Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are ... - NOVA

Private-sector employment programs for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

peoples: Comparative case studies

Sharlene Michelle Leroy-Dyer

B Bus (Hons) (University of Newcastle)

Prof Cert Indigenous Research (University of Melbourne)

Grad Cert Indigenous Research and Leadership (University of Melbourne)

A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Management) at the

University of Newcastle, Australia

Newcastle Business School

Faculty of Business and Law

University of Newcastle

11 February 2016

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are warned that this thesis may contain images of deceased people.

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Statement of Originality

This dissertation is submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy

(Management) at the University of Newcastle.

The thesis contains no material which has been accepted for the award of any

other degree or diploma in any university or other tertiary institution and, to the

best of my knowledge and belief, contains no material previously published or

written by another person, except where due reference has been made in the

text. I give consent to the final version of my thesis being made available

worldwide when deposited in the University’s Digital Repository**, subject to the

provisions of the Copyright Act 1968.

**Unless an Embargo has been approved for a determined period.

Signed:

Sharlene Leroy-Dyer

Undertaking this thesis has involved human intervention, for which I received

ethics clearance (H-2008–0268).

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Acknowledgements

I would like to begin by acknowledging country. This is an important protocol that

precedes activities that include Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

My name is Sharlene Leroy-Dyer; I am a Guringai1/Gadigal2/Dhurag3/Wiradjuri4

woman, born on Gadigal land and raised in Dhurag country. I now live on the land

of the Awabakal5 people. My PhD has been a long journey. I started in 2007 as

a part-time candidate; since then my status has changed many times, including

1 The Guringai people are the traditional custodians of the land now reserved as the Garigal

National Park.

2 The traditional owners of the Sydney City region are the Gadigal people. Their land south of

Port Jackson stretches from South Head to Petersham.

3 Dhurag peoples are the largest group of Aboriginal people in the Sydney region whose lands

ranged from coastal Sydney to the Blue Mountains.

4 The Wiradjuri are the largest Aboriginal group in New South Wales. They occupy a large area

in central New South Wales, from the Blue Mountains in the east, to Hay in the west, north to

Nyngan and south to Albury.

5 Awabakal territory spreads, north, from the Hunter River to the southern extremities of Lake

Macquarie, or the Tuggerah Lake, in the south. The western boundary was the Sugarloaf Range

and the Watagan Mountains.

I would like to acknowledge that this thesis was written on the lands of the

Awabakal. I would like to acknowledge the ongoing sovereignty of

Aboriginal peoples over these lands and pay my respects to the elders

both past, present and future, for they hold the memories, the traditions,

the culture and hopes of Aboriginal Australia. I would like to acknowledge

the loss of lands, cultures and treasures, acknowledge the consequences

of this loss for the people, communities and nations. Reconciliation is a

belief that we can walk together to a better future. However, we must

always remember that under the concrete and asphalt, this land is, was

and always will be traditional Aboriginal land.

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a leave of absence with the death of my life-long partner, John. There are so

many people who have guided and inspired me along the way and I would like to

acknowledge you all. In particular, I wish to acknowledge the following people:

I would like to especially acknowledge my Aboriginal Elders for their endless

support, grounding me in my culture throughout my whole PhD process, in

particular Aunty Elaine, Aunty Sandra, Aunty Vicki and Uncle Les (RIP) who we

sadly lost suddenly last year.

I wish to express my heartfelt gratitude to my supervisors past and present:

Professor John Burgess, Associate Professor Stephanie Gilbert, Associate

Professor Jim Jose, Dr Jennifer Waterhouse, Associate Professor Kathleen

Butler and Professor Dennis Foley. Each of you have supported me both

personally and professionally throughout my thesis journey. I want to thank you

all for your timely feedback and constant guidance and support. Each of you have

enriched my thesis; I could not have completed this PhD without you.

I would like to thank the University of Newcastle for supporting my research and

awarding me an Indigenous Research Scholarship, and The Wollotuka Institute

for employing me as an Indigenous New Career Academic, giving me the space

and time to write my thesis. Thanks to my supervisor Associate Professor Maree

Gruppetta for listening to and putting up with my constant whinging.

I would like to thank the staff at the Newcastle Business School who were

amazingly supportive of me, especially Kerri, Wendy and Associate Professor

Suzanne Ryan.

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Professor Aileen Moreton-Robinson and Dr Christine Asma for the inspiration

and support you have provided for my thesis and research journey.

From the outset I knew that my Research Higher Degree funding was not going

to cover the costs of my PhD research. I spoke to my supervisor and mentors

and was advised that I could apply for funding to assist with the cost of travel for

the research, some of which was in remote Australia. My primary supervisor,

John Burgess, assisted me in this process and on the second attempt I was

awarded an Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Indigenous

Researchers Development Grant and an Australian Institute of Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander Studies Grant. These grants played a significant

contribution to this research, as without them I could not have travelled to the

various locations to interview the participants. I want to thank Professor John

Burgess for assisting me in this process. This thesis is a reality because of you.

I wish to thank the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who allowed me

to interview them for this study. You have all left an indelible impression on me

and you have motivated me to do this thesis in your honour. Thank you. Thank

you also to the organisations who allowed me access to their organisations, staff

and facilities to complete this research. Your cooperation was invaluable. I wish

you well in your Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment journeys.

To my friends/sistas Chrissy, Dawn, Bevie, Hawzhin, Debbie, Darlene and Julie: I

just want to give you big hugs for being there for me ALWAYS.

Thank you to my son Matthew for putting up with Mum studying for all these years,

and for enhancing my being, knowing and doing. You are my world. Thank you

to the rest of my family for your support, Dad, Shirley, Harry, Che, Chris, Korinne

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and Steve. Thanks for all your encouragement and for making sure I finished this

epic journey culminating in my PhD. I love you all.

I dedicate this PhD to my husband John Dyer who passed away on 5 January

2009.

Sorry if I have missed anyone, Sharlene.

This thesis was edited by Elite Editing, and editorial intervention was restricted to

Standards D and E of the Australian Standards for Editing Practice.

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Table of Contents

Statement of Originality .................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ......................................................................................... iii Table of Contents ............................................................................................ vii List of Figures ................................................................................................. xv List of Tables .................................................................................................. xvi Glossary/Abbreviations/Acronyms .............................................................. xvii Publications and Conference Papers Relating to This Research ............. xxii Grants Relating to This Research ............................................................... xxiv Aboriginal Statement .................................................................................... xxv Abstract ........................................................................................................ xxvi Chapter 1: Introduction ..................................................................................... 1

1.1 Background ............................................................................................... 1 1.2 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Labour Market Statistics ................... 2 1.3 Reducing Labour Market Disadvantage ................................................... 11 1.4 This Research Project ............................................................................. 12 1.5 Contextual Boundaries ............................................................................ 14 1.6 Aims ........................................................................................................ 14 1.7 Key Research Questions ......................................................................... 16 1.8 Significance ............................................................................................. 16 1.9 Aboriginal Research Approach and Methodology .................................... 18 1.10 Thesis Structure .................................................................................... 19

Chapter 2: Methodology ................................................................................. 22 2.1 Introduction ............................................................................................... 22 2.2 Indigenous Methodologies and Approaches to Research ........................ 23 2.3 My Aboriginal Standpoint ......................................................................... 29 2.4 Culturally Appropriate Research and Respectful Engagement with

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples ........................................... 31 2.5 Western Research Methodologies: Accommodating Indigenous

Standpoint Theory ................... 36 2.6 Purpose of the Study ............................................................................... 42 2.7 Considerations on Means/Techniques for Data Gathering and Analysis

Research Design and Strategy ................................................................. 43 Why case studies? ................................................................... 44 Documentary analysis for mapping of top 100 companies and

case study selection ................................................................................... 46 Accessing organisations. .......................................................... 48 Recruiting participants .............................................................. 49

2.8 Data Collection Methods .......................................................................... 51 Interviews. ................................................................................ 51 Challenges of yarning as a research method ........................... 54 Cultural challenges faced in the research process .................... 55 Focus groups. .......................................................................... 58 Where were interviews/focus groups conducted? ..................... 59 Interview/focus group recording process ................................... 62 Pilot testing ............................................................................... 62 Support for the interviewer. ....................................................... 62 Safety considerations. ............................................................... 63

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2.9 Data Analysis ........................................................................................... 63 Organising data ........................................................................ 65

2.10 Limitations of the Research Process ..................................................... 66 Case study limitations. ............................................................ 66 Limitations of documentary analysis. ....................................... 67 Interview limitations. ................................................................ 68 Ethical considerations. ........................................................... 69

2.11 Conclusion ............................................................................................. 70

Chapter 3: The History of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Involvement in the Australian Labour Market ............................................... 73

3.1 Introduction .............................................................................................. 73 3.2 Pre-colonial Economy and Work .............................................................. 76 3.3 European Conceptualisations of Work, Economy and Activity ................. 78 3.4 Labour and Exploitation ........................................................................... 81 3.5 Labour Relations and the Torres Strait .................................................... 83 3.6 Exploitation and Resistance ..................................................................... 85 3.7 Racial Divisions of Labour and Government Control ............................... 88 3.8 Mission Control and Segregation ............................................................. 92 3.9 The Impact of Economic Recession ........................................................ 93 3.10 Participation in the Armed Forces .......................................................... 94 3.11 Exemption Certificates ........................................................................... 97 3.12 Towards Recognition/Obstacles for Participation ................................... 99 3.13 Conclusion ........................................................................................... 102

Chapter 4: Labour Market Programs ........................................................... 103 4.1 Introduction ............................................................................................. 103 4.2 Analysis of Labour Market Programs for Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander Peoples from the 1967 Referendum to 2014 ............................. 103 4.3 Policy/Programs Gap ............................................................................. 104 4.4 The Referendum and Subsequent Policies ............................................ 107 4.5 The Whitlam Years ................................................................................ 109 4.6 The Fraser Years ................................................................................... 110 4.7 The Hawke Years .................................................................................. 111 4.8 Policy Analysis ....................................................................................... 113

Aboriginal Employment Development Policy ........................... 113 Issues with AEDP ................................................................... 114 Indigenous Employment Policy ............................................... 115 ‘Closing the Gap’ .................................................................... 116

4.9 Program Analysis .................................................................................. 118 Training for Aboriginal Program .............................................. 118 Community Development Employment Projects. .................... 120 Structured Training and Employment Project .......................... 126 Wage assistance ..................................................................... 127 Corporate Leaders for Indigenous Employment Project. ......... 127 National Indigenous Cadetship Project. .................................. 128 Indigenous Small Business Fund ............................................ 129 Volunteer Service to Indigenous Communities Foundation ..... 129 Reformed Indigenous Employment Program .......................... 130

Remote Jobs and Community Program ................................ 134 4.10 Programs by Non-Government Organisations ..................................... 135

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Job Network/Job Service Australia ....................................... 135 Australian Employment Covenant. ....................................... 137 GenerationOne ..................................................................... 141 Aboriginal Employment Strategy .......................................... 142 Indigenous Business Australia .............................................. 143 Reconciliation Australia ......................................................... 145 Reconciliation Statement of Commitment. ............................ 147 Reconciliation Action Plan ..................................................... 147

4.11 Recent Developments ......................................................................... 150 4.12 Conclusion ........................................................................................... 152

Chapter 5: Private-Sector Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Employment Strategies ............. 155

5.1 Private-Sector Involvement ..................................................................... 156 5.2 Mapping the Workplace Support Programs Provided by Australia’s

Largest 100 Listed Companies for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians .............................................................................................. 157

Analysis of 100 listed companies ............................................ 161 5.3 Driving Forces Behind A&TSIEPs .......................................................... 162 5.4 Managing Cultural Diversity ................................................................... 162 5.5 Affirmative Action ................................................................................... 164 5.6 Equal Employment Opportunity ............................................................. 166 5.7 Anti-discrimination Legislation ............................................................... 166 5.8 Customer Base ...................................................................................... 168 5.9 Corporate and Social Responsibility ...................................................... 168 5.10 Corporate Social Responsibility, Land Use Agreements and Native

Title ........................................................................................................ 169 5.11 Business Cases for Corporate Social Responsibility............................ 171 5.12 Developing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Employment

Strategy in an Organisation: What Would Be the Elements of Such a Strategy? ................................................................................................ 172

5.13 Framework for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Employment Programs (Evaluative Framework) ......................................................... 178

Planning to employ Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. ................................................................................................... 179

5.13.1.1 enior management commitment/driving the strategy. ............. 179 5.13.1.2 tablishing partnerships. ........................................................... 180 5.13.1.3 sory group/consultative committee ......................................... 180 5.13.1.4 Appointment of an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

employment manager. .............................................................. 180 5.13.1.5 oping the A&TSIEP ................................................................. 181 5.13.1.6 ly appropriate workplace ......................................................... 182

Employing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples ..... 182 5.13.2.1 ment strategies ....................................................................... 183 5.13.2.2 e-to-face ................................................................................. 183 5.13.2.3 nformation sessions. ............................................................... 183 5.13.2.4 Work ready and pre-employment programs. ........................... 184 5.13.2.5 ment centres. .......................................................................... 184 5.13.2.6 ly appropriate interviews. ........................................................ 185

Retention strategies. ............................................................. 185 5.13.3.1 toring ...................................................................................... 186

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5.13.3.2 development and training ....................................................... 186 5.13.3.3 leave provisions. ..................................................................... 187 5.13.3.4 working conditions. ................................................................. 188

What outcomes are expected and how are they monitored?188 5.14 Other Considerations: Rural and Remote Employment ....................... 189 5.15 Recap of Evaluation Framework .......................................................... 191 5.16 Conclusion ........................................................................................... 193

Chapter 6: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Employment in the Banking Industry ........................................................................................... 194

6.1 Background to the Banking Industry ....................................................... 195 6.2 The Australian Bankers Association ...................................................... 195 6.3 Overview of What the Big Four Banks Offer in Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander Employment ..................................................................... 196 6.4 National Australia Bank Limited and Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander Employment .............................................................................. 198 Employment and training opportunities for Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander peoples with NAB .................................................. 198 6.4.1.1 School-based traineeships. ...................................................... 198 6.4.1.2 Full-time traineeships. .............................................................. 199 6.4.1.3 Internships. ............................................................................... 199 6.4.1.4 General recruitment. ................................................................. 199

6.5 Australia and New Zealand Banking Group and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Employment ..................................................................... 201

Commitments. ........................................................................ 202 6.5.1.1 Support and development. ........................................................ 202 6.5.1.2 Indigenous traineeships. ........................................................... 202 6.5.1.3 Full-time traineeships. .............................................................. 203 6.5.1.4 School-based traineeships. ...................................................... 203 6.5.1.5 Direct employment: Permanent, temporary or contract roles. ..203 6.5.1.6 Graduate program .................................................................... 203

6.6 Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Employment .............................................................................. 204

Commitment. .......................................................................... 204 School-based traineeships ..................................................... 204 Full-time traineeships. ............................................................. 205 Direct recruitment. .................................................................. 205 Pre-employment program ....................................................... 205

6.7 Westpac Banking Corporation and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Employment ........................................................................................... 206

Show me the way ................................................................... 206 Career trackers. ..................................................................... 206 Financial services pre-employment program ........................... 206 School-based traineeships ..................................................... 207 Cadetships and graduate programs. ....................................... 207

6.8 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Employment Discussion ............... 208 6.9 Case Studies into Two of the Major Banks in Australia: How Effective Are

These Strategies? .................................................................................. 215 6.10 Bank 1 ................................................................................................. 216

School-based traineeships. ................................................... 218 Full-time traineeships. .......................................................... 221

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Direct recruitment. ................................................................. 221 Pre-employment program ..................................................... 222 Cadetship program ............................................................... 224 Other programs ..................................................................... 225 Bank 1 summary ................................................................... 230

6.11 Bank 2 ................................................................................................. 233 School-based traineeships. ................................................... 235 Full-time traineeships. .......................................................... 239 Direct recruitment. ................................................................. 241 Pre-employment training ...................................................... 243 Graduate program ................................................................. 245 Career development managers. ............................................ 245 Other programs ..................................................................... 246 Bank 2 summary ................................................................... 249

6.12 Conclusion ........................................................................................... 253 What was the rationale for the introduction of A&TSIEPs by

the organisation? ..................................................................................... 254 To what extent is government support necessary or

accessed? ................................................................................................ 254 What supporting mechanisms are in place to support

A&TSIEPs? .............................................................................................. 255 By what criteria, and how often, are A&TSIEPs evaluated?

.256 What was the experience of participants in A&TSIEPs? .... 256

What in the A&TSIEPs is helping to retain Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees? ........................................................... 256

Chapter 7: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Employment in the Retail Sector .................................................................................................. 258

7.1 Introduction ............................................................................................. 258 7.2 Industry Statistics .................................................................................. 259 7.3 The Australian Retailers Association ..................................................... 259 7.4 Overview of What the Two Largest Retailers in Australia Offer to

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Employment .................................. 261 7.5 Wesfarmers ........................................................................................... 261

Employment and training opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples .................................................................. 262

Pre-employment training ........................................................ 263 Work for Life program ............................................................. 263

7.6 Coles Division ........................................................................................ 263 Pre-employment programs. .................................................... 264 Vacation program ................................................................... 265 Retail leadership program ....................................................... 265 Apprenticeships. ..................................................................... 265 Internships. ............................................................................. 265 Graduate program ................................................................... 266

7.7 Target .................................................................................................... 266 Work experience program....................................................... 267

7.8 Kmart ..................................................................................................... 267 School-based traineeships ...................................................... 267 Apprenticeships. ..................................................................... 268

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7.9 Home Improvement and Office Supplies Division .................................. 269

Officeworks. ............................................................................ 269 School-based traineeships ..................................................... 269 Full-time traineeships. ............................................................. 270 Leadership program ............................................................... 270 Bunnings. ................................................................................ 270

7.10 Wesfarmers Employment Initiatives Discussion .................................. 271 7.11 Woolworths Ltd .................................................................................... 273

Pre-employment programs. .................................................. 274 Diversity dimensions. ........................................................... 275 Ostara Australia, Aboriginal Recruitment Training and

Employment, and TrainMe4Work. ............................................................ 276 Mining, Energy and Engineering Academy ........................... 276 Salvation Army Employment Plus. ........................................ 277 School-based traineeships with Woolworths supermarkets..278 Apprenticeships ................................................................... 278 Cadetships/internships. ......................................................... 278 Woolworths FastTrack Management Program ...................... 279

Woolworths scholarships. ................................................... 280 Woolworths employment initiatives discussion ................... 280

7.12 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Employment Discussion ............. 284 7.13 Case Studies into Two of the Retailers in Australia. How Effective Are

These Strategies? .................................................................................. 286 7.14 Supermarket Co .................................................................................. 288

Pre-employment program ..................................................... 289 Success of the pre-employment program ............................. 295 School-based traineeships. ................................................... 297 Apprenticeships .................................................................... 298 Cultural awareness training ................................................... 298 Store managers (not all are good). ........................................ 299 Racism in the workplace ....................................................... 301 Career prospects. ................................................................. 302 Supermarket Co summary .................................................... 304

7.15 Variety Co ............................................................................................ 308 Pre-employment program ..................................................... 308 Success of the pre-employment program ............................. 314 School-based traineeships. ................................................... 315 Direct employment. .............................................................. 316 Internships. ........................................................................... 317 Graduate programs. .............................................................. 317 Cultural awareness training ................................................... 317 Racism in the workplace ....................................................... 318 Career prospects. ................................................................. 320

Variety Co summary ........................................................... 323 7.16 Conclusion ........................................................................................... 327

What was the rationale for the introduction of A&TSIEPs by the organisation? ..................................................................................... 327

To what extent is government support necessary or

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A&TSIEPs? .............................................................................................. 328

By what criteria, and how often, are A&TSIEPs evaluated? .329 What was the experience of participants in A&TSIEPs? .... 329

What in the A&TSIEPs are helping to retain Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees? ........................................................... 329

Chapter 8: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Employment in the Mining Sector ................................................................................................ 331

8.1 Introduction ............................................................................................. 331 8.2 Industry Statistics .................................................................................. 332 8.3 The Minerals Council of Australia .......................................................... 332 8.4 International Council on Mining and Metals ........................................... 333 8.5 The Mining Industry’s Engagement with Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander Communities ............................................................................. 335 8.6 Native Title ............................................................................................ 337 8.7 Indigenous Land Use Agreements ......................................................... 337 8.8 Perceived Benefits of Mining and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

Communities .......................................................................................... 339 8.9 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Employment in the Mining Industry

...............................................................................................................345 8.10 Mines Leading the Way in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

Employment ........................................................................................... 350 8.11 Criticisms About Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Employment in

the Mining Industry ................................................................................. 354 8.12 Is Employment in the Mining Industry ‘Culturally Appropriate’? ........... 356 8.13 Requirements for Working in the Mining Industry ................................ 357 8.14 Case Studies into Two Mining Companies in Australia. How Effective

Are These Strategies? ............................................................................ 359 8.15 CoalCo ................................................................................................ 360

Entry-level positions.............................................................. 362 Traineeships. ........................................................................ 363 Apprenticeships .................................................................... 364 National Indigenous Cadetship Program .............................. 364 Graduate program ................................................................. 365 Employee support at CoalCo ................................................ 365 Cultural awareness training ................................................... 366 Racism in the mines. ............................................................. 368 Career progression ............................................................... 369

Family friendly ..................................................................... 370 Retention of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

employees. ............ 370 Summary and evaluation of CoalCo .................................... 373

8.16 IronOreCo ............................................................................................ 376 Pre-employment programs. .................................................. 380 Rotation program ................................................................. 382

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Prison program ..................................................................... 383 School-based traineeships. .................................................. 384 Traineeships. ........................................................................ 384 Apprenticeships .................................................................... 385 National Indigenous Cadetship Program ............................... 385 Graduate program ................................................................. 385 Mentoring .............................................................................. 386

Career development............................................................ 388 Family support programs. ................................................... 390 Cultural awareness. ............................................................ 390 Cultural leave/funeral leave .................................................. 392 Racism in the workplace ..................................................... 394 Supervisors/leadership ........................................................ 395 Retention of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

employees. ............ 396 Contractor requirements. .................................................... 398 Aboriginal enterprise development. ..................................... 398 Summary and evaluation of IronOreCo ............................... 401

8.17 Conclusion ........................................................................................... 406 What was the rationale for the introduction of A&TSIEPs by

the organisation? ..................................................................................... 407 To what extent is government support necessary or


A&TSIEPs? .............................................................................................. 408 By what criteria, and how often, are A&TSIEPs evaluated?

.408 What was the experience of participants in A&TSIEPs? .... 408

What in the A&TSIEPs is helping to retain Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees? ........................................................... 409

Chapter 9: Conclusion .................................................................................. 410 9.1 Introduction ............................................................................................ 410

To what extent can A&TSIEPS be found across Australia’s largest 100 corporations? ......................................................................... 411

What was the rationale for the introduction of A&TSIEPS by the organisation? ..................................................................................... 412

To what extent is government support necessary or accessed? ................................................................................................ 412

What supporting mechanisms are in place to support A&TSIEPS? ............................................................................................. 412

By what criteria, and how often, are A&TSIEPS evaluated? ..413 What was the experience of participants in A&TSIEPs? ........ 413 What in the A&TSIEPs is helping to retain Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander employees? ........................................................... 414 9.2 Key Findings from Case Studies ............................................................ 415 9.3 Contribution to Knowledge ..................................................................... 415 9.4 Limitations ............................................................................................. 417

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9.5 Implications for policy and practice ........................................................ 418 9.6 Areas for Further Research ....................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

Reference List ............................................................................................... 420 Appendices .................................................................................................... 480

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List of Figures

Figure 1.1: Unemployment Rate by Indigenous Status. ...................................... 3

Figure 1.2: Labour Force Participation Rates by Indigenous Status, 2011 .......... 4

Figure 3.1: Slave Map of Modern Australia ....................................................... 80

Figure 3.2: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Soldiers. ................................ 95

Figure 3.3: Exemption Certificate, Extracted from Race and Racism in

Australia (Hollingsworth, 1998). ......................................................... 98

Figure 4.1: Components of AEDP. .................................................................. 114

Figure 4.2: Elements of the Indigenous Employment Policy. Extracted from

Auditor General, 2003 ...................................................................... 116

Figure 8.1: Mining Company Engagement Sequence with Indigenous

Peoples (International Council on Mining and Metals, 2015b). ........ 335

Figure 8.2: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Employment in the Minerals

Industry (Langton, 2015). ................................................................. 347

Figure 8.3: Argyle Mine Location (Mining Technology, 2015). ......................... 351

Figure 8.4: Century Mine and Communities on the Gulf of Carpentaria. ......... 353

Figure 8.5: Coal Mines in Australia (Minerals Council of Australia, 2015b). .... 360

Figure 8.6: Iron Ore Mines in the Pilbara Region (Calistemon, 2010). ............ 377

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List of Tables

Table 1.1: Labour Force Status by Indigenous Status, 2011 ............................... 4

Table 1.2: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Labour Force Rates (a) (b) by

Remoteness, 2011 ............................................................................... 7

Table 1.3: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Labour Force Rate Changes

(a) (b) by Remoteness. ........................................................................ 7

Table 2.1: AIATSIS Principles of Ethical Research. .......................................... 33

Table 2.2: Summary of Research Paradigms. Adapted from a Table Compiled

by Sidsel Grimstad, 2013 ................................................................... 39

Table 2.3: Interview/Focus Groups. ................................................................... 61

Table 4.1: Key Policies Timeline, Adapted from Dockery and Milsom, 2007a.105

Table 5.1: Mapping of Australia’s Largest 100 Listed Companies. .................. 158

Table 5.2: Elements of an A&TSIEP ............................................................... 175

Table 5.3: Remoteness of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders as

Compared with Non-Indigenous Australians. ................................... 190

Table 5.4: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Employment Program

Evaluative framework – Example of how to apply this framework. ..192

Table 6.1: NAB’s SROI Ratio for SBTs and FTTs. .......................................... 201

Table 6.2: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Programs—Big Four Banks. 209

Table 6.3: Bank 1 A&TSIEP Strategy Evaluative framework. .......................... 229

Table 6.4: Bank 2 A&TSIEP Strategy Evaluative framework. .......................... 248

Table 7.1: Wesfarmers Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Employees,

2012–15 ........................................................................................... 272

Table 7.2: Woolworths’ Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Employment

Figures, 2012–2015 ......................................................................... 281

Table 7.3: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Specific Programs—

Wesfarmers/Woolworths. ................................................................. 283

Table 7.4: Supermarket Co A&TSIEP Strategy Evaluative framework. ........... 303

Table 7.5: Variety Co A&TSIEP Strategy Evaluative framework. ..................... 322

Table 8.1: Indigenous Representation in the Workforces of Participating

Operations—Extracted from Tiplady and Barclay ............................. 350

Table 8.2: CoalCo A&TSIEP Strategy Evaluative framework. ......................... 372

Table 8.3: IronOreCo A&TSIEP Strategy Evaluative Framework. ................... 400

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Glossary/Abbreviations/Acronyms

A&TSEM Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Employment Manager

A&TSIEP Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Employment Policy/Program

AA Affirmative Action

AATSIHS Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey

ABA Australian Bankers Association

ABCN Australian Business Community Network

ABS Australian Bureau of Statistics

ACC Australian Apprenticeship Centres

ACCI Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry

ACT Australian Capital Territory

AEA Aboriginal Employment Action Program

AEC Australian Employment Covenant

AEDP Aboriginal Employment Development Policy

AEDP Aboriginal Employment Development Policy

AES Aboriginal Employment Strategy

AHRI Australian Human Resources Institute

ALP Australian Labor Party

ALRA Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976

ALS Aboriginal Legal Service

AMMA Australian Mines and Metals Association

AMS Aboriginal Medical Service

ANRA Australian National Retailers Association

ANU Australian National University

ANZ Australia and New Zealand Bank

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APA Argyle Participation Agreement

ARA Australian Retailers Association

ASX Australian Stock Exchange

ATM Automatic Teller Machines

ATSIC Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission

BCA Business Council of Australia

CAEPR Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research

CBA Commonwealth Bank of Australia

CDC Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commercial Development Corporation

CDEP Community Development Employment Projects Scheme

CDM Career Development Manager

CEP Community Employment Program

CES Commonwealth Employment Service

CLIEP Corporate Leaders for Indigenous Employment Project

COAG Council of Australian Governments

CSR Corporate Social Responsibility

CSRM Centre for Social Responsibility in Mining

CSS Community Support Services

CTG Closing the Gap

CTH Commonwealth

DEETYA Department of Employment, Education and Youth Affairs

DEEWR Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations

DEWR Department of Employment and Workplace Relations

EDAEP Elsa Dixon Aboriginal Employment Program

EEO Equal Employment Opportunity

ER External Recruiter

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ETSA Employment and Training Scheme for Aboriginals

FaHSCIA Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs

FIFO Fly-in Fly-out

FMG Fortescue Metals Group

FTE Full-time Equivalent

FTT Full-time Trainee/Traineeship

GCA Gulf Communities Agreement

GROW Grow Sydney Area Consultative Committee

GTO Group Training Organisation

HR Human Resource

HSC Higher School Certificate

IBA Indigenous Business Australia

ICMM International Council of Mining and Metals

ICV Indigenous Community Volunteers

IEP Indigenous Employment Policy/Program

IES Indigenous Employment Strategy

ILUA Indigenous Land Use Agreements

ISBF Indigenous Small Business Fund

JSA Job Services Australia

KPI Key Performance Indicator

KTAS Kmart Tyre and Auto Service

LALCs Local Aboriginal Land Councils

MCA Minerals Council of Australia

MD Managing Diversity

MGSM Macquarie Graduate School of Management

NAB National Australia Bank

20

NAIDOC National Aboriginal and Islander Day Observance Committee

NAWU The Northern Australia Workers Union

NCAP New Careers for Aboriginal People Program

ND No Date

NEAT National Employment and Training System

NEIS New Enterprise Incentive Scheme

NESA National Employment Strategy for Aboriginals

NGO Non-government Organisation

NHMRC National Health and Medical Research Council

NICP National Indigenous Cadetship Project

NIRA National Indigenous Reform Agreement

NRA National Retailers Association

NSW New South Wales

NT Northern Territory

NTA Native Title Act

OECD Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development

QLD Queensland

RA Reconciliation Australia

RAP Reconciliation Action Plan

RIEP Reformed Indigenous Employment Program and Policy

RJCP Remote Jobs and Communities Program

RTN Right to Negotiate Provision

RTO Registered Training Organisation

SA South Australia

SBT School-based Trainees/Traineeship

SES Socioeconomic Status

SROI Social Return on Investment

21

STEP Structured Training and Employment Project

STS State Training Services

SWP Special Work Projects

TAFE Technical and Further Education

TAP Training for Aboriginal Program

TO Traditional Owner

TSAEP The Salvation Army Employment Plus

TWAAP The Way Ahead for Aboriginal People

USA United States of America

VIC Victoria

VSICF Voluntary Service to Indigenous Communities Foundation

WA Western Australia

WesCEF Wesfarmers Chemicals, Energy & Fertilisers

WIN Wesfarmers Indigenous Network

22

Publications and Conference Papers Relating to This

Research

Burgess, J. & Dyer, S. (2009). Workplace mentoring for Indigenous Australians:

A case study. Equal Opportunities International, 28(6), 465–485.

Dyer, S. (2010). Doctoral presentation. Paper presented at the doctoral

workshops at the Australia and New Zealand Academy of Management

Conference, December 2010.

Dyer, S. M. (2010). Employing Indigenous Australians: Strategies for success.

In G. Strachan, E. French & J. Burgess, Managing diversity in Australia:

Theory and practice. Sydney, NSW: McGraw Hill.

Dyer, S. M. & Burgess, J. (2008). Workplace mentoring for Indigenous

Australians: A case study. In Employment Relations Record,

Proceedings from the 7th Annual PERA conference, Caloundra, QLD,

Nov 07.

Leroy-Dyer, S. (2011). Indigenous employment in the banking industry. Paper

presented to the AIATSIS National Indigenous Studies Conference,

September 2011.

Leroy-Dyer, S. (2013). Mapping corporate responses to Indigenous employment

strategies. Paper presented at the Australian Critical Race and

Whiteness Studies Association Conference, December 2013.

Leroy-Dyer, S. (2014). A review of Indigenous labour market programs—Why

they are unsuccessful in delivering outcomes for Indigenous Australians.

Paper presented at the Australian Critical Race and Whiteness Studies

Association Conference, December 2014.

23

Leroy-Dyer, S. (2015). Aboriginal labour history thru a neo-liberal lens. Paper

presented at the 11th annual National Socialist Alliance Conference, June

2015.

24

Grants Relating to This Research

Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS)

Research Grant—G2008/7393 valued at $20,000.

Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Indigenous Researchers

Development Grant—D10989055/G0188990 valued at $55,000.

25

Aboriginal Statement

Throughout this thesis, Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders are referred to as

‘peoples’ in recognition of the fact that Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders

have a collective, rather than purely individual, dimension to their livelihoods. I

will use the terms Indigenous, Indigenous Australians and Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islanders interchangeably throughout this thesis. The Australian

Government uses the term Indigenous to refer to Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Island peoples in legislation and other official documents (and similarly defines

the term for legal purposes), so when government documents or policies are

referred to in this thesis the word Indigenous has been maintained for the sake

of consistency. In addition, some of the corporations within the study use certain

terminology, particularly Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander or Indigenous. This

thesis reflects the terminology used by those organisations. I also use the term

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, as those who identify within these groups

prefer the use of these words, as do I. In addition, some scholars use the term

Indigenous and for consistency I have used this term when citing their work.

26

Abstract

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples hold a unique position in Australian

society, yet they are the most disadvantaged group in the community. This

disadvantage is a direct result of the effects of European invasion and the

systematic exclusion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples from many

institutions of Australian society, such as social security, industrial relations and

education systems. The unemployment rate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander peoples is three times the national average, the highest unemployment

rate of any group in the Australian labour market. Participation rates, skills,

qualifications and income are all well below those of the non-Indigenous

population. Since 1967, successive Commonwealth governments have

attempted to correct these past policies by being proactive in promoting

Indigenous education and employment, and by putting policies into place to

redress the disadvantage that Indigenous peoples face.

This thesis considers a range of employment issues that relate particularly to

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ employment. While noting some of

the employment strategies utilised by governments, the particular focus of the

thesis is with the strategies pursued by private-sector organisations to manage

diversity and to reduce labour market disadvantage for Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander peoples. By exploring these strategies, the thesis aims to identify

what works and what does not work.

In so doing, the thesis presents an original contribution to knowledge as the first

study to examine private-sector attempts to redress labour market disadvantage

27

for these peoples. In addition, the research will provide the basis for formulating

and evaluative framework for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment.

