Commonwealth Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment strategy

The Commonwealth Government is committed to achieving better results for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians in three key priorities: getting children to school, adults into work, and building safe communities. This strategy addresses the priority to build Indigenous employment within the Commonwealth public sector. It is also part of the Government's initial response to Andrew Forrest's review of Indigenous training and employment programmes report, 'The Forrest review: creating parity' [available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 117.900]. It is vital to improve the representation of Indigenous Australians in the workforce if the Commonwealth is to capably respond to the needs of the community.

A large and geographically dispersed workforce providing services to all Australians means the Commonwealth public sector is well placed to establish itself as a leader in Indigenous employment. Our goal is to increase the representation of Indigenous employees across the Commonwealth public sector to three per cent by 2018. We need to offer Indigenous Australians a range of entry pathways into the public service and better career development opportunities for existing Indigenous employees. We must also increase the representation of Indigenous Australians in senior leadership positions. The strategy provides a roadmap to achieve our goal. It has been informed by consultations with Indigenous employees and Commonwealth agencies and focuses on four key action areas: (1) expand the range of Indigenous employment opportunities; (2) invest in developing the capability of Indigenous employees; (3) increase the representation of Indigenous employees in senior roles; and (4) improve the awareness of Indigenous culture in the workplace. Show less