Aboriginal Employment, Education & Community Development

Lynette Riley-Mundine

What Do We Mean By Social Justice?

International Agenda

United Nations: Indigenous monitoring MDG – Millennium Development Goals EFA – Education For All EFI – Index Nation Reports

Visit website of UN and explore goals

Aboriginal EmploymentStatutory, Policy & Reporting Requirements

Statutory Requirements Commonwealth Legislation NSW Government “Aboriginal Employment in Practice for the NSW

Public Sector” 2000 Racial Discrimination Act 1975 Disability Discrimination Act 1992 Age Discrimination Act 2004 Sex Discrimination Act 1984 Human Rights & Equal Opportunity Commission Act 1986

State Legislation NSW Government “Aboriginal Employment in Practice for the NSW

Public Sector” 2000 Anti-Discrimination Act 1977

Aboriginal EmploymentStatutory, Policy & Reporting Requirements

Policy Requirements State NSW Government “Aboriginal Employment in Practice for the NSW

Public Sector” 2000 NSW Policy Statement “Making It Our Business ” 2006 NSW Government “Two Ways Together ” 2005 NSW Public Sector “Workforce Planning Strategic Framework and

Action Plan ” 2004 – 2006

Commonwealth Commonwealth of Australia “Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage

Report, Key Indicators 2005 ” Government Services 2005 “Indigenous Compendium ”

Statutory, Policy & Reporting Requirements

Reporting Requirements

Premiers Department Reporting Requirements

Minimum EEO statistical information includes: Number of EEO respondents in an agency Number of people who identify as Aboriginal Number of people who identify as Torres Strait Islander Number of people who identify as both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Number of people who identify with a disability Number of people who identify with a physical disability requiring workplace

improvements Number of people for whom English is not their first language Number of people who identify as a racial, ethnic or in an ethno-religious minority Number of women Number of men

State Focus

“meeting the needs of Aboriginal people is core business for NSW public sector agencies, agencies have a responsibility to promote the employment of Aboriginal people, and support Aboriginal staff once employed. Getting a job is one thing – building a rewarding career is a different challenge ”

(Making It Our Business, Foreword by The Hon Morris Iemma, MP, Premier, 2006)

Statutory, Policy & Reporting Requirements

Reporting Requirements Whole of Government - TWT

Number of Indigenous specific programs and services administered or funded by your agency Number of programs and services administered or funded by your agency which have a

significant Aboriginal client base Number of projects which you are operating which are Indigenous specific or which have a

significant Aboriginal client base Nature of the programs, services and projects Amount of funding allocated to each of these programs, services and project

Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage Initiatives to raise cultural awareness Initiatives to increase Indigenous recruitment Specific Outcome 2 initiatives to increase Indigenous staff numbers Initiatives to increase developmental opportunities of Indigenous staff in the department Initiatives to improve retention rates of Indigenous staff in the department

Factors Affecting Involvement

INTERNAL FACTORS

cultural differences

EXTERNAL FACTORS

Cycle of poverty

HISTORY

History1770 Captain Cook – claims Australia is unoccupied & Terra Nullius – legal non-existence of Aboriginal people in Australia1788 Intensive contact – introduction of diseases 1795 Martial Law – soldiers ordered to kill as many Aboriginal people as possible1814 Native Institution at Parramatta – Governor Lachlan Macquarie, closed in 1830 1834 John Bateman Treaty with Aborigines not allowed – as it could subvert rights of landholders 1838 Myall Creek trials1848 Establishment - Board National Education 1850 Pastoral Expansion & Policy of Extermination – Aborigines seen as “rural pests” 1878 Reserves and Mission – created for Aborigines 1881 Protector of Aborigines appointed1883 Aborigines Protection Board & Stolen Generations commence1897 Policy of Segregation1901 Commonwealth of Australia – White Australia Policy1909 NSW Aborigines Protection Act – APB control over Aborigines1937 Policy of Assimilation1940 Aborigines Welfare Board1941 Child Endowment for Aboriginal people – if non-nomadic1942 Invalid and Old Age Pension approved for Aborigines – no payment for 2 years1943 Certificate of Exemption – “Dog Tags” introduced as part of Assimilation Policy1944 School entry – via Certificate of Exemption1946 School entry – via Medical Certificate