1

Chapter 1: Introduction

1.1 Background

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are, by conventional labour market

criteria, one of the most disadvantaged groups in Australia. This disadvantage is

a direct result of European invasion. Historically, Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander peoples have been systematically excluded from many institutions of

Australian society, such as social security, industrial relations and education

systems. This has resulted in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples having

low rates of labour force participation, high rates of unemployment, high job

turnover and relatively low wages. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

disadvantage is compounded by relatively low health standards, low levels of

educational attainment and by being located in remote areas where job

opportunities are largely absent. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics

(2011), ‘Neither the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander labour force participation

rate or the unemployment rate compares favourably to the equivalent non-

Indigenous rates’. Relatively high unemployment rates and a relatively long

unemployment duration entail adverse social consequences, including being a

victim of crime, not engaging in training or study and being prone to health

problems (Hunter, 2000). Since the referendum in 1967, governments have

developed policies and programs to improve labour market disadvantage for

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

In March 2009 the Federal Government announced its newest initiative to reform

and improve Indigenous employment: ‘The Australian Government has

committed to halving the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous

2

employment outcomes within a decade’ (O’Connor, 2009). ‘Closing the Gap’ is a

commitment by all Australian governments to improve the lives of Indigenous

Australians and, in particular, provides a better future for Indigenous children. The

Council of Australian Governments (COAG) has set six high-level targets for

‘Closing the Gap’ of Indigenous disadvantage, each having specific timeframes.

An important target, and the one that is of most concern to this study, is COAG

target six, which is to ‘halve the gap in employment outcomes between

Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians within a decade’ (Council of

Australian Governments, 2011, p. 12). According to the COAG Reform Council,

this means halving the gap in the Indigenous employment rate (COAG Reform

Council, 2010).

1.2 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Labour Market

Statistics

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are not a homogenous group of people.

Prior to invasion, there were over 600 nations throughout Australia each with their

own territory, language and customs. Most of the problems facing Aboriginal

peoples today stem from generations of oppression, and have resulted in a lack

of trust of white society (Norris, 2001). The disadvantage experienced by

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in employment, health, housing and

education is a consequence of the widespread destruction of their traditional

economic and cultural activities (Dockery & Milsom, 2007a), the dispossession of

their land and waterways, and their subsequent exclusion from mainstream

society (Sully, 1997). This exclusion has led to Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander peoples being marginalised, with a long historical legacy to overcome

(Altman & Sanders, 1991; Norris, 2001).

3

For Indigenous Australians, labour market participation rates, job-related skills,


population (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2014; Norris, 1993; Norris, 1998,

2001; Teicher & Spearitt, 1996; Verrucci, 1995). Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander people are more than three times as likely as the non-Indigenous to be

unemployed, with 17.2% compared with 5.5%—a gap of 11.7% (Australian

Bureau of Statistics, 2014). The unemployment rate for Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander peoples is three times the national average. Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander peoples have the highest unemployment rates of any group in the

Australian labour market, with relatively long durations of unemployment

(Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2014; Hunter, 2000). Figure 1.1 shows the

unemployment status of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples compared

to non-Indigenous people.

Figure 1.1: Unemployment Rate by Indigenous Status.

4

According to the 2011 Census of Population and Housing, there is a considerable

gap between the labour force outcomes of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

peoples and those of non-Indigenous Australians. Figure 1.2 and Table 1.1 show

that 56% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander working-age people were

participating in the labour force.

Figure 1.2: Labour Force Participation Rates by Indigenous Status, 2011.

Table 1.1: Labour Force Status by Indigenous Status, 2011.

Labour Force Status Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People %

Non-Indigenous People %

Employed 46.2 72.2

Unemployed 9.6 4.2

Not in the labour force 44.1 23.6

Total 100.0 100.0

Total (no.) 315 230 13 195 580

% %

Labour force participation rate (c)

55.9 76.4

Unemployment rate (d)

17.2 5.5

5

(a) People aged 15–64 years of age. (b) Excludes those whose Indigenous and/or labour force status was ‘Not Stated’. (c) The number of people who were either employed or unemployed (in the labour force) as a proportion of the total number of the population. (d) The number of people who were unemployed as a proportion of the total labour force. Source: Census of Population and Housing, 2011.

When comparing the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander labour force

participation rate and the unemployment rate to those of non-Indigenous

Australians, it is clear that the gap is not closing. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander labour force participation rate is 20.5 percentage points lower than the

non-Indigenous rate (55.8% compared with 76.4%). In addition, the

unemployment rate is more than three times higher (11.7%) than the non-

Indigenous rate (17.2% compared with 5.5%) (Australian Bureau of Statistics,

2014).

As well as having the highest unemployment rate of any group, Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander peoples have the lowest levels of education, housing and

community services in Australia (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2011;

Hughes & Warin, 2005), which produces adverse social consequences.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples (like some other groups of other

socially disadvantaged people) are 22% more likely to be victims of crime. They

often miss out on even basic levels of education and training, and are prone to a

range of health problems (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2014; Burgess & Dyer,

2009; Hunter, 2000, 2008).

The inferior employment outcomes of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

peoples are largely the result of more fundamental problems, such as low levels

of education, poor health and housing, and living in remote communities with poor

levels of support and infrastructure. The ‘Closing the Gap’ target of halving the

gap in employment outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous

6

Australians within a decade (that is, by 2018) is not on track; in fact, the situation

has worsened, with a decline in employment since 2008 (Abbott, 2015).

According to the latest ‘Closing the Gap’ report, it is clear that, since 2008, no

progress has been made towards halving the gap in employment outcomes by

2018. In fact, the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples aged

15–64 years who are employed fell from 53.8% in 2008 to 47.5% in 2012–13.

Conversely, the proportion of non-Indigenous Australians who are employed rose

from 75.0% to 75.6%. Consequently, between 2008 and 2012–13 there has been

an increase of 6.9 percentage points in the employment gap between Indigenous

and non-Indigenous people (Abbott, 2015).

Indigenous employment rates also vary by remoteness. Urban areas have the

highest Indigenous employment rates for those aged 15–64 years, at 49.9%.

Indigenous employment rates stand at 42.2% in very remote areas, with 30.4%

of those employed in mainstream employment (Abbott, 2015). Tables 1.2 and 1.3

show the labour force participation rates and unemployment rates for Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islander peoples by location. The tables clearly show that

participation rates are lower for remote communities and the unemployment rate

is higher (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2014). In remote regions of Australia

there are few jobs, and literacy rates are low due to lack of educational facilities

and low participation/completion rates at school.

7

Table 1.2: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Labour Force Rates (a) (b)

by Remoteness, 2011.

Labour Force Rate Major Cities

%

Inner Regional

%

Outer Regional

%

Remote %

Very Remote

%

Labour force participation 61.3 55.8 53.7 51.8 48.2

Unemployment 14.7 17.6 20.4 18.2 17.9

(a) People aged 15–64 years. (b) Excludes those whose Indigenous and/or labour force status was ‘Not Stated’. Source: Census of Population and Housing, 2011.

Table 1.3: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Labour Force Rate

Changes (a) (b) by Remoteness.

Labour Force Rates Major Cities

%

Inner Regional %

Outer Regional %

Remote

%

Very Remote %

Australia

%

Unemployment

2011

14.7 17.6 20.4 18.2 17.9 17.2

2006 15.2 18.6 17.7 14.6 10.2 15.6

Change -0.5 -1.0 +2.7 +3.7 +7.7 +1.5

Labour force participation

2011

61.3 55.8 53.7 51.8 48.2 55.9

2006 60.7 56.3 55.0 53.4 53.7 56.8

Change +0.6 -0.5 -1.3 -1.6 -5.5 -0.9

(a) People aged 15–64 years. (b) Excludes those whose Indigenous and/or labour force status was ‘Not Stated’. Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2006, 2011.

If ‘Closing the Gap’ initiatives are to be successful, 100 000 Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander peoples need to find and keep paid employment by the year 2018.

There has been substantial research documenting the enormous difficulties of

getting disadvantaged job-seekers into sustainable employment. Chapman and

Kapuscinski (2000) acknowledge that the long-term unemployed are often

overlooked by potential employers, which creates equity and social justice issues.

They go on to say that ‘this group is disproportionately made up of those with low

formal skills and education and Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders’

8

(Chapman & Kapuscinski, 2000, p. 2). Jordan and Mavec (2010, p. 24) state that

‘without effective intervention, long spells of unemployment can in effect become

self-perpetuating’. Structural disadvantages, such as a history of marginalisation

and exclusion from mainstream institutions, have exacerbated the problems.

The under-resourcing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education has

contributed to low levels of English literacy over many decades; low levels of

education attainment can create huge obstacles to participation in mainstream

employment (Altman, 2006; Hunter, 2000). Therefore, for some Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander peoples, inadequate literacy and numeracy combined with

long-term unemployment can put even low-skilled occupations out of reach

(Jordan & Mavec, 2010).

Savvas, Boulton and Jepsen (2011, p. 56) found there was a statistically

significant correlation between education and labour market outcomes for

Indigenous Australians. They found the higher the education levels the more

probability of improved labour market outcomes. They note that this is consistent

with human capital theory, whereby improving education has the potential to

improve labour market outcomes.

Another explanation for inferior employment outcomes is that, in many cases,

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples simply are not offered jobs, or they

rank so low on the list of candidates that they rarely get the chance to accept a

job (Dyer, 2010). Dominant perceptions from 1788 until present times have

depicted Aboriginal men as lazy and women as ‘slave-drudges’ (McGrath, 1995).

This has resulted in the misconception by some in the Australian community that

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples do not want to work. They are

9

depicted as lazy and stereotyped as ‘bludgers’ who decline work and want to go

‘walkabout’ (McGrath, 1995). McGrath goes on to state that ‘representations of

Aboriginal labour have never been fresh or objective … and many of the

representations had to do with the colonial preoccupation with a social order’ (pp.

34–35). McGrath continues by inferring that representations were not just

mistakes, they were conscious contrived actions that ‘simultaneously ratified the

ideals of the dominant culture and debunked those of the dispossessed’ (p. 38).

By doing so the validity of the traditional Aboriginal economy was discredited.

Another misconception is that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have

such low skill levels that they are unable to perform well in any job. This is not the

case. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples want to learn and want to

work, but in some instances are not given the chance to do so. Some Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islanders become discouraged job-seekers, and will withdraw

from the labour market. For the most part they want to work but are not actively

looking for work, as the cost of finding a job outweighs the probability of finding a

job (Dyer, 2010). There may be no jobs for people with their skills, or no jobs in

close proximity to where they live and they are reluctant to relocate due to

disconnection with land and family. They might also feel they will be discriminated

against (Savvas et al., 2011). Therefore, discrimination remains a factor that

prevents Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples from gaining meaningful

employment (Gregory, 2006).

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are far ‘more likely to hold lower-

status, lower-paid jobs with less chance of promotion, training and career

opportunities’ (Kirton & Greene, 2005, p. 54). They are far less likely to be

successful in obtaining the kind of job they want, and it is not always due to lack

11

of education or qualifications. According to Becker (1971), who developed a

model of employer behaviour, employers are prejudiced against certain groups

of workers. Due to costs incurred when employing people, employers will hire

fewer people from the discriminated group. Becker (1971) calls this ‘statistical

discrimination’. Stereotypes are bound up with perceptions of what is acceptable

in an employee, and generally leads to a preference for a white man or woman

over a person from a minority group (Cockburn, 1991). Similarly, in segmented

labour market theory the secondary sector is characterised by jobs that need little

training and are low-skilled. Wages are low and terms and conditions of the job

are poor, so the sector is dominated by those who fall into low socioeconomic

status (SES) backgrounds (Leontaridi, 1998). As Kirton and Greene (2005, p. 72)

suggest, ‘discriminatory practices are socially constructed, and involve a

racialised discourse which stereotypes and stigmatises minority groups’. Thus, a

vicious cycle exists where occupational segregation is perpetuated and jobs

become stereotyped through a combination of institutional discrimination and

limited expectations of job-seekers themselves.

Others attempt to explain Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders’ low employment

participation as being due to cultural differences in attitudes and aspirations to

paid work (Jordan & Mavec, 2010). Smith (1991, p. 21) argues that ‘what

constitutes work for some Aboriginal people is based on values and behaviours

fundamentally at odds with Western notions of the wage contract, hierarchical

employment structures and participation in the labour force’. Therefore,

employment involves a trade-off between earning money and cultural obligations,

as preservation of important family relationships and cultural obligations are at

times more important than having a job. Hence, additional barriers to employment

10

include the cultural appropriateness of the work, flexible working hours to attend

to cultural obligations and cultural fit to the job (Jordan & Mavec, 2010).

1.3 Reducing Labour Market Disadvantage

There is no quick fix or one approach that will reduce labour market disadvantage

for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples because the disadvantage is not

limited to the labour market. There are interconnecting factors that contribute to

the disadvantage, such as low levels of education, poor health, inadequate and

inappropriate housing, intergenerational trauma, cultural dislocation, cultural

genocide and deaths in custody. The disadvantage is multidimensional and

intergenerational, as will be discussed later in the thesis.

The way to close the gap on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander labour market

disadvantage, according to Karmel, Misko, Blomberg, Bednarz and Atkinson

(2014), is to keep the focus on school participation and retention and on

commitment to learning and achievement. Low levels of educational attainment

are among the main influences on the employment rate disparity. This is

compounded by particularly poor employment outcomes among Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander peoples with very poor levels of educational attainment

(Karmel et al., 2014). A higher proportion of Indigenous peoples participate in

vocational education and training than non-Indigenous Australians; however,

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are also more likely to complete

lower level qualifications than non-Indigenous Australians. Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander peoples with degrees have employment outcomes largely on par

with their non-Indigenous counterparts, however workplace discrimination and

high levels of incarceration play a negative role (Karmel et al., 2014).

12

Former Australian of the year, Professor Mick Dodson, states that adult literacy

is the key to ‘Closing the Gap’ between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australia

(Kral, 2009). Though Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participation and

attainment in education and training has increased significantly in recent years,

a substantial gap still exists. Education must be the main focus if the gap in

employment is to be closed.

1.4 This Research Project

In recognition of the disadvantage already discussed, the federal and state

governments have been proactive in promoting Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander employment by offering a range of labour market programs that assist

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander job-seekers. Chapter 4 of this thesis will

outline past and current labour market programs, followed by analysis of the

outcomes of the programs.

While the public-sector programs are relatively well researched, there is little

research of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment programs

(A&TSIEPs) in the private sector. This thesis addresses employment in the

private sector, focusing on the workplace and the activities of large organisations

within three sectors: mining, retail and banking. Good corporate citizenship and

corporate social responsibility (Gospel & Pendleton, 2004) are also driving

corporations to develop employment strategies and seek awards for being an

employer of choice for women and minority workers (Strachan, French &

Burgess, 2010). In this context, this thesis will map the A&TSIEPs developed by

corporate Australia. It will classify the various programs in operation. It will,

13

through case study research, examine the operation of a number of selected

corporate A&TSIEPs.

Private-sector programs for Indigenous minorities are available in other OECD

countries, most notably Canada and North America. Studies in the USA and

Canada suggest that private-sector organisations have developed employment

programs for Indigenous minorities based on the notion of corporate and social

responsibility and, in particular, social responsiveness, where they actively seek

to improve welfare and society. Examples of studies undertaken show positive

outcomes for the recruitment and retention of Indigenous minorities. For example,

Kaiser Aluminium in California, USA, initiated an affirmative action workplace that

placed more Indigenous minorities in craftwork positions (Lewis, Goodman &

Fandt, 2004). The corporation owning Dow Corning and Dow Chemical initiated

a communication support program aimed at Indigenous minorities. The program

used mentoring to help recruit and retain Indigenous employees and to help them

climb the corporate ladder (Kogler-Hill & Gant, 2000). Veale and Wachtel (1996)

undertook a study of the human resource development program at Coca-Cola.

The program is designed to provide general support for Indigenous employees

while helping them to understand their role in the organisation, learn about the

organisation’s culture and provide career mobility and advancement. Daly,

Gebremedhin and Sayam (2013) performed a longitudinal study of a case study

of an affirmative action program developed by the National Australia Bank (NAB)

that was designed to promote employment opportunities for Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australia. The results of the case study suggest

that the NAB program has been beneficial for participants. In Australia, programs

14

such as these are relatively few and there has been a substantial lack of research

undertaken.

1.5 Contextual Boundaries

Government-funded A&TSIEP’s are regularly developed and changed. For this

reason, this thesis limits the focus and analysis of these programs starting with

the 1967 referendum and concludes in 2014. In addition, there appears to be a

relatively large gap in the scholarly literature focusing on A&TSIEPs in corporate

Australia, therefore the literature review will be divided into three parts. First, the

historical context of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment in Australia

prior to the 1967 referendum. Second, past and current labour market programs,

followed by a critical analysis of these programs and their outcomes. Third, there

will be an overview of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment practices

within organisations.

1.6 Aims

The overall aim of this research is to determine what policies and strategies

private-sector organisations adopt to redress labour market disadvantage for

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, and the effectiveness of these

strategies (what works and what doesn’t?). This research will map the workplace

support programs provided by Australia’s largest 100 listed companies for

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Do these companies have

Reconciliation Action Plans (RAPs): do they have A&TSIEPs and do they utilise

labour market programs that assist Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples

into employment?

15

The second aim of this thesis is to develop an evaluative framework for private-

sector Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workplace programs. The evaluative

framework will be developed by analysing existing best practice models, such as

those developed for the mining industry and by governments as well as the

programs of participating organisations to ascertain what elements of the

programs are successful and what elements are not successful. This will be

achieved by utilising interviews, as well as each organisation’s annual reports. I

anticipate that the evaluative framework will take the form of a modular approach

where elements can be inserted and removed depending on the requirements of

the workplace and the dynamics and demographics of the Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander employees.

The third aim of the research is to identify what supporting mechanisms and

processes are required for the effective implementation of these programs. An

analysis of programs from the participating organisation will form the basis of this

identification. Do the programs have supporting mechanisms, such as cultural

competency training, inclusion of Aboriginal Elders within the organisation, career

development and is mentoring is available. Additionally what is needed for this to

be effective taking into account cultural protocols and requirements of the

participants?

The last aim of the research is to analyse and disseminate the experiences of

those who have participated in such programs through a series of detailed case

studies. This analysis will form the basis of answering the overarching research

question and will ascertain what should be included and avoided when

formulating an A&TSIEP.

16

1.7 Key Research Questions

To answer the overarching research question—determining what policies and

strategies private-sector organisations adopted to redress labour market

disadvantage for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and the

effectiveness of those strategies—the research needs to be broken down into

smaller sections. The following questions are posed:

To what extent can Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment

strategies be found across Australia’s largest 100 corporations?

What was the rationale for the introduction of A&TSIEPs by the

organisation?

To what extent is government support necessary or accessed?

What supporting mechanisms are in place to support A&TSIEPs?

By what criteria, and how often, are A&TSIEPs evaluated?

What was the experience of participants in A&TSIEPs?

What in the A&TSIEPs are helping to retain Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander employees?

In answering these questions this research will assist to identify the successful

features of A&TSIEPs in terms of labour market and broader community criteria.

1.8 Significance

To date, A&TSIEPs endorsed by governments have largely resulted in public-

sector jobs while having minimal impact on private-sector employment (Norris,

17

2001). There has been an absence of research on the employment programs

offered by the private sector for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.

Many of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander jobs generated in the 1990s

were identified as being the consequence of special public-sector A&TSIEPs

(Hunter & Gray, 1999). Private-sector A&TSIEPs are often hidden in human

resource (HR) management reporting and corporate social responsibility

reporting. There are programs for the private sector that are sponsored by the

federal and state governments. However, these may not encompass the full

range of programs available for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Previously, the federal Corporate Leaders Program showcased a few operating

programs and provided public recognition through a national award system.

However, the publicity and the examples are confined only to success stories,

and this program is now defunct. Developing a snapshot of what is offered by the

largest listed corporations in terms of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

employment and classifying these programs will be an important contribution of

this project.

Through its case studies this thesis will identify the experiences of participants in

the different programs of large corporations. This empirical research is extremely

important in terms of indicating what infrastructure and support mechanisms are

necessary to enable the special employment programs to operate effectively. The

stories of participants will provide detail to the experience of managers

developing and implementing such programs, and the experience of participants

undertaking such programs.

While there seems to be a substantial amount of literature written on employment

programs offered by the public sector, there is a substantial absence of research

18

on the employment programs offered by the private sector for Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander peoples. Therefore, this study is ground-breaking research

in that it seeks to evaluate the success of such programs in redressing labour

market disadvantage for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. In

particular, it focuses on how private organisations have implemented an

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment strategy and the components

that go into such a strategy. Beyond the standard metrics used to evaluate

employment programs (Dockery & Milsom, 2007a), the research will also address

issues around identity and community development.

1.9 Aboriginal Research Approach and Methodology

My work is multidisciplinary and this is shaped by my identity as an Aboriginal

woman, my standpoint and the institutional Western expectations of the PhD

format. The approach and methodology used throughout this research critically

reflects my experience within research that involves Indigenous research

frameworks (Kovach, 2010). This approach is a culturally appropriate and

ethically correct Indigenous way, acquiring and disseminating knowledge when

the participants are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. My research

approach is exploratory and is supported by documentary analysis and case

study research. The mixed methods allow for triangulation of the information,

while the semi-structured interviews provide depth to the research (Creswell &

Plano Clark, 2007; Punch, 2003, 2005). These issues will be discussed in more

detail in Chapter 2, but, in summary, it can be noted that the methods are

qualitative and are aimed at exploring the issues and examining the responses

and experience of those developing and implementing the programs, as well as

those supporting and participating in the programs. The research will involve

19

description, information generation, case studies and analysis. Interviews will be

semi-structured to allow for focus and to facilitate the respondents to tell their own

story. Utilising these methods, the aims and research question of this thesis will

be answered.

1.10 Thesis Structure

This thesis consists of nine chapters. Chapter 1 introduces ‘Closing the Gap’ and

gives an overview of the disadvantage faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander peoples in the Australian labour market, including labour market

statistics (urban, rural and remote) and introduced theories for inferior

employment outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The

chapter then looks at what can be done to reduce labour market disadvantage.

An overview of the research project is given, outlining contextual boundaries,

aims, key research questions, significance and Aboriginal research approach and

methodology.

Chapter 2 outlines the methodology used throughout this thesis. Indigenous

methodologies and approaches to research are outlined, including Aboriginal

standpoints and culturally appropriate research methods. The chapter then

discusses research design and strategy and the data collection methods utilised

throughout this thesis, including how organisations were chosen and accessed,

how participants were recruited (including the challenges faced), how the data

was analysed, and limitations to the study and data analysis.

Chapter 3 outlines the history of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander involvement

in the Australian labour market, starting with the pre-colonial economy and work,

addressing European conceptualisations of work, economy and activity. The

21

chapter then investigates the labour relationships and what might be described

as exploitation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples by European

invaders. The chapter then moves to the resistance of Aboriginal peoples, racial

divisions of labour and government control, mission control and segregation, the

impact of economic recession, participation in the armed forces, Exemption

Certificates, and moves towards recognition of obstacles for participation for

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australia.

Chapter 4 is an analysis of labour market programs for Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander peoples from the 1967 referendum to 2014. It includes Federal

Government policies and programs and non-government programs. The chapter

concludes with the latest developments in the labour market that effect Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islander students.

Chapter 5 outlines private-sector involvement in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander labour market. First, it maps the workplace support programs provided

by Australia’s top 100 companies. Second, it discusses the driving forces behind

an organisation developing an A&TSIEP, including what constitutes an A&TSIEP.

Third, an evaluative framework for the evaluation of case study A&TSIEPs in

Chapters 6, 7 and 8 is developed.

Chapter 6 is the first of three industry case study chapters. It outlines polices by

the peak industry body, then explores the types of employment available to

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the ‘Big Four’ banks of Australia.

Two case studies are presented, Bank 1 and Bank 2. The A&TSIEPs within these

organisations are outlined and analysed against the evaluative framework

developed in Chapter 5.

20

Chapter 7 is the second of the industry case study chapters. It outlines polices by

the peak industry body, then explores the types of employment available to

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples within the two major retailers in

Australia. Two case studies are presented: Supermarket Co and Variety Co. The

A&TSIEPs within these organisations are outlined and analysed against the

evaluative framework developed in Chapter 5.

Chapter 8 is the last of the industry case study chapters. It outlines polices by the

peak industry body. It then presents two case studies from CoalCo and

IronOreCo of ‘best practice’ of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment

within the mining industry. The A&TSIEPs within these organisations are outlined

and analysed against the evaluative framework developed in Chapter 5.

Chapter 9 concludes the thesis, outlining key findings, limitations, contributions

to knowledge and areas for further research.

22

Chapter 2: Methodology

2.1 Introduction

This thesis poses a number of inter-related research questions about Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islander employment in the private sector and is concerned with

learning about the experience of the participants in A&TSIEPs. Consequently,

Indigenous approaches to research and the challenges they present to Western

research protocols play a big role in this thesis. This encompasses

acknowledging my culture, beliefs, values and ways of knowing, being and doing

that are part of the complexities of research for and by Aboriginal peoples. It also

means drawing on the knowledge and intellectual agendas developed by

contemporary critical Indigenous researchers and scholars, such as Moreton-

Robinson (2003a, 2003b), Moreton-Robinson (2005), Walter (2010), Rigney

(1997), Nakata (2002), Nakata (2007), Foley (2003), Foley (2006), Bessarab and

Ng’andu (2010), Arbon (2008), Fredricks (2004) and Martin (2003), who have

developed a diverse range of Australian Indigenous methodological approaches.

Their work forms part of and contributes to the work of international Indigenous

methodological scholars, such as Kahakalau (2004), Kovach (2009), Kovach

(2010), Porsanger (2006), Smith (1999), Chilisa (2012) and Meyer (2001).

Discussion of these contributions form the basis of the second part of this chapter,

which provides an account of the specific research methods used in this study,

including broad philosophies of knowledge, some of which are Indigenous,

that have guided it. The methodology is informed by my identity as an Aboriginal

woman and a desire to use methods that are both considered rigorous by the

academy but also culturally appropriate. As these two factors do not necessarily

23

intersect, the research recognises and is shaped by that tension. Further, as

research conducted in the discipline of employment relations by and for

Aboriginal people has been extremely limited, the methodology by necessity

includes methodological borrowings from other areas. Therefore, the ideas

presented here are meant to contribute critically to the reflective participatory

dialogue by bringing Indigenous knowledges into places that are new to them,

such as academic research. It also critically reflects my experience within

research that involves Indigenous research frameworks (Kovach, 2010).

My research experience is multidisciplinary and is shaped by my identity as an

Aboriginal woman, my standpoints and the Western institutions to which I am

expected to conform. The work moves between research disciplines—

employment relations, sociology and Indigenous cultural studies—and between

two philosophies, Western and Indigenous. Therefore, it is a struggle to find a

methodology that suits the complexity of my position. This section outlines that

struggle and the multidisciplinary positions that have shaped this research. After

a general overview of what an Indigenous approach entails, the discussion turns

to Indigenous standpoint theory and how this affects my own place within the

research process as an Aboriginal researcher. The various protocols are outlined

for undertaking culturally appropriate research in a manner consistent with an

Indigenous research methodology. This thesis then looks specifically at the

particular research techniques that are pursued to gather relevant data.

2.2 Indigenous Methodologies and Approaches to Research

Indigenous methodologies are emerging as a vigorous and active field of

knowledge production that involve Indigenous peoples from around the world,

24

who apply their own perspectives and understandings to social research and

methodologies (Moreton-Robinson & Walter, 2010). Indigenous methodologies

are an approach based on Indigenous philosophical positioning and

epistemology, the interplay between the method and the paradigm and the extent

to which the method is consistent within an Indigenous world-view. They also

raise questions about the importance of protocols within Indigenous communities

and the necessity to recognise how the methods are transposed. Indigenous

methodologies aim to pay due respect to those communities and their teachings

in a suitable way, which can then be translated into research (Kovach, 2010). It

can be described as ‘a movement towards a more inclusive and culturally

acceptable way of doing research for Indigenous peoples’ (Russell-Mundine,

2012, p. 3) that is culturally appropriate and ethically correct in moving towards

the acquisition and dissemination of knowledge about Indigenous peoples. This

approach is based on Indigenous ethics and knowledge that determines how to

access knowledge, the tools to gain that knowledge and the theoretical

approaches for conducting research (Porsanger, 2006). An Indigenous

methodological approach is not just confined to ‘disciplines orientated by native

studies’, it is also relevant for ‘fields seemingly unrelated to native life and native

ways’ (Kahakalau, 2004, p. 20).

The history of research for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is tied to

colonisation (Laycock, Walker, Harrison & Brands, 2011). History has been told

through the eyes of the colonisers. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples

did not have a voice and were ‘dehumanised’ as objects of research. Cultural

practices and norms were distorted and described in ways that reflected the non-

Indigenous researchers’ prejudices, beliefs and values (Laycock et al., 2011).

25

According to Martin (2003, p. 2), ‘mistreatment of ourselves and our land,

marginalisation from structures and governance and development of misguided

policy and programs resulting in feelings of distrust, caution, fear of exploitation

and misrepresentation’ summed up the effects of past research.

The academic world has not been particularly hospitable to Indigenous ways of

thinking, understanding and approaching knowledge, in part because such an

approach has been considered not to belong to any existing theory (Porsanger,

2006). Nevertheless, there is a growing recognition among researchers,

Indigenous and non-Indigenous alike, that ‘western science has worked to first

subjugate and then discredit Indigenous knowledge systems and the people

themselves … Without an appreciation for Indigenous ways of knowing,

Indigenous people were excluded from knowledge construction as defined by

western thought’ (Kovach, 2009, pp. 77–78). A similar point is made by Foley,

who situates this within a specifically Australian context:

Indigenous postgraduate students can become frustrated by being forced

to accept western, ethnocentric research methodology that is culturally

remote and often unacceptable to the Indigenous epistemological

approach to knowledge …The racial oppression of Indigenous Australian

pedagogy and research methodologies within higher education needs to

be acknowledged. (Foley, 2003, p. 44)

Indigenous theories have been derived from ‘what it means to be Indigenous’ and

have not been constructed in isolation from the human and civil rights

movements, national struggles and other theoretical approaches (Smith, 1999),

suggesting that Indigenous scholars have developed theories that focus on

26

decolonising and reframing research practices that enable Indigenous voices to

be heard and to ensure truth and vision in Indigenous research (Russell-Mundine,

2012).

Decolonisation is making sure the world views of the long-term oppressed and

marginalised have the space to conduct research within their frames of reference,

‘thereby to empower themselves through their own assumptions and

perspectives’ (Chilisa, 2012, p. 13). One strategy of the decolonisation process

is deconstruction and reconstruction, by destroying previous distortions of written

histories, negative labelling and ‘culturally deficient models that pathologised the

colonised Other’ (Chilisa, 2012, p. 17). Another strategy of the decolonisation

process is to place research within the wider context of self-determination and

social justice:

Self-determination in research refers to the struggle by those marginalised

by Western research hegemony to seek legitimacy for methodologies

embedded in histories, experiences, ways of perceiving realities, and

value systems. Social Justice in research is achieved when research gives

voice to the researched and moves from a deficit-based orientation, where

research is based on perceived in the researched, to reinforcing practices

that have sustained the lives of the researched. (Chilisa, 2012, pp. 17–18)

This is not to say that theory is irrelevant. To the contrary, as Linda Smith

explained over a decade ago, theories in all their forms are important to

Indigenous peoples insofar as they assist us to make sense of the world in which

we live, and in some ways make that world because they enable us to prioritise

and legitimise what we see and do (Smith, 1999). But Indigenous peoples need

27

to place Indigenous knowledge at the centre of research practices, including the

Western ways of theorising, so that the latter is informed by the former. Of key

importance is the recognition that ‘Indigenous knowledges comprise a specific

way of knowing based upon oral traditions of sharing knowledge’ (Kovach, 2010,

p. 40). In the Western sense, this would be described as a narrative, however, in

Indigenous cultures it is identified as ‘storytelling, yarning, re-storying and re-

remembering’ (Kovach, 2010, p. 40). This as a ‘conversational method’ of

gathering knowledge and is significant for ‘Indigenous methodologies because it

is a method of gathering knowledge based on oral story telling tradition congruent

with an Indigenous paradigm’ (Kovach, 2010, p. 40). This poses some problems

in terms of accommodating standard Western approaches to research because

they are most commonly ‘based on and give most value to empirical theories of

knowledge, that is, knowledge that is directly observed and tested’ (Laycock et

al., 2011, p. 10). However, within Indigenous approaches competing knowledge

systems and world views are brought together to form what has come to be

termed a ‘meeting space’, understood as ‘“contested space” or “contested

knowledges”’ (Laycock et al., 2011, p. 10). For some Indigenous scholars, for

example, Nakata (2007), this ‘contested space or contested knowledges’ is

understood as the ‘cultural interface’, an understanding that emerges from his

development of Indigenous standpoint theory.

Nakata (2007), in outlining Indigenous standpoint theory, makes clear that within

this ‘cultural interface’ things are not clearly black or white, Indigenous or

Western:

The intersection of the Western and Indigenous domains … the place

where we live and learn, the place that conditions our lives, the place that

28

shapes our futures and more to the point the place where we are active

agents in our own lives–where we make decisions–our life world. (Nakata,

2002, p. 285)

In other words, what we bring to this space is our history, politics, discourses,

social practices and knowledges. It is how we come to understand our everyday

world, our cultural knowledge, that is to say how that understanding informs our

particular standpoint and vice versa. Nakata is explicit about distinguishing this

term for others. Such as perspectives, viewpoints, and approach are often used

as a substitute for ‘standpoint’. In his view, these terms are inadequate, as

standpoint is quite a complex and contested theoretical approach. Standpoint

theory as a method of enquiry has been used by marginalised groups whose

knowledge and experience was excluded from intellectual knowledge production.

Nakata (2007) goes on to say that standpoint does not refer to a particular social

position, but an engagement, and this engagement moves us along to forge a

critical Indigenous standpoint.

Nakata argues that Indigenous standpoint has to be actively developed. It is a

particular form of investigation. The point of entry to the cultural interface is

Indigenous peoples’ lived experiences:

It is not a simple reflection of experience and it does not pre-exist in the

everyday waiting to be brought to light. It is not any sort of hidden wisdom

that Indigenous people possess. It is a distinct form of analysis and is itself

both a discursive construct and an intellectual device to persuade others

and elevate what might not have been a focus of others. (Nakata, 2007, p.

214)

29

Nakata’s development and adoption of Indigenous standpoint theory has been

criticised as being too individualist and overly reliant on Western epistemologies,

when the essence of being Aboriginal lies in kinship and connectedness (Grieves,

2009). It is a central feature of any research method, not just an Indigenous one,

that every researcher brings to their research ‘a particular world-view that is

predicated on factors such as their gender, culture and socioeconomic status’

(Russell-Mundine, 2012, p. 1). Insofar as every researcher brings their own

history and family kinship to their research, there is some degree of individualism

involved. This does not necessarily mean that it reproduces an epistemological

position of methodological individualism, as often characterises Western

methodological frameworks. In the context of the above discussion, this thesis

will now discuss my own particular standpoint.

2.3 My Aboriginal Standpoint

There were several different ways that I approached this research. Being an

Aboriginal woman has its privileges and its methodological traps. I want to share

with you my standpoint as an Aboriginal woman, as this has significant bearing

on how I approached the research. As noted above, an Indigenous standpoint is

unique to each individual Indigenous researcher—it has to be produced (Nakata,

2002). Indigenous people are not homogenous and do not all have the same

standpoint. My standpoint is determined by my life experiences, my age, my

gender, my sexual orientation, my community, my country, my skin colour, my

political affiliations and how I see myself in relation to society. For example, I am

a Guringai/Gadigal/Dhurag woman, living on Awabakal country. I am a fair-

skinned Aboriginal woman and an urban Aboriginal woman who does not fit the

image some people hold of an Aboriginal woman. As a fair-skinned Aboriginal

31

person, I am often mistaken as a ‘white person’, which some would say has

certain privileges, perhaps including the privilege of anonymity. Inter-racial

discrimination among ‘blacks’ gives preferential treatment to those who have

lighter skin, thin facial features and straight hair (Merriam et al., 2001, p. 407).

