indigenous chefs to develop their skills and build their careers as a result – holistically it aligns with our broader goals of promoting cultural diversity and creating shared values in all the communities in which we operate.”
“Partnering with NICI helps provide opportunities for young indigenous chefs to develop their skills”
The broader Nestlé Australia business announced its Reconciliation Action Plan in 2021, and Karlie sees the NICI partnership as a means of “bringing those commitments to life in foodservice” – “We want to support more First Nations chefs to be part of the industry and have a longer, more sustainable career. And of course it also provides two-way learning opportunities, in that through the partnership we’re working with First Nations Chefs who are teaching us about native foods. During NAIDOC week last year we held a native ingredient inspired morning tea with recipes developed with First Nations chefs through NICI – including lemon myrtle shortbread and brownies with rosella flour. It shows how food can open a window into indigenous culture.
“We also recently hosted a masterclass for NICI, where 10 chefs came along to learn the art of tempering chocolate from our corporate chef. This is a highly technical skill and one you don’t necessarily learn on the job or in general culinary training – and we were able to integrate native ingredients, so it was a fun learning experience but also culturally relevant.”
Notable alumni of the NICI program include Luke Bourke, sous chef at Sydney’s Rockpool Bar & Grill, who was recently named Good Food Guide’s 2025 Young Chef of the Year. Having completed a decade at Rockpool, Luke has maintained an active involvement as a NICI trainee and is currently mentoring 19 year old apprentice Mason Hennock, who has been placed at Rockpool through the NICI program.
MASON HENNOCK (L) WITH BRYDIE ALLEN OF NICI PARTNER MENULOG
“I don’t think I would have got anywhere close to Rockpool without NICI”
Mason hails from Cootamundra in the NSW Riverina region and has been at Rockpool for about eight months now. “I think most of my inspiration came from my Grandad and Mum, always trying new recipes and getting me to cook which opened up my creativity a bit,” Masons says. “I actually had no idea about NICI until the day before I left to go to Sydney for the program – my mum came out while I was mowing the lawn and told me about it. I watched all their YouTube videos and was super interested – so I hopped on the train, went to Sydney and the next day I was there!”
Simultaneously with commencing his TAFE training, Mason underwent a two week NICI course, cooking five days a week – “then we got our knives and were sent off to our restaurants and that’s when I started at Rockpool. It was pretty hard at the start – I’d never been around a professional kitchen before, let alone somewhere like Rockpool, but it’s a very supportive environment. Luke Bourke is always there to help, both inside and outside the kitchen – we go out to catch up, he’s a terrific mentor. There’s only one other apprentice there at the moment so it’s me, him and Luke.
APPRENTICES MASON HENNOCK AND BEAU
“I’m currently doing sashimi and trying out other stuff – it’s definitely a high pressure environment but it’s a great vibe, everyone gets along and works together as a team so it’s pretty cool. I don’t think I would have got anywhere close to Rockpool without NICI – they’re really supportive, you can talk to someone if you need help, if you need uniforms they’ve got that covered, they’re basically down to help with anything which is great.”
Mason’s experience at Rockpool has affirmed his passion for the industry. “I’m probably going to stay at Rockpool throughout my apprenticeship and then look towards trying new things – I’d like to work with native ingredients, and maybe also work in a smaller kitchen so I can see all sides of cooking.”
