The beauty course was run by Pindarri, an organisation based in Sydney which is all about creating equality for Aboriginal people, and taught by local woman Tracie Dunn.

Pindarri director, Bradley Commins (who is originally from Moree) brought South Sydney Rabbitohs player Cody Walker and Australian Indigenous rugby union player Jordan Goddard to Moree to chat to the women about their Aboriginal culture and identity on the final day of the course.

“In the last two days we’ve been doing a beauty course for women of all ages to take self-care around the way they look, the way they feel and to build on their self-confidence and respect,” Mr Commins said.

“Today was around identity, connecting Aboriginal people back to their culture.

“It’s so important to know who you are and be proud of it. It’s okay to be different.”

Sixteen women aged between 15 and 55 participated in the three-day course at Moree East Public School, where they learnt make-up application, nail application and removal, understanding of products, massage therapy and relaxation, as well as cultural identity and self-esteem.

Mr Commins said the participants get a lot out of the course.

“It changes their values around time management and family, the way they feel about their Aboriginality and that it’s an asset not a hinderance,” he said. “I wanted all Aboriginal women to start respecting who they are as people and to change their view on how men see them, how they see themselves and how their children see them.”

Cody spoke to the girls about his background and his experiences with the Rabbitohs and said it was great to see them open up by the end of the session.

“When we first started, we couldn’t get two seconds out of them and by the end they were willingly talking,” he said.

The course is a new one established by Pindarri with the idea to eventually run a Certificate III in beauty in Moree to help Aboriginal women build life and employability skills.

While they were at Moree East Public School, Cody and Jordan also made time to speak to a group of young boys, which executive principal Muriel Kelly said was fantastic.

“I just believe it’s always good to have role models such as Cody and Jordan coming to the school and gicing them some motivation and words of wisdom about striving to be the best they can be,” she said.