Indeed, as Cowlishaw (2004, p. 60) notes, ‘skin colour, in particular, is the focus

of all kinds of struggles and contested significance not only between groups, but

also within them’. However, having fair skin certainly has its disadvantages, as I

am not automatically recognised as Aboriginal and at times I have to legitimise

my Aboriginality. I grew up in the Western suburbs of Sydney on Dhurag country.

I come from the most socioeconomically disadvantaged group in Australia. I am

51 years old, was married and am now widowed, and I have a 26-year-old son.

As a fair-skinned Aboriginal I can be perceived as having no culture—as not being

a ‘real’ Aborigine. Sadly, this is how some Aboriginal people feel about me and

other fair-skinned Aboriginal people, and I have experienced the effects of racism

due to this. My cultural identity as constructed from all of the above is fragmented,

however, I live in a contemporary world where culture cannot stay the same; it is

dynamic and has many configurations (Fredricks, 2004). I work to sustain a

positive identity. I am still learning about my culture and true identity, and finding

extended family. All of this and more shapes my standpoint and my research.

My Indigenous standpoint is supported by social identity theory. In social identity

theory, a social identity is a person’s knowledge that they belong to a particular

social category or group (Hogg & Abrams, 1988). Interestingly, Hogg and Abrams

point out that the social categories precede the individual because individuals are

born into an already structured society and a person’s identity is derived from the

social categories into which they are born (for example, black or white). Each

30

person, over the course of their personal history, is a unique member of social

categories and therefore has a unique set of social identities that make up their

self-conception (Hogg & Abrams, 1988). So, in my case, I identify as an

Aboriginal woman and I see things from an Aboriginal woman’s perspective.

However, I bring with those two components my life’s experiences, which will not

be the same as any other person. Therefore, the way I see and perform research

is unique to my Aboriginal standpoint.

2.4 Culturally Appropriate Research and Respectful

Engagement with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples

The history of research for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is tied to

colonisation (Laycock et al., 2011). History has been told through the eyes of the

colonisers. Researchers have argued that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

peoples did not have a voice and were ‘dehumanised’ as objects of research.

Cultural practices and norms were distorted and described in ways that reflected

the non-Indigenous researchers’ prejudices, beliefs and values (Laycock et al.,

2011). According to Martin (2003, p. 2), ‘mistreatment of ourselves and our land,

marginalisation from structures and governance and development of misguided

policy and programs resulting in feelings of distrust, caution, fear of exploitation

and misrepresentation’ summed up the effects of past research.

Any research conducted that includes Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders

needs to be conducted in a respectful and consultative way (Hunt, 2013).

According to the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

Studies (AIATSIS), respectful engagement with Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander peoples involves 14 principles for ethical research in Australian

32

Indigenous studies (AIATSIS, 2012). These 14 principles are essential to

understand how to embed respectful practices when research is conducted with

Aboriginal/Torres Strait Islander participants. The principles are grouped under

broad categories and include: rights, respect and recognition; negotiation,

consultation, agreement and mutual understanding; participation, collaboration

and partnership; benefits, outcomes and giving back; managing research—use,

storage and access; and reporting and compliance. The principles are listed in

Table 2.1.

33

Table 2.1: AIATSIS Principles of Ethical Research.

Principle Applying the principle

Principle 1 Recognition of the diversity and uniqueness of peoples, as a collective, and as individuals, is essential

Principle 2 The rights of Indigenous peoples to self-determination must be recognised

Principle 3 The rights of Indigenous peoples to their intangible heritage must be recognised

Principle 4 Rights in the traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions of Indigenous peoples must be respected, protected and maintained

Principle 5 Indigenous knowledges, practices and innovations must be respected, protected and maintained

Principle 6 Consultation, negotiation and free and prior informed consent are the foundations for research with or about Indigenous peoples

Principle 7 Responsibility for consultation and negotiation is ongoing

Principle 8 Consultation and negotiation should achieve mutual understanding about the proposed research

Principle 9 Negotiation should result in a formal agreement for the conduct of a research project

Principle 10 Indigenous people have the right to full participation appropriate to their skills and experiences in research projects and processes

Principle 11 Indigenous people involved in research or who may be affected by research should benefit from, and not be disadvantaged by, the research project

Principle 12 Research outcomes should include specific results that respond to the needs and interests of Indigenous people

Principle 13 Plans should be agreed for managing use of, and access to, research results

Principle 14 Research projects should include appropriate mechanisms and procedures for reporting on ethical aspects of the research and complying with these guidelines

Source: Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, 2012, p. 2.

34

AIATSIS (2012) also identify for researchers how to apply these principles when

conducting research. As this research is conducted by an Aboriginal researcher,

I acknowledge the 14 principles outlined by AIATSIS and have applied them to

this research. According to Russell-Mundine (2012, p. 4), implementing these

principles requires reflexivity by the researcher with particular attention to

recognising and interrogating their role in ‘exercising power and the choices they

make to privilege some knowledge and discard others’ (Nakata, 2007).

In addition to respectful engagement, cultural respect is an important aspect of

research into Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Cultural respect,

according to the Australian Health Minister’s Advisory Council (2004, p. 7)

(AHMAC), is the ‘recognition, protection and continued advancement of the

inherent rights, cultures and traditions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

peoples. Cultural Respect is about shared respect’. Cultural respect is achieved

when research is conducted in a safe environment for Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander peoples and where cultural differences are respected. The goal of

cultural respect is to uphold the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

peoples to maintain, protect and develop their culture and achieve equitable

outcomes (Adapted from Australian Health Minister’s Advisory Council, 2004, p.

7).

In the mid-1990s, submissions to the Australian Health Ethics Committee

resulted in a set of guidelines that specifically required research be conducted in

a manner that is respectful and inclusive of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

values and cultures (Habbis, 2010). This resulted in a national statement of

ethical conduct in human research. Within the national statement, the National

Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) acknowledges that research

35

with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples spans many methodologies

and disciplines. They state that:

Researchers should address relevant issues of research design, ethics,

culture and language. Depending on the field of study and complexity of

the proposed research, these issues might be addressed in numerous

ways. A cornerstone of an ethical research relationship with Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander Peoples is respect for and valuing of cultural and

language diversity. (National Health and Medical Research Council, 2007,

p. 69; 2013)

The NHMRC values and ethics guidelines are broken into four principles:

research merit and integrity, justice, beneficence. These in turn are based on six

core values that have been identified as significant to Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander peoples. The six core values are reciprocity, respect, equality,

responsibility, survival and protection, and spirit and integrity (Laycock et al.,

2011; National Health and Medical Research Council, 2007, 2013).

In applying these principles of culturally appropriate and respectful research, the

diversity and uniqueness of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples around

Australia who were interviewed as part of this research is acknowledged. The

findings are reported in a true and accurate way that reflects the traditional

knowledge and cultural expressions that were passed on to me. All participants

were informed of the research project and how their stories would be conveyed.

Every participant had the right to withdraw consent at any stage of the research

project. The benefits and reciprocity of the research project were explained to all

participants. The participants believe that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

36

peoples in the labour market in Australia would benefit from this research and

were willing participants.

2.5 Western Research Methodologies: Accommodating

Indigenous Standpoint Theory

My standpoint will include Indigenous ontologies, epistemologies and axiologies.

Indigenous ontologies can be described as Indigenous ways of being,

epistemologies are Indigenous ways of knowing, and axiologies are Indigenous

ways of doing. Ontologies, epistemologies and axiologies underpin

Indigenous social research methodologies. Indigenous methodologies make

visible what is meaningful and logical in our understanding of ourselves and the

world and apply it to the research process (Martin, 2003; Moreton-Robinson &

Walter, 2010).

Indigenous ontology relates to our cultural knowledge and our connection

to country expressed through our feeling of belonging (Moreton-Robinson &

Walter, 2010). Ways of being and the project of reframing seek a deeper

relatedness to the research stories so that they make sense, particularly to the

Aboriginal research participant. ‘There is an emphasis on an I/we relationship as

opposed to the Western I/you relationship’ where the individual is emphasised

(Chilisa, 2012, p. 21). They are more holistic in how they view reality and less

committed to the Western paradigms of humans as separate from other life and

from the earth (Moreton-Robinson & Walter, 2010). Social justice, connectedness

and community are contained in Indigenous ontology and it must be recognised

that this frames our research.

37

In Western philosophies, epistemology is the branch of philosophy concerned

with the nature and scope of knowledge. Epistemology questions what

knowledge is, how it is acquired, and the possible extent to which a given subject

or entity can be known (justified belief). It attempts to answer the basic question:

what distinguishes true (adequate) knowledge from false (inadequate)

knowledge? Legitimacy of knowledge is based on the objectivity of rational

knowledge and other ways of knowing are dismissed. This philosophy views

knowledge as abstract and separate from the world; it is discovered or invented

and owned by an individual that is pursued or gained. It determines who the

knowledge holders are, and what knowledge is given priority and valued over

others (Moreton-Robinson & Walter, 2010).

In contrast, Indigenous epistemology is built upon the individual Indigenous

researcher’s connectivity, physical and spiritual nature of life, knowledge and

existence. Connection to country is an integral part of knowledge production.

Knowledge cannot exist outside of social relations and knowledge is revealed

and belongs to a group. It can be used and shared, but never owned. Indigenous

epistemology acknowledges the ‘interconnectedness of physical, mental,

emotional, and spiritual aspects of individuals with all living things and with the

earth, the star world, and the universe’ (Lavelle, 2009, p. 23). Indigenous

epistemologies (ways of knowing) are based on three sources of Indigenous

knowledge production: traditional, empirical and revealed. Traditional knowledge

has been handed down from previous generations, empirical knowledge is

gained through observations and revealed knowledge is acquired through

dreams, visions and intuitions based in Aboriginal spirituality (Castellano, 2000).

38

Ways of knowing include those of thinking, feeling and willing (Martin, 2003, p.

97). We have a different epistemological tradition that frames the way we see the

world, the way we organise ourselves in it, the questions we ask and the solutions

we seek (Smith, 1999 as cited in Martin, 2003, p. 97). Therefore, my Indigenous

epistemology calls on my life experiences, the history of myself, embeddedness

in my community and my connection to my country (Rigney, 1997, p. 117).

Indigenous axiology is embedded in Indigenous value systems. In this system,

Indigenous knowledge is valued as it provides connection to the world.

Indigenous axiology refers to the examination of values to better comprehend

their meanings, origins, purpose, characteristics, acceptance, true knowledge

and their impacts on people (Chilisa, 2012). It is built on the notion of relational

accountability; I am accountable to my relations, therefore I am part of the

research and ‘inseparable from the subject of the research’ (Wilson, 2008, p. 77).

In addition, the Indigenous researcher is entrusted to ensure the research

methodology is respectful and the results are utilised by the community. Respect,

reciprocity and responsibility are the basis of any research conducted with

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

Table 2.2 shows a summary of commonly used Western research paradigms and

an Indigenous research paradigm.

39

Table 2.2: Summary of Research Paradigms. Adapted from a Table Compiled by Sidsel Grimstad, 2013.

Research Paradigm Epistemology— Philosophical Assumptions

on What Constitutes Knowledge

Research/ Researcher Approach

Strategy of Inquiry Strategy of Researcher

Method of Data Collection

Post-Positivist

Positivist

Determination

Empiricists

Scientific method

Knowledge is: Positive data, i.e., facts that can be

measured, verified and replicated

Assumes that science can objectively measure the world.

Theory is tested through measurement and deduction

Quantitative

‘Measurer/ Verifier’

Reductionist in that it reduces the ideas into small sets that

can be tested against theory

Researcher is an

objective/neutral observer.

Events happen uninterrupted by

researcher

Surveys

Experiments

Predetermined instruments Statistical analysis

Constructivist

Multiple meanings

Social and historical construction

Theory generation

Knowledge is: Understanding socially or historically

constructed meanings of reality by individuals or groups.

Assumes that science can uncover constructed meaning

through observation and induced understanding/theory

Qualitative

‘Observer/ Meaning- making’

Inductive process, theory is generated ‘afterwards’ out of

the data collected in the field

Researcher is subjectively

involved with stakeholders to achieve a good understanding of their world

Ethnographies

Grounded theory

Case studies

Phenomenology

Narrative Research






Advocacy/Participative

Critical theory

Political transformative

Empowerment

Issue-oriented

Collaborative

Change-oriented

Knowledge is:

Uncovering injustice and suggesting actions that would lead to social empowerment.

Often focused on feminist, racial, queer and disability

Qualitative

‘Emancipator/ Action-oriented’

Inquiry is part of a political agenda and

should suggest action to improve

the situation. Inquiry is practical,

collaborative and emancipatory

Researchers and participants

are actively involved in creating

awareness and implementing alternatives

Action research

Historical contextualizatio

n

Pragmatism/Transform ative Paradigm

Consequences of actions

Problem-centred

Pluralistic

Real-world practice oriented

Knowledge is:

A combination of facts and words/meanings to solve

problems. Combining inductive and deductive thinking,

measuring, observing and developing new meanings

Mixed Methods

‘Pragmatic problem-solver’

Inquiry is practical and pragmatic in that it uses the paradigms and

methods that seem to best fit the

problem researched

Researchers are pragmatic,

uses many methods to

seek convergence or divergence of

analysis outcomes

Triangulation

Sequential procedures

May use both positivist and interpretivist methods,

interviews, surveys, text

analysis






Indigenous Research Paradigm

Indigenous ways of being, knowing, doing and belonging.

Embedded in Indigenous values systems. Indigenous

knowledge is valued because it provides connection to the

world. Connection to country is an integral part of knowledge

production

Qualitative

Decolonising lens

Indigenous standpoint

Inductive process, theory is generated ‘afterwards’ out of

the data collected in the field

Researcher preferences Indigenous

voices

Listen to unheard voices

Giving value to hearing and

sharing

Yarning

Talking Circles

Interviews

Case studies

Standpoint theory

Identity theory

Insider-outside theory

42

2.6 Purpose of the Study

This study utilises the qualitative research strategy of case study analysis

informed by Indigenous standpoint theory to examine Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander employment strategies in the private sector. The case study participants

were 220 Aboriginal and Torres Strait employees from six private-sector

organisations, eight mentors (five of whom were Aboriginal) and 59 managers,

who were directly involved in the Indigenous employment within the

organisations, including policy development. Of these 59 managers, only six were

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.

Although there has been research conducted on employment strategies for

disadvantaged groups within an organisational setting, this research is ground-

breaking as there has been little or no research, apart from in the mining sector,

on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment strategies in the private

sector (Barker, 2006; Barker & Brereton, 2004; Kogler-Hill & Gant, 2000; Sully,

1997). This research is located across three industries: banking, retail and

mining. Prior research that has been conducted utilised case studies.

Content analysis was utilised to quantify, measure and examine the information

asymmetry among corporates that employ Aboriginal peoples. This information

was used to identify the organisations for the case studies and to give greater

insight into the organisation’s policies and procedures. The interview and focus

group component was utilised as the qualitative method to gain further insights

into the usefulness and accessibility of the information provided to decision-

makers.

43

2.7 Considerations on Means/Techniques for Data Gathering

and Analysis Research Design and Strategy

Research design is about planning what you want to know and devising the best

way of finding it. The research design draws together all aspects of the research,

so without a strong design the research process is likely to be inconsistent

(Natalier, 2010). The research design for this thesis involved detailed case study

research of six selected corporations within three industries. The selection of the

six case studies included two organisations located in remote areas, since it is

remoteness that has been identified as one of the greatest obstacles to

Indigenous labour market access (Hunter, 2003). The other four selected

organisations were corporations spread across regional and urban Australia. The

case study research involved a review of documentation (company reports, HR

reports, EEO reports) and interviews with key informants who were responsible

for program design (usually HR managers), Indigenous employment managers,

those responsible for implementation (usually line managers) and with Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islander employees participating in such programs. A number

of case studies were used to allow for cross-case study analysis and richer theory

building.

A methodology that incorporates substantial evidence from multiple sources

helps to provide a detailed account of what has happened, while enabling the

researcher to ‘test and probe’ (Gardner, 1999). Most case study researchers rely

on a range of data collection methods (Kitay & Callus, 1998). The case study

approach allows an eclectic approach to data collection, allowing the researcher

to establish a detailed set of relationships (Plowman, 1999). Multiple data sources

help the researcher gain a thorough understanding of the object of analysis (Kelly,

44

1999). Several data collection methods were used in this thesis, which included

documentary analysis of annual reports and policy documents of industry leaders

and participating organisations; culturally appropriate and ethical interview

techniques were utilised with senior executives/managers, external recruiters,

Group Training Organisations and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

employees. This mixed method of data collection allowed a more complete insight

into the organisation’s A&TSIEP.

Multiple benefits flow from the use of multiple sources of data collection. First,

validation of findings using triangulation. Triangulation works to reduce single

method deficiencies and bias and suggests that using multiple data collection

methods increases the validity of the research findings (Buchanan, 1999).

Second, the adequacy of the information collected is enhanced. Relying on a

single method of data collection greatly reduces the capacity of adequately

understanding complex issues and social situations. Multiple methods enable the

researcher to draw on different sources of information, yielding different insights

into the study. Third, the quality of the data collected was improved because the

multiple methods combine to generate more information than would have been

possible using a single method in isolation (Buchanan, 1999).

Why case studies? The case study approach was chosen because this

approach enabled a holistic, in-depth investigation to be developed, consistent

with the Indigenous standpoint approach. All the details from the points of view

of the participants could then be brought out by utilising multiple sources of

data (Tellis, 1997). Additionally, case studies are appropriate in contemporary

settings that do not require control over behaviour, when the researcher’s task

is to answer questions such as ‘how and why’ (Yin, 2002). To develop a full

45

understanding of the subject matter, Punch (2005, p. 150) suggests that the

use of a case study will assist the researcher to ‘understand the case in depth,

and its natural setting, recognising its complexity and its context’. While case

studies have been beneficial in producing ‘rich’ and ‘meaningful’ data, they

have been criticised for lack of rigour and generalisability (Hartley, 1994).

However, according to Yin (2002), the use of multiple case studies virtually

eliminates the problem of lack of generalisability (see below for further

discussion of the problem of generalisability). Additionally, the use of a case

study analysis as a research method is highly appropriate where a case is

important, interesting or unique in some respect (Punch, 2005). This has

certainly been the case with studies of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

employment strategies thus far, and most of the extant studies reviewed

employ the case study approach.

A case study approach allowed the researcher to delve into the research area in

more detail and ascertain things that may not be apparent using other research

methods (Jones, 2010). Utilising an Indigenous lens in the data collection phase

and analysis phase assisted the discovery of interconnectedness and

interrelationships between various parts of the organisations’ Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander employment initiatives, making the use of case studies

imperative. In all of these cases, the research emphasised close examination of

the case to understand the subject organisation’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander employment initiatives and outcomes. The case study approach

provided not only description but also explanation of the phenomenon, as it

provided more than what the outcomes are—it helped explain why certain

outcomes occur (Jones, 2010).

46

In this thesis, cross-case analysis was used, so that it was possible to identify the

components of an organisation’s A&TSIEP and then examine other organisations

to see if similar components were used, thus identifying patterns (Jones, 2010)

to determine which components were successful and which were not. Within the

case study approach, multiple research methods were used, such as interviews,

focus groups, observations and document analysis, to collect a wide range of

information.

Documentary analysis for mapping of top 100 companies and case

study selection. The use of both historical and contemporary documentary

data is a powerful tool ‘capable of producing rich and valuable data’ (Punch,

1998, p. 190). The use of documentary data for case studies is important as it

provides the capacity to augment and corroborate evidence from a variety of

sources. When used in conjunction with other data, such as interviews and

observations, documents can be important for triangulation, where an

interconnecting set of different collection methods and data types are used

within a single project (Yin, 2002). Congruent with Yin, Punch (1998, p. 190)

states that documentary data used in conjunction with other data can be a ‘rich

vein for analysis’, especially where ‘culture and symbolic context’ is present.

The characteristics of documentary data include diaries, letters, essays,

institutional memorandum, reports and government proceedings. The

advantages of documentary data include stability (the data can be repeatedly

reviewed) and unobtrusiveness (the data has been collected over a period of

time, through many events and settings, and is not created as a result of the

case study) (Punch, 1998; Yin, 2002). When selecting documentary data, it is

47

necessary to evaluate the experiences and values they represent relative to

their internal and external environment.

With this in mind, the project utilised both historical and contemporary data for

the collection of information for the case studies and for the mapping of the top

100 companies. Contemporary data provided valuable insights into what

workplace support programs are provided by the top 100 companies in Australia.

Initially the list of top 100 companies was gained utilising ASX Marketwatch. The

information was gathered from each organisation’s website and through the

Reconciliation Australia website.

Historical data added insight, as some organisations have utilised A&TSIEPs for

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples for longer than others and,

presumably, would learn from long-term insights into the way they run their

A&TSIEPs. By comparing historical and contemporary documentation in an

organisation, greater insight was gained into the effectiveness of the

organisation’s A&TSIEP. Historical data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics

(ABS) was also utilised to evaluate labour market disadvantage and elucidate a

link between the two.

Contemporary documents, such as organisational implementation documents,

and organisational evaluations were also utilised and evaluated to identify

whether they met the needs of this study. Additionally, the use of government

reports and memoranda were used to validate the outcomes associated with

government labour market programs and organisations’ A&TSIEPs.

The most common justification for selecting a particular case was that it

represented a typical illustration of the research area (Jones, 2010). However,

48

this was not always the most practical way of selecting a case. One of the

difficulties with this approach was gaining access to organisations that

represented a ‘typical illustration’ of the research area. In the case of this

research, gaining access to organisations that were willing to have their

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment policies externally examined

and perhaps criticised was the biggest justification for who was chosen. To start

with, documentary analysis of the top 100 companies in Australia was performed

to see who had A&TSIEPs and RAPs. It was important to choose some

organisations that had long-standing commitments to Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander employment and others who may only be new to it.

The documentary analysis undertaken was in the form of searching through

companies’ annual reports and websites to ascertain if a company had an

A&TSIEP and RAP and the length of time these have been in place. These

documents were utilised because they are public documents and should provide

the information needed to determine if the organisation was suitable for the study.

I also utilised the RA website, as they list all employers that either have a RAP or

are developing one. Originally, the plan was to choose six organisations in six

different industries, at least two of which needed to be in remote locations, to

enable a wide spread of case studies to cross analyse. However, this strategy

was soon abandoned as it proved harder than anticipated to engage

organisations willing to participate in the research.

Accessing organisations. Hence, in framing the research process the

selection of organisations was partly determined by those that chose to

participate. Initially, six organisations, both large and medium corporations,

were contacted from six industries. The criteria for choosing an organisation

49

was that they needed to be a large corporation, have locations in urban and

rural/remote communities and employ Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

peoples. Once a list was established, six organisations were contacted and

sent information letters explaining the research and what was required of them.

All six organisations rejected the requests. Another six organisations were

approached in the same manner; this time I received four rejections. In total

there were 14 rejections, all of whom outwardly appear to be doing the right

thing around Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment. Fortunately,

not all organisations said no. The study was able to have the benefit of two

banks, two mining companies and two retail outlets. The presumption was that

these corporations and industries would have high Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander employment rates and, after additional documentary analysis, the

organisations seemed a good choice.

Recruiting participants. When the organisations in the study were

initially approached, it was explained that an Aboriginal researcher was

undertaking the research. Permission was sought to interview anyone within

the organisation that had an input into the organisation’s Indigenous

employment initiatives. It was anticipated that the organisations would be

supportive of this, since they had already agreed to be part of the study.

Thankfully, there was no opposition to this request. The next dilemma was how

to recruit participants within the organisations, as the participants needed to

be a mixture of Aboriginal and Torres Strait employees from the organisations,

as well as managers who were directly involved in the Indigenous employment

within the organisations. The potential participants needed to be identified

through organisational employment records, and the researcher had to rely on

50

the organisations to put forward participants. However, through discussions

with the senior management it was negotiated that the selection should entail

a selection of men and women employees from differing backgrounds, with

various degrees of success, and from various locations to interview. It was

important to have a gender mix, background mix and location mix, especially

due to the industries chosen, but also to assist in future research directions

and to minimise the possibilities of bias.

Each organisation had a different approach to providing participant information

and access to those participants. Both banks provided a list of names, locations

and phone numbers so participants could be contacted directly. 12 Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander employees from each bank and six managers from each

bank were interviewed. With the retail outlets, there were regions where the

organisations were focusing their Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

employment efforts, and they provided contact details for the manager of each

region. Contact was made with the manager and a date was set for a visit. All

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees that were on shift on the date set

were interviewed. 20 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees from each

retailer, and eight managers from each retailer were interviewed. The mining

industry was very different. Iron Ore Co and Coal Co allocated a specific person

to coordinate the interviews with management and employees across different

locations, including remote mining sites. With some mining sites, it was necessary

to conduct focus groups instead of individual interviews due to time and labour

constraints. Within Coal Co, 40 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees

and four managers were interviewed. Within Iron Ore Co, 120 Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander employees and 20 managers were interviewed. Each

51

participant in the study was provided with a consent form and information letter

about the study on the University of Newcastle letterhead, and a copy of the

interview questions (see Appendix C).

2.8 Data Collection Methods

Interviews. Interviews provide ‘a greater capacity for the interviewer to

interact with the respondent, to follow up on the leads and to clarify issues’,

culminating with the potential for better response rates (Plowman, 1999). The

interview is one of the main sources of data and one of the most important in

qualitative case study research (Punch, 1998; Yin, 2002). Interviews can come

in a variety of structures and forms. Three of the main interview structures

identified by Punch (1998) are structured, semi-structured and unstructured.

The degree of structure will depend on the depth of the interview and the

degree of standardisation across respondents and situations. Open-ended

questions facilitate conversation, which, when used in the early stages of

research, assist in providing a ‘rich source of quotes’ that are useful for

‘development of ideas for analysis; eliciting new information; (and) assessing

attitudes’ (Sutcliffe, 1999, p. 144). Semi-structured interviews are used when

the researcher wants to control the direction of the interview through

standardised discussion categories that assist in facilitation and comparison of

participant responses (Sutcliffe, 1999; Yin, 2002).

Semi-structured interviews were used in conjunction with Indigenous methods

such as yarning and talking circles, as the aim of this research project was

exploratory—it sought to provide meaningful insight into Aboriginal employment

strategies within corporate Australia and whether they are an effective HR

52

strategy to redress labour market disadvantage for Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander peoples. Topic areas such as development, implementation and

evaluation of the organisation’s A&TSIEPs, career development, support

mechanisms and racism in the workplace were covered using these methods

(see Appendices D, E, F and G). By utilising these types of interview methods, I

was able to obtain a much wider indication of how A&TSIEPs are perceived by

the participants and the organisation.

Membership of a group being studied is relevant to all approaches of qualitative

methodology. Whether the researcher is an insider (sharing the characteristics of

the participants) or an outsider is an ever-present aspect of investigation, as the

researcher plays such an intimate role in the data collection and analysis (Dwyer

& Buckle, 2009). According to Liamputtong (2008), researchers need to develop

a trusting relationship with participants and maintain cultural sensitivities to collect

excellent and reliable data. Cultural insiders undertake research in a more

sensitive and responsive manner and have a distinct advantage over cultural

outsiders because they have knowledge of culture that allows them to access

communities, as the participants recognise common experiences with the

researcher through the sharing of race (Dwyer & Buckle, 2009; Liamputtong,

2008). Irvine, Roberts and Bradbury-Jones (2008) argue that it can be difficult to

differentiate the role of researcher and the cultural insider, as having an intimate

knowledge of culture may lead to complacency and loss of objectivity; this may

be overcome by acknowledging the particular social identity of the researcher.

I acknowledge that I am an Aboriginal researcher, skilled in the protocols required

and the sensitivity needed for interviewing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

peoples, therefore the interviews can be conducted in a culturally appropriate

53

manner. The approach taken differed depending on the community’s location—

whether they were in a remote community, rural community, town or major city—

as each community needs to be recognised as culturally distinct. Therefore, I, the

interviewer, considered my social identity as distinct within my own community. I

acknowledged the diversity within the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

population, socioeconomic circumstances of the interviewees, the numerous

languages and dialects, geographic location and, importantly, the consequences

of colonisation on the community where the research is being conducted. Taking

this into account, for the majority of the interviews I was a ‘cultural outsider’,

despite being Aboriginal.

Indigenous research techniques include the process of decolonising the Western

conventional interview methods and using Indigenous interview methods such as

yarning, storytelling and talking circles, as they are more ‘compatible with the

world views of the colonised Other’ (Chilisa, 2012, p. 37). Semi-structured

interviews were chosen for management and for Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander participants; the difference between the two was that the Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander interviews commenced with a yarn-up, referred to in the

literature as ‘social yarning’. According to Bessarab and Ng’andu (2010, p. 42),

social yarning ‘is a significant precursor and an entry point in developing

connection and building a relationship’. By utilising social yarning in the first

instance the relationship shifts from ‘expert’ to personal and enables real and

honest engagement with the participants (Bessarab & Ng’andu, 2010). It also

helps to establish identity, family, community connections, trust and mutual

respect, which is vital in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. By

using this form of communication, there is a greater openness and comfort, which

54

aids in the gathering of accurate information, which might not otherwise be

achieved.

Research is storytelling. As a researcher, we listen to people’s stories through

interviews; we reflect on those stories and share them in our research findings

(Christensen, 2012). Storytelling is a huge part of Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander culture. Yarning or conversation interviews, as they can be known, were

utilised during semi-structured interviews to allow for in-depth conversations

about the lived experiences of the participants. Yarning aligns with Indigenous

world views as a means of transmitting knowledge (Kovach, 2010) and is a

culturally appropriate way to interview Indigenous research participants. Yarning

allows the researcher and the participant flexibility, as participants have a high

degree of control over the stories they share (Blodgett, Schinke, Smith, Petltier &

Pheasant, 2011) through an informal and relaxed discussion relevant to the

research. ‘While the yarn is relaxed and interactive it is also purposeful with a

defined beginning and end’ (Bessarab & Ng’andu, 2010, p. 40). By utilising

yarning, the researcher is accountable to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islanders participating in the research, as yarning develops a trust between the

researcher and participant and assists in building a relationship. All interview

questions are contained in Appendices D, E, F and G.

Challenges of yarning as a research method. Yarning as a legitimate

research method has been challenged by some scholars within Western

academia. However, the collaborative voices of Indigenous authors from

around the world support yarning as a legitimate research method (Bessarab

& Ng’andu, 2010; Foley, 2003; Rigney, 1997; Smith, 1999; Wilson, 2008).

According to Bessarab and Ng’andu (2010), one of the challenges for

55

qualitative researchers is deciding what parts of the story to include or leave

out. It is the researcher’s role to draw out the parts they are interested in that

relate to the research topic. Another challenge of yarning is ensuring the

research questions are answered, and knowing when to draw the yarn to an

end, without being disrespectful to the participant. Additionally, utilising yarning

as a research method can result in huge amounts of data being collected,

meaning long hours in transcription and analysis of the data (Bessarab &

Ng’andu, 2010), which has definitely happened in this research study. One

problem with using yarning in focus groups was that, initially, it was often

difficult to identify from the transcripts who said what. I overcame this by having

each participant identify themselves each time they spoke. This made

subsequent analysis easier. I found yarning an extremely useful research

method, as the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participants felt more

comfortable and divulged information that I doubt would have been revealed if

this method was not used. The method also proved useful when interviewing

non-Aboriginal managers of the organisations who felt comfortable using this

method.

Cultural challenges faced in the research process. Skin colour was a

complicating consideration in this research. As a fair-skinned Aboriginal

person, people assume I am a ‘white person’, which privilege’s me in certain

situations. Within my community I am well known as an Aboriginal, but outside

of my community I am not automatically recognised as an Aboriginal person.

Within my research I have used this to my advantage and positioned it within

insider/outsider theory. Insider/outsider theory has its origins in anthropology

56

and sociology, with early theorists assuming that the researcher was either an

insider or an outsider (Merriam et al., 2001, p. 406):

All researchers begin data collection with certain assumptions about the

phenomenon being investigated, situations to be observed, and people to

be interviewed. The more one is like the participants in terms of culture,

gender, race, socio-economic class and so on, the more it is assumed that

access will be granted, meanings shared, and validity of findings assured.

Anthropology and participant observation provides an insight into some of the

difficulties and complexities of researching individuals from different life-worlds

and with different opportunities (McRae-Williams & Gerritsen, 2010, p. 4). There

are assumptions that the researcher, being of light skin, would have certain

benefits that a researcher with darker skin would not have (Merriam et al., 2001).

My initial interviews were with the managers who approved the research project,

so they automatically knew I was Aboriginal from the paperwork submitted to the

organisation. However, when I interviewed others in the organisation, I used

insider/outsider theory to gain a more in-depth insight into the organisation and

the managers in charge of Aboriginal employees, as they naturally assumed I

was ‘white’. So, using the assumption that being an insider (whereby fair-skinned

is assumed to be white) meant that I would have easy access, I had the

opportunity to pursue meaningful and more insightful questions. This increased

the possibility that the interviewees (in this instance non-Aboriginal managers)

would be open, if not more truthful, in their responses, thus increasing the

possibility of gaining greater depth from the data collected (Dwyer & Buckle,

2009; Merriam et al., 2001). I withheld my Aboriginal identity initially to gauge

managers’ reactions, as the insider’s advantage lies ‘with the ability to ask taboo

57

questions and thus often getting more information’ (Merriam et al., 2001, p. 411).

Sometimes ‘white’ people are not aware of what they are saying in relation to

Aboriginal people (Nicoll, 2004); this is especially so in the company of other

‘white’ people. In Australia, the external symbols of Aboriginal culture are

celebrated, such as art, music and writing. However, Australian culture and

identity rarely deals with the ‘radicalised bodies’ that interact in the workplace

(Cowlishaw, 2004). Nicoll (2004, p. 5) goes on to say that ‘as active researchers

we need to generate new pedagogical strategies to deal with the emergence of

a defiant form of white subjectivity, which is injured by the very idea of racism’.

Moreton-Robinson (2003b, p. 66) suggests that ‘whiteness is both the measure

and the marker of normality in Australian society, yet it remains invisible for most

white women and men, they do not associate it with conferring dominance or

privilege.’

Russell-Mundine (2012, p. 4) asserts that reflexivity can be powerful, as it assists

a researcher to explore ‘assumptions, biases and value judgements’. She

continues by stating that ‘one might question whether reflexivity enables

researchers to claim to be transparent without requiring engagement with

fundamental, and often difficult, issues that will contribute to the decolonising and

reframing of research’ (Russell-Mundine, 2012, p. 4).

Reflexivity challenges the foundations of the dominant culture. I used it as a tool

to reflect on my own actions without becoming too introspective or detracting from

the aim of the research. As Nakata (2007, p. 214) asserts, ‘investigating the social

relations with which we as ‘knowers’ know’.

