Indigenous organisations call for jobs, not work-for-the-dole

Leading Indigenous organisations have urged the federal government to create thousands of new jobs for First Nations people in remote communities.

A statement from 25 Indigenous policy and employment organisations says the government must urgently fund at least 12,000 new jobs over the next two years

Leading Indigenous organisations have urged the federal government to create thousands of new jobs for First Nations people in ­remote communities, warning a delay in boosting employment will mean generations of young men and women will only ever envision working for the dole.

The call comes as the commonwealth prepares to introduce a new community co-designed ­remote job program in 2023 to replace a work-for-the-dole scheme that has been described as racist and unworkable.

A joint statement from 25 Indigenous policy and employment organisations, including the Cape York Institute, says the government must urgently fund at least 12,000 new jobs over the next two years as a first step to help close the employment gap in remote Indigenous communities, drive services and growth in the regions and improve health and social outcomes.

The organisations say the overhaul of the work-for-the-dole scheme – branded the Community Development Program – must focus on creating meaningful work rather than more funding for unemployment.

Cape York Institute chief executive Fiona Jose said the recasting of the scheme would allow for a historic shift away from governments investing in a welfare systems towards tangible employment outcomes.

“If it’s just tweaking the system it’s got to be about jobs and not business as usual,” she told The Australian. “At the moment, children don’t see any vision. How do you know what you want to be and grow up to be when you don’t see those roles and jobs in your communities?”

In September, the federal government called for “new and innovative ideas” for the redesign of the work-for-the-dole scheme to help locals take up opportunities “when they present themselves”.

Cape York Institute chief executive Fiona Jose. Picture: Stewart McLean

But Ms Jose stressed the federal government needed to take leadership on creating these new roles. “Jobs aren’t just going to present themselves,” she said.

Aboriginal Peak Organisations of the Northern Territory spokesman John Paterson said the federal government provided more than $300m to employment providers to manage “activities” for unemployed people when “what people really want is a chance for proper paid work”. The APO NT commissioned modelling in 2018 that revealed an additional 12,000 jobs in remote areas would immediately reduce poverty in the regions and narrow the employment gap by one third.

The collective of organisations said the government must create a jobs fund that would allow Indigenous communities to create essential jobs for locals such as critical infrastructure, construction and public sector maintenance roles, as well as waste management and reduction, and language preservation.

“Over time, we believe that many will move from this work into other jobs, or even their own businesses. In emerging economies, this will take time. But unless people are given the opportunity to gain the skills and experience that only comes through work, we know it will never happen,” the statement said.

Earlier this year, Aboriginal people of the 10 communities in the vast Shire of Ngaanyatjarraku near the border of Western Australia and the Northern Territory reached an out-of-court agreement with the federal government after a two-year battle over the work-for-the-dole scheme.

In 2015, the work-for-the-dole scheme was recast as the Community Development Program. It was for unemployed people in designated remote areas but about 80 per cent of the 40,000 participants were Indigenous. Critics said the scheme lost relevance because communities were no longer in charge of the work people were ­required to do to get paid.