History1958 Aboriginal campaigns – Aboriginal Progressive Association & FCAATSI1960 Integration Policy – theory of creating new Australian culture – take the best from all1965 Freedom Rides – based on campaign for “Black” Rights in America1966 Gurindji people walk off Wave Hill Cattle Station – for equal pay – became first land claim 1967 Commonwealth Referendum – implemented 1969 – citizenship; counted in Census & Commonwealth power to make laws for Aboriginal rights over states1969 Commonwealth – Federal Office of Aboriginal Affairs established1970 Self-Determination – policy of control given to Aboriginal people, in theory1972 Teacher’s handbook – withdrawal Principals authority to exclude Aboriginal students 1973 National Aboriginal Consultative Committee established 1982 NSW - Aboriginal Education Policy – first in Australia1982 NSW Ministry Aboriginal Affairs1983 NSW Aboriginal Land Rights Act1987 Child Care Act – Aboriginal people could foster and adopt Aboriginal children1989 Royal Commission in Aboriginal Deaths in Custody1991 Report by the Royal Commission1991 Council for Reconciliation established1992 Mabo decision by High Courts – recognition of British Law Native Title – inheritance rights1993 Native Title Act1995 Inquiry into Stolen Children – Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission1996 High Court Wik decision1997 Reconciliation Convention & “Bringing Them Home” Report

Aboriginal Statistical Information

Population

Aboriginal population and total population of New South Wales in 2001, by age group (ABS, 2003)

Aboriginal Statistical Information

GeographicLocation

Aboriginal Statistical Information

Education – International Context

Australia’s Indigenous Students in PISA 2000: Results from an International Study, ACER, 2004

Aboriginal Statistical Information

Education – State Context

Aboriginal Statistical Information

Education – State Context

NSW DET, “The Report of the Review of Aboriginal Education”, 2004

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Aboriginal Statistical Information

Health the life expectancy is at least 20 to 25 years or less than other

Australians 45% of Indigenous males and 34% Indigenous females die before 45

years of age, compared to non-Indigenous males at 10% and females at 6%.

Indigenous people are twice as likely to be hospitalised as other Australians

The main causes of death are circulatory disease, injury, respiratory disease, cancer and diabetes

The reasons for this and other poor health are given as: Distance and lack of availability of transport Lack of access to GP’s and pharmaceuticals Lack of culturally appropriate service Non-proficiency in English Lack of involvement in service delivery Lack of private health insurance Economic disadvantage

Aboriginal Statistical Information

Labour Force

Aboriginal Statistical Information

Labour Force

Aboriginal people are:

Twice as likely as other NSW Public Sector employees to have temporary jobs

Represent 1.6% workforce – target is a minimum of 2% 60% ATSI employees earn less than $34,270 compared

to 36% total staff earnings below this level Highly represented in service and amenities

occupations Poorly represented in Senior Executive Service,

specialist professional and high level clerical and administrative positions

Aboriginal Employment in Practice, for NSW Public Sector 2000, NSW Premier’s Department and ODEOPE (pages 12 -17)

Agency Profiles & Assessment

Employment Profile

By Aboriginal / non-Aboriginal – actual and percentage: Gender; and Earnings

Level of Employment – Managers, Administrators, Professionals, Technicians, Tradespersons, Advanced Clerical, Intermediate Workers, Elementary Workers, Labourers

Staff Profiles – Average age, Average Service, Location of Positions

Implications for Aboriginal Employment

Disadvantaged in terms of career paths and earning levels; and there is,

No representation of Aboriginal people across all salary and occupational groups;

Identified positions are currently located in response to community crisis, not in a systemic or strategic approach, to support Aboriginal people as customers and employees.

