Mark Arbib (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Social Housing and Homelessness) Share this | Hansard source

At last week’s Senate estimates hearing we heard that many of the government’s Indigenous employment programs are successfully being implemented. Almost 3,000 Australian government and 750 state and local government jobs have been created from former CDEP positions with proper entitlements including superannuation and annual leave. In the Northern Territory, there has been a 46 per cent increase in job placements brokered with the assistance of Job Services Australia providers over the past six months, and 30 per cent of the workforce on the remote housing program in the Northern Territory is Aboriginal, exceeding our target of 20 per cent. But you cannot create sustainable Indigenous jobs without sustainable economic development. In Indigenous communities we need Indigenous businesses to flourish. We heard in estimates that the Australian Indigenous Minorities Supplier Council pilot is delivering great results for Indigenous businesses. In its first year it has facilitated over $4 million in contracts between its 41 corporate members and 53 certified suppliers. (Time expired)