We will provide $10 million to fund four trial sites in an innovative and common sense approach to employment and training for indigenous Australians.

 

For too long, many Aboriginal people have been caught up in an endless cycle of meaningless training programmes that don’t lead to real jobs.

 

Indigenous leaders have been calling for a new evidence-based approach to indigenous employment and business has responded by pledging more than 60,000 jobs through the Australian Employment Covenant. Thus far, Australian Employment Covenant employers report a 70 per cent plus retention rate after training and six months employment.

 

The Coalition understands that training Aboriginal people for jobs that might not exist or giving Aboriginal people training that employers might not want is a waste of government funds and ultimately, devastating for Aboriginal people and their communities.

 

Under our plan, ongoing employment would be guaranteed for Aboriginal people provided they do the training and take the job.

 

Should it be successful, a Coalition government would consider extending it to regional and remote areas and to employment services more generally.

 

With almost 6,000 Covenant jobs pledged to become available over the next 12 months in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth, this is a nothing-to-lose bid to break the cycle of unemployment and exclusion.

 

This $10 million commitment would be made using funds from existing indigenous programmes.

 

Our Plan for Indigenous Employment is part of the Coalition’s plan to build stronger communities and to restore hope, reward and opportunity for all Australians. 

 

 

8 June 2012