58

To put all this into perspective, it may be considered by some that I

misrepresented myself. However, in my everyday world I do not walk up to people

and introduce myself and say, ‘Hi, I’m Sharlene, an Aboriginal woman’. At times

I was glad that I withheld my identity and at other times I was overwhelmed with

the overt racism that I experienced. Liamputtong (2008) notes that cross-cultural

researchers need skills such as tolerance, patience and adaptiveness, as asking

questions can be problematic. Being a perceived insider, the reactions from

managers were quite different from what I would have experienced as an

outsider. That is not to say that I did not experience racism when I identified

myself as Aboriginal. However, the level of racism embodied in people’s

comments was significantly different and higher when I did not identify (this was

especially predominant in the retail and mining industries). In reality, I would not

have elicited the responses I did had the management interviewees known that I

was Aboriginal, which enforces racial stereotyping. Not disclosing my racial

identity did not undermine the integrity of the process when racism was

encountered.

Looking at the interview process from an insider/outsider theory perspective,

Dwyer and Buckle (2009, p. 61) explain that there are complexities inherent in

occupying the space between. While a researcher may be closer to the insider

position or the outsider position, we cannot ever fully occupy one or the other.

Thus, it was important to approach the interviews with a degree of fluidity and

flexibility to adapt to the circumstances at hand.

Focus groups. Due to the time and labour constraints at Iron Ore Co,

Variety Co and Supermarket Co, it was necessary to conduct focus groups with

59

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees instead of individual

interviews. Focus group discussions are a commonly used research method.

The focus groups I conducted utilised talking circles, which is another

traditional form of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communication. ‘A

talking circle involves people sitting in a circle, where each person has the

opportunity to take an uninterrupted turn in discussing the topic’ (Wilson, 2008,

p. 41). Talking circles are based on respect for the participants in the circle;

everyone has an equal chance to speak and be heard. Talking circles are a

culturally sensitive means of conducting research with Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander participants (Wilson, 2008). Bessarab and Ng’andu (2010) also

call this collaborative yarning, where the participants are actively engaged in

discussions and explore and bounce similar ideas off each other, and group

dynamics are harnessed (Travers, 2010). Focus group talking circles

commenced with social yarning to ensure cultural protocols were adhered to.

Using yarning circles eliminated the potential dominance of one or two

participants, which has been identified as an issue in focus groups. All

interviews and focus groups were conducted in English, though an interpreter

was available if needed.

Where were interviews/focus groups conducted? The interviews with

managers and some of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees

were conducted face-to-face and were scheduled for one hour, and were

predominately undertaken at the organisation. Some interviews went longer

than the one hour scheduled due to the rich data that was obtained. Some of

the interviews were conducted in other locations, based upon mutual

agreement between the researcher and participants. This was a way of

60

ensuring additional confidentiality and flexibility for the participant. Some

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participants invited me into their homes

for the interviews, which provided them with a very safe space to divulge

information that they would not have necessarily divulged if the interviews were

conducted in the workplace. When conducting interviews, the researcher

followed the safety guidelines of the University of Newcastle that allow for

home visits, workplace visits and interviews in public areas. Table 2.3 shows

a breakdown of interviews and focus groups and where they were held.

61

Table 2.3: Interview/Focus Groups.

Organisation A&TSI Employees Interviewed

Managers Interviewed

Face-to-Face Participants

Focus Group Participants

Interview Held at Workplace

Interviews Held Outside Workplace

Bank 1 12 6 All Nil All Nil

Bank 2 12 6 All Nil All Nil

Coal Co 40 4 All Nil All Nil

Iron Ore Co 120 35 50 105 95 10

Supermarket Co 18 4 16 6 13 9

Variety Co 18 4 15 7 18 4

62

Interview/focus group recording process. The yarns/interviews and

focus group/talking circles were digitally recorded, transcribed by the

researcher and by Pacific Transcription services, and then presented to the

interviewees for verification. Some participants, due to cultural reasons, did

not wish to be recorded. When this happened, the researcher took notes and

presented a typed transcription of the interview to the interviewee for

verification. This protocol was pre-tested prior to the commencement of data

collection by interviewing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees at

the University of Newcastle (with their permission). There was an issue when

getting some of the recordings transcribed, as Pacific Transcription services

thought that some of the yarns were irrelevant and left them out. After

contacting them this was corrected.

Pilot testing. This protocol was pre-tested prior to the commencement

of data collection by interviewing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

employees at the University of Newcastle (with their permission). This involved

interviewing current Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees using the

interview methods listed above, then transcribing the interviews and giving

them to the participants to verify that the complete story was captured. Pilot

testing assists data collection to go more smoothly.

Support for the interviewer. As previously noted, in the interview

process the researcher was exposed to racism in various forms. After the first

incident, the researcher sought assistance from her supervisor, who advised

that debriefing sessions may be necessary to ensure the mental safety of the

researcher. Debriefing sessions were organised with either a qualified

counsellor provided by the University or with the researcher’s cultural mentor.

63

During the debriefing sessions, the researcher did not disclose any confidential

material disclosed in the interviews.

Safety considerations. When conducting the field research, the

researcher took all reasonable steps to follow the safety guidelines of the

University. The researcher prepared an itinerary for each trip and a copy was

given to the supervisor. The researcher carried two mobile phones to ensure

reception in remote locations. When entering mining sites, the researcher had

the necessary safety equipment and clothing required by the site managers

and the necessary inductions were undertaken. When travelling to remote

locations, the researcher was accompanied at all times by a second person.

To ensure personal safety the vehicle was equipped with a GPS tracking

system and an emergency position-indicating radio beacon locator was

attached to the vehicle. Safety clearance was obtained from the University.

2.9 Data Analysis

Case studies need a multi-perspective analysis, which means that the researcher

considers not just the voice and perspective of the interviewees, but also of the

interaction between them. Case studies give a voice to the powerless and

voiceless (Tellis, 1997). As previously mentioned, the structure of this research

unfolded and took shape as the research progressed. Therefore, no pre-coding

of data or pre-established categories were used. The structure of the data and

the codes and categories will ‘emerge from the data during analysis’ (Punch,

1998, p. 25). This allowed for a link to be established between the data and the

concepts and in this way ‘methods for analysis of data need to be systematic,

disciplined and able to be seen … and described’ (Punch, 1998, p. 200).

64

The interview questions were semi-structured, which allowed for yes/no answers

and the participants to yarn, which allowed the participants to expand upon their

responses to the semi-structured questions to yield in-depth conversations of the

lived experiences of the participants. The use of this approach allowed for the

possibility for a more meaningful insight to emerge about whether the policies of

the corporations were an effective HR strategy to redress labour market

disadvantage for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples (see Appendices

D, E, F & G). As noted above, this protocol was pre-tested prior to the

commencement of data collection by interviewing Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander employees at the University of Newcastle (with their permission).

Throughout the interview process many of the participants strayed from the semi-

structured interview questions. These yarns gave excellent insights into not only

the participants but how the participants were ‘treated’ in the organisations. These

stories are highlighted as vignettes in the case study chapters as a way of

privileging the participant’s voices.

Evaluation research is ‘about determining how a particular initiative is working,

and what might be done to improve its chances of success’ (White, 2010, p. 378).

It requires open reflection about the aims and objectives of the research,

conscious thinking about the outcomes and processes of the program being

evaluated, a professional approach to gathering information and transparency in

presenting findings (White, 2010). When using evaluation research, the purpose

must be clearly identified if outcomes are to be measured. The underlying

purpose of evaluation research is to know concretely whether or not something

will make a difference. This makes evaluation research the ideal tool for

assessing whether the A&TSIEPs of the corporations within the study are an

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effective HR strategy to redress labour market disadvantage for Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Organising data. As previously stated, interviews were digitally

recorded and transcribed. Transcripts were an essential part of the research

analysis and each transcript was given an identifying code. This meant that I

could easily identify where a particular quote or idea originated from. It also

allowed for easy identification when themes emerged from the data. Data

obtained through interviews and documents was analysed using a descriptive

coding technique (Punch 1998) to identify commonalities and attach meaning,

thereby allowing the data to be summarised and categorised. Once

categorised, inferential or pattern coding was performed to ‘pull the material

together into smaller or meaningful units’ and identify themes (Punch, 1998, p.

205).

Initially, NVivo was used to code and analyse data, however, due the sheer

volume of data collected (over 300 interviews) this proved an exhausting task, so

the interview transcripts were coded manually utilising Microsoft excel and multi-

coloured highlighters. Coding works especially well when attempting to identify

similarities in experiences between participants (Willis, 2010). Priory and

inductive coding were used when analysing the data. Priory coding was guided

and developed through an understanding of the literature, in conjunction with the

organisation’s annual reports and RAPs. Inductive coding emerges from the data

as its analysis is based on filtering the information in the transcripts of interviews

and focus groups (Willis, 2010). The researcher utilised both of these methods of

coding, as it allowed for a more holistic data analysis. To validate the approach,

one of my supervisors checked it for accuracy.

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2.10 Limitations of the Research Process

Case study limitations. All research methodologies have strengths

and weaknesses, which need to be assessed when preparing a research

design (Yin, 2002). There are also limitations to case studies in the data

collection methods employed. A concern about case study research, and in

particular case evaluation, is what Guba and Lincoln (1994) refer to as ‘unusual

problems of ethics’, where bias is used by the researcher to illustrate a point

of view. Both the readers of case studies and the researchers themselves need

to be aware of biases that can affect the final product. Further limitations

involve the issues of reliability, validity and generalisability (Guba & Lincoln,

1994). These limitations are especially important when conducting research

on the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australia. Aboriginal

researchers, and indeed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, believe

that research conducted on their population should only be conducted by an

Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person. As this research has been

undertaken by an Aboriginal researcher, many of the limitations of the case

approach in mainstream situations may be avoided. It is anticipated that

greater comfort and openness will be generated in the interview than might

otherwise be achieved.

A review of the literature reveals limitations, with such issues as the use of

confidential information, gaining access to respondents, the generalisation of

findings and the inability to replicate the research. Generalisation is a major

problem with case studies (Flyvbjerg, 2006; Gardner, 1999; Plowman, 1999), as

the findings are specific to the situation observed and it is difficult to reach general

conclusions on the basis of a single case or limited set of cases. A limitation

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identified by Dabscheck (1999) is that while ‘physical science’ experiments are

conducted in controlled environments and can be replicated, this is not the case

for ‘social science’, where it is impossible to develop propositions for the same

degree of testing. Continuing this theme, Kelly (1999) suggests that case studies

that rely on ‘constructions of realities’ are often criticised for being untestable.

While it is important to note these limitations, it should be acknowledged that not

all research sets out to or makes generalisations. This theme is identified by

Punch (1998, p. 154), who states that sometimes ‘it is not the intention of such a

study to generalise, but rather to understand this case in its complexity and its

entirety, as well as in its context’. However, according to Yin (2002), Bryman

(2012) and Gilbert, Ruigrok and Wicki (2008), the use of multiple case studies

virtually eliminates the problem of analytic generalisability and allows for

theoretical reflections about contrasting findings. The choice of six case studies

across three industries allows me to gain insights that would not otherwise be

revealed, hence the range of case studies was sufficient to demonstrate patterns

and indicative trends. Eisenhardt (1989) contends that case studies can be a

starting point for theory development and suggests that a cross-case analysis

involving between four and 10 case studies may provide a good basis for

analytical generalisation.

Limitations of documentary analysis. Documentary data, according

to Punch (2005), is deprived of its real meaning when studied in isolation of its

social context, which limits textual analysis. Although documents are useful,

Yin (2002) acknowledges that caution is necessary when they are being used,

as they are not always accurate or free of bias. Biases can include selectivity

bias, reporting bias and biases that happen as the author is writing up the

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document. Additionally, in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures oral

stories are used to pass down knowledge; if things were written it was in

pictures, not words. Therefore, there may be a gap in written documentation.

The documentary analysis undertaken was in the form of searching through

companies’ annual reports and websites. Annual reports are subject to

accounting and other conventions, and are in the public domain, open to

scrutiny, so the data obtained from them should not contain bias.

This suggests that not all documents contain the truth, as all documents have an

intended purpose and audience. A researcher needs to be able to discern the

objectives of the documentary data. According to Yin (2002, p. 87), once this is

achieved the researcher is ‘less likely to be misled by documentary evidence and

more likely to be correctly critical in interpreting the contents of such evidence.’

Interview limitations. There are several limitations in the use of

interviews. It is essential that the interviewer is adequately skilled to gain the

trust of the respondent and that this trust is not reduced by lengthy interviews

or by asking questions that may be considered threatening to the respondent

(Sutcliffe, 1999). It should be acknowledged that this research concerns

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, who by and large are not trusting

of outsiders. As the research has been conducted by an Aboriginal researcher

who is skilled in the sensitivity needed for interviewing and known in the

community, the need to gain trust may be virtually eliminated as a limitation.

Indeed, at the beginning of the interview it was important to establish my

identity and my family ties, as this is the normal way Aboriginal people gain

trust, eliminating any limitations that could have occurred.

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The interview process is the subject ‘for bias and selective interpretation of

evidence collected’ (Gardner, 1999, p. 56). Sutcliffe (1999) indicates that the

mass of verbal and non-verbal data gathered during an unstructured interview

can easily be misinterpreted by the interviewer’s own perceptions and that this

can affect the answers given by the respondent and thus the outcomes of the

research. This risk is reduced in this instance, as the interviewees share the same

cultural heritage. Sutcliffe (1999) adds that there is a further risk of collecting

meaningless data due to the process itself, as analysis is not undertaken until the

data is collected. This risk cannot be eliminated.

While awareness and understanding of limitations may assist the researcher

during this project, some of these problems were overcome not only through the

use of multiple sources of evidence but also through the recording, transcription

and verification of data. Although the process is time consuming, according to Yin

(2002, p. 92) it helps to avoid misrepresentation bias as ‘audio recordings

certainly provide a more accurate rendition of any interview than any other

method.’

Ethical considerations. This research involved human participation;

therefore, the researcher was required to comply with Newcastle University’s

ethical research codes of conduct. My ethics clearance number was H-2008–

0268 (see Appendix H). To ensure all participants were de-identified per ethics

requirements, each interview was assigned a number for data entry purposes

and no personal information was recorded. Confidentiality and privacy

concerns were ensured by the use of codes on all transactions; consent forms

were stored separately; all files were password protected and a locked filing

cabinet was used to store all paper documents; and pseudonyms were used

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in all publications and reports. To ensure informed consent, all participants

were provided with the relevant information required to make an informed

decision; the information statements were written in a clear and concise

manner; the researcher’s contact details were provided to address any

questions or concerns; consent forms were completed prior to the interviews;

participant permission was sought to record the interviews; and all participants

were reminded of the voluntary nature of the research and their right to

withdraw from the study at any point.

As the identity of the organisation had to remain de-identifiable by the research,

they were given pseudonyms: Bank 1, Bank 2, Variety Co, Supermarket Co,

IronOreCo and CoalCo. In accordance with ethical and confidentiality

requirements, any information identifying the organisations has either been

generalised or, where not deemed necessary for further analysis and discussion,

omitted. The information presented in this thesis has been derived from internal

documents, publicly available information on the organisations’ websites,

previous published research on these organisations, and interviews with

employees.

2.11 Conclusion

This chapter has outlined the research methods used in this thesis. The

researcher has chosen to include Indigenous methodologies and approaches to

research that encompasses the researcher’s own perspectives, culture, beliefs,

values, and ways of knowing, being and doing that are part of the complexities of

research for and by Aboriginal peoples. It was extremely important to me that this

research was conducted in a culturally appropriate and respectful way so that the

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Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participants have a voice and were not

‘dehumanised’ as objects of research. This chapter also introduced Western

research methodologies and how they were informed by Indigenous standpoint

theory. Case studies were primarily utilised to examine Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander employment strategies in the private sector. The case study

research involved a review of documentation (company reports, HR reports, EEO

reports) and interviews with key informants who were responsible for program

design (usually HR managers), A&TSEMs, those responsible for implementation

(usually line managers) and with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees

participating in such programs. The primary interview techniques adopted were

yarning (single participant) and talking circles (multiple participants), which are

culturally appropriate and allowed for the findings to emerge from the extensive

data analysis. These yarns gave excellent insights into not only the participants

but how the participants were ‘treated’ in the organisations. Importantly, case

studies give a voice to the powerless and voiceless, so it is the perfect research

method for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. There are limitations to

every research method adopted in research projects; however, in this project

limitations were virtually eliminated due to the culturally appropriate research

techniques applies.

The following chapter outlines the history of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

involvement in the Australian labour market.

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Chapter 3: The History of Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander Involvement in the Australian Labour Market

3.1 Introduction

Understanding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander involvement in the labour

market across Australia’s history can be a complicated challenge. This challenge

includes the examination of cultural and social factors specific to Indigenous

Australians. These specific cultural and social factors relate, in part, to the

combining of traditional and contemporary aspects of Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander peoples’ lives together. To fully understand the current situation of

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander involvement in the labour market, it is

important to examine some of the major historical events prior to 1967 that have

shaped it. This chapter looks at the historical context of Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander involvement in the labour market up until 1967. The following

chapter will address the period from 1967 onwards. The date of 1967 is crucial to

employment in this context because it is when a Commonwealth referendum was

held that led to a crucial change in the Commonwealth status of Aboriginal

people, thus influencing employment standards after that time. Since the

referendum in 1967, there have been many programs that have aimed to address

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workforce participation, which will be

addressed in Chapter 4.

This chapter will focus particularly on mainland Aboriginal peoples, with a small

separate section discussing the experience of Torres Strait Islanders.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have a long history of involvement

in the labour market and were essential to the state governments and capitalist

74

interests throughout Australia’s development. Different mechanisms of power

have been used to dominate and control Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

peoples within the labour market, such as denying equal wages, denying the

payment of wages, and wage conditions that were akin to slavery. In addition, the

history of discriminatory practices against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

peoples that lead to a legacy of economic disadvantage will be explored later in

this chapter.

This chapter draws from the historiography of Aboriginal history, using official

Anglo-centric history and data available. Much of the material published on

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples sits within the Western traditions of

archaeology, anthropology and ethnology. Very little incorporates Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander views, thus creating a potential for silence of Aboriginal and

Torres Strait opinions on the treatment they endured throughout Australia’s

history. This can allow the dominant social and political ideas of the time,

including those on race and colonialism, to go unchallenged (McGrath & Andrew,

1987).

Unfortunately, like mainstream Australian history, academic labour history has

rarely included Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander involvement in analyses of

the labour market. According to Frances, Scates and McGrath (1994, p. 189),

‘Aboriginal people have been at best marginalised, at worst forgotten, in our

historiographical landscape … Australia had sustained a national “cult of

forgetfulness” and Labour history became a part of this “great Australian silence”.’

This silence and exclusion has allowed for a ‘cultural analysis’ that has promoted

racist stereotypes of Aboriginal people as lazy, non-productive and unwilling to

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work (Langton, 2011; McGrath & Sanders, 1995; Miller, 1985). This colonial

discourse utilised the ‘lazy native’ idea to ‘justify compulsion and unjust practices

in the mobilisation of labour in the colonies. It portrayed a negative image of the

natives and their society to justify and rationalise European conquest and

domination of the area’ (Alatas, 1977, p. 2).

There are a number of potential explanations for the absence of Aboriginal

workers in our academic historical landscape. According to Frances et al. (1994,

p. 192) often labour is a minor theme, subservient to the studies of culture and

identity, in the disciplines of anthropology, sociology, politics and history, and

breaching interdisciplinary boundaries is often problematic. In addition, ‘White

historians’ have been generally reluctant to involve themselves in what is

generally called ‘Aboriginal history’ (Frances et al., 1994, p. 193). Frances et al.

(1994, p. 194) argue that ‘Aboriginal history and European history are inseparably

enmeshed’. Langton (2011, p. 6) states that Aboriginal economic history has

‘been shoved to the back of the stove’, noting the relative absence of the

economic history of Aboriginal peoples in literature, which instead focuses on

political and cultural rights.

Curthoys and Moore (1995, p. 7) explain that labour history was once dominated

by ‘white males’ writing about the struggle of workers under capitalism. However,

since the 1970s there has been a strong feminist influence that worked to

integrate gender and race into the analysis alongside class struggles, with the

most recent inclusion into the debate being that of Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander voices. Around the same time, predominant ‘white male scholars’ such

as Reynolds began writing about Aboriginal labour history. Reynolds stressed the

extensive use of Aboriginal labour, not only for economic reasons but as a means

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to control and civilise Aboriginal people (Curthoys & Moore, 1995; Reynolds,

1990).

Martin (2001) emphasised that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples went

through three distinct economic phases since invasion:6 The first was colonial

control over lands and labour, the second was labour utilisation in rural Australia,

and the third was the underemployment of Aboriginal people in the 21st century.

This chapter will now explore the first of these phases: the colonial period.

3.2 Pre-colonial Economy and Work

Prior to the British invasion of Australia, the working life of Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander society was highly structured and well organised, with a traditional

economy and efficient workers. As the first occupiers of this continent, Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islander peoples were gatherers and hunters; they

manufactured tools and had extensive land and resource management skills.

Labour division among men and women was clear, no one was excused from

work and everyone contributed to the livelihood of the community. Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander peoples were the first to establish functioning societies and

economies (Butlin, 1993; McGrath & Sanders, 1995; Miller, 1985; Norris, 2001).

Post-invasion, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders have experienced

economic, psychological and cultural dislocation that brought about a rapid

removal of the means of production and an end to their ancient gathering,

hunting, farming and fishing economy. The incoming British and their convicts

altered the landscape by destroying forests and plains, planting introduced crops

6 Invasion is a term whose usage is mandated by The Mabo et al. decision in Australia’s High

Court in 1992, overruling the doctrine of ‘Terra Nullius’.

77

and introducing animals for agricultural and industrial purposes. Aboriginal

peoples were forced to become increasingly dependent on an introduced

economy and food sources and were forced to work in many of these new

industries (Altman & Hinkson, 2010; Dockery & Milsom, 2007a; Langton, 2011;

Miller, 1985).

Many Aborigines who resisted the new regime were killed and the survivors were

dispersed. Many others were victims of disease introduced by white settlers;

however, some survived these ‘dire conditions of frontier conflict’ (Langton, 2011,

p. 6; Miller, 1985):

In this era, it was Aboriginal land that was wanted, not Aboriginal labour

… and most sections of the press reassured settlers of their right to kill

and ex-propriate what was necessarily deemed an inferior race, destined

to be superseded by a superior race who would put the land to better use.

(Burgmann, 1976, p. 20)

Many Aboriginal people were dispossessed from their lands. They faced

starvation due to the destruction of wildlife; the introduction of sheep and cattle

replaced native animals and natural habitat. There were three alternatives for the

survival of Aboriginal people: depend on handouts, steal, or provide labour.

Involvement in ‘white’ society was essential for survival (Castle & Hagan, 1998).

As early attempts to restrict Aboriginal peoples’ presence from ‘settled areas’

failed, and as the English population grew, Aboriginal people were enticed or

forced by circumstance to become fringe dwellers, on the edges of ‘white

settlements’ (but never in the towns) and near depots where rations could be

received. Rations were provided in an attempt by ‘welfare’ to control Aboriginal

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and Torres Strait Islander movements to ensure a reliable source of cheap labour

(Brock, 1995). Reynolds (1990, p. 142) states that for Europeans, Aboriginal

labour was a great advantage as it only cost them tobacco, food scraps and old

clothes. This was done so they could be used as a source of cheap labour

(Beckett, 1982; Brock, 1995; Roberts, 1994). In fact, Aboriginal people worked

for non-Aboriginal employers under brutal and humiliating conditions. These

conditions will be discussed in more detail in the following section.

3.3 European Conceptualisations of Work, Economy and

Activity

Labour market theory deserves some attention in the study of Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander labour. The idea of the existence of a labour reserve, first

applied to the Pacific by Newbury, was ‘fundamental to the mobilisation of

resources within frontier economies developed with foreign capital and

management’ (Newbury, 1980 as cited in Curthoys & Moore, 1995, p. 6).

Newbury goes on to state that ‘dynamic changes in this trade reflect both external

demand for staples and competition from a very different mode of production’

(Newbury, 1980 as cited in Curthoys & Moore, 1995, p. 6).

As will be discussed later in this chapter, Norris (1998) says that free choice of

employment was never an option for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

peoples. Aboriginal labour began at a time when slavery in the British Empire was

legal. Aboriginal people were perceived to be in the same racial category as

African slaves. As Aboriginal people were in the same locale as the incoming

British to the Australian continent, they were judged to have more potential

usefulness. The new British colony made cruel use of both convict and Aboriginal

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labour. ‘Slavery’ describes coercive labour relations; in the case of Aboriginal

Australians force was used to obtain, retain and extract Aboriginal labour.

Trafficking and enslavement of Aboriginal people for labour was not uncommon

among both adults and children. State government policies of the time allowed

for the removal of children who were to be used as slave labour. Later policies

allowed for the forced removal of children. Brutal and humiliating conditions

allowed for forced unpaid labour, or labour for rations (Curthoys & Moore, 1995;

Holland, 1995).

‘Colonised labour’ can be distinguished from slavery because the slave

worker is always valued for his or her labour as an investment and is

constantly employed: In contrast to slavery, the colonised worker is

alternately valued as a labour commodity but also devalued, employed

and unemployed, paid but mostly unpaid, integrated but mostly

marginalised. (Thorpe, 1992, p. 95)

Vogan (1890, p. 384) arrived at an understanding of colonial race relations from

first-hand experience on the Queensland frontier. In his book, The Black Police:

A Story of Modern Australia, he represents colonial race relations as ‘cruel,

cowardly and murderous actions’ by whites against ‘the blacks’. Speaking about

the government policies at the time, he writes:

Firstly, the great amount of harm that this rampant demon of cruelty and

slavery is working upon the foundations of the growing-national life of

Australia; and, secondly, the fearful waste of useful lives resulting from this

inhuman policy. (Vogan, 1890, p. 385)

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Figure 3.1 is a map that depicts the geographical dimensions of slavery in 1880,

as depicted by A. J. Vogan.

Figure 3.1: Slave Map of Modern Australia.

Holland (1995, p. 52) expands on Vogel’s work, stating that ‘right across the North

of Australia the pastoral industry had depended on the unpaid labour of the

“blacks” and that the traffic in Aboriginal labour, both children and adults, had

descended into slavery conditions’.

Aboriginal people were used as ‘slave labour’ and ‘colonised labour’ well into the

20th century and, in fact, most continue to perform in low paid, low status work

today, with high rates of unemployment and underemployment (Curthoys &

Moore, 1995). Free choice of employment was never an option for Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander peoples (Norris, 1998).

According to Ostenfeld, Le Queux and Reichard (2001, p. 257):

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Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander labour was essential to the interests

of colonial administrators and capitalist industry … while Governments and

industrialists exploited the land to export primary products, the about

market was manipulated to achieve these goals and ‘full force was brought

to bear on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’ (Perkins, 1975, p.

26).

3.4 Labour and Exploitation

The practice of using Aboriginal guides for exploration expeditions began within

a few years of invasion. In fact, explorers could not have survived the harsh

realities of Australia’s interior without the use of Aboriginal guides who played a

vital role in the exploration of this continent. ‘The ubiquitous, albeit anonymous

“black boy”’, as Reynolds (1990, p. 17) explains, were usually permanent

members of the exploring parties. They had expert experience in Aboriginal

traditions; they could track, hunt and find water. Guides were invaluable in

negotiating the peaceful reception of the explorers and explorers often

commented on the diplomatic skills of their Aboriginal guides (Patmore, 1991;

Reynolds, 1990). The bush skills of Aboriginal guides aided the explorers, as they

cut bark to make shelters for the night and made bark canoes to ferry supplies

and people when necessary. Their hunting skills provided fresh food and often

saved expeditions from starving (Patmore, 1991; Reynolds, 1990). Bungaree,

Chief of the Broken Bay tribe, accompanied Matthew Flinders in the ship

‘Investigator’ in 1801–02. Bungaree was the first Aborigine to circumnavigate

Australia. Bungaree was used by Governor Macquarie for several expeditions

and was commended for his brave conduct and diplomatic skills (McCarthy,

1966).

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Thomas Mitchell (cited in Reynolds, 1990, p. 19) wrote in his journal:

In most our difficulties by flood and field, the intelligence of our stable

friends made the ‘white fellows’ appear rather stupid. They could read

traces on the earth, climb trees, or dive into the water better than the ablest

of us.

Aboriginal men were used as diplomats, linguists and guides for explorers

throughout the continent, and it soon became apparent to settlers that those skills

could be used for less peaceful purposes. Tracking skills of Aboriginal people

became a valuable law enforcement tool and was used to track fugitive convicts

that had fled to the bush. Authorities used the threat of ‘black trackers’ to deter

convicts from fleeing and this became a powerful tool to prevent crime among the

convict population (Reynolds, 1990).

By the 1840s, across all colonies, Aboriginal people worked in planting,

harvesting, and cutting timber and bark. Settlers depended on the help of

Aboriginal people in tracking and moving livestock, who in return were paid in

kind (Castle & Hagan, 1998). The discovery of gold in Bathurst 1851 enhanced

the economic position of many Aborigines, leading to a greater involvement in the

labour market. White settlers abandoned their work to try their luck on the multiple

goldfields and the only alternate labour was Aborigines, who were often

dependant on settlers for charity. However, once the multiple gold rushes

subsided there was more white labour than ever before, and the need for

Aboriginal labour declined (Castle & Hagan, 1998).

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3.5 Labour Relations and the Torres Strait

From the 1860s the Torres Strait became a major shipping route from Eastern

Australia to Asia. This saw the Torres Strait Islands become a springboard in the

exploration, missionisation and colonisation of New Guinea. In addition, Torres

Strait Islanders were entangled in the pearling and beche-de-mer industries that

relied on them for labour (Curthoys & Moore, 1995). Ganter (1994) explains that

the pearling industry became the largest industry in far North Queensland from

the 1890s. The pearling industry cemented early trade and labour relations with

Asia and the Pacific, supporting cheap labour from the South Pacific, Asia and

the Torres Strait. However, Australia’s ‘White Australia policy’ restricted

immigration to mostly Europeans; this caused a problem for the pearling industry,

which relied on cheap, ‘expendable’ labour from Asia and ‘native Australians’. To

overcome this issue, according to Ganter (1994), the pearling industry was the

only industry to ever be exempt from the ‘White Australia policy’.

Torres Strait Islanders under the Native Labourers Protection Act 1884 (QLD), an

Act intended to prevent the improper employment of ‘Aboriginal natives’ of

Australia and New Guinea on ships in Queensland waters, ‘were encouraged to

participate in pearling, a disgraceful role of the state to guarantee cheap labour’

(Ganter, 1994). Torres Strait Islander men were employed on boats skippered by

Asians or Pacific Islanders who had a reputation for harsh discipline aboard

luggers. Discontent over wages caused a strike on government boats in 1936

(Beckett, 1982, 2010). The industry was fraught with danger. The diving season

was limited by tides and monsoons. The divers had to dive for longer to increase

their catch in favourable conditions, hence increasing the risk of ‘diver’s bends’.

The death rate was high, making it impossible to recruit ‘white people’ to this

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perilous occupation. In addition to diving, ‘black’ labour was used to open, clean,

pack and transport the pearls (Ganter, 1994; Reynolds, 1990).

Brutal and coercive methods were used to bring young men from the mainland to

satisfy demand for labour. ‘Recruiting parties rode off into the bush, ran down any

likely recruits seen on the way, chained them together and force-marched them

to the coast’ (Reynolds, 1990, p. 220). Evidence suggests that divers were bought

and sold and when luggers were up for auction the price depended on whether

‘the natives’ were part of the deal (Reynolds, 1990).

Torres Strait Islander workers were used for collecting and processing beche-de-

mer. Collected at low tide on exposed reefs or dived for in shallow waters, the

beche-de-mer was quickly split open, washed, sun dried, smoked and bagged

ready for export to Singapore or Hong Kong (Reynolds, 1990). Wages of ‘native’

workers were regulated. As in other areas of the colony, Torres Strait Islanders

found themselves in a racial hierarchy, with the Malays, Japanese and Pacific

Islanders all paid more than them (Beckett, 2010). In 1904, Queensland placed

Torres Strait Islanders under the Aboriginals Protection and Restriction of the

Sale of Opium Act 1901 (Commonwealth), effectively restricting their movements,

and all wages were paid to the Government to be kept in ‘trust’ (Beckett, 2010).

Migration from the Torres Strait to mainland Australia has taken place since the

1940s. The marine industry collapsed due to market forces, and the possibilities

for economic expansion became limited. Torres Strait Islanders sought

employment elsewhere, as it was rumoured that on the mainland they could earn

a proper wage, like the ‘white man’. In 1939, Torres Strait Islander workers were

covered by different legislation to Aborigines with the Torres Strait Islanders Act

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1939 (QLD), and thus their work conditions were different (Beckett, 2010;

Curthoys & Moore, 1995).

3.6 Exploitation and Resistance

Aboriginal people gained skills on sheep stations as shearers and drovers. Others

earned money/rations from harvesting crops, as fishermen, water carriers,

guides, messengers, labourers, domestic servants and boatmen in the whaling

industry (Broome, 2009; Castle & Hagan, 1998; Patmore, 1991). Some Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islander peoples resisted this new way of life and sought to work

only when they needed to purchase supplies, consistent with traditional ways—

work to feed the family. Broome (2009) says that Aboriginal people were

unimpressed by the European ways of working to accumulate wealth. These

attempts did not always succeed and as the colony grew they were forced to

move off their traditional lands in search of work (Brock, 1995; Ostenfeld et al.,

2001; Reynolds, 1990; Rose, 1991). The impact of settlement was gradual,

especially in remote areas of Australia, but by the end of the 1940s only a few

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups retained pre-invasion lifestyles.

Individual states were in control of Aboriginal affairs during this period and each

state brought in its own policies on Aboriginal employment and welfare. Various

Acts were imposed by state governments that controlled many aspects of

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander lives, including where they could live and

where they could work. These Acts were supposedly for ‘their own good’ and to

protect Aboriginal people. In most states, ‘special reserves or missions’ were

established to segregate Aboriginal people and to enforce European values

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(Brock, 1995; Broome, 2009). In some missions, the superintendent would act as

an employment agent for Aboriginal workers, which left them open to exploitation.

Aboriginal workers were the backbone of the cattle industry in the sparsely settled

northern and central regions of Australia, where ‘white labour’ was scarce. Cattle

stations were established on Aboriginal land; to avoid dispossession, many

Aboriginal people exchanged labour for the right to remain on or close to their

land. The industry relied on cheap Aboriginal labour until the 1960s, when

technology was introduced (Brock, 1995; Patmore, 1991). There was no

minimum wage for Aboriginal workers. The advantages of Aboriginal labour in the

pastoral industry were not confined to its ‘cheapness’; they had skills that were of

massive benefit to station owners, including their knowledge of the country and a

profound understanding of climate, topography, vegetation and water resources.