Data – often not available

Aboriginal data breakdown by: age, gender and disability

Health status of Aboriginal workers Absence from work by injury, compensation or

health related factors Issues relating to harassment, grievances or

bullying as reported by Aboriginal staff and how these are resolved, managed and monitored

Training undertaken by Aboriginal staff Availability of cultural education training, for all

staff Use of Aboriginal trainers.

Equity within Human Resources

Model of Service Provision

Report on Government Services 2005, Indigenous Compendium

Equity within Human Resources

Equity Factors influence on Organisational Improvement

Equity Factors influence Organisational Improvement - developed by Lynette Riley-Mundine, Mar 06 based on information in Report on Government Services 2005, Indigenous Compendium Page 14

EQUITY through

EmploymentProcedures

EQUITY through Staff

Practices

Employment

ORGANISATIONALIMPROVEMENT

Service Delivery

Equity within Human Resources

Equity Factors influence on Organisational Improvement

Report on Government Services 2005, Indigenous Compendium

Equity within Human ResourcesEquity Service Availability

Report on Government Services 2005, Indigenous Compendium

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The service is not operational and does not consider minority group needs

The service is not operational – the organisation does consider minority group needs but is unable to effect service requirements (at present)

The service is very effective and highly operational and considers all minority group needs with full consultative, participation and engagement

The service is operational, but the organisation does not consider minority group needs

Equity within Human Resources

Direct & Indirect DiscriminationEquity Service availability - closely aligned to systemic practices of Direct and Indirect

Discrimination.Where service delivery and procedures are governed by the views of the governing structure andmay place particular groups of people at a disadvantage. Examples of these are demonstrated in the following scenarios:

Direct Discrimination, examples are: No Indigenous people are to gain customer service or direct customer contact positions – as it is

assumed, that the public wouldn’t like with Aboriginal people No Indigenous faces to appear in promotional material – in case customers or others are

offended No need for services to Indigenous community as, they wouldn’t appreciate the service or can’t

afford the service

Indirect Discrimination, examples are: Recruitment - through the culling process, limited numbers of Indigenous people are successful;

or the 15 minute reading test excludes, poorly literate Indigenous people No senior managers are Indigenous – due to no applications Advertisement for positions are in “reputable” papers, not the kind that Indigenous people read

or access

HR Processes

HR strategy and policy- Develop an Aboriginal employment strategic plan with implementation and

maintenance of specific actions- Best practice is for agencies to have a senior designated Aboriginal person as the first point of contact for Aboriginal employment, professional learning and career development initiatives

Organisation design and structure- Organisational promotional packages, in corporate and external communications to have a clear representation of Aboriginal staff- Develop a specific promotional package for use with Aboriginal targeted clients- Employ Aboriginal staff in senior or executive positions- Aboriginal advisory committee to provide expertise, knowledge and advice in Indigenous employment, career and cultural issues

HR IT systems

- Create software and data collection procedures which supply accurate information on Aboriginal employment and training

HR Processes

Corporate HR projects- Provision of specific training programs to support Aboriginal staff employment and career planning- Ensure Aboriginal staff have appropriate training to be on selection panels- Ensure all staff on selection panel have cultural interview techniques

Work force planning and acquisition- Aboriginal population trends demonstrated in workforce planning- Collection and analysis of the numbers of Aboriginal staff who get culled in position applications and numbers employed – develop strategies for future employment initiatives

Developing and retaining staff- Aboriginal staff employed as trainers- Aboriginal cultural education programs for all staff and managers

HR Processes

Performance development- Pro-active career planning and promotional opportunities of Aboriginal staff

Rewarding staff- Pro-active reward program for Aboriginal staff

Industrial relations and grievances- Aboriginal staff grievances to be addressed in an open, transparent and timely manner

