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This report critically reviews evaluations of the major post-1985 labour market assistance measures
for Indigenous Australians, with a view to helping shape future policy in addressing Indigenous
disadvantage.
- In terms of achieving short-term employment outcomes, Australia’s major Indigenous-specific
programs appear to have been highly successful. A mix of on-the-job work experience, achieved
through wage subsidies or brokered placements, combined with other appropriate support, such
as mentoring, offers a successful approach. Involvement of Indigenous people in the provision
of assistance can also improve program effectiveness.
- However, despite considerable public investment in labour market programs and other forms of
assistance for economic development, Indigenous Australians remain significantly worse off on
all major measures of economic and social wellbeing, relative to non-Indigenous Australians.
- From the 1980s, government policy towards Indigenous economic development, as embodied
in the Community Development Employment Projects scheme and the Aboriginal Employment
Development Policy, stressed the importance of self-determination and cultural preservation in
promoting Indigenous wellbeing.
- Indigenous employment policies and programs are products of specific political philosophies,
and policy and program objectives are shaped by those philosophies. At evaluation stage,
objectives such as self-determination and choice have been ignored or have been replaced by
more easily quantifiable objectives, such as increased numbers of Indigenous people in
mainstream jobs. Policy-makers need to pay greater attention to how programs are evaluated.
- The primary objectives of the main labour market programs now accessed by IndigenousAustralians, encompassing the Indigenous Employment Policy and the Job Network, are the
achievement of mainstream employment outcomes, and for many Indigenous Australians this is
consistent with their own aspirations. Our view is that it is also likely to result in a more rapid
pace of social and cultural assimilation.
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