Trish Crossin (NT, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question today is to the Minister for Indigenous Employment and Economic Development, Senator Arbib. With this Thursday, 24 March, marking National Close the Gap Day, could the minister please advise the Senate on what progress the government is making towards halving the gap in Indigenous employment? Could the minister also outline the importance of improving levels of Indigenous employment and promoting economic development in order to reach other Closing the Gap targets?

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

Yes, this Thursday is National Close the Gap Day and I would encourage all Australians to get actively involved in the campaign. I also note that today is Harmony Day—the orange ribbons we are wearing celebrate our cultural diversity. I think it is very important to recognise our Indigenous culture arising, as it does, from one of the world’s oldest civilisations.

There is a great deal of progress being made in Indigenous employment. The vast majority of the work being undertaken is through the Job Network—through Job Services Australia. Two years ago, Job Services Australia was reformed. It was reformed to put the emphasis on disadvantaged job seekers. The financial incentives were moved to the back end to ensure that those in streams 3 and 4 of Job Services Australia were getting the support they needed to get them into employment—80 per cent of those in streams 3 and 4 are Indigenous. The good news is we are starting to see results. Compared to non-Indigenous job seekers, four per cent fewer Indigenous job seekers have returned to the employment services system 13 weeks after being placed into jobs. This is a significant improvement and it shows that the job services network is working for Indigenous job seekers.

But it is not just through the Job Network that we are doing this work; it is also through the IEP—the Indigenous Employment Program. So far 40,000 employment and training places have been created since the IEP was reformed in July 2009. It is going towards businesses that are really seeing results. Look at Linfox—they committed over a year ago to putting 500 Indigenous people into employment and they have already hit 100 Indigenous workers, with another 12 being trained right now. Ngarda Civil and Mining, a company in Western Australia, are right now training and employing 184 Indigenous workers in the Pilbara. These are the results— (Time expired)

Trish Crossin (NT, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. The minister mentioned the Indigenous business enterprise Ngarda Civil and Mining in his response so I ask: would the minister please inform the Senate of what the government is doing more broadly to support the development of Indigenous enterprises?

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

We are never going to close the gap on Indigenous employment unless we make ground on Indigenous businesses. Economic development is critical and crucial to making that happen. One of the things the government have done is to work with the not-for-profits and with corporations. We have invested $3 million in the Australian Indigenous Minority Supply Council, AIMSC, and they are making great ground. As at 31 December 2010, AIMSC had certified 67 Indigenous businesses and had attracted 54 corporates, which are some of the best names in Australian business world, and had also attracted a number of federal and state government departments. Already it has generated $4.4 million in contracts and $2.9 million in transactions between its members and certified suppliers. The best part about it is that 72 per cent of the employees of these new Indigenous businesses are Indigenous. (Time expired)

Trish Crossin (NT, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a further supplementary question. Would the minister also provide to the Senate some specific examples of successful Indigenous projects that have been supported by this federal government?

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

There are a number of good examples but the one that stands out for me at the moment is the work of the Indigenous Land Corporation, the ILC. The ILC is an organisation that has gone into many areas and used some very innovative business practices, such as Ayers Rock and the Uluru resort. That resort previously had over 600 employees but there were fewer than 10 Indigenous workers employed. The ILC has purchased that resort, is working with the Indigenous community and is going to ensure that the Indigenous communities in that region get access to the facility for employment and for training. What the ILC is also doing is ensuring that Indigenous job seekers from around the country interested in hospitality and tourism will get an opportunity to train at the resort and go back to their own resorts and tourism sites in the other parts of the country. (Time expired)

Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask that further questions be placed on the Notice Paper.