Jackeroo, The

1960, 18 Minutes

A jackaroo is a young person who works on a sheep or cattle station, to gain practical experience in the skills needed to become a manager.

The Jackeroo portrays the life of a jackeroo who works on ‘Thylungra’, an isolated, 1,000,000 acre sheep station - one of the biggest in Queensland.
We observe dingo trapping, boundary riding and the very important job of maintaining the windmills, which provide drinking water to the sheep grazing those vast paddocks. In the shearing sheds the shearers compete to see who can shear the most sheep in the shortest time. The fleeces are skirted and classed, then baled in the wool press for shipping to the mills.

In the evenings, the jackeroo dresses up for dinner at the homestead with the station manager, his family and guests, to learn the social etiquette required for high level management.

Produced by the Commonwealth Film Unit with the cooperation of Australian Estates Company Limited. © 2011 National Film and Sound Archive of Australia.