Personnel administration support services- Managers training to understand equity legislative requirements in relation to their role; and how they can turn this into practical application to support equity within the organisation

Health services- Use of Aboriginal health networks to support and improve Aboriginal staff health

Employment Stages

Pre-employment

Schools – School Based Traineeships (SBT) Apprenticeships – cluster targets, to ensure

apprentice isn’t isolated Traineeships – targeted across sectors Cadetships – professional gaps eg: Aboriginal

engineers through UNSW Training - bridging courses for employable

skills Marketing and promotional programs designed

to attract and inform Aboriginal people

Employment Stages

Recruitment

selection panel - members cultural questioning skills

Aboriginal representation on panels Culling techniques – ensure they don’t cull the

majority of Aboriginal applicants; determine - what skills are being targeted and what in the process of culling, may appear to be …… discriminatory to particular groups, such as: language proficiency versus literacy proficiency

Employment Stages

Employment

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff – training, career development programs and mentoring

Non-Aboriginal staff – cultural education training, at all levels

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff - representation at front line delivery, eg: at stations where a majority of community are Aboriginal

Community involvement and representation as reflects service delivery

ATSI Employment Issues

Data CollectionRecruitment: Numbers of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people

who apply for position – using data breakdown listed above

Numbers who go through to culling and numbers culled Numbers who seek employment Linkages – retention rates – how long employed and

what is the general career path like

Data storage and retrieval: The system / software being used are the greatest asset

for any organisation. There is a need to assess how RailCorp stores data and how it is able to be retrieved to provide the information required for Equity Reports.

ATSI Employment Issues

Procedures & SystemsPre-employment What strategies have been adopted to ensure all minority groups are able to apply for

positions on an equal standing? What pre-employment strategies have been introduced to ensure pro-active positive

recruitment is possible? What promotional packages are used – for Indigenous representation; and are

designed to target Aboriginal people?

Recruitment Processes Application – do applicants receive information on how to apply for the position; how

are applicants advised if unsuccessful; is the application process fair to all applicants? Culling – how is the culling done to ensure fair processes for all applicants; what are

the culling criteria and can it be demonstrated that it is based on skills required for the position?

Interview – where is the interview held; how is it held; who is on the panel; what cultural sensitivity training has the panel received; are minority groups represented on the panels?

Employment Does Aboriginal staff have access to individual career plans? Are a range of training opportunities available for Aboriginal staff to enhance career

development? Is cultural education training available for all staff?

External Support Employment – Strategic Plans developed by external

agencies

Programs to provide direct support to Aboriginal staff

Reports & Resources

Example and Suggestions for partnerships which may be

explored are with: Premier’s Department – workforce planning NSW Department of Aboriginal Affairs – Aboriginal workforce

planning and employment programs NSW Department of Health – Health strategies for Aboriginal

staff NSW Department of Education & Training – Cultural education

and employment programs Universities – Research and projects

Implications of Statistics

In a country such as Australia with high living standards where is social justice for Aboriginal people:

- Economic disadvantage (poverty)- Social disadvantage (racism)- Government service delivery based on the aging population – not

Aboriginal population trend or needs

If Education is the KEY to overcoming disadvantage – consider for Aboriginal students:

Fastest growing and youngest population Aboriginal literacy performance is below OECD whilst general

Australian performance is 4th highest – this effects all other subject areas

NSW BST results – Year 3, 5, 7 – gaps = 18, 24 & 36 months Low performance is not due to high or low socio-economic conditions,

ie: cultural differences are relevant Differences are in learning strategies, preferences and behaviours to

education, ie: the way they are taught, learn and self-actualisation Expectations – deficite, diminished capabilities or equal

Outcomes based on:

How you see the issues? Too hard to handle Confronting A challenge

What knowledge base you operate from?

Personal interaction Educated Partnerships

Improved Outcomes

Improved outcomes for Aboriginal people is a whole community issue

– all are effected.

What do you mean by Social Justice?

Thank-you