Aborigines understood the needs of the sheep and cattle, which made them

invaluable to the ‘white boss’. They were very good at their jobs, but did not have

to be paid a union wage (Reynolds, 1990). Pastoral properties were largely

unfenced. Without the tracking abilities of Aboriginal stock-men and -women it

would have been impossible to keep herds together. In many aspects, Aboriginal

stock-men and -women were much more skilled than their ‘white’ counterparts.

They had the ability to live off the land and survive even in the most difficult

conditions and were skilled in everyday tasks of the stock camp (Reynolds, 1990).

In North Queensland and the north-west of Western Australia, legislation was

passed that ensured Aborigines ‘had to work for the cattle owners under

conditions akin to serfdom’ (Castle & Hagan, 1998, p. 32).

Stock work was not confined to Aboriginal men; women were often principal

shepherds and head stockman on stations. Unfortunately, many ‘white’ males

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tended to expect ‘free’ access to Aboriginal women sexually, often resulting in

pregnancy and the birth of ‘half caste children’ (Reynolds, 1990, p. 206).

Aboriginal women and girls also made significant contributions at the station

homestead, performing innumerable tasks. Like their male counterparts, the

women were rarely paid. Additionally, ‘white’ women living on remote stations

were heavily reliant on Aboriginal servants during pregnancy and childbirth

(Reynolds, 1990).

Aboriginal stock and domestic workers were an essential part of the labour force.

However, they were discouraged from acquiring knowledge and skills, as it

threatened the cheap labour source (Brock, 1995). The various Aborigines

Protection Acts dictated labour arrangements for Aboriginal adults and children.

Wages were controlled by the Government supposedly to protect Aboriginal

workers from exploitation by unscrupulous employers; however, in most cases

the Government kept the money paid to them and the workers did not receive a

penny (Brock, 1995; Evans & Scott, 1995; Haskins, 2001; Huggins, 1995; Norris,

2001). According to Norris (1998, p. 29), many Aboriginal workers went without

wages or were paid amounts that were below minimum rates. In fact, Aboriginal

people were often treated like children and deemed not ‘responsible enough’ to

handle money. It was argued that the ‘Aboriginal race was incapable of resisting

the corrupting influence of European culture … extinction is inevitable if Aboriginal

people are not protected’ (Martinez, 2007, p. 273). Wages were siphoned off to

pay for maintenance on reserves and missions; some went to taxes and other

amounts were put into government trust funds. In a twist of irony, most of this

‘trust fund’ money has now disappeared from the Government funds, leaving

those workers who earned it with nothing (Norris, 1998). Castle and Hagan (1997,

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p. 66) state that this system that was closely related to assimilation policies and

was ‘designed to prevent exploitation by employers’ instead ‘became a device for

the paternalistic control of Aborigines by the state’. They also state that the state

not only controlled where Aborigines worked but how they could spend their

wages.

According to historians (Haskins, 2005a, 2005b; Kidd, 2002), all states had

similar legislation, lasting 70 years and encompassing hundreds and thousands

of people, the majority of whom were forced into a form of ‘legalised slavery’. Kidd

(2002) spent 15 years in Queensland researching where ‘the money went’. There

is a mountain of evidence that the Government had perpetuated gross

mismanagement and fraud:

Take our current struggle for justice on stolen wages in Queensland. Files

relating to the 60-year period of Government control of wages are full of

references to police frauds, scamming of the ‘pocket-money’ portion,

negligent account-keeping, Government misuse of trust monies. Any other

banking institution with this level of entrenched negligence involving

thousands of accounts would be subjected to a full public inquiry. (Kidd,

2003, p. 2)

3.7 Racial Divisions of Labour and Government Control

Across Australia from the 1880s to 1969, the Aboriginal Protection Boards

devised schemes so many hundreds of Aboriginal children aged 14–21 were

forcibly removed from their families and sent to wealthy families in the cities under

indentured servitude or as labourers. These girls suffered not only isolation from

their families and homelands but worked in appalling working conditions that

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included long hours, no holidays, poor food, and poor sleeping and toiletry

conditions, and they were legally bound to their employer for a period of 4 years

(Curthoys & Moore, 1995; Huggins, 1995; Walden, 1995). ‘A typical working day

for an Aboriginal domestic in the 1920s started at 5 or 6 o’clock in the morning

and did not end until she went to bed at night’ (Walden, 1995, p. 197). Castle and

Hagan (1997, p. 69) recount the example of one Aboriginal girl who was

employed as a domestic in Queensland. She received food, matches, tobacco,

soap, clothing and ‘was provided with accommodation under the house’. Rape

and sexual harassment of these girls was common. The incidence of pregnancy

was high, with most babies being removed at birth to become wards of the state

(Walden, 1995). Clothes and rations were often used as a form of payment

instead of wages. Wages were supposed to be sent to the Aborigines Protection

Board to be kept in ‘trust funds’. However, in the Northern Territory clothes were

not recognised as a form of payment. Clothes were given to workers to ensure

they had practical clothing to facilitate work, with employers not allowing

Aboriginal workers to wear the clothes home (Martinez, 2007, p. 272).

Victoria Haskins has written several articles surrounding the history of Aboriginal

labour exploitation and the policy of removing Aboriginal children to be placed in

‘apprenticeships’. Haskins writes from the perspective of her great grandmother

Joan, who went on to become an Aboriginal rights campaigner, calling the

Aborigines Protection Board ‘a great poisonous fungus’ for their ‘ghastly

treatment’ of Aboriginal girls (Haskins, 2005a, p. 74). Haskins (2005b) explains

that the Aboriginal ‘apprenticeship’ scheme was constructed based on the

specific agenda to break up Aboriginal communities, with young females

overwhelmingly the targets of forced removal, after which they were apprenticed

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as domestic servants. Haskins (2005a, p. 63) explores how, in 1916, at the age

of 15, Mary was among the first children to be ‘taken’ after the introduction of the

1915 Aborigines Protection Amending Act (NSW). Under the new 1915

amendments in NSW, the board had powers to ‘remove Aboriginal children

without parental consent or a court finding of neglect’. Mary was the third

generation in her family to be ‘taken’ to work for white families. Haskins describes

Joan’s relationship to Mary as ‘most akin to slavery of any relationship she has

with an Aboriginal person, servant or otherwise, the one most clearly structured

as possession and exploitation’ (Haskins, 2005a, p. 60). Mary was indentured to

Joan until the age of 25; she had been working as an apprentice for 10 years

when theoretically her apprenticeship should have finished 5 years earlier. Once

Mary left the employ of Joan, she tried to access her wages that were paid to the

Aborigines Protection Board. This request was refused and instead she was

offered a holiday. This enraged Joan, who wrote to the board demanding action

for Mary. Unfortunately, Mary never received a cent (Haskins, 2005a, 2005b). As

previously mentioned, Joan went on to fight for the rights of Aboriginal women.

She openly fought the board for justice and began campaigns against

propaganda, such as an article placed in a woman’s magazine, titled ‘Try an Abo

apprentice’, that exhorted white house wives to avail themselves of indentured

Aboriginal servants supplied by the NSW Aborigines Protection Board (Haskins,

2005a, p. 57). These depictions of true life events are, however, rare. Most

employers of Aboriginal girls were oblivious to their plight and the girls were used

as a cheap source of labour to be disposed of at will (Haskins, 2005b).

Hollingsworth (1998) tells the story of a young girl working on a station in South

Australia. The girl recalls how she was too small to reach the sink and had to

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stand on a chair. The work was very hard and she polished silver till her fingers

were sore. She either slept in a tent or in the chook pen, at times wiping ‘chook

poo’ off herself in the mornings. At the age of 9 she was unable to comb her own

hair so the ‘mistress’ cut it off and left her looking raggedy. Often she would work

long hours and had charge of other young children. Aboriginal domestic servants

allowed many non-Aboriginal women a sense of superiority and relief from hard

work (Hollingsworth, 1998).

In addition, Aboriginal boys aged 14–21 in New South Wales, Queensland, the

Northern Territory and South Australia were forcibly removed from their families

and sent to work on pastoral properties (Curthoys & Moore, 1995). In some

instances, young males that were employed on stations received only rations,

justified by comments such as, ‘we are teaching these boys to be good stockmen

in the future’ (Evans & Scott, 1995, p. 117).

In Tasmania, the labour market for Aboriginal peoples was quite different to the

mainland. The early pattern of employment was based around whaling and

sealing. The 1810s saw the kidnapping of Aboriginal children for labour by

agriculturalists, which led to the deliberate drives by white settlers to rid the island

of Aboriginal peoples (Curthoys & Moore, 1995).

The Nyungar people of Western Australia were controlled by various Acts from

1886, with all employment falling under the auspices of the Aborigines

Department. Aboriginal people were used in a wide range of seasonal and

contract work for wheat and sheep farms. Fringe camps were used as a source

of casual labour. However, by the 1930s Aboriginal people of the south-west were

‘trapped in a cycle of poverty characterised by long periods of unemployment,

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deplorable living conditions, malnutrition, disease and premature death’

(Haebich, 1992, p. 356). This led to the next period of discussion.

Forcibly removing Aboriginal children from their families was official Government

policy in Australia until the late 1960s. It is not known precisely how many

Aboriginal children were taken. However, almost every Aboriginal family has

been affected in some way by the policies of child removal. These children

became known as the ‘stolen generations’ and were the centre of an inquiry,

culminating in the ‘Bringing Them Home Report’ in 1997. The Bringing Them

Home Report revealed the extent of forced removal policies, which went on for

more than 150 years (Queensland University of Technology, 2016).

3.8 Mission Control and Segregation

Across Australia, it was common practice to forcibly remove children, teaching

them to work, but only as labourers or domestic servants, denying them

educational access. In South Australia, Poonindie mission agricultural community

was a training institution for Aboriginal families. Initially, living conditions at

Poonindie were pathetic, with no running water. There were problems with poor

health, over-crowding and a lack of essentials. However, once established,

Poonindie became almost self-sufficient, thanks to a successful farming

enterprise. Poonindie was used as a model for a series of Aboriginal settlements

and missions across South Australia. (Brock & Kartinyeri, 1989; Curthoys &

Moore, 1995; State Library of South Australia, 2014b). Many Aboriginal people

lived on the missions that provided work and rations, some gained experience

working on stations and were paid for their work, although not in line with ‘white’

wages of the time. ‘To encourage these men to stay, and increase the uptake of

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Christianity, religious conversion was tied to wages, ration distribution and better

food and housing, creating a tiered workforce’ (State Library of South Australia,

2014a). According to Curthoys and Moore (1995), these segregated communities

provided no opportunities for Aboriginal people to participate in ‘normal work

practices’.

The majority of Aboriginal workers in the Northern Territory worked on pastoral

stations as either stockmen or domestic servants. In the 1930s and 1940s the

Army was a significant employer of Aboriginal labour. Payment of wages was in

line with the ‘1928 Bleakley Report’, which allowed for a wage of five shillings per

week, two shillings of which were to be put into a ‘trust account’, the other three

to supply Aboriginal workers with accommodation, food and clothing. The

payment of cash wages was discouraged. Wages were deemed to have a

‘detrimental and demoralising effect on Aboriginal workers’ (Martinez, 2007, p.

273). It was feared that the ‘Aboriginal race’ could not resist the ‘corrupting

influences of European culture’ and would spend the money on liquor and opium

(Martinez, 2007, p. 273).

3.9 The Impact of Economic Recession

During times of economic recession, competition between ‘white’ and ‘black’

workers increased. The rise in unemployment and the decline of real wages

increased tensions, encouraging intolerance and segregation. For many

Aboriginal people, paid work was impossible to find, which put added pressure

on reserves and missions, causing ‘economic racism’ (Haskins, 2005a;

Hollingsworth, 1998). During the depression (1929-1939) there was an extension

of restrictive controls on Aboriginal families and many that were unemployed were

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compulsorily moved back to missions and reserves. All states had legislation in

place to confine ‘Aborigines’ and it was illegal for those confined peoples to leave.

Conditions on the reserves were extremely poor, death rates increased and there

was overcrowding (Hollingsworth, 1998).

When war was declared in 1939, funding was drastically reduced for Aboriginal

welfare; however, with an increase in defence and export production, job

opportunities were created. Many Aboriginal people left reserves to seek work in

large cities and ports (Biskup, 1973). However, not all Aboriginal people benefited

from war. In Western Australia the pastoral industry remained dependant on

Aboriginal labour; to prevent Aboriginal station workers leaving to seek higher

paid work the Government prohibited their movements (Hollingsworth, 1998).

3.10 Participation in the Armed Forces

Aboriginal participation in the armed forces started with the Boar War in 1899. At

least 50 Aboriginal men served in the Boar War as trackers, although they were

not ‘formally enlisted’ because of regulation barring ‘coloureds’ from serving.

Unfortunately, many of these men were left behind in Africa, as the ‘White

Australia policy’ restricted them from re-entering the country (Riseman, 2013).

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Private Harold Arthur Cowan, 21, was one of Special platoon of volunteer Aboriginal soldiers,

many Indigenous soldiers who served in WWI. Number 9 camp, Wangaratta.

Source: Australian War Memorial. Source: Australian War Memorial.

Figure 3.2: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Soldiers.

During the First World War, regulations determined that if any person was ‘not

substantially of European origin or descent’ they were not permitted to enlist. This

effectively barred Aboriginal people from enlisting. Some Aboriginal men

managed to enlist by claiming Maori heritage or by circumventing regulations.

Additionally, after 1917 if an Aboriginal man had ‘one white parent’ they were

eligible to enlist. It is estimated that up to 1000 Aboriginal men served in World

War I (Riseman, 2013). ‘Aboriginal ex-servicemen received little public or private

support on their return to Australia. They were denied access to soldier settlement

schemes’. Their wages and pensions were quarantined, they were denied access

to military funerals, denied access to local Returned Sailors and Soldiers Imperial

League of Australia (now RSL), and were not allowed to attend Anzac day

services until the 1980s (Riseman, 2013, p. 15).

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Many Aboriginal people tried to enlist in the armed services during World War II,

only to be rejected due to Government policies that said a person ‘not

substantially of European origin or descent’ could not enlist. Due to this,

Aboriginal people were exempt from conscription, since they did not possess the

required features to qualify as being ‘Australian’. Eventually, after a huge public

outcry, the Government reversed its decision and allowed Aboriginal people to

enlist. Many hundreds enlisted and served in integrated Australian infantry units

(Hollingsworth, 1998; Riseman, 2013). In 1941, two special Indigenous military

units were formed. One was the Torres Strait Defence Force, which defended the

chain of islands between Queensland and New Guinea. Their job was to provide

mechanical and logistical support for ships passing through. They were grossly

underpaid while in the service, with a portion of their wages being quarantined.

In 1982, surviving members received back pay and pensions.

The other Indigenous unit was made up of skilled Yolngu warriors, who were

unpaid, instead receiving fish hooks, wire and tobacco. They were denied access

to modern weapons, instead relying on traditional weaponry, and they were used

to patrol Arnhem Land and prevent the Japanese from infiltrating Australian soil.

They also rescued injured servicemen and supported other military operations

(Hall, 1989; Riseman, 2013). At least 300 Aboriginal and 850 Torres Strait

Islanders served in the Second World War, mostly in the Army (Riseman, 2013).

Aboriginal men and women went on to serve in the Korean and Vietnam wars

and have continued to serve in the Australian defence force in peacekeeping

missions around the globe (Riseman, 2013).

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3.11 Exemption Certificates

Aboriginal people came under various state government ‘Acts’, which were

designed to segregate and protect Aborigines. Aboriginal people lived on

reserves; their lives and work were regulated by the Government of the day.

Some Aborigines were given ‘special permission’ from the Government to leave

reserves and gain control of their own lives. This ‘special permission’ came in the

form of an Exemption Certificate. An exemption certification was the only legal

way that Aboriginal people could live independently, away from reserves or

missions and exempt from the ‘Act’ (Wickes, 2008).

Exemption Certificates were granted only to those Aborigines who

demonstrated to the Chief Protector’s satisfaction the capacity to survive

in the outside world. In other words, they were imbued with capitalist

values concerning money, time and work. But the standards required for

exemption were high; certificates were not freely issued (Blake, 2001, pp.

136–137).

To qualify for an Exemption Certificate, applicants needed exemplary

employment and police records, had to be on ‘the verge of assimilation’, display

‘exemplary’ behaviour in European terms, have the ability to manage their own

affairs and be ‘part-Aborigine’ (Hollingsworth, 1998, p. 142). Exemption

certificates came at a high price for Aboriginal people, as they were required to

denounce their Aboriginality, and cease contact with other non-exempt

Aborigines, including family and kinship connections and connections to country.

The Exemption Certificate could be revoked at any time by the Government

(Hollingsworth, 1998; Wickes, 2008).

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Certificates of exemption were sought by hundreds of Aboriginal people who

wished to escape the oppressive conditions enforced upon them by the ‘Act’.

However, despite the apparent benefits of the certificate, many Aboriginal people

refused to seek one. ‘A never held a permit, I didn’t like the wording. “Cease to

be Aboriginal” … No way in the world would I give up my Aboriginality for

anything. I consider it an insult to my mother’ (Cyril Coaby, cited in Hollingsworth,

1998, p. 144).

Figure 3.3: Exemption Certificate, Extracted from Race and Racism in

Australia (Hollingsworth, 1998).

Gaining an Exemption Certificate did not give Aborigines exemption from

discriminatory practices enshrined in legislation, nor did it give them equal pay.

Additionally, exemption from the Act did not always ensure that money and

property would not remain under the control of the Chief Protector (Hollingsworth,

1998; Wickes, 2008). However, Aboriginal people did gain Exemption

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Certificates, as it gave them access to the cash economy, which assisted in

breaking the stereotypes of not working.

3.12 Towards Recognition/Obstacles for Participation

In the 1960s there were numerous formal campaigns for better conditions for

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The Northern Australia Workers

Union (NAWU) brought a case to the Conciliation and Arbitration Commission for

equal pay for pastoral workers, which resulted in equal pay, but this upheaval

caused the dismissal of thousands of Aboriginal pastoral workers who were

considered inferior—employers did not want to pay them equal to non-

Aboriginals. Within a few years, Aboriginal employment had declined as much as

30% in some areas (Langton, 2011; National Museum of Australia, 2012; Norris,

2001). Broome (1982, p. 141) states that ‘the Aborigines’ employment history …

was one few other Australians could match. They moved from no wages to small

wages to “equal” wages and then to unemployment.’

The 1967 referendum saw the power to make laws for Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islanders turned over to the Federal Government, ‘overriding the brutal,

degrading racist laws of the states under which Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islanders were tormented’ (Dixon, 2007). The consequences of the Federal

Government taking control of Indigenous Affairs have had long reaching

ramifications. Aboriginal people were now included in the national census. The

referendum was a huge moral victory for the Aboriginal movement and the

movement for equality. This win gave citizenship, which allowed Aboriginal

people to move around more freely, and resulted in a mass exodus from

missions. The Commonwealth Government assumed responsibility for

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Indigenous affairs, meaning that laws for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders

would be uniform, instead of different laws depending on which state they were

in (Dawkins, 2012).

At the same time, many bodies, including those who may have never previously

employed Aboriginal people, began employing Aboriginal people; blue-collar jobs

on the railways were available, as were white-collar jobs, such as administration

work serving a mainly Aboriginal clientele. Governments started establishing

affirmative action employment policies. Thus, as private-sector employment

stopped, public sector began to open up (Brock, 1995). What then became

apparent was that:

years of apartheid in the education system and the almost total exclusion

of Aboriginal people from normal training, apprenticeships and

employment resulted in a rapidly growing Indigenous underclass in the

towns and cities as Aboriginal families fled from the reserves during the

1960s and 1970s to take advantage of the new wave of tolerance and

progressive thinking. (Langton, 2011, p. 8)

Some writers argue that Aboriginal people became entitled to the full range of

welfare benefits, giving access to the ‘money economy’ for the first time.

Aboriginal people no longer had to work for rations in appalling conditions or be

treated like a second rate labour reserve to be drawn on for casual or seasonal

work (Brock, 1995; Langton, 2011).

Curthoys and Moore (1995, p. 13) state that:

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Given today’s nationwide high Aboriginal unemployment,

underemployment levels, poor wages, high alcohol consumption rates,

impoverished housing, health and education levels it remains a perplexing

task for labour historians to establish those factors which preclude late

nineteen and early twentieth century involvement in the capitalist economy

carrying through to enjoying benefits of modern Australia.

According to Hollingsworth (1998, p. 87), it was in the second half of the 19th

century when racial exclusivity and superiority ideas among the British settlers

began and has remained influential today. ‘These attitudes and theories

underpinned the creation of legislation and administrative practices which were

the basis for institutional racism in Australia against its Indigenous peoples’.

Castle and Hagan (1998, p. 25) argue ‘that the economic position of Aborigines

… was shaped by the process of land settlement, the effects of the convict system

and the legacy of the substantial and bloody Aboriginal resistance to the white

alienation of their land’.

The Committee of Review of Aboriginal Employment and Training Programs

(Miller, 1985, p. 3) acknowledges that ‘since the referendum in 1967, inability of

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to gain a livelihood, and in particular,

to share in opportunities for employment has been of particular concern to the

Government’. With this in mind, the Government instituted a National

Employment Strategy for Aboriginals (NESA) in 1977, with a view to assist

Aboriginal people to gain meaningful employment and training.

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3.13 Conclusion

As shown, Aboriginal history in the labour market has been greatly affected by

the broader racial inequalities that have existed in Australian society since

invasion. This has influenced the types of employment that have been available,

payment systems and workers’ ability to exercise power. This period is also

marked by discriminatory policies that targeted Aboriginal children as a cheap

labour force. Reynolds (1990, p. 227) suggests that Aboriginal and Torres Strait

labour was the mainstay of the European economy. Their labour was crucial in

all aspects of the colony and ensured the viability of the European settlement,

allowing the colonists to sustain their claim to Australia.

There would never have been a pearling industry, cattle industry, rail

infrastructure, sugar or cotton industries without the extensive use of Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islander labour. What is undeniable is that their labour was

exploited. They had no adequate income and they were excluded from education

and training. This institutional and structured racism has had long-term effects on

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. If government policies and

legislation in relation to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment are

examined from an international human rights perspective, ‘the gross

mismanagement of Indigenous affairs in this respect becomes abundantly clear’

(Norris, 1998, p. 29). Aboriginal employment history, according to Broome (1982,

p. 141), ‘was one few other Australians could match’. Aboriginal people moved

from no wages to small wages to equal wages and then to unemployment.

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Chapter 4: Labour Market Programs

4.1 Introduction

This chapter will analyse the ever growing and ever changing labour market

policies and programs implemented by governments, and the organisations that

help implement them, since 1967. Labour market programs are publicly funded

measures to improve the chances of people finding work and becoming

productive in the labour market. Are these policies and programs effective in

assisting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples into the labour market?

Why are labour market programs important and relevant in reducing the

disadvantage faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples? What

would you expect from a well-constructed and effective labour market program?

4.2 Analysis of Labour Market Programs for Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander Peoples from the 1967 Referendum to

2014

Successive federal governments have introduced a range of labour market

policies and programs for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. In

addition, there is a range of indirect programs and support offered by

governmental agencies that address issues related to discrimination (Nelson,

2000). The following chapter outlines the major policies and programs that

governments have introduced in an attempt to reduce labour market

disadvantage for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Additionally, this

chapter will critically analyse whether the policies and programs are effective in

obtaining meaningful employment outcomes.

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4.3 Policy/Programs Gap

When it comes to policy and program analysis, there is a significant gap in the

analysis of labour market policy and programs. In addition, there seems to be a

policy/program disconnect between 1969 and the 1980s, most labour market

programs for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples were performed on an

ad hoc basis (Sloan, 1991). Until the Miller report of 1985 there had been no

policy or program evaluations commissioned. This trend continued well into the

1980s and 1990s. This following section pieces together the available

information, initially beginning with the referendum and the early policies and

programs of federal governments, in a chronological order. From the 1980s the

policies will be analysed, followed by in-depth analysis of programs that extended

from those policies. As not all labour market programs have been administered

by government, this chapter will also examine programs administered by other

organisations, with an in-depth analysis of those programs where possible that

will include the objectives of each program, the time span of the programs and

whether the program was based on questionable assumptions or out-of-date

statistical information. The lack of systematic analysis by the Government of their

labour market programs will be highlighted.

Table 4.1 is a timeline of Indigenous employment policies and policy reviews and

programs that have been utilised to reduce labour market disadvantage. While

these programs vary, all tie funding to specific forms of Indigenous employment

programs or specific sectors. Some are Commonwealth funded; others are

funded by state governments. In addition, some incorporate private-sector

partnerships. Private-sector involvement in Indigenous employment programs

has been limited in comparison to the public sector.

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Table 4.1: Key Policies Timeline, Adapted from Dockery and Milsom, 2007a.

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4.4 The Referendum and Subsequent Policies

The 1967 referendum saw the granting of a concurrent power to the

Commonwealth, enabling the Commonwealth Government to make laws for

‘Aboriginal people’ no matter where in Australia they lived. Prior to this, individual

states made laws for Aboriginal people. ‘No longer, it seemed, were Aboriginal

people to be regarded as lesser beings, for they now were to enjoy the same

status as all other members of Australian society’ (Australian Bureau of Statistics,

2004). A new Commonwealth Office of Aboriginal Affairs was established, which

included ‘employment and vocational training’, allowing the department to make

specific programs for the advancement of Aboriginals. Within the mainstream

portfolio of the Commonwealth Employment Service (CES), an Aboriginal

Employment Section (AES) was established, including 28 specialist staff to

service Aboriginal clients. A new Employment and Training Scheme for

Aboriginals (ETSA) was introduced in 1969. This provided job training and wage

subsidies for Aboriginal people. However, the budget for this program was only

$24,000 (Altman & Sanders, 1991; Fox, 1985; Miller, 1985).

The Commonwealth did not thrust itself into making policies for Aboriginal people,

much to the disappointment of those who fought to pass the referendum. This

inaction also caused discontent among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

peoples (Altman & Sanders, 1991; Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2004). The

indecisiveness of the Liberal Coalition on Aboriginal policies and issues quickly

led the Australian Labor Party (ALP) to produce policies around Aboriginal issues

that differentiated them from the Coalition. This expansion in policy formed part

of the ALP’s election campaign and included a raft of policies that gave the

incoming Government ‘the ultimate responsibility for Aborigines and Islanders

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accorded it by the referendum of 1967’ (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2004).

Policies included wage equality, land rights and anti-discrimination laws. In his

1972 policy speech, Gough Whitlam said:

There is one group of Australians who have been denied their basic rights

to the pursuit of happiness, to liberty and indeed to life itself for 180 years—

since the very time when Europeans in the New World first proclaimed

those rights as inalienable for all mankind. In 1967 we, the people of

Australia, by an overwhelming majority imposed upon the Commonwealth

the constitutional responsibility for Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders.

The Commonwealth Parliament has still not passed a single law which it

could not have passed before and without that referendum. Mr McMahon

has side-stepped Mr Gorton’s solemn undertaking of 1969 to abolish

discriminatory legislation against Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders. A

Labor Government will over-ride Queensland’s discriminatory laws. To

ensure that Aborigines are made equal before the law, the Commonwealth

will pay all legal costs for Aborigines in all proceedings in all courts. We

will establish once and for all Aborigines’ rights to land and insist that,

whatever the law of George III says, a tribe and a race with an identity of

centuries—of millennia—is as much entitled to own land as even a

proprietary company. There will be a separate Ministry for Aboriginal

Affairs; it will have offices in each State to give the Commonwealth a

genuine presence in the states. (Whitlam, 1972)

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4.5 The Whitlam Years

On 5 December 1972, after 23 years of conservative rule, Whitlam became Prime

Minister of Australia, following the ALP’s victory. Late in 1973, Whitlam

established a separate Ministry to handle Aboriginal affairs. A National Aboriginal

Consultative Committee was formed, and the Aboriginal Legal Service (ALS) was

expanded. Aboriginal Medical Services (AMS) were established in Indigenous

communities to reduce the infant mortality rate, which was unacceptably high.

The Aboriginal Land Rights Commission was established. In 1974 Justice

Woodward recommended the creation of Aboriginal land trusts, Local Aboriginal

Land Councils (LALCs), and the handing back of traditional lands. In 1975,

Whitlam handed over a tract of land to the Gurindji people of Wave Hill, whose

walkabout catalysed the land rights movement (Bolton, 1990, pp. 235–236).

Within the new Federal Department of Aboriginal Affairs, employment and

training was clearly identified as a priority area. It accounted for around 10% of

expenditure over the next 3 years and included wage subsidies to employers for

employing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and unemployment

benefits for those who were unemployed. This had a detrimental effect in rural

and remote communities with a high Aboriginal population, as the unemployment

rates were extremely high, so the department funded ‘Special work projects’

(SWPs) that provided short-term employment on community projects (Altman &

Sanders, 1991). During this period, the ETSA program administered by the CES

was subsumed into the National Employment and Training system (NEAT). The

Aboriginal employment section in the CES remained. NEAT introduced two new

programs: pre-employment and pre-vocational courses. Despite being a

mainstream program, NEAT covered the needs of disadvantaged people in the

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labour market, such as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples (Altman &

Sanders, 1991; Fox, 1985; Miller, 1985).

4.6 The Fraser Years

Coming into power in 1975, the Fraser Government decided to redesign

programs relating to Aboriginal employment; an inter-departmental working party

was appointed. In 1977, the Government announced a new National Employment

Strategy for Aboriginals (NESA). Under NESA there was increased staffing of the

Aboriginal employment section of the CES, increased employment opportunities

in the Commonwealth Public Service and a concerted effort to persuade the

private sector to train and employ Aboriginal peoples. The centrepiece of NESA

was the Community Development Employment Projects scheme (CDEP), which

was to apply to Aboriginals that lived in remote communities who were not part

of the ‘open labour market’ (Altman & Sanders, 1991; Miller, 1985). The CDEP

was introduced in 1976 with work programs chosen by Aboriginal communities

that provided work opportunities within that community. The CDEP will be

explored in more depth later in this chapter.

Between the late 1970s and mid-1980s, Government policy formation around

Aboriginal employment was very ‘ad hoc’, where Government decision-making

was more a reaction to deteriorating labour markets than good planning (Sloan,

1991). According to Altman and Sanders (1991), it was difficult to gauge the

Government’s commitment to Aboriginal employment policy during this time, as

the CDEP was funded with grants under the Department of Aboriginal Affairs, but

NEAT expenditure was unidentifiable. During the latter part of the Fraser

Government, the NEAT system was dismantled; all Aboriginal programs were

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now called the Training for Aboriginal Program (TAP). In this era, wage and

training subsidy schemes became popular (Altman & Sanders, 1991; Miller, 1985;

Sloan, 1991):

The broad objective of the TAP is to provide assistance to any Aboriginal

person seeking a job, who is unable to find suitable employment; and to

remedy imbalances in the labour market between Aboriginal people and

other Australians. (Miller, 1985, p. 104)

One of the criticisms of TAP was that nearly two thirds of the expenditure on the

program went to placing Aboriginal people in public-sector jobs or jobs within

Aboriginal organisations, even though the private sector accounts for three

quarters of the Australian labour market. In addition, post-employment prospects

were limited due to funding restrictions (Miller, 1985).

4.7 The Hawke Years

The Community Employment Program (CEP) was established in 1983. It was a

major employment program designed to ensure that long-time unemployed

people had every opportunity to gain employment. Its fundamental objective was

to assist those most disadvantaged to obtain permanent employment.

Employment projects were undertaken for a period of 3–12 months and would

act as a ‘stepping stone’ into the regular labour market. Through the CEP,

significant numbers of Aboriginal people gained employment. However, due to

the time span on the projects, permanent employment never eventuated (Miller,

1985).

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The Hawke Government appointed the Committee of Review of Aboriginal

Employment and Training Programs to examine all Commonwealth Government

Aboriginal employment and training programs. The review’s terms of reference

were to determine if the existing Aboriginal employment and training programs

‘were still appropriate to the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

peoples and if a more effective labour market strategy could be established to

improve their employment situation’ (Miller, 1985, p. 1). The subsequent report

(the Miller Report) was comprehensive in its review of Aboriginal people in the

conventional labour market and the employment and training programs in which

Aboriginal people participated. The report identified major deficiencies in existing

programs and offered a new direction for Aboriginal employment based on

recruiting Aboriginal people into permanent positions within the public sector and

providing funding for career development, as opposed to the short-term training

positions that were available (Altman & Sanders, 1991). The report became a

‘blueprint’ on how government training and employment programs for Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islander peoples would be delivered (Miller, 1985, p. 1).

In regards to private-sector employment, the Miller Report (1985) recommended

that affirmative action programs should be expanded to cover Aboriginal peoples

in employment. Acting on this, the Hawke Government launched the Aboriginal

Employment Development Policy (AEDP), which it claimed was a fundamental

shift in policy away from the welfare dependency plaguing Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander peoples since the referendum, and would enhance economic

independence (Altman & Sanders, 1991).

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4.8 Policy Analysis

This section outlines the policies made in relations to Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander employment.

Aboriginal Employment Development Policy. As noted above, the

AEDP was the Hawke Government’s response to the Miller report. The AEDP

had a ‘primary focus on employment and development and contained a range

of Aboriginal employment, training, education and economic resource

programs’ (Australian Government, 1987a). The broad objective of the AEDP

was ‘employment and income equity’ for Aboriginal Australians by the year

2000 (Altman & Sanders, 1991; Australian Government, 1987a). The

strategies for achieving this were to be developed around ‘where Aboriginal

people lived’, whether that be in cities, towns or remote areas, and focused on

both private and public-sector employment (Australian Government, 1987a).

Under the AEDP, the TAP and CDEP were major components; the

Government continued its commitment to wage subsidies and expanded the

Aboriginal Employment Action program (AEA), incorporating aspects of the

affirmative action model with funding for Aboriginal employment executives

within the public sector and private industry (Altman & Sanders, 1991;

Australian Government, 1987b, 1987c; Gray, Hunter & Lohoar, 2012). Altman

and Sanders (1991, p. 7) point out the approach ‘was not as fundamentally

different from what had gone before’; ‘it continued the general approached of

building on what had gone before, rather than fundamentally changing the

course of policy’. However, it did develop programs within the public service

for Aboriginal people, aimed at permanent employment.

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Figure 4.1: Components of AEDP.

Issues with AEDP. According to Altman and Sanders (1991, p. 8),

‘equity is one of the essentially contested concepts of social and political

discourse’. Thornton (1990, p. 16) states that ‘the fact that … Aborigines …

have been subjected to appalling inequities demonstrated that formal equality

is compatible with the grossest of injustice’. Within the context of government

policy of the time, according to Altman and Sanders (1991, p. 9), statistical

equality in employment and income status ‘sets standards and goals for

Aboriginal employment policy against which the AEDP is inevitably going to

fail’. The DEETYA Indigenous Employment Initiatives Branch (1998, p. 2), in a

report to the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander Affairs, clearly acknowledged that the AEDP would be

unsuccessful in reaching the goal of ‘equity employment’ for Indigenous

Australians by the year 2000. They also note significant employment in the

public sector, but little improvement in the private sector. Dockery and Milsom

(2007a, p. 27), in a review of the AEDP, argued that the policy clearly failed

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against its targets of achieving equity by 2000, and that the targets could only

be described as ‘fanciful’, with no realistic yardstick to measure its success

and that the unrealistic targets ‘led to cynicism’ among those who implemented

the policy. They argued that ‘the causes of high Indigenous unemployment and

low-income status were deep-rooted and would not be easily overcome by

simplistic policy ideals’ (Dockery & Milsom, 2007a, p. 27). This is based on the

fact that the AEDP used out-of-date census data to set its goals, therefore,

those goals were unrealistic and the AEDP was destined to fail. According to

Sanders (1991, pp. 14–15), ‘setting up of Aboriginal affairs policies which are

destined to fail is not in the long-term interests of Aborigines, even though it

may be in the short-term interests of Governments’. The AEDP, while not

managing ‘equity’ by the year 2000, was not a total failure. Within the AEDP

the TAP had much more success. Employment that combined subsidised

wage assistance and formal training had particularly high outcomes (Dockery

& Milsom, 2007a).

