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This report focuses on the learning and development pathways of Aboriginal women and girls aged 0-34 years. It has been prepared by Effective Philanthropy on behalf of the AMP Foundation. The report explores what programs and supports can helpfully be provided to assist Aboriginal women and girls to access education, make a successful transition through school and get the knowledge, skills and qualifications that they need to realise their potential and pursue their life and career goals. It does not cover programs that are targeted at the general Aboriginal population or broader Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal population. It provides a framework, rather than recommendations about what to fund, that philanthropists and policy makers can use to inform their own efforts towards these goals. Throughout the report the term ‘Aboriginal’ is used to refer to people identifying themselves as being of Australian Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander descent. The age range has been selected to include early childhood development, on the basis that it is in that period that children develop the foundation social, literacy and cognitive skills to prepare them for school, the school years and the early post-school transition and career development years. The age range has been extended beyond what would be a more common upper age break of 24 years to 34 years to take into account the fact that many Aboriginal women defer their transition into further study or work until after they have had their family and their children have started (and in some cases completed) school.

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Aboriginal people represent 3.8 per cent of the Western Australian population, with 36 per cent living in the Perth metropolitan area. Forty-two per cent of the Kimberley population are Aboriginal (this represents 24% of the total Western Australian Aboriginal population). The official unemployment rate for Western Australia is currently considered a zero rate of unemployment. However the unemployment rate for Aboriginal people remains considerably higher. In fact, the official figure is that 14.3 per cent of Aboriginal people are unemployed in Western Australia. This percentage is higher if participants of the Community Development Employment Program (CDEP) are included. The recently released Sanderson Report estimates that the actual unemployment figure is more than 26,000. On the other hand, there are critical skill shortages across a range of industries in Western Australia, and in some instances industry is venturing beyond borders - both State and national - in their collective efforts to recruit and retain skilled employees. Our paper presents an overview of the results of the first stage of a strategy to re-engineer policy, planning and delivery of vocational education and training [VET] and employment services for Aboriginal people and Aboriginal communities in this State. Our research project examined State, Commonwealth and regional programs, their purpose and administration, and Aboriginal demographics including VET participation and completion rates for Aboriginal people in Western Australia. We also collated environmental data to clarify the policy focus underpinning service delivery and funding, and identified overlap in current delivery of programs, and issues relating to Aboriginal participation and performance in VET. The next stages of the research project will determine mechanisms for improving access to sustainable VET and employment services that meet the needs identified by Aboriginal people and Aboriginal communities in Western Australia. A narrow economic, crisis-driven approach should not determine how we maintain and grow training and employment services. In particular, individuals need to be able to sustain family, work and community responsibilities, and maintain strong links with resources within their communities. Aboriginal Australians have long argued that they are the most researched, planned for, monitored, evaluated and reported on group in Australia. It has also been argued that in spite of all the research, good intentions, policy papers, forums and action plans, little changes or that any change is at most incremental. Our paper examines the first stage of the research project and findings within the context of identified opportunities for strategy development that is based on punctuated equilibrium to bring about dramatic change rather than the traditional approaches of incremental change.

Published abstract.

A list of the presentations from this conference may be found at TD/TNC 93.551; available papers are indexed from TD/TNC 93.552 to TD/TNC 93.571. Show less