Indigenous Employment Policy. The Indigenous Employment Policy

was announced in May 1999 and, like its predecessor, was an umbrella

program that incorporated a range of Indigenous-specific programs. At its

centre was the new Indigenous Employment Program (IEP) that superseded

TAP. Some of the components of the new IEP were the CDEP, which will be

covered later in this chapter, the Corporate Leaders for Indigenous

Employment Project (CLIEP), Structured Training and Employment Project

(STEP), Wage Assistance, the National Indigenous Cadetship Project (NICP),

the Indigenous Small Business Fund (ISBF) and the Voluntary Service to

Indigenous Communities Foundation (VSICF). The overall policy objectives

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were to increase the level of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participation

in private-sector employment, improve outcomes for Indigenous job-seekers

and support the development and expansion of Indigenous small business

(Auditor General, 2003; Department of Employment and Workplace Relations,

2002a; Dockery & Milsom, 2007a). According to DEWR (2002a, p. 17), the

new program had an emphasis on ‘making links between employers, industry,

regional representative bodies and Indigenous organisations … with STEP

and CLIEP introducing a new focus’. However, as noted by Dockery and

Milsom (2007a), Aboriginal self-determination was clearly lacking within the

IEP.

Figure 4.2: Elements of the Indigenous Employment Policy. Extracted

from Auditor General, 2003.

‘Closing the Gap’. In March 2009 the federal Labor Government

announced its newest initiative to reform and improve Indigenous employment:

‘The Australian Government has committed to halving the gap between

Indigenous and non-Indigenous employment outcomes within a decade’

(O’Connor, 2009). These initiatives were aimed at increasing employment

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among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and, therefore, their

economic situation. This Government initiative focused on collaborative

consultation with key stakeholders, especially Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander communities, organisations and individuals, to deliver a broad range

of projects suited to their local circumstances and focusing on the best

employment outcomes (O’Connor, 2009).

‘Closing the Gap’ is a commitment by all Australian governments to improve the

lives of Indigenous Australians and, in particular, provides a better future for

Indigenous children. A national integrated ‘Closing the Gap’ strategy was agreed

through the Council of Australian Governments (COAG), the peak inter-

governmental forum in Australia. COAG brings together the Prime Minister, state

Premiers, Territory Chief Ministers and the president of the Australian Local

Government Association (Commonwealth Government, 2012a).

COAG set six high-level targets for ‘Closing the Gap’ of Indigenous disadvantage.

The aim is to improve performance against the targets by addressing

disadvantage on a range of policy fronts (Savvas et al., 2011). There are specific

timeframes for achieving each of the six ‘Closing the Gap’ targets, which relate

to Indigenous life expectancy, infant mortality, early childhood development,

education and employment. An important target and the one of most concern to

this study is COAG target six, which is to ‘halve the gap in employment outcomes

between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians within a decade’ (Council of

Australian Governments, 2011, p. 12). This is interpreted by COAG to mean

halving the gap in the employment to population ratio (COAG Reform Council,

2010).

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The COAG Reform Council utilised the following indicators to measure the

success of the ‘Closing the Gap’ reforms: the employment to population ratio,

unemployment rate, labour force participation rate, CDEP participants and off-

CDEP job placements, three-month employment outcomes (post-program

monitoring), proportion of Indigenous 18–24-year-olds engaged in full-time

employment, education or training at or above a Certificate III, and the number of

Indigenous 20–64-year-olds with or working towards post-school qualifications in

Certificate III, IV, Diploma and Advanced Diploma (COAG Reform Council, 2010).

In the sixth Closing the Gap Report, Prime Minister Tony Abbott stated that ‘while

some progress has been made in some objectives, it is clear that we are still

failing in too many’ (Abbott, 2014, p. 1). Data from the Australian Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander Health Survey (AATSIHS) suggests that the proportion of

Indigenous people who were unemployed fell in 2012–13. However, the

proportion of non-Indigenous people who were unemployed rose. This means

that the gap in employment widened. ‘It is clear that no progress has been made

against the target to halve the gap in employment outcomes within a decade (by

2018)’ (Abbott, 2014, p. 12).

4.9 Program Analysis

This section outlines the programs developed from policies made in relation to

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment.

Training for Aboriginal Program. In 1980, under the Fraser

Government, the NEAT system was dismantled and all Aboriginal components

were formed into a special program called TAP. TAP provided several kinds of

assistance, including wage subsidies, on-the-job training and training

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assistance for both public and private-sector employment. TAP was designed

as specific assistance for those who could not meet the requirements of the

conventional labour market (Altman & Sanders, 1991; Dockery & Milsom,

2007b; Miller, 1985). The job skills development (wage subsidy) provided

under TAP was for a period of 6 months, offering up to 100% of award wage

assistance. Also provided under TAP were a transition allowance, mentoring

services and career information. From 1992, the program was restructured;

thereafter it consisted of elements of job skills development, work

experience/work preparation and an employment strategies program, and

wage subsidies were still a predominant feature. In a program evaluation

performed in 1992, it was highlighted that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

peoples face extreme difficulty in gaining employment and that the program

effectiveness was limited. However, it was noted that the TAP program was

‘surprisingly successful and relatively cost effective’ (Dockery & Milsom,

2007b, p. 11). An important lesson arising from the 1992 review was that

cultural awareness strategies were needed for the ongoing support for

employees and employers (Department of Employment and Workplace

Relations, 2002a).

The 1996–97 departmental annual report (DEETYA) traineeships were

highlighted as a particularly positive outcome. However, there was a

recommendation that a shift in emphasis from public- to private-sector

employment was required (Dockery & Milsom, 2007b). Dockery and Milsom

(2007b, p. 14) performed an independent evaluation of TAP, in which they

concluded that the program had achieved limited success: it had broadened the

occupations and industries where Indigenous participants were employed,

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mainstream placements were in lower skilled occupations and placements in

Aboriginal community organisations were largely in more skilled occupations.

TAP continued until 1999, when elements of the program were transferred into

STEP, which is discussed later in this chapter (Department of Employment and

Workplace Relations, 2002a).

Community Development Employment Projects. CDEP is by far the

single most important and longest running program assisting Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander peoples to gain work skills and employment, and is

widely regarded as the most successful. The first CDEP scheme was started

at Bamyili; it was an alternative to ‘sit down money’ (Jonas, 2001). It was

developed as a response to quite a few problems associated with the

introduction of cash incomes when the social security system was introduced

to Indigenous communities. The CDEP was an Indigenous alternative,

proposed by Indigenous people—not a solution imposed on Indigenous people

by governments—because it ‘enhances the economic, social and cultural

rights of Indigenous peoples’ (Jonas, 2001, p. 13). The original objective of the

CDEP was to create meaningful employment opportunities in remote

Indigenous communities where there was not much employment on offer. The

program was later extended to cover all areas, including urban locations, and

provided for employment, community development, business development

and training and skill development. The CDEP program aimed to help

Indigenous job-seekers to gain the skills, training and capabilities needed to

find sustainable employment and improve the economic and social well-being

of communities. Two thirds of CDEP participants are located in remote

Australia (Dockery & Milsom, 2007a; Hunter, 2003). CDEP is one of the key

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Indigenous employment programs contributing to the Australian Government’s

aim of halving the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous employment

within a decade. The CDEP is linked to welfare support for the unemployed,

and participants in the program receive welfare support payments in exchange

for employment in the community programs. In his review of the CDEP, Hunter

(2003) noted its importance in providing job and skill development access in

regions where there would otherwise be few job opportunities. However, he

also noted the potential of CDEP to impede mobility and thereby prevent youth,

in particular, from accessing schooling and training, and moving into areas of

job availability. The CDEP operated in capital cities, regional areas and remote

areas. However, in July 2007 the CDEP was scaled back to again only operate

in remote areas (Commonwealth Government, 2008; Savvas et al., 2011).

The CDEP program provided services and projects through two streams: the

Work Readiness Stream and the Community Development Stream

(Commonwealth Government, 2012b). Work Readiness services were aimed at

job-seekers and assisted to develop skills, improve chances of getting work and

move to work outside of the CDEP program. The services included pre-vocational

training and work experience. CDEP has a focus on supporting and developing

Indigenous communities and Indigenous organisations. Providers were funded to

ensure community work was consistent with local job opportunities, building

practical skills through practical experience. CDEP projects were linked to

community priorities that were identified in Community Action Plans developed

by providers in consultation with the community. The plans set goals, actions and

targets to improve the quality of community life, which helps strengthen

Indigenous communities through increased individual involvement in community

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projects and employment opportunities. CDEP participants were able to obtain

services aimed at improving training and employment outcomes, including

access to other support services available in their region and addressing barriers

to employment and training (Commonwealth Government, 2012b).

Since the inception of CDEP, there has been extensive research and

commentary into the Indigenous ‘welfare economy’ and, in particular, one major

aspect of that economy: the CDEP scheme in both its previous and current form

(Altman, Gray & Levitus, 2005; Biddle, Taylor & Yap, 2008; Butler, 2001; Dockery

& Milsom, 2007a; Gregory, 2006; Hudson, 2008; Hunter, 2003; Hunter & Taylor,

2004; Jonas, 2001; Jopson, 2002; Martin, 2001; Sanders, 1993, 1997, 2001).

Some of the commentary is summarised below.

Gregory (2006) argues that the CDEP scheme puts in place incentives to

encourage people not to move from traditional locations. Many Indigenous people

make the financial judgement that life in a remote area on CDEP is much better

than moving and trying to find a job somewhere else; ‘we need to know more

about the interplay of culture and Indigenous decision making and how to create

an environment within which Indigenous people can make better choices for

themselves’ (Gregory, 2006, p. 92).

Sanders’ (2001, p. 47) view is that the first 20 years of the CDEP scheme were

good years. Although the CDEP scheme grew out of the extension of social

security entitlements to Indigenous Australians, in the late 1970s and 1980s it

was not formally linked to the social security system. Participants were,

effectively, treated as low income wage earners. This changed in 1991.

Martin (2001, p. 32) acknowledges that:

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It could be argued that for almost a quarter of a century Indigenous people

and their organisations have pioneered innovative means of instituting

principles now espoused through the ‘mutual obligation’ framework’ and

that ‘CDEP should not be seen as the Indigenous equivalent of work for

the dole, it should be one of the mean by which Indigenous communities

are resourced to enhance and develop their social and capital

infrastructure. (Martin, 2001, p. 34)

Altman (2009a, p. 8) states that ‘CDEP is liked because it provides a means to

undertake meaningful activity, work extra hours, earn extra money, to have the

flexibility to participate in the customary economy and in ceremony and to live on

ancestral land’. He goes on to say that CDEP is not welfare and abolishing it will

have a significant impact on people’s livelihoods and self-esteem and will

jeopardise local, regional and national benefits associated with the CDEP: it ‘will

reduce both income and hours of work and will widen the employment gap

considerably’ (Altman & Hinkson, 2010, pp. 198, 199).

Altman (2001) sums up the strengths and weaknesses of the CDEP scheme.

Flexibility is its strength because it is an employment, training, community

development and enterprise assistance program, which also allows the

participants the opportunity to pursue cultural and non-market prerogatives

alongside wage-based work, and at times has been an income support

mechanism. However, according to Altman (2001, p. 130), flexibility is also its

weakness: ‘There is statistical evidence of success in employment and income

generation, it is unclear how successful the scheme is in community development

and training’—partly because it is hard to measure or the appropriate statistics

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do not exist. While these scholars offer predominantly supportive views of the

achievements of CDEP, other scholars have noted some its negative features.

According to Hudson (2008), despite its good intentions, the CDEP scheme has

been a hindrance rather than a help to Indigenous people. She believes that at

the program’s heart is the notion that Indigenous Australians are not capable of

holding mainstream employment and instead of being a transition it is an obstacle

to work, with only around 5% moving to mainstream jobs. The CDEP guidelines

state that it should have been a stepping stone to employment and a temporary

measure. However, Hudson argues that many CDEP positions were ghost

positions that carried no responsibility or work outcomes.

Langton (as cited in Jopson, 2002) argues that CDEP was an ‘Aboriginal work for

the dole scheme’ and was widely regarded by Indigenous leaders as the principle

poverty trap for their families and communities:

CDEP was a statistical sleight of hand which reduced Indigenous jobless

figures by removing participating Aborigines from the unemployment

statistics ‘guising the extent of the problem’ … a form of ‘labour apartheid’

when it was introduced and since entrenched passive welfare.

Campbell and Schwab (2001) argue that too few CDEP workers accumulates

skills or knowledge that transferable to other community contexts, let alone

outside employment opportunities. Jordan (2012, p. 29) notes that CDEP was

‘radical for its time’ and sought to combine job creation, training, community

development and income support; however, it became a barrier to Indigenous

participation in the mainstream labour market and a form of ‘passive welfare’.

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Despite the criticisms, CDEP did accomplish what it was established to do—

create local employment and community development opportunities in remote

Indigenous communities where there was not much employment on offer.

According to Dockery and Milsom (2007a, p. 19), in some respects the CDEP

‘can be seen as Australia’s first mutual obligation program, a forerunner to recent

reforms in the provision of welfare in Australia’. CDEP participants have foregone

their welfare entitlements and have volunteered to work for their communities.

Surely, then, the CDEP ‘is a good model for how mutual obligation and social

partnerships can be effectively achieved while providing work for participants and

benefiting the community’ (Butler, 2001, p. 8).

The CDEP was an Indigenous alternative, proposed by Indigenous people, not a

solution imposed on Indigenous people by governments. It assisted Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islander peoples gain the skills, training and capabilities

needed, and assisted in finding sustainable employment and improving the

economic and social well-being of communities. This is why the CDEP is widely

regarded as the only successful labour market program for Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander people in Australia. It is based on the philosophies of self-

determination and is Indigenous focused.

In 1999, the Federal Government recognised that the Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander population was growing at twice that of the average Australian rate, and

that they suffered special disadvantages in the labour market. The Government

decided to embark on a new policy framework for Indigenous employment. The

CDEP was extensively rolled back.

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Structured Training and Employment Project. The STEP initiative

was part of the IEP from 1999 and offered financial help for projects that had

a focus on structured training leading to permanent employment for Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Training packages were tailored to meet

the needs of the employer, with flexible financial assistance. While the focus

was on private-sector employment, funding was also provided to the public

and community sectors. STEP projects involved differing levels of training,

including apprenticeships and traineeships (Department of Employment and

Workplace Relations, 2002a; Dockery & Milsom, 2007a, 2007b; Jordan &

Mavec, 2010).

In an evaluation of the IEP in 2003 by the Department of Employment and

Workplace Relations (DEWR), the STEP project showed high gross positive

outcomes and compared favourably with previous forms of specialised

assistance. However, the evaluation highlighted a need to improve completion

rates and for assistance to be targeted to the more disadvantaged job-seeker. In

addition, sustainable outcomes varied significantly by the level of education of the

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander job-seeker, with those who had completed

high school having better outcomes. The evaluation also related to the

effectiveness of the Job Network to assist Indigenous clients, finding that better

performance was needed to engage Indigenous clients to provide sustained

outcomes (Department of Employment and Workplace Relations, 2003; Dockery

& Milsom, 2007a). In 2007, DEWR conducted a study to determine the net impact

of STEP. The results showed that STEP was ‘successful in assisting Indigenous

job-seekers into work and the program produced sustained off-benefit outcomes’.

STEP was found to be an effective form of assistance when the program was

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accessed, even for those with ‘multiple labour market disadvantages’

(Department of Employment and Workplace Relations, 2010, p. 4 & 16; Gray et

al., 2012).

Wage assistance. Wage subsidies have existed as part of Indigenous

employment policies since the time of the Whitlam Government. Under the

IEP, a wage assistance card is provided to Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander job-seekers and is used as a self-canvassing tool to aid in finding

employment. Subsidies are offered to employers for up to 26 weeks and

employment can be in private, public or community sectors. Results of

evaluations for wage assistance have been very similar to those of the STEP

project. Net impacts of around 12% were reported, suggesting wage

assistance works (Department of Employment and Workplace Relations,

2003, 2010; Dockery & Milsom, 2007a; Gray et al., 2012).

Corporate Leaders for Indigenous Employment Project. CLIEP was

an initiative under the IEP where major companies made a public statement

committing to employ Indigenous people. A memorandum of understanding

and formal contract were developed by the organisation and DEWR. This

contract provides flexible funding assistance to undertake specific strategies

aimed at increasing Indigenous employment in their companies. This included

pre-employment training, cross-cultural awareness and mentoring programs.

Participants in the program included hotel chains, car manufacturers, mining

companies, airlines, banks and universities (Commonwealth Government,

2007; Department of Employment and Workplace Relations, 2002a; Jordan &

Mavec, 2010).

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When an evaluation of the CLIEP was performed in 2002, the data indicated that

the first 3 years the CLIEP initiative was, ‘to some extent, “preaching to the

converted”’ (Department of Employment and Workplace Relations, 2003, p. 46).

However, the report goes on to say that the initiative ‘achieved strong growth

among “traditional” rural industries such as agriculture and mining and

encouraging growth in projects in the accommodation, cafes and restaurants

industry and in the retail industry’ (Department of Employment and Workplace

Relations, 2002a, p. 48). It was also reported in the evaluation that cultural

awareness training for all staff and mentoring for the Indigenous employees was

vital for success (Department of Employment and Workplace Relations, 2003).

In 2009, the Labor Government began a review of CLIEP and announced that

the role of engaging with the corporate sector was being superseded by the

Australian Employment Covenant (AEC) & GenerationOne (Jordan & Mavec,

2010), both discussed later in this chapter.

National Indigenous Cadetship Project. Under the IEP, the NICP

supported companies and public-sector employers to sponsor Indigenous

tertiary students as cadets. Under the scheme, recruits were released from

study, provided with work experience and appointed to a permanent position

on successful completion of their studies (Department of Employment and

Workplace Relations, 2002a). Cadets received a study allowance from

employers while attending full-time study, which was reimbursed to the

employer by the Government. This model provides the organisation a

professionally qualified employee who has worked in and understands their

organisation (Dockery & Milsom, 2007b). (Dockery & Milsom, 2007b).

According to DEWR (2002a, p. 19), there is a ‘lack of readily available data’ on

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the effectiveness of this scheme. However, giving a cadet 3 years of practical

experience while completing university studies should have created some

benefits. From 2009 the NICP has been renamed the Indigenous Cadetship

Support program (Commonwealth Government, 2014b), which will be

discussed later.

Indigenous Small Business Fund. The ISBF was a joint initiative

between the DEWR and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission

(ATSIC) established under the IEP. The ISBF aimed to foster the development

of businesses owned, operated and managed by Indigenous people. The fund

was intended to assist Indigenous people to start a business, develop good

business skills, learn how to run a business, expand their existing business,

and commission business feasibility studies and business plans, all with a view

to fostering sustained Indigenous employment opportunities through these

businesses (Department of Employment and Workplace Relations, 2003;

Department of Finance and Deregulation, 2008; Dockery & Milsom, 2007b). In

a performance audit of the ISBF in 2008, it was found that a total of 31

programs offered business assistance and support to Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander peoples. However, the support varied depending on the ‘stage

of the development of a business’ (Department of Finance and Deregulation,

2008, p. 21). The audit also noted that ISBF projects were not tracked once

funding ceased, therefore it is impossible to gauge how successful the funding

was.

Volunteer Service to Indigenous Communities Foundation.

Established in 1999 under the IEP, this service matched skilled volunteers with

business, financial and technical skills to meet the needs of Aboriginal and

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Torres Strait Islander communities (Dockery & Milsom, 2007b). In 2000, this

service turned into the Indigenous Community Volunteers (ICV) and was an

Australian public company limited by guarantee. In 2003, ICV became a not-

for-profit organisation (Department of Finance and Deregulation, 2009). ICV

will be discussed in a later section.

Reformed Indigenous Employment Program. Following an extensive

consultation process during 2008–2009, the IEP was reformed. The reformed

IEP is part of the then federal Labor Government’s commitment to reduce

Indigenous disadvantage, including halving the employment gap between

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Indigenous Australians

within a decade. The Department of Education, Employment and Workplace

Relations (DEEWR) stated that the reformed IEP ‘would make employment

and training services more responsive to the specific needs of Indigenous job-

seekers, Indigenous businesses and employers’ (Commonwealth

Government, 2010). Two panels were established to assist in the provision of

services under the reformed IEP: the IEP employment panel and the IEP

Economic Development and Business Support Panel (Department of

Education Employment and Workplace Relations, 2009b).

According to DEEWR, ‘The IEP supports a broad range of activities that are

responsive to the needs of employers, Indigenous Australians and their

communities’ (Commonwealth Government, 2010). Support is available for

activities that help to achieve the objective of the IEP for Indigenous Australians.

This includes support and encouragement to employers to provide sustainable

employment opportunities; support and encouragement to Indigenous

Australians to engage in training and employment opportunities, retain jobs and

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enhance their future employment prospects; assisting Indigenous communities,

industry bodies and groups of employers to develop Indigenous workforce and

economic development strategies that support local and regional economic

growth; and assisting Indigenous Australians to develop sustainable businesses

and economic opportunities in urban, regional and remote areas (Commonwealth

Government, 2010).

The categories of support under the reformed IEP included support for

employment, Indigenous Cadetship Support, Indigenous Wage Assistance,

CDEP and Business Economic Development Support (Department of Education

Employment and Workplace Relations, 2009b). There were also a range of non-

government support services that interact with the IEP. They included Indigenous

Business Australia (IBA), CDEP, Community Support Services (CSS), AEC, New

Enterprise Incentive Scheme (NEIS), AES and Reconciliation Australia (RA),

which will be discussed later in this chapter.

Under the reformed IEP there was a duplication of services within DEEWR and

the external support providers. Many of the services that were offered under the

old STEP project were still offered under the reformed IEP, such as tailored

assistance for training and wage assistance. However, training services offered

under the IEP were very similar to those associated with the AEC. One of the key

functions of the AEC was to secure employer demand, then facilitate training

schemes like those offered under the IEP from a variety of training organisations,

such as TAFE (Jordan & Mavec, 2010). Between 2002 and 2013 there were no

reviews undertaken on the IEP.

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In 2013, Prime Minister Tony Abbott commissioned mining mogul Andrew Forrest

to lead a review of Indigenous Training and Employment programs. The purpose

of the review was ‘to ensure Indigenous training and employment services are

properly targeted and administered to connect unemployed Indigenous people

with real and sustainable jobs’ (Forrest, 2014, p. 224). Over 300 submissions

were received from Aboriginal organisations, government departments,

community groups and non-government organisations (NGOs). The review

covered an analysis of the current IEP, what worked, what did not work, and what

changes were required to move ahead to close the gap in Indigenous

disadvantage—in Andrew Forrest’s opinion.

The report found that the outcome rate for the IEP was consistently around 55%,

which was higher than employment outcomes for mainstream programs.

Contracts for training and support services were tailored to the needs of the

employer and were well structured; the IEP focused on the strengths of the job-

seeker rather than the disadvantages. Some of the criticisms of the IEP were that

funding was unreliable, there was an excessive amount of red tape and a lengthy

approval process to access funding, and restrictions placed on school-based

traineeships had cost outcomes. Additionally, the Job Services Australia (JSA)

system was ‘woefully inadequate’ at delivering employment outcomes. Its design

was flawed and failed to meet the needs of employers or the market (Forrest,

2014). Another criticism of the system was that it was supply driven rather than

demand-driven. The report noted that disparity had increased over the last 5

years, and the only way to end disparity was meaningful employment. However,

Forrest failed to differentiate between, urban, rural and remote Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander communities in his report, suggesting that 200 discrete

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communities should be targeted. He made a one-size-fits-all assumption about

incentives and disincentives to apply across diverse circumstances of urban,

regional and remote Australia (Hunt, 2014). In effect, the report ‘blame[d]

individual Aboriginal people for their unemployment status, rather than adopting

a more structural analysis of the problem’ Hunt (2014, p. 18).

A total of 27 recommendations were put forward by the Forrest Review, not all

relating to Indigenous employment and training. Fred Chaney (as cited in Mason,

2014), suggested the only way to end Indigenous disadvantage was to listen to

Indigenous Australians.

Mason (2014) notes that there is an absence of this in the Forrest report:

Twiggy’s report suggests that there is little difference between Aboriginal

and non-Aboriginal employment rates if all have a decent education level

and that employers consistently state there is a need for higher literacy

and numeracy levels. This ignores research that indicated that the greatest

impediment to Aboriginal employment is prejudiced and negative views

held by employers.

The Centre of Aboriginal Economic Policy Research (CAEPR) at the Australian

National University undertakes high-quality independent research to advance the

social and economic development and empowerment of Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander peoples throughout Australia. In response to the Forrest Review,

15 highly regarded academics have made submissions relating to the review and

presented their perspectives in a ‘topical issue’. Most notable within this group is

Jon Altman, who has undertaken research on Indigenous policy development for

over 40 years. Altman (2014) was very sceptical about the review and outlined

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20 reasons that the review is the ‘most unsatisfactory review of an area of

Indigenous policy’ he has observed. Altman stated that the Forrest review

‘philosophically blends 1964 assimilation policy ideas with 21st century

neoliberalism’ and ‘irresponsibly over-reaches its terms of reference so rather

than delivering something useful on training and employment, it seeks to reshape

the Indigenous policy framework’ (Altman, 2014, p. 3). Altman (2014) argues that

the review was flawed as it had no costings and allowed no timeline for the ‘parity’

referred to by Forrest. In addition, there are very few examples of success

provided in the review, as it is primarily ‘problem’- and ‘deficit’-focused. Altman

(2014, p. 3) argues that, if the reforms of the review are implemented, it would

lead to cultural and identity elimination and would destroy any remaining

remnants of self-determination:

The Review is conceptually flawed because it assumes that all Indigenous

people operate like homo economicus, western rational economic man,

influenced by dollar calculations and so amenable to reward and

punishment to alter behaviours and norms. It proposes an extreme form

of risky social engineering.

There seems to be little sound educational merit in the Forrest Review, which is

based on false assumptions. Rather, it seems to be responding to age-old

prejudices and the desire to assimilate Aboriginal people and remove a problem

in remote and resource-rich areas.

Remote Jobs and Community Program. The Remote Jobs and

Communities Program (RJCP) commenced on 1 July 2013 to help more

people find jobs and participate in their communities, and will provide a more

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streamlined and flexible employment and participation service in remote

Australia (Australian Government, 2013). RJCP is designed so that everyone

who can work should, and those who are not working can participate in

meaningful activities that contribute to their communities while enhancing their

work-readiness. Key features of the RJCP are employment and participation

activities, including personalised support for job-seekers. It also has provision

for a Remote Youth Leadership and Development Corps (Youth Corps) to help

young people move successfully from school to work. It emphasises the need

for providers and communities to work together through the development of

Community Action Plans to identify the strategies and resources needed to

overcome barriers to employment and participation. The RJCP also provides

for a Community Development Fund to help communities build strong social

and economic foundations (Australian Government, 2013).

4.10 Programs by Non-Government Organisations

Job Network/Job Service Australia. Until 1998 the CES provided a

range of labour market programs that delivered short-term training, wage

subsidies, work experience and case management of unemployed people.

This service was replaced in 1998 by the Job Network, which is a national

network of private, community and government organisations. It was a radical

change in the way employment services were delivered (Department of

Employment and Workplace Relations, 2002b). This model of service delivery

focused on outcomes. Network providers were paid by the Government for

placing job-seekers in sustainable employment (Dockery & Milsom, 2007b).

These network providers operated at three levels of service: job brokering, job

search training and intensive assistance for those within disadvantaged

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groups, such as Indigenous Australians (Department of Employment and

Workplace Relations, 2002a; Dockery & Milsom, 2007b). Job Network has

been criticised for not meeting the needs of Indigenous Australians (Alford &

Gullo, 2000; Dockery, 1999; Dockery & Milsom, 2007a), as the low outcome

and participation rates were attributed to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders

being placed in the ‘too hard’ basket (Dockery & Milsom, 2007a). Another

criticism has been that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples that were

referred to intensive assistance usually returned to the income support register

within 15 months of the referral (Department of Employment and Workplace

Relations, 2002b).

In July 2009, JSA replaced the Job Network and the service was restructured so

that job-seekers were classified into one of four ‘streams’: stream one, comprising

the least ‘disadvantaged’ job-seekers, with streams two, three and four

comprising more ‘disadvantaged’ applicants. Greater emphasis was placed on

addressing skills shortages, social inclusion and targeting disadvantaged job-

seekers, including Indigenous Australians. (Department of Education

Employment and Workplace Relations, 2009a). There were some major

concerns about Indigenous servicing under this new model, particularly: was JSA

contributing to ‘Closing the Gap’ around employment initiatives, have JSA

agencies employed Indigenous staff members, and do Indigenous people have

access to training and skill-acquisition opportunities?

Karmel et al. (2014, p. 30) noted that in 2009 60% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander job-seekers were classified in stream three and 37% were classified in

stream four. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander job-seekers living in very

remote areas were more likely to be classified as stream three than city dwellers,

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while city dwellers were more likely to be classified as stream four than those in

remote areas. The reason that less remote people were listed in stream four is

that the RJCP now operates in remote communities, making the data skewed.

The JSA contribution to ‘Closing the Gap’ was discussed and assessed in the

Forrest Review (Forrest, 2014, p. 154). Forrest found that: ‘The JSA system has

proven woefully inadequate at delivering sustainable employment outcomes. At

its core, the design of JSA is flawed; it is not designed to meet the needs of

employers or the market’. JSA was criticised by Forrest for assessing Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islander job-seekers on their level of disadvantage and not on

their skills, for providing training for ‘training sake’, not providing long-term

support (support stops at 26 weeks once the outcome payment has been

received) that met the complex needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander job-

seekers, and that JSA providers should be selected on demonstrated

performance and effectively establishing relationships with Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander communities. However, the current Federal Government has not

addressed the criticisms from the Forrest review of the JSA.

Australian Employment Covenant. The AEC was officially launched

in October 2008 by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who stated at the time that ‘the

most basic form of social justice available to any person at any time and in any

place … is the right to a job’ (Rudd, 2008, as cited in Jordan & Mavec, 2010,

p. 7). The AEC was the brainchild of mining mogul Andrew Forrest, who states

that ‘our task of placing and retaining Indigenous workers in the workforce will

not always be an easy one … new workers will need to be supported as they

adapt to a working life and should be encouraged as they cast off old and

unhelpful habits’ (Forrest, in AEC n.d.-b:3, as cited in Jordan & Mavec, 2010,

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p. 11). When launched, the AEC’s goal was to create 50 000 jobs for

Indigenous Australians within 2 years. At the time of its launch, there was

already various employment programs aimed at helping Aboriginal people to

gain meaningful employment. What made the AEC different was that it was an

industry-led initiative that aimed at driving engagement and partnerships to

develop commitments to tackle Indigenous disadvantage (Auditor General,

2013). According to the AEC, it represented a major commitment to the future

of Indigenous Australians by providing those prepared to work with a clear

pathway to employment and the ability to reach their full potential (Australian

Employment Convenant, 2010).

The Federal Government fully endorsed the AEC in line with its commitment to

‘Closing the Gap’ in the employment of Indigenous and non-Indigenous

Australians. DEEWR facilitated and coordinated activities on the Government’s

behalf, utilising its resources under the IEP. The Government also agreed to fund

the AEC to the amount of $20.9 million for the first 3 years, with a further

expectation of $200 million in order for the AEC to reach its target of 50 000 jobs

(Auditor General, 2013).

In 2010, Jordan and Mavec undertook an independent research study that sought

to illustrate the challenges involved in creating 50 000 new Indigenous jobs. It

included a review of the outcomes that the AEC had achieved since its inception

and the challenges faced by the AEC in relation to Indigenous disadvantage,

legislation and policy. The study noted that the majority of the organisations that

had signed up to the AEC were already signatories to the CLIEP, so it seemed

that the AEC had taken over the role of engaging the corporate sector from the

CLIEP. In addition, most signatories have developed their own RAPs, where the

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organisation has committed to Indigenous employment targets and the AEC

relies heavily on existing services such as the IEP program funded by DEEWR

and JSA. The Commonwealth Government gave funding to the AEC, with

additional funds allocated from DEEWR for operational costs and additional

funding tied to outcomes, pledges, placements and retention to 26 weeks. Jordan

and Mavic (2010) found there is no difference in training under AEC to other

schemes funded under the IEP. However, there are some initiatives that set the

AEC apart from previous initiatives. A one-on-one mentor is assigned to each

Indigenous job-seeker who gets employed under the scheme. Also, employers

reserve a specific number of jobs for Indigenous job-seekers; however, this is not

a legal obligation, only an informal commitment (Jordan & Mavec, 2010).

The research noted that few jobs were listed in parts of the country where there

is high Indigenous unemployment, such as rural and remote locations, and that

the jobs offered were often low-skilled positions in a narrow range of occupations.

After 2 years only 2800 Indigenous people had been placed in jobs, so the level

of actual job creation under the scheme was quite low, despite over 20 000

pledges for jobs at that time. In addition, according to the AEC there were 2300

jobs available on their website. However, a search indicated only 350 job

advertisements. Jordan and Mavec (2010, p. 19) stated that, ‘In assessing its

achievements, the key issue is that the AEC added value to existing labour

market programs, particularly those under the IEP’. In addition, the AEC has not

fulfilled its commitment to record or publish employment outcomes and the

Government is not forthcoming with public documents, meaning public

assessment of the effectiveness of the scheme is impossible (Jordan & Mavec,

2010):

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The AEC has fallen well short of its stated goals, perhaps the strongest

criticism of the scheme is its tendency to either undervalue or overlook the

socio-cultural systems of some Indigenous people that may make

mainstream work in highly regimented jobs particularly problematic.

(Jordan & Mavec, 2010, p. 23)

Some organisations interviewed as part of this thesis stated that the AEC was

double-dipping outcomes to make them look good. ‘They really don’t do anything

and their website is appalling … it’s a big waste of time and money … they are

claiming numbers they have not placed … we have placed them’ (Bank 2

Management 7, 2011).

In 2011, the AEC was entering into its second phase of operation, with a shift

away from capturing commitments from employers to focus on activating

vacancies by supporting employers to develop real employment opportunities for

Indigenous job-seekers and creating supportive workplaces (Pinkstone, 2011a).

In 2013, the Auditor General produced an audit report of the Government’s

contribution to the AEC. In March 2013 the AEC reported that more than 330

employers had made public commitments to assist Indigenous job-seekers. In

addition, employers had made public commitments of over 60 000 jobs that had

led to 14 000 job placements. The Government reported that it had allocated $150

million in support for the AEC through direct funding and through the IEP (Auditor

General, 2013). Some of the key findings of the report indicated that, while the

partnership had achieved some of its aims relating to employment and job

commitments, the expected level of ongoing collaboration was not facilitated.

Further, there was limited performance information available to accurately

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measure the Government’s contribution to the Covenant. DEEWR relied heavily

on data from the AEC and could not track or identify the extent to which it was

meeting its obligations under the agreement because information provided by

DEEWR did not align itself to the information provided by the AEC (Auditor

General, 2013). It was also noted in the report that the AEC has now become part

of GenerationOne.

GenerationOne. On 19 March 2010, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd

launched GenerationOne, a step to involve the entire Australian community in

a shared commitment to ‘Closing the Gap’ (GenerationOne, 2014).

GenerationOne now has over 284 000 supporters and is continuing to build

the essential community support for sustainable employment.

GenerationOne’s mission is to end the disparity between Indigenous and non-

Indigenous Australians in one generation through employment, in line with

‘Closing the Gap’. GenerationOne uses campaigns that aim to break down

stereotypes and negativity towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

peoples by the promotion of success stories and opportunities.

GenerationOne’s leading initiative was the AEC, which was discussed earlier.

GenerationOne believes that government policies around Indigenous

employment and training should be demand-driven. In partnerships with state

governments, GenerationOne runs the Pathway Program, a school-work

transition program in NSW and QLD (GenerationOne, 2014).

GenerationOne is a not-for-profit organisation, founded by Andrew and Nicola

Forrest. The foundation is supported by the Forrests, James Packer, Kerry

Stokes, the Lowy and Fox families and others ‘who want to make a difference’.

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GenerationOne has collaborated on four major projects to develop the skills and

training for a career policy. The first project was ‘skills and training for a career’,

a discussion paper and consultation process to combine examples of employer-

directed pre-employment and training, linked to a guaranteed job. The second

project was ‘best practice case studies’, which identified the elements of success

and the common elements in a number of existing pre-employment and training

programs. The third project was ‘walk in my shoes’, which was a qualitative

survey of employment experiences from an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

perspective. The fourth project was ‘raising Indigenous workforce participation’,

which involved scoping studies on improving data collection and undertaking

effective labour market interventions. The projects were executed in partnership

with organisations such as AEC, Social Ventures Australia, Austpoll, AES,

Mission Australia and The Workplace Research Centre at the University of

Sydney’s Business School (Pinkstone, 2011a).

Aboriginal Employment Strategy. The AES is a 100% Indigenous

managed, national, not-for-profit recruitment company. According to the AES,

being wholly Indigenous gives them the ‘know how’ to match the right career-

seekers with the right opportunities to achieve great results (Australian

Government, 2013). No other recruitment organisation offers their kind of

expertise and commitment (Aboriginal Employment Strategy, 2014). AES state

that they have the following business drivers through which they achieve their

results: recruitment services, traineeship services and business development.

The AES was started by cotton farmer Dick Estens in Moree in 1997. Dick had

the support of the Cotton industry through the Gwydir Valley Cotton Growers

Association. The AES was developed after recommendations of the 1991 Royal

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Commission into Black Deaths in Custody, which advocated for the establishment

of Aboriginal employment promotion committees nationwide. It quickly grew to

become an organisation making significant changes to Moree and positive

changes for the town’s Aboriginal people. The program changed the town’s

reputation from one with a racist reputation to a leader in reconciliation between

Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people. In 2003, according to the AES website, the

AES expanded to Tamworth, then to Dubbo in 2004 and Sydney in 2005. Since

then the AES has a significant footprint in NSW and has expanded to QLD, NT,

WA and VIC (Aboriginal Employment Strategy, 2012). According to the AES

website, they have ‘transformed over 12,000 lives through providing Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islander people with career opportunities’ (Aboriginal

Employment Strategy, 2014).

Indigenous Business Australia. IBA, previously known as the

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commercial Development Corporation

(CDC) is an Australian Government statutory authority, governed by a board

of directors, which seeks to help Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people

and communities to engage in commercial and economic activity, build wealth

and develop economic independence (Department of Finance and

Deregulation, 2007). IBA was established in 2001 when ATSIC was abolished,

but has been in existence since 1990 through the CDC, and prior to that

through The Aboriginal Development Commission (Ernst & Young, 2014a).

However, it was not until 2005 that IBA Enterprises came into operation.

IBA’s purpose is enshrined in legislation (Section 146 of the Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander Act 2005), which is to:

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Assist and enhance Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander self-

management and economic self-sufficiency; and advance the commercial

and economic interests of Aboriginal persons and Torres Strait Islanders

by accumulating and using a substantial capital asset for the benefit of the

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. (Department of Finance and

Deregulation, 2007, p. 2)

IBA has five programs, however, keeping with the theme of this thesis

(Indigenous employment), only IBA Enterprises will be covered. The reasons for

this are clearly articulated in a study by Ernst & Young, who state that ‘for every

$200,000 business loan IBA provides, 2.3 Indigenous jobs are created’ (2014a,

p. 12). IBA consists of three elements: economic development, which stimulates

small business activity; business support for potential Indigenous entrepreneurs

and business finance loans (Department of Finance and Deregulation, 2007).

In 2007 the Federal Government undertook an evaluation of IBA Enterprises. The

evaluation found that IBA Enterprises achieved all relevant measures relating to

quantity and quality of service in 2006–07. However, it did not meet its measures

in 2006–07. Additionally, the evaluation found it difficult to assess overall

effectiveness of the program, as client outcome data was sparse; monitoring of

client outcomes only commenced in 2006–07, so there were significant gaps. It

was also reported that the survival rate of new businesses funded was 90% in

the first year, and 174 Indigenous jobs had been generated since the program

started. The evaluation found that promotion of the program was lacking and

should be addressed, and that program activities were complimentary of other

government initiatives available (Department of Finance and Deregulation, 2007).

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In 2013, Ernst & Young were commissioned by the Commonwealth Government

to perform a review of IBA. The report that followed in 2014 identified the following

outcomes in driving Indigenous economic development. IBA created 222 new

Indigenous jobs and as a result of funding Indigenous economic development

300 new Indigenous jobs were created. Additionally, there was a greater focus

on loan support than mainstream products, with 1723 people attending ‘into

business workshops’ and 552 new businesses provided with support, all well

above target. The report states that:

The achievements evidenced by IBA also suggest that it is operating

effectively, though remains capable of directing more focus towards

activities that drive enterprise development and job creation. … Our

assessment is that IBA is effective and demonstrating high levels of

performance with capacity to extend its reach. (Ernst & Young, 2014a, p.

48)

Reconciliation Australia. RA is one of many organisations that are

dedicated to the ‘Closing the Gap’ strategy and halving the gap in employment

outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. RA is an

independent, not-for-profit organisation that was established in 2000 to

promote reconciliation by building relationships, respect and trust between the

wider Australian community and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples

(Reconciliation Australia, 2014a).

Since 2006, RA, in partnership with corporates, government departments and

NGOs, have been working to build strong relationships and to achieve

sustainable employment and business opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres

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Strait Islander peoples. To gain sustainable employment a cultural shift is

required in a workplace. With this in mind, RA developed the Workplace Ready

Program, which is delivered through funding from the Federal Government. The

program has been developed ‘to support organisations to enhance their ability to

create culturally aware workplaces that attract, develop and retain Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander employees’ (Reconciliation Australia, 2014d). Many

organisations across Australia have developed employment policies and

programs, and are willing to share this information to assist other businesses to

‘close the gap’. The Workplace Ready Program toolkit is based on the information

and experiences of those organisations and is aimed at line managers, human

resources managers and supervisors. The toolkit contains insights and examples

from organisations with successful A&TSIEPs, and includes a series of case

studies that will assist an organisation to create long-term sustainable jobs for

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples (Reconciliation Australia, 2014d).

Another key strategy by RA is the RAP (Reconciliation Australia, 2009b), which

was launched in July 2006 to turn ‘good intentions into action’ by encouraging

and supporting organisations both large and small to engage in the national effort

to close the gap in life expectancy between Indigenous and other Australians.

RA, through the RAP program, provides a framework, advice, networks and

evaluation for organisations to make a real, measurable difference

(Reconciliation Australia, 2009b).

One of the elements to a RAP for an organisation is a Reconciliation Statement

of Commitment, which can be a standalone document or part of the introduction

to a RAP. Usually the Reconciliation Statement is developed first and then

followed by the RAP, which complements the values and commitments

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expressed in the statement. There are some subtle differences between a

Reconciliation Statement and a RAP. A RAP formalises an organisation’s

contribution to reconciliation, identifying clear actions and realistic targets. It is

important that organisations shape their own RAP and include a blend of

Indigenous community relationships, respect and opportunities for growth, as

every organisation has something special to offer (Reconciliation Australia,

2009b).

Reconciliation Statement of Commitment. While unique to each

organisation, a Reconciliation Statement of Commitment usually

acknowledges the traditional peoples associated with the organisation and the

cultural significance and history of the region within which the organisation is

based. It outlines the organisation’s commitment to Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander peoples, cultures, aspirations and contributions, as well as the

organisation’s continued commitment to reconciliation. The organisation

makes a commitment in the statement to actively increase the representation

of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the workplace. The

organisation also makes a commitment to ensure that its culture encourages

diversity, respects the cultural values of Indigenous peoples, and

accommodates cultural differences wherever possible within its policies and

practices, using the principles of self-determination, social justice, equal

partnership and equity (Dyer, 2010).

Reconciliation Action Plan. The RAP program is just one way

organisations can improve opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander peoples. A RAP is a ‘living’ document and an ongoing commitment,

and is based on three key areas: relationships, respect and opportunities. The

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success of a RAP hinges on organisations working collaboratively with RA to

drive social and cultural change by building respectful relationships that

generate sustainable opportunities. RAPs are reviewed regularly and must be

reported on annually (Reconciliation Australia, 2014c).

Through the RAP program, organisations develop business plans that show how

they will contribute to reconciliation, whether in employment, economic

development or within Indigenous communities. Within a RAP, the organisation

outlines practical steps it will take to build stronger relationships and respect

between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, its plans to drive diversity within

the organisation in pursuing sustainable employment, economic development or

other outcomes. There are four types of RAPs that an organisation can commit

to: Reflect RAP, Innovate RAP, Stretch RAP and Elevate RAP. These are based

on three key areas: relationships, respect and opportunities. The RAP chosen by

an organisation will depend on its size, its development stage and what it strives

to achieve (Reconciliation Australia, 2014b, 2014c).

In 2009, RA released a discussion paper, the aim of which was to provide a

framework to enable discussions between RA and interested stakeholders about

ways in which the actions associated with a RAP could be measured and, in

particular, whether RAPs were contributing to ‘Closing the Gap’. In

acknowledging this, RA conceded that measuring social impact is challenging

and never straightforward; however, many organisations that currently implement

RAPs want to understand the implications of their actions at a national level to

achieve the required outcomes and they are contributing positively to ‘Closing the

Gap’. To follow the discussion paper, a series of workshops were held in 2010

from which the feedback was summarised (Reconciliation Australia, 2009a).

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From this, a RAP impact database was established to assist in the analysis and

impact of RAPs.

As a result of this process, RA published its first RAP Impact Measurement

Report in 2012. According to the report, measuring the impact of the RAP

program has simple, long-term objectives: to significantly contribute to the

national targets of ‘Closing the Gap’ in life expectancy for Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander Australians by 2023, halving the gap in employment outcomes for

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians by 2018, and halving the gap in

year 12 attainment rates for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians by

2023 (Reconciliation Australia, 2012).

The outcomes in the RAP Impact Report were derived by an analysis of more

than 5000 RAP commitments from 280 organisations registered in the RAP

program. In some cases, data was supplemented from organisations’ annual

reports and the Australian Public Service Commission Indigenous employment

figures to determine whether each organisation met, exceeded, failed to meet, or

was still implementing its RAP commitments. The analysis indicated that the RAP

community is making a significant and lasting difference in the following areas:

building a nation that understands its Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural

roots, enabling the voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to be

heard, creating a safe environment for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

peoples and other Australians to work together, providing the foundation for a

significant and sustainable increase in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

employment, supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students to achieve

their ambitions, and helping drive a nascent Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

business sector. RA state that a large number of organisations have had a

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positive impact on the following social determinants of Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Island health: economic inclusion, employment security, social inclusion

and education (Reconciliation Australia, 2012).

In 2013, RA produced another Impact Measurement Report that showed the

following key findings: 358 organisations had a RAP; more than 1.7 million

Australians worked or studied in an organisation that has a RAP; RAP

organisations are employing more than 18 972 Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander people; RAP organisations had purchased $58.2 million worth of goods

and services from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander businesses; RAP

organisations had provided more than $14.7 million towards scholarships for

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students; RAP organisations had provided

213 446 people with cultural awareness training; and 354 Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander organisations and communities are working in partnerships with a

RAP organisation (Reconciliation Australia, 2013b).

Through the research and evaluation carried out by RA there is strong evidence

to suggest that the RAP framework is achieving its objectives (Reconciliation

Australia, 2013b). However, no independent evaluation has been undertaken to

confirm this. In subsequent chapters the RAP program will be discussed in

conjunction with industry case studies.

4.11 Recent Developments

In 2014, the Federal Government announced a ‘new approach to engaging with

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to achieve real results’. The

Indigenous Advancement Strategy’s new approach consolidates the many

different Indigenous policies and programs that are delivered by the Government.

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One objective has a particular focus on getting Indigenous Australians into work,

fostering Indigenous business and ensuring Indigenous people receive

economic and social benefits from the effective management of their lands and

native title rights (Commonwealth Government, 2014a).

As part of that new approach, the Government announced that all able-bodied

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 18–49 who were unemployed

would be required to work for their welfare payments for 5 hours per day, 5 days

a week, 52 weeks of the year. This policy change came out of the Forrest Review,

which finally acknowledged that there was no mainstream labour market in most

remote Aboriginal communities. Since recognising there are insufficient jobs in

remote communities, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples will be forced

into ‘work-like’ activities in the community for 25 hours per week (Altman, 2015).

The former Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, who appointed himself the Prime

Minister for Indigenous Affairs, has suggested that living in remote communities

is a ‘lifestyle choice’. However, many Aboriginal people would argue that

connection to country is a cultural imperative, not a lifestyle choice. According to

Altman (2015), ‘the overarching goal of policy is to close statistical gaps, to turn

remote living Indigenous people into no-gaps neoliberal subjects’. There have

already been issues with the newly developed Indigenous Advancement

Strategy, so time will show if this new initiative delivers its goals and objectives.

Government policy is a key to Closing the Gap on labour market disadvantage;

however, the majority of labour market programs previously implemented have

failed to produce results. This can be attributed to the Government ignoring the

dominant political philosophy of self-determination held by Aboriginal people.

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4.12 Conclusion

Since recognising the severe disadvantage faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander peoples, the federal and state governments have offered a range of

labour market programs to promote Indigenous employment and training. There

are also a range of indirect programs and support offered by Australian

Government agencies. The Government’s stated goals are to determine ‘how

much difference’ a program makes, the difference between outcomes for a

participant, and what outcome would have occurred in the absence of

participation. However, the current approach only monitors outcomes (Borland,

2005). There is a significant body of evidence on what works and what does not

work in assisting Indigenous unemployed persons to obtain and remain in jobs.

According to Borland (2005), the Government is obligated to act on this evidence

in the design of labour market program policy.

This chapter has outlined and critically analysed the major policies that

governments have utilised in an attempt to reduce labour market disadvantage

for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Have the programs and policies

been effective in supplying meaningful employment outcomes?

The recent study (Abbott, 2014) showing the gap in employment outcomes

between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples appears to be widening. The

question is why. The programs discussed are designed to make every effort to

close this gap. However, issues arising from the recently introduced Indigenous

Advancement Strategy have already generated doubts about the Government’s

commitment to ‘close the gap’.

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Despite considerable amounts of money being spent in a wide range of

employment programs designed to improve Indigenous employment, the

numbers of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples involved in mainstream

employment have not increased significantly (Gregory, 2006). Indeed, ‘over the

last 3 decades, Aboriginal employment growth has been extremely disappointing’

(Gregory, 2006, p. 83). The outcome remains that ‘Indigenous mainstream

employment is very low … and there is little evidence that across-the-board

employment prospects are improving … and despite large amounts of public

expenditure … our policies seem to have failed spectacularly’ (Gregory, 2006, p.

84).

If the policies and programs to date have not meaningful outcomes or reduced

the labour market disadvantage for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples,

what will? Overall policy and program objectives aimed to increase the level of

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participation in private-sector employment.

In this regard, analysis of the limitations of labour market programs may be useful

in determining a better approach. Limitations of past programs included the fact

they were short-term fixes by subsequent governments, and policies and

programs were often developed using out-of-date census data and thus were

destined to fail. In addition, programs were set unrealistic goals that could not

possibly be reached, and programs were often outcome driven, hence Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islander peoples were put in the too hard basket. Perhaps the

two biggest limitations were that programs did not cater for remote areas and

there was a complete lack of systematic reviewing of the programs. When

programs were reviewed, often Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples

were blamed for programs not working.

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What is known from analysing labour market programs overseas is that some of

best results came from early intervention programs, such as school programs.

This would suggest that a labour market program that incorporates school and

work could reduce labour market disadvantage, such as school-based

traineeships. In Chapters 6, 7 and 8, industry case studies, including

organisations that utilise school-based traineeships, will be analysed. Other

research from overseas found that labour market programs featuring targeted

training that were small in scale and had an on-the-job component had the best

results in reducing labour market disadvantage. Pre-employment programs run

by private-sector employers have targeted training, are on a small scale, and

have a work component attached. These programs will also be discussed in

Chapters 6, 7 and 8.

Therefore, it seems that to reduce labour market disadvantage for Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander peoples involves comprehensive policies and programs

that specifically target early intervention at the school level and programs that

encourage private-sector organisations to employ and give meaningful careers

to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

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Chapter 5: Private-Sector Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander Employment Strategies

In the previous chapter, government-directed labour market programs were

analysed to ascertain their effectiveness in assisting Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander involvement in the labour market. This chapter will map the top 100

companies listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) to see if these

companies have A&TSIEPs. Specifically, do they have RAPs, and do they have

programs that contribute to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities?

This chapter will then determine the driving forces behind companies adopting an

A&TSIEP. It will evaluate best practice in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

employment in an organisation, what is at the core of the strategy, what the

justification for the program is, who the stakeholders are and what outcomes are

expected. It will also assess what support mechanisms are utilised and by what

measurement and how often programs should be evaluated.

The problems that confront many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

communities represent an enormous challenge for governments, as seen in

Chapter 4. The way forward is to encourage joint initiatives between government

and private-sector organisations to tackle the labour market disadvantages faced

by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Under the banner of ‘mutual

obligation’, these groups need to work together to ‘fund, organise and promote a

range of strategies aimed at assisting Indigenous people’ (Tiplady & Barclay,

2007, p. 8). In 2007, the Minerals Industry commissioned a study entitled

‘Minerals Industry Indigenous Employment Research Project’. One of the key

objectives of this research project was to ‘develop a toolkit to assist mining

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companies to achieve improved Indigenous employment outcomes’ (Tiplady &

Barclay, 2007, p. 2). However, this study was specific to the mining industry. With

this in mind, it was apparent an evaluative framework should be developed that

could be used by any industry. This chapter is the journey to develop that

framework.

5.1 Private-Sector Involvement

The National Indigenous Reform Agreement (NIRA) of 2011 noted that

Indigenous economic development cannot be achieved by government alone.

Each sector of the economy has a role to play if Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander disadvantage is to be overcome. It acknowledged the effort that the

private sector has made thus far to increase economic participation, but

suggested that this needed to be increased significantly and become more

comprehensive. The private sector has the capacity to play a vital role in creating

employment opportunities for Indigenous people, both directly and indirectly

through ‘its investment decisions’ (Council of Australian Governments, 2011). It

is generally accepted that secure employment facilitates positive social

outcomes, and is essential for well-being.

So, do organisations care about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

disadvantage? If so, what are they doing to alleviate this disadvantage? In the

following section, Australia’s top 100 companies are mapped to determine what

they are doing to alleviate disadvantage for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

peoples.

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5.2 Mapping the Workplace Support Programs Provided by

Australia’s Largest 100 Listed Companies for Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander Australians

Taken from ASX Marketwatch (2015), Table 5.1 is a list of the top 100 ASX listed

companies. The companies are listed in alphabetical order and the ranking is

determined by market capitalisation, as listed on the Australian Securities

Exchange.

Table 5.1 outlines each of Australia’s largest 100 listed companies and identifies

what type of work place support programs, if any, each of them have for

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The information was gathered from

each organisation’s website and through RA (Reconciliation Australia, 2015b).

To easily identify organisations in Table 5.1, the organisations who have

programs have a red Yes, the organisations that do not have a black No.

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Table 5.1: Mapping of Australia’s Largest 100 Listed Companies.

Company Name A&TSIEP RAP Community

Programs

1 AGL Energy Ltd No No Yes

2 Atlas Iron Ltd Yes No Yes

3 Asciano Ltd No No No

4 Aristocrat Leisure Ltd No No No

5 Amcor Ltd No No No

6 AMP Ltd No No Yes

7 Ansell Ltd No No No

8 ANZ Banking Group Ltd Yes Yes Yes

9 APA Group No No Yes

10 Aquarius Platinum Limited No No No

11 ASX Ltd No No No

12 Alumina Ltd No No Yes

13 Billabong International Ltd No No No

14 Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Ltd No No No

15 BHP Billiton Ltd Yes Yes Yes

16 Boral Ltd No No Yes

17 Boart Longyear Ltd No No No

18 Bank of Queensland Ltd No No No

19 BlueScope Steel Ltd No No Yes

20 Brambles Ltd No No No

21 Commonwealth Bank of Australia Yes Yes Yes

22 Coca-Cola Amatil Ltd Yes No Yes

23 Novion Property Group No No No

24 Challenger Ltd No No No

25 Cochlear Ltd No No No

26 Dexus Property Group No No No

27 ALS Limited No No No

28 Computershare Ltd No No No

29 Charter Hall Group No No No

30 CSL Ltd No No No

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Company Name A&TSIEP RAP Community Programs

31 CSR Ltd No No No

32 Caltex Australia Ltd No No No

33 Crown Ltd Yes Yes Yes

34 David Jones Ltd No No No

35 Downer EDI Ltd Yes No Yes

36 DUET Group No No No

37 Dexus Property Group No No No

38 Echo Entertainment Group Ltd No No No

39 Carlton and United Breweries No No No

40 Fortescue Metals Group Ltd Yes No Yes

41 Fairfax Media Ltd No No Yes

42 Goodman Fielder Ltd No No No

43 Goodman Group No No Yes

44 GPT Group Yes In progress Yes

45 Harvey Norman Holdings Ltd No Yes Yes

46 Insurance Australia Group Ltd Yes Yes No

47 Iluka Resources Ltd Yes No Yes

48 Investa Office Fund No No No

49 Incitec Pivot Ltd Yes No Yes

50 JB Hi-Fi Ltd No No No

51 James Hardie Industries SE No No No

52 Leighton Holdings Ltd Yes No Yes

53 Lend Lease Group Yes Yes Yes

54 Lynas Corporation Ltd No No No

55 MAP Group No No No

56 Peabody Energy Yes No Yes

57 Mirvac Group Ltd No No No

58 Macquarie Group Ltd No No Yes

59 Metcash Limited No No Yes

60 Myer Holdings Ltd No No No

61 National Australia Bank Ltd Yes Yes Yes

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62 Newcrest Mining Yes No Yes

63 News Corporation No No No

64 Origin Energy Ltd Yes Yes Yes

65 Orica Ltd No No No

66 Oil Search Ltd Yes No Yes

67 OneSteel Ltd No No Yes

68 OZ Minerals Ltd Yes No Yes

69 Paladin Energy Ltd No No Yes

70 PanAust Ltd No No No

71 Perpetual Ltd Yes Yes Yes

72 Primary Health Care Ltd No No No

73 Qantas Airways Ltd Yes Yes Yes

74 QBE Insurance Group Ltd No No Yes

75 QR National Ltd Yes No Yes

76 Ramsay Health Care Ltd No No No

77 Rio Tinto Ltd Yes Yes Yes

78 ResMed Inc. No No No

79 Seek Ltd No No No

80 Sims Metal Management Ltd No No No

81 Stockland Group No No Yes

82 Sonic Healthcare Ltd No No No

83 Spark Infrastructure Group No No No

84 Santos Yes No Yes

85 Suncorp Group Ltd No No Yes

86 Seven West Media Ltd No No No

87 Tabcorp Holdings Ltd No No No

88 Transurban Group No No No

89 Telecom Corporation of New Zealand Ltd

NZ equivalent

No NZ equivalent

90 Ten Network Holdings Ltd No No No

91 Telstra Corporation Ltd Yes Yes Yes

92 Toll Holdings Ltd Yes Yes Yes

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93 Transfield Services Ltd Yes Yes Yes

94 Tatts Group Ltd No No No

95 Treasury Wine Estates Ltd No No No

96 UGL Ltd Yes Yes Yes

97 Westpac Banking Corporation Yes Yes Yes

98 Westfield Group No No Yes

99 Wesfarmers Ltd Yes Yes Yes

100 Whitehaven Coal Ltd Yes No Yes

Analysis of 100 listed companies

Of the 100 companies listed, 33 have A&TSIEPs. Nineteen have RAPs

(discussed in Chapter 4) and 49 have Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

community programs.

The 33 companies that have A&TSIEPs are covered by the banking sector,

logistic companies, finance companies, retailers, mining, resource and

associated companies and building and construction companies. Of these

sectors, the banking, retail and mining sectors will be the focus of case studies in

Chapters 6, 7 and 8.

As seen from Table 5.1, around half the top 100 listed companies have some

type of program in place to assist Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, but this

does not speak to what these programs are and how they assist Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander peoples. This is why a framework for evaluation of

programs is essential, as it assists in determining if the programs will have

meaningful outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

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5.3 Driving Forces Behind A&TSIEPs

What is the driving force behind their initiatives? There are a range of reasons

and purposes that have been identified as the drivers for this practice, such as

equal employment opportunity (EEO), anti-discrimination, corporate and social

responsibility, native title requirements, land use agreements, lease conditions

and environmental credits and offsets (Strachan et al., 2010). Some of these

practices are voluntary; some are imposed or linked to the organisational

reputation.

Programs are being developed and implemented across many large private-

sector organisations in Australia under the banner of managing diversity.

Strachan et al. (2010, p. xviii) state that ‘MD [managing diversity] is linked to

providing opportunities for groups that traditionally have been left out of the

Australian labour market, including Indigenous Australians’. Strachan et al.

(2010) argue that the nature, rationale and implementation of managing diversity

programs is complicated, however, MD is based on the principles of social justice,

therefore creating a strong equity focus.

There are several driving forces behind organisations employing Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander peoples. Some of these reasons are explored below in a

typology based on two questions. Are these driving forces compulsory or

voluntary? Are they for business reasons, social justice reasons or for public

relations purposes?

5.4 Managing Cultural Diversity

Improving employment outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders is a

key element in providing economic independence and a way to address the long-

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term disadvantage experienced by these groups (Australian Chamber of

Commerce and Industry, 2002). For employment strategies to be effective, they

require a systematic strategy of development, implementation and evaluation.

The way in which organisations can achieve this is through organisational

programs and policies designed to address the issue of increasing and

maintaining diversity. These can also be used to overcome labour market

disadvantage, hence capturing the ideas of ‘managing diversity’, which can be

described as any non-legislative activity that integrates minority employees into

an organisation. Managing diversity strategies are based on the principles of

social justice and give an organisation a competitive advantage (Stone, 2008). It

is important that managing diversity strategies or programs contain targets for

organisations to meet. For example, The NSW Government expects that all public

employers and large corporations will seek to ensure that EEO target groups are

represented in staff profiles in the same proportions that they are present in the

general community, at all times. The target for Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander peoples is 2.7% (NSW Public Service Commission, 2013). Diversity

strategies, when implemented in line with the organisation’s strategic directions,

can help organisations reach this target. Diversity strategies can include a

Reconciliation Statement of Commitment and/or a RAP and an Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander Employment Strategy (A&TSIEP). Diversity strategies also

need to be embedded in the corporate culture of the organisation and in line with

the strategic direction and plans of the organisation, which will contribute to its

competitive advantage.

Where an organisation is able to manage its cultural diversity and be inclusive, it

is more likely to reduce the cost of staff turnover, more likely to minimise legal

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and compliance risks, and more likely to negotiate any negative publicity that may

arise from mismanaging a case involving diversity (Soutphommasane, 2015).

Economists from Stanford University and the University of Chicago researching

labour productivity in the USA from 1960–2008 found that 20% of productivity

growth over that time could be attributed to a reduction in racial discrimination

and an increase in cultural diversity (Soutphommasane, 2015).

Employer initiatives can be beneficial to organisations. In a report by Grow

Sydney Area Consultative Committee (2003), it was suggested that organisations

that make an effort to find a match or common ground between contemporary

Indigenous culture and their own culture will be more successful in retaining

Indigenous employees than those that do not. This means that successful

Indigenous employment strategies need to start at the top level of an

organisation. Senior managers must demonstrate a commitment by providing

financial resources and appropriate support for the strategy. Examples of such

support are putting Indigenous employment on everyone’s agenda, having open

and honest communication, listening, providing cultural awareness training,

celebrating reconciliation and Indigenous events, flying the Aboriginal flag and

liaising with the local Indigenous community and elders (Dyer, 2010).

Some of the initiatives organisations utilise to manage diversity in organisations

will now be discussed.

5.5 Affirmative Action

Affirmative action or positive discrimination, as it can be known, is a policy aimed

at increasing the representation in employment of a marginalised group, such as

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, from which they have been

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historically excluded. Affirmative action (AA), underpinned by legislation, (The

Affirmative Action (Equal Opportunity for Women) Act 1986), started in Australia

in the 1980s and was enacted to promote gender equity in the workplace

(Strachan, Burgess & Sullivan, 2004). It was an individual organisation’s

responsibility to implement AA under the Act. It was considered a practical

approach to end disparity in the labour market and included policies, practices

and procedures that an organisation needed to implement to ensure all applicants

and employees received equal opportunity for recruitment, selection,

advancement and other privileges associated with employment. According to

Strachan et al. (2004, p. 197), there were no national standards, and penalties

for non-compliance were weak. Subsequent governments have watered down

the requirements under the Act. In Australia today, AA includes policies to assist

minority workers, those with a disability and women.

One AA strategy, according to Daly et al. (2013, p. 277), is employing Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islander peoples under a RAP (discussed in Chapter 4). One

third of the Business Council of Australia’s members have either implemented or

are developing a RAP and, according to Daly et al. (2013), there appears to be

public support for this approach. They state that:

the RAP program can be considered within the general area of AA or

Reverse Discrimination policies because it aims to promote employment

opportunities for Indigenous Australians even though it operates under a

different model than policies with similar goals in other countries. (Daly et

al., 2013, p. 280)

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Daly et al. (2013, p. 280) note that, unlike other countries with statutory

requirements, ‘AA policies such as the RAP program in Australia operate as a

voluntary capacity and signals that the majority culture cares about the minority

culture’.

5.6 Equal Employment Opportunity

EEO legislation in Australia focuses on employment and recognises that workers

have been historically disadvantaged by the employment system (French,

Strachan & Burgess, 2010). It has a specific focus on women. The legislation

focuses on encouraging organisations to achieve equity goals rather than to

merely meet legislative standards. Equal opportunity principles are based on

good corporate citizenship. Poiner and Wills (1991) propose that equal

opportunity includes a range of corrective responses to discrimination, past and

present. One EEO initiative used by the federal and all state and territory

governments is to set a target for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

employment, which currently sits at 2.6%. EEO utilises identified or targeted

positions specifically for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to increase

their likelihood of gaining employment (Dyer, 2010). EEO is similar to AA in that

it is a voluntary way for organisations to increase Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander employment, and is tied to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

5.7 Anti-discrimination Legislation

Under anti-discrimination legislation in Australia, it is unlawful to discriminate in

the workplace on the basis of age, race, disability or sex. Discrimination on these

four grounds is governed by federal legislation set out in the Age Discrimination

Act 2004, Disability Discrimination Act 1992, Racial Discrimination Act 1975 and

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the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Australian Government, 2015). Racial

discrimination, as outlined in the introductory chapter of this thesis, remains one

of reasons for low labour market outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander peoples. However, with the assistance of this legislation as redress

mechanisms, French et al. (2010, p. 45) argue ‘that anti-discrimination legislation

has improved the employment status of previously disadvantaged groups …

however the extent to which the anti-discrimination legislation has influenced

change is still in contention’.

Gray et al. (2012) acknowledge there is little direct evidence on the extent to

which Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples face discrimination in the

labour market. However, in an experiment conducted by Booth, Leigh and

Varganova (2010), resumes were emailed to potential employers, whereby the

resumes were identical but for the names, which included names that sounded

Aboriginal, Anglo-Saxon, Italian, Chinese and Middle Eastern. They then

measured the ‘call-back’ rate. The experiment found that applicants with

Aboriginal sounding names needed 35% more applications to achieve the same

‘call-back’ rate as those with Anglo-Saxon names.

Hunter and Hawke (2002) found that workplaces that have written policies on

racial harassment were more likely to employ Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islanders than those who did not have policies. These workplaces were also more

likely to have EEO and AA policies in place. Gray et al. (2012, p. 11) acknowledge

that, although there is evidence that discrimination in the workplace contributes

to low levels of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment, it is unclear to

what ‘extent policies can reduce the level of discrimination and which policies will

be most effective’.

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5.8 Customer Base

Organisations want a diverse workforce that reflects their customer base. Using

this reasoning, employing more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees

will encourage Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to use the

companies’ goods or services. This strategy has been adopted by several of the

large banks in Australia with good results (Australia and New Zealand Banking

Group Limited, 2014; Commonwealth Bank of Australia, 2014a; National

Australia Bank, 2014a; Westpac Banking Corporation, 2014a).

5.9 Corporate and Social Responsibility

Corporate and social responsibility is one of the few issues that have been the

focus of heated debate between practitioners and academics in recent years.

Their arguments centre on the extent of the obligations organisations have

towards society, and whether organisations can or should be accountable for the

contributions they make to society. There are three primary perspectives to

corporate social responsibility: economic responsibility, public responsibility and

social responsiveness. Organisations that take up a proactive strategy regarding

corporate and social responsibility are subscribers to the concept of social

responsiveness. To these organisations, profit is not the sole consideration; they

actively act to improve welfare and society (Lewis et al., 2004).

Considerations about good corporate citizenship with a desire for corporate social

responsibility (Gospel & Pendleton, 2004) are also driving organisations to

develop enlightened employee strategies. These strategies involve ‘seeking’

awards for being an employer of choice for women and minority workers

(Strachan et al., 2010). Improving employment outcomes for Aboriginal and

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Torres Strait Islander job-seekers is a key element in providing economic

independence, which may address the long-term disadvantage experienced by

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Employers have a critical role to

play in supporting this process, for example, by employing local people in local

jobs. Employers can also support better education and training outcomes for

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders by making links with local communities and

involving them in accredited employment-based training, such as traineeships

and apprenticeships (Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, 2002).

Stakeholder theory, developed by Freeman (1984), is based on the premise that

organisations that manage their stakeholder relationships will perform better and

survive longer than those organisations that do not. Stakeholders are defined as

‘any group or individual who can affect or is affected by the organization’s

objectives’ (Freeman & Reed, 1983, p. 91). Stakeholder theory asserts that an

organisation has more than financial responsibility to its shareholders—it has

social, cultural and environmental responsibilities as well (Banerjee, 1999). As

discussed earlier in this chapter, under the stakeholder theory approach, 49 of

the top 100 companies in Australia have some form of Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander community programs, hence fulfilling the organisations’ societal

responsibilities.

5.10 Corporate Social Responsibility, Land Use Agreements

and Native Title

The core concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) is that ‘corporations

receive a social sanction from society that requires that they, in return, contribute

to the growth and development of that society’ (Devinney, 2009, p. 44). CSR can

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ensure organisations are instruments of social policy. This is especially so when

it comes to land use agreements. Agreements can provide a ‘tangible basis for

community engagement and benefit sharing with local communities’ (Owen &

Kemp, 2013, p. 33), ensuring that mining activities are socially advantageous to

affected Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities (Pearson & Daff,

2014). However, while some good has come from these agreements,

O’Faircheallaigh (2003) argues that there are no specific sanctions or penalties

for those mining companies that do not comply with the agreement.

Coronado and Fallon (2010b) state that CSR can be classified as self-regulation,

and is therefore voluntary. When it is utilised by organisations to make them look

good in the public eye and corporate interests are served it holds less value

(Coronado & Fallon, 2010a). In the case of the mining industry, complex legal

and commercial agreements between the mining companies and Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander stakeholders are managed under the banner of CSR. This

is due to the country’s significant oil and mineral resources often being located

under land to which Aboriginal communities are connected or for which they hold

native title (Coronado & Fallon, 2010a). When negotiating these agreements,

mining companies often play the ‘economic card’ in their negotiations with

Aboriginal communities, and highlight the ‘investment’ they make. This

‘investment’ can often involve Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment

quotas, which the organisation must adhere to. Coronado and Fallon (2010a)

refer to this as ‘enforced voluntary behaviour’. In an analysis of mining

companies, their data showed:

that mining companies would vehemently proclaim themselves to be

generous and good corporate citizens, but in their treatment of Aboriginal

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stakeholders they appear to be mainly motivated by profit and the

determination to maintain their core business and reputation … and any

benefit for Indigenous peoples are mere collateral windfalls … mining

companies give to Indigenous stakeholders with one hand, but they take

it with the other. (Coronado & Fallon, 2010a, p. 678)

5.11 Business Cases for Corporate Social Responsibility

Corporate and social responsibility are not the only reasons organisations have

diversity initiatives such as those used for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

employment. Organisational theory suggests that the ‘business case’ can

become embedded because firms tend to mimic the behaviour of successful

organisations. The notion of a ‘business case’ for Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander employment is becoming more predominant. ‘Doing this for a business

reason gets a lot of engagement upfront’ (McQualter, as cited in Pinkstone, Barry

& Jeffrey, 2010). Once the business case is established it becomes embedded

behaviour that leads to an organisation’s success. These behaviours will be

mimicked by other organisations (Pinkstone et al., 2010). Organisations,

especially in the corporate sector, are seeing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

employment as a core activity that gives the organisation a distinct advantage,

as opposed to considering it a problem to be contended with (Pinkstone et al.,

2010). Trebeck (2009, p. 127) states that ‘the notion of a “business case” for

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment rests on the capacity to exert

influence on corporations and can be seen as a form of “civic regulation”’.

Pinkstone et al. (2010) acknowledge that there is a responsibility on all

stakeholders to raise awareness of and to support sustainable employment

outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

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Redman (2009, p. 10) found that an organisation’s commitment to Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander employment was based on a clear business case that

identified financial benefits, and were motivated by corporate and social

responsibility. Thus it can be concluded that the business case and corporate and

social responsibility are intertwined when it comes to Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander employment.

One initiative an organisation can undertake is to develop an Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander employment strategy and appoint an Aboriginal

employment co-ordinator or manager to ensure its success. There are a range of

programs that should be included in this strategy, such as recruitment strategies,

selection strategies, professional development strategies and support strategies.

Including these programs in an employment strategy can reduce labour market

disadvantage.

5.12 Developing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

Employment Strategy in an Organisation: What Would Be the

Elements of Such a Strategy?

An A&TSIEP is a specific statement of practical measures to attract, employ and

retain Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees and can be developed with

or without an accompanying RAP. An A&TSIEP requires a systematic strategy of

development, implementation and evaluation. It should be culturally sensitive to

the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and should play a part

in redressing the past practices that have contributed to the unequal status of

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. An A&TSIEP needs to contribute

to the social capital and future empowerment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait

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Islander peoples. It includes a statement of the employer’s commitment to

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, the underpinning principles of the

strategy and its alignment with the organisation’s strategic direction. It also

contains a target percentage for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment

within the organisation, as well as strategies for recruitment, selection and

retention (Dyer, 2010).

A good example of an A&TSIEP is the one developed at the University of

Newcastle. Its Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment strategy,

‘Maligagu’, clearly outlines the university’s commitment to Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander peoples:

The University of Newcastle declares its commitment to Aboriginal

reconciliation: developing a strong community and fostering mutual

respect, social justice and a united voice between Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander and non-Aboriginal Australians. The University is aware of

the impact of the alienation and other forms of injustices including the

removal of children, the loss of land, the destruction of languages and

culture, and the ongoing struggle for social and restorative justice. Through

acknowledging and understanding past losses and injustices and through

committing to redressing the social and economic challenges and ongoing

racism, we will continue to move forward together to a better future. The

University recognises that education plays an integral role in providing a

foundation and platform for the exercise of self-determination and the

empowerment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Through

collaboration and the provision of culturally responsive education the

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University seeks to educate and contribute to the development of a

harmonious community. (University of Newcastle, 2014, p. 5)

Statements like this show that the organisation values and promotes Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islander cultural diversity in the workplace and values the

cultural expertise, life experiences and knowledge of Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander peoples.

Table 5.2 is an extract from an employer’s guide to Indigenous employment put

together by the Queensland Government. The Indigenous Employment Strategy

Template is a guide for small businesses who want to develop their Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islander employment strategy. The template shows the planning

to employ Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff stage, the recruitment stage,

the appointment stage and retention strategies that an organisation may adopt

(Queensland Tourism and Industry Council, 2013).

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Table 5.2: Elements of an A&TSIEP.

176

176

177

Source: Queensland Tourism and Industry Council, 2013.

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5.13 Framework for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

Employment Programs (Evaluative Framework)

The following framework has been developed to evaluate in a culturally

appropriate way A&TSIEPs that are the focus of Chapters 6, 7 and 8. An

A&TSIEP requires a systematic strategy of development, implementation and

evaluation and should recognise the rationale and justification for the program,

whether that be CSR, ILUAs or other driving forces, and what the strategy aims

to achieve. For instance, is it to reflect an organisation’s customer base, or reflect

the local community in which the organisation operates? There is no ‘one-size-

fits-all’ approach to developing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

employment strategy. The strategy needs to take into account the size of the

organisation, the type of industry and the location or locations of the strategy. For

instance, if the organisation operates in different locations (rural, remote or urban)

the strategy will need to be modified to suit the labour market needs of that target

group. What forms of community engagement and consultation will the

organisation utilise, and what outcomes can Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

stakeholders expect (Queensland Tourism and Industry Council, 2013)?

In addition, the A&TSIEP needs to identify the participants of the program and

whether the program is aimed at a national or local level. Will the participants be

work ready, or is the program targeting unemployed Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander peoples? Does the program offer student, graduate or trade positions?

Will the program be one-size-fits-all or be tailored to the needs of different

participants? What is the duration of the program, what are its goals and what

supporting mechanisms are in place to ensure the program is a success? What

does success look like?

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The next section will utilise the ‘Indigenous Employment Framework’ (above) to

develop an evaluative framework to evaluate the case studies in Chapters 6, 7

and 8.

Planning to employ Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

The initial stages of planning to employ Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

peoples can be the most difficult stage in an A&TSIEP, so getting this stage

right is vital to an organisation. This stage involves identifying stakeholders,

establishing links and partnerships with local Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander communities, forming advisory groups, developing the A&TSIEP, and

ensuring that the workplace is culturally safe for Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander employees, including creating a workplace culture that values

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. The first step should be

identifying the driving force for the strategy, ensuring it aligns with the strategic

plan of the organisation, and then identifying the drivers of the strategy.

5.13.1.1 Senior management commitment/driving the strategy. The reasons

an organisation develops an A&TSIEP should form the basis of the strategy. It

may be that the organisation is covered by an Indigenous Land Use Agreement

(ILUA) that has provision for the training and employment of Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander peoples; it may be that the organisation wants to ensure

that their workforce represents the community in which they operate, or the

organisation wants to be a good corporate citizen. These decisions are made by

senior management, so it stands to reason that senior management needs to

drive the strategy. Redman (2009) found that if the leadership of an organisation

publicly commits to improving Indigenous employment and drives it, it happens.

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5.13.1.2 Establishing partnerships. Once the management driver of the

strategy has been identified, key Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-

Indigenous community stakeholders need to be identified, such as elders and

community organisations and training organisations, with the aim of establishing

partnerships that foster a supportive and understanding environment that

promotes values, mutual respect, integrity and professionalism of the

organisation (Dyer, 2010; Queensland Tourism and Industry Council, 2013;

Redman, 2009). According to Redman (2009, p. 14), ‘many enterprises held the

firm belief that employment of Indigenous people and developing relationships

with Indigenous communities were synonymous’. Redman’s research found that

without honest and transparent relationships between the company and

Indigenous communities, it was not possible to achieve sustainable employment

outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

5.13.1.3 Advisory group/consultative committee. Once partnerships have

been established the next stage is establishing an advisory group/consultative

committee to develop, oversee and evaluate the A&TSIEP. The advisory

group/consultative committee should have a mixture of Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander community stakeholders and organisational representatives. It’s

this group’s responsibility to develop the guiding principles and objectives of the

A&TSIEP; they should determine whether the organisation should develop a RAP

and, if so, what benefits it would bring to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

stakeholders (Dyer, 2010; Queensland Tourism and Industry Council, 2013;

Redman, 2009).

5.13.1.4 Appointment of an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

employment manager. An important part of the A&TSIEP is the appointment of

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an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment manager (A&TSEM). The

A&TSEM should be part of the development of the strategy. It is their role to

develop and implement the strategy and ensure it remains on the corporate

agenda. It is vital that this role be filled by an actively identifying Aboriginal or

Torres Strait Islander, where possible, as they have lived experience vital to the

role (Dyer, 2010).7

5.13.1.5 Developing the A&TSIEP. The development stage should outline what

the strategy wants to achieve and what actions are needed to ensure the strategy

is implemented. The following should be addressed:

Who is responsible for implementing the strategy and actions?

What is the timeline for implementation and how will the organisation

evaluate whether the strategy is successful?

What government labour market program can be utilised?

What type of work is offered, whether it be apprenticeships, traineeships,

casual, part-time or full-time employment?

This all needs to be documented so the strategy is easy to understand and can

be implemented. Once the strategy is developed, the advisory group/consultative

committee should provide feedback prior to its implementation. The A&TSIEP

can be linked to a RAP or can be standalone (Dyer, 2010; Redman, 2009).

7 There are three criteria for confirmation of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander heritage that are

usually accepted by government agencies and community organisations. They are: being of

Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent, identifying as an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander,

and being accepted as such by the community in which you live or formerly lived.

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5.13.1.6 Culturally appropriate workplace. Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander employment goals should be viewed within a broader commitment to

developing an organisation that is ‘culturally competent and respectful, so that

there is a high level of awareness of cultural issues and expectations’ (Redman,

2009, p. 9). An organisation that is sensitive to the needs of Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander peoples needs to acknowledge, accept, understand and address

the major issues Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples face, such as

extended family and social expectations, community and cultural responsibilities,

Aboriginal deaths in custody, stolen generations, survival, reconciliation, cultural

identity, cultural protocols, kinship systems and family responsibilities (Burgess

& Dyer, 2009). The workplace also needs to be flexible and take into account the

important role of cultural and family obligations. This will improve engagement

and retention of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees (Dyer, 2010;

Karmel et al., 2014).

Celebrating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture is another way to ensure

an inclusive workplace. This can be achieved by acknowledging the traditional

custodians in meetings and celebrations, acknowledging Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander days of celebration, and celebrating the success of Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander employees. Celebrating diversity should be part of

everyday life in the workplace. However, ‘too often diversity is thought of as just

being about festivals, about being about lunches or maybe an event or two that

we have in our workplace to celebrate our diversity and show how inclusive we

are’ (Soutphommasane, 2015).

Employing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Recruitment and selection strategies are the most important aspects of any

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A&TSIEP, so having a culturally appropriate recruitment strategy is vital. The

types and classification of positions should already be outlined in the

A&TSIEP. The strategy should also outline whether positions are ‘specifically

identified’ or targeted towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. Positions

that are identified as requiring Aboriginality as a genuine occupational

qualification are advertised as such based on the exemption clause from the

Ant-discrimination Act. If positions are not targeted or ‘identified’ as requiring

Aboriginality, it should be ensured that the advertised jobs encourage

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders to apply (Queensland Tourism and

Industry Council, 2013; Redman, 2009; Tiplady & Barclay, 2007).

5.13.2.1 Recruitment strategies. The way in which an organisation recruits

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples will depend on the type of positions,

the size and geographic location of the organisation and available labour market.

5.13.2.2 Face-to-face. Recruitment practices that are face-to-face as opposed to

online or written are a good way to recruit for entry-level positions. To that end,

utilising the services of local Aboriginal organisations or job agencies with a

proven track record of recruiting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders will give

positive results, as will advertising on local Aboriginal organisations and media

outlets and on community notice boards or at career expos (Pinkstone, 2011b;

Queensland Tourism and Industry Council, 2013; Redman, 2009; Tiplady &

Barclay, 2007).

5.13.2.3 Information sessions. Information sessions are an excellent way to

capture interest for a vacancy. Information sessions can be held at local

Aboriginal organisations or a community centre. If the position is a trainee

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position, good practice is to invite along speakers from agencies that will be

involved in the trainee program to talk about the support they can provide along

the way. Having current Aboriginal staff speak at the information sessions is a

good way for prospective Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff to learn about

working for the organisation (Tiplady & Barclay, 2007).

5.13.2.4 Work ready and pre-employment programs. Work ready and pre-

employment programs are an excellent way for Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander job-seekers to gain entry-level positions in an organisation. Work ready

programs are specifically designed to match individual needs and identify

barriers, ensuring participants receive practical work skills needed to enter the

workforce. This includes remedial literacy and numeracy, financial literacy and

income management, the attainment of a driver’s licence, time management,

transport logistics, conflict resolution, relationship building and communication

skills. Work ready programs can be performed in-house or by a specialist

program provider. Work ready programs have proved to be successful in several

industries that utilise them (Pinkstone, 2011a, 2011b; Redman, 2009; Tiplady &

Barclay, 2007; Western Australian Government, 2013).

5.13.2.5 Assessment centres. A strategy for Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander recruitment ‘that overcomes the difficulties posed by mainstream

interviewing and psychometric testing practices is to use selection centres to

evaluate potential applicants’ (Tiplady & Barclay, 2007, p. 30). Selection centres

use culturally appropriate activities to gauge the suitability of applicants and are

ideal if the organisation operates in remote locations (Archer & Widdeson, 2002;

Tiplady & Barclay, 2007).

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5.13.2.6 Culturally appropriate interviews. An A&TSIEP should have HR

processes that ensure interviews are culturally appropriate. For example,

ensuring that selection committees and interview committees have adequate

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander representation. This obviously helps the

interviewee to feel more comfortable and less intimidated (Dyer, 2010).

Consider this situation: A young Aboriginal candidate is sitting across from the

recruiter and the invisible discriminator emerges once more: ‘Could you really rely

on her? Do you think this candidate really has the right fit? Could you imagine,

really imagine, this person managing this project? Do you think they could really

do this under pressure? Could you really imagine them as a leader?’ These are

some of the questions an ‘invisible discriminator’ may be posing in such a

scenario involving an interviewee of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent

(Soutphommasane, 2015). That is why it is vital to have a selection committee

that has adequate Aboriginal and or Torres Strait Islander representation to

counter this ‘invisible discriminator’ and afford the candidate an equal opportunity.

Retention strategies. There are a number of factors that influence

employee turnover. These include job-related, personal, economic and social

factors. There are several strategies an organisation can adopt to retain its

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workforce, such as providing cultural

competency training for non-Indigenous employees to reduce racism and

improve workplace understanding and culture, explaining training and

education opportunities, ensuring effective communication processes,

providing leave provisions to attend cultural or family obligations, providing

flexible working hours and offering mentoring to assist in overcoming barriers

(Dyer, 2010; Karmel et al., 2014; Redman, 2009).

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5.13.3.1 Mentoring. Mentoring is a vital support mechanism that will help to

overcome barriers faced by both the organisation and Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander employees. Culturally sensitive formal mentoring is considered a major

means of improving employment outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander peoples. Establishing mentors within the workplace assists

organisations to improve the retention of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

employees (Burgess & Dyer, 2009; Dyer, 2006, 2010). Research has indicated

that effective mentoring can keep disadvantaged groups such as Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander peoples in jobs longer and progress their careers faster

than other forms of support or intervention (Stead, 1997). Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander employees may find it difficult to adapt to the mainstream

workplace culture and behaviour, and have extended family, community and

cultural responsibilities that many managers and non-Indigenous employees in

mainstream workplaces do not understand. Thus, having an effective mentoring

program is vital (Burgess & Dyer, 2009; Dyer, 2006, 2010).

5.13.3.2 Career development and training. To retain Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander employees it is essential organisations provide adequate training

and career development opportunities. An organisation needs to actively promote

training and career opportunities, whether they be internal or external to the

organisation, as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees will not actively

seek them out (PricewaterhouseCoopers, 2013). Each Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander employee should have a career development plan, in line with their

strengths and aspirations that state short- and long-term goals. Some Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islander employees may prefer lateral career development, for

example, learning different departments in a supermarket or training on different

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mining machinery. Regardless of the type, an organisation should proactively

seek out ways to increase access to, and participation in, professional

development for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff (Pinkstone, 2011a).

O’Toole (2014, p. 50) argues that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples

are ‘not able to recognise and celebrate their success’ because significant culture

norms often work against self-promotion. O’Toole (2014, p. 53) promotes the

concept of creating an individual career plan that identifies individual capabilities

and strengths, empowering Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees,

allowing ‘them to see the concept of career and success through their own lens’.

Providing leadership training is an excellent way to assist the career progression

of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees, as many will see this skill as

transferable to their communities (Pinkstone, 2013).

5.13.3.3 Cultural leave provisions. An A&TSIEP should include special leave

provisions that can be utilised by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff to

attend to cultural or family obligations. An example of such provisions might be

access to a pool of 5 days of bereavement leave to be used on the occasion of

the death of a family or community member (in addition to personal leave

provisions), and 1 day of paid leave to participate in Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander community National Aboriginal and Islander Day Observance Committee

celebrations (Dyer, 2006, 2010). Within these leave provisions, there needs to be

acknowledgement of ‘sorry business’. ‘Sorry business’ is where Aboriginal or

Torres Strait Islanders are obligated to attend funerals of family members,

extended family members and members of their local Aboriginal community, as

well as the community they came from—not just immediate family, as with

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Australian families. Employers need to be culturally sensitive and more flexible in

relation to ‘sorry business’ (Williams & Chapman, 2005).

5.13.3.4 Flexible working conditions. Organisations are now recognising that

flexible work arrangements are vital to the successful retention of their

employees. Flexible working arrangements allow the organisation to meet

present and future challenges and accommodate an Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander employee’s family and cultural commitments. In a study of the mining

industry, Tiplady and Barclay (2007) found that Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander employees felt that inflexible rosters and prolonged absences from

family and community created difficulties, which factored into retention. They

suggest that flexible work rosters that enable Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

employees to return home quickly if family responsibilities require them to do so

should be implemented as one solution.

What outcomes are expected and how are they monitored? An

A&TSIEP should include specific objectives about what is to be achieved, for

example, the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees the

organisation would like to employ in a numerical target or percentage. This

shows an organisation’s commitment to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

employment and also assists to keep the organisation accountable to their

shareholders and the public. An A&TSIEP should be evaluated on a yearly

basis by the Consultative Committee to ensure that targets are being met and

to refine any processes, as needed. Some organisations that have a RAP are

required to report each year to RA on their performance towards their specified

target. Large corporations are required to disclose this information in their

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annual reports and in federal Parliament (Dyer, 2010; Redman, 2009; Tiplady

& Barclay, 2007).

5.14 Other Considerations: Rural and Remote Employment

Much of the discussion so far has centred on urban Australia, where employment

opportunities are usually more readily available for Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander peoples. Unfortunately, the reality of ‘real jobs’ in rural and remote

Australia is far less viable. The majority of organisations do not operate in rural

and remote communities, making it virtually impossible to increase participation

of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment in the labour market in these

regions. If there are no jobs, there is no labour market.

Table 5.3, adapted from Burgess, French and Strachan (2010, p. 27),

demonstrates the remoteness of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders as

compared with non-Indigenous Australians. Nearly one quarter of Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander peoples live in very remote locations, as opposed to 2% of

the non-Indigenous population. This table shows that remoteness is associated

with much lower labour force participation rates, which brings with it much higher

unemployment.

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Table 5.3: Remoteness of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders as

Compared with Non-Indigenous Australians.

pulation

Rural and remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities rely heavily

on public-sector employment (if services are available in the community),

community employment (in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporations)

and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander entrepreneurship and small business.

In some communities, the CDEP is a major source of employment (as noted in

Chapter 4), but CDEP is constantly being scaled back by governments in cost

cutting measures, and people are being moved from productive work to welfare.

Mining is one employment opportunity available in rural and remote communities;

however, it often means that the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees

are fly-in fly-out. They must leave their communities for up to 2 weeks at a time

to reside in a mining camp. There are also deterrents to Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander peoples gaining employment in the mining industry. This will be

discussed further in Chapter 8. Altman (2009a, p. 8) states that ‘the chance of

finding mainstream employment in remote Australia is limited, owing to the

geographic isolation’. Altman believes that Indigenous economic development is

Population Distribution by Remoteness (5 Distribution), Labour Force Participation Rate% and Unemployment Rate% by Remoteness (2001)

Location Indigenous population

Major Cities 30.2 57.3 20.1 67.2 64.3

6.9

Inner Regional 20.3 52.0 25.0 20.7 59.9

8.1

Outer Regional 23.1 50.7 23.1 10.7 63.3

7.4

Remote 8.8 50.5 19.2 1.5 71.8

4.9

Very Remote 17.7 46.2 8.3 .05 78.1

3.5

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the only way the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in rural and remote

Australia can be actively employed in ‘real jobs’.

5.15 Recap of Evaluation Framework

The above framework has been developed to evaluate A&TSIEPs that are the

focus of Chapters 6, 7 and 8, in a culturally appropriate way. Table 5.4 outlines

how the evaluative framework will be utilised to evaluate each organisation’s

A&TSIEP.

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Table 5.4: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Employment Program

Evaluative framework – Example of how to apply this framework.

A&TSIEP Strategy Evaluative Framework

Yes/No Comments/Key Findings

Planning and Pre-Employment Stage

Senior management commitment/driving the strategy

Yes

Establish partnerships Yes Strong partnerships

Advisory group/consultative committee No

A&TSEM Yes

Developed A&TSIEP No Ad hoc strategy nothing written except RAP

Culturally appropriate workplace Yes Online cultural awareness for all employees

Employing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Employees

Recruitment strategies Yes Variety of strategies

Face-to-face recruitment practices Yes Specialist recruitment agencies

Information sessions Yes Specifically for skills development program

Work ready/pre-employment programs Yes Skills development program

Assessment Centres No

Culturally appropriate interviews No

Retention Strategies

Formal mentoring No No mentoring at all

Career development and training Yes Leadership program

Cultural leave provisions No

Flexible working hours and conditions Yes Full-time, part-time and casual work in available

Monitoring and Evaluation

Is the program monitored, evaluated and refined

No

Other Considerations

Is rural and remote employment offered Yes Rural employment no remote

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5.16 Conclusion

Strategies for successful Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment need

the active involvement of organisations to ensure real progress is made towards

reducing labour market disadvantage. In improving Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander employment outcomes, organisations need to incorporate diversity

initiatives aimed at embracing reconciliation, recognising cultural differences,

embracing these differences and not trying to change Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander people to conform or assimilate into ‘white’ ways. Organisations can do

this through developing and implementing a RAP and Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander Employment Strategy and have real and meaningful engagement with

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

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Chapter 6: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

Employment in the Banking Industry

This chapter unpicks the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment

policies and practices of the banking industry from an Aboriginal perspective. It

discusses the case study organisations within the banking industry. As the

identity of the banks is to remain de-identifiable by the research, they have been

given the pseudonyms Bank 1 and Bank 2. In accordance with ethical and

confidentiality requirements, any information identifying the banks has either

been generalised or, where not deemed necessary for further analysis and

discussion, omitted.

The chapter begins with a brief overview of the banking industry’s Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander employment policies, derived from the Australian Bankers

Association (ABA) and the four major banks. The chapter will then introduce

Bank 1 and Bank 2, including a snapshot of their respective Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander employment strategies in terms of their commitment to

‘Closing the Gap’, the cultural appropriateness of their programs, their

recruitment strategies and whether they have utilised labour market programs

funded by government to increase Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

participation. Each bank’s progress and achievements will be assessed in

accordance with the evaluative framework developed in Chapter 5.

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6.1 Background to the Banking Industry

Australia has a strong, profitable and well-regulated banking sector. Australia has

four large domestic banks, colloquially known as the Big Four, which provide full

service retail and commercial lending to the Australian economy: Australia and

New Zealand Bank (ANZ), Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), National

Australia Bank (NAB), and Westpac Banking Corporation. Each has an AA rating

(Australian Trade Commission, 2011).

6.2 The Australian Bankers Association

The ABA states that its role is to provide analysis, advice and advocacy, and

assist in the development of public policy around banking and other financial

services within Australia. The ABA works with its member banks to ensure that

Australian banking customers continue to benefit from a stable, healthy and

competitive banking industry (Australian Bankers Association, 2014). The ABA

and member banks state that they have been working closely with Indigenous

Australians to improve money management, financial literacy skills and business

enterprise within Indigenous communities (Australian Bankers’ Association Inc,

2007).

The ABA and its retail member banks claim to recognise that many Indigenous

Australians face significant social, economic and financial disadvantage

(Australian Bankers’ Association Inc, 2007). The ABA offers a range of programs

and has community and business partnerships, which the ABA projects as being

designed to assist Indigenous Australians. These include co-hosting with RA the

‘Industry Roundtable on Banking and Financial Services in Remote

Communities’, participation in the Northern Territory Government’s ‘Indigenous

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Economic Development Taskforce’, and participation with member banks in the

‘Indigenous Banking Reference Group’. The ABA is co-chair of the ‘Financial

Literacy Working Group’ and a member of the ‘Banking and Financial Services

Working Group’. In addition, the ABA has an Indigenous Statement of

Commitment that outlines how the retail banking industry may make a difference

for Indigenous people and their communities. The major banks also have

Indigenous employment, traineeship and scholarship programs providing

opportunities for Indigenous people.

6.3 Overview of What the Big Four Banks Offer in Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islander Employment

Improving employment and labour market outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islanders is a key element in providing economic independence and a way

to address the long-term disadvantage experienced by these people (Australian

Chamber of Commerce and Industry, 2002). The way in which organisations can

achieve this is through organisational programs and policies implemented to

address the issue of increasing and maintaining diversity, which can also be used

to overcome labour market disadvantage. This includes programs around

recruitment, training, career development and employee retention.

As discussed earlier, one such policy adopted by all four major banks in Australia

is the RAP program. Reconciliation Australia launched the RAP program in July

2006 to turn ‘good intentions into action’ by encouraging and supporting

organisations, both large and small, to engage in the national effort to close the

11-year gap in life expectancy between Indigenous and other Australians

(Reconciliation Australia, 2010). A RAP outlines an organisation’s commitment to

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bridging the gap in employment between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

peoples and the wider population. It helps an organisation build positive

relationships between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-

Indigenous people. Organisations are invited to work collaboratively with RA to

ensure that their RAP meets the specific criteria for registration on the RA

website. RAPs registered on this website will be promoted and celebrated in

various ways, including in official publications and as part of events in the

Australian community. Reconciliation Australia’s RAPs are considered living

documents that include a commitment on the organisation’s part to publicly report

progress and refresh policies annually. Tracking and reporting progress ensures

that organisations and the community can see where achievements have been

made, where challenges remain and what opportunities exist for future RAP

development and implementation (Reconciliation Australia, 2010).

Research conducted by RA suggests that RAPs are achieving their objectives.

However, no independent evaluation has been undertaken to confirm this

(Reconciliation Australia, 2013b). While conducting interviews for this study, one

bank indicated that the RAP program, which they had been involved in for several

years, was totally inflexible and longer-term solutions were needed, as opposed

to the year on year approach. In their view, RAPs were ‘losing their relevance’

(Bank 2 Management 1, 2012).

In addition to Indigenous employment, all four major banks have developed

community programs aimed at assisting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

communities and alleviating disadvantage. Some of these programs are listed in

their RAPs and reported on in their annual reports.

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6.4 National Australia Bank Limited and Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander Employment

The NAB launched their first RAP in 2008. They see their RAP as their public

commitment to close the gap in Indigenous disadvantage. NAB currently has over

200 Indigenous Australians working for them. They offer employees cultural

awareness and skills-based secondments as part of their commitment to

Indigenous employment (National Australia Bank, 2015). NAB’s RAP is

independently audited. Each year they undertake an independent longitudinal

study to provide insights into the experiences of employees, managers and

educators involved in Indigenous employment programs. NAB states that: ‘Our

Indigenous employment program provides opportunities and pathways for

talented Indigenous Australians who want to pursue a career in finance. We know

that everyone starts their career journey from a different place, so we’ve

developed a range of pathways into NAB’ (National Australia Bank, 2015). NAB’s

website indicates the following opportunities are available to Aboriginal and


Employment and training opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander peoples with NAB. NAB’s Indigenous employment program

provides opportunities and pathways for ‘talented’ Indigenous Australians who

would like to pursue a career in the finance industry (National Australia Bank,

2015).

6.4.1.1 -based traineeships. NAB offers school-based traineeships (SBTs)

for students in years 10–12. These trainees study Business

Administration Certificate II and receive on-the-job experience and mentoring

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from Indigenous mentors, senior NAB employees and external partners. Trainees

work at least 1 day a week in a NAB branch or other business areas and work

full-time during school holidays; they are paid while gaining confidence and

valuable work and life skills. On successful completion of the two-year

traineeship, trainees may have the opportunity to start a career with NAB

(National Australia Bank, 2015).

6.4.1.2 -time traineeships. NAB offers FTTs for candidates who have

successfully completed year 12 and are interesting in pursuing a career in the

banking industry. Trainees undertake a Certificate IV in Business Administration

(or equivalent) while working in NAB branches around the country. Indigenous

trainees receive mentoring to assist them in the workplace (National Australia

Bank, 2015).

6.4.1.3 s. NAB provides Indigenous internships for university students seeking a

career in the banking industry. In partnership with Career Trackers, a non-profit

social enterprise, NAB provides a work placement for interns while on university

semester breaks. Interns gain vital skills and abilities to assist them once their

university studies are completed (National Australia Bank, 2015).

6.4.1.4 eneral recruitment. NAB also directly recruits experienced Indigenous

candidates interested in joining the financial services sector. Application is by

emailing the Indigenous recruitment team (National Australia Bank, 2014d).

The above examples would suggest that NAB appears to take their Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islander employment strategy very seriously. They are the only

bank to have commissioned independent studies of their A&TSIEP, namely a 4-

year longitudinal study by University of Canberra and a social and financial impact

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study by Ernst & Young. The longitudinal study, in four parts (Daly, 2010; Daly &

Gebremedhin, 2012; Daly, Gebremedhin & Preece, 2011) focused on the

outcomes of graduates of the SBT and FTT programs. Unfortunately, the study

did not include any trainees who did not complete the program, which would have

provided a more reliable case study. The study showed that the experience of

the trainees was generally positive and the trainees would recommend the

program to family and friends. Managers commented that having Indigenous

people in the bank helped break down stereotypes and negative views about

Indigenous peoples. In addition, having Indigenous employees encouraged other

Indigenous people to utilise NAB’s services (Daly et al., 2011). Some negative

aspects were that there was tension ‘between the goals of promoting NAB’s

business interests and the immediate aim of providing long-term meaningful

employment for graduating trainees’ (Daly & Gebremedhin, 2012, p. 22). This is

due to low turnover in some branches, which made it difficult to offer graduated

trainees full-time positions. Daly and Gebremedhin (2012, p. 22) concluded that

the NAB A&TSIEP:

Has contributed to the NAB goal of promoting meaningful employment

opportunities for Indigenous people within the bank and promoting

understanding of Indigenous culture among NAB employees. The NAB

IEP is an example of a worthwhile privately sponsored voluntary initiative

in the Indigenous sphere. (Daly & Gebremedhin, 2012, p. 22)

The other report was independently developed by Ernst & Young and assessed

the broader social impact and financial impacts of NAB’s Indigenous SBTs and

FTTs delivered in the 3 years to 2014 to stakeholders (National Australia Bank,

2014c). Utilising the Social Return on Investment (SROI) principles developed by

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the SROI network, the key findings of the report were that for trainees there was

improved financial literacy (90% SBTs, 100% of FTTs), improved employability

(93% SBTs, 100% of FTTs), the trainees had improved confidence and self-

esteem (86% SBTs, 100% of FTTs) and improved social and communication

skills (72% SBTs, 100% FTTs). The report also noted ‘that several trainees had

attributed improved physical and mental health outcomes to participation in the

traineeship’ (Ernst & Young, 2014b, p. 10).

Table 6.1, extracted from the report, shows the SROI ratio for SBTs and FTTs

(Ernst & Young, 2014b).

Table 6.1: NAB’s SROI Ratio for SBTs and FTTs.

What the figures reveal is that the NAB Indigenous traineeship programs are

delivering up to $3.14 in social return for every $1 invested (National Australia

Bank, 2014b). Ernst & Young (2014b) also note that on completion of the

traineeship employment and earning potential was significantly better, trainees

had transferrable skills and some had ongoing employment.

6.5 Australia and New Zealand Banking Group and Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islander Employment

ANZ was the first major Australian company to launch a RAP outlining its specific

commitments to Indigenous employment. The plan aims to contribute to

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increased financial and social well-being for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

peoples. It also reflects ANZ’s corporate responsibility priorities and their

approach to respecting human rights. The ANZ website provides an overview of

the following opportunities that are available to Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander peoples (Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd, 2014).

Commitments. ANZ is committed to increase employment targets for

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. According to their website,

ANZ aims to achieve a target of 352 entry-level roles in its branch network.

Half of these entry-level roles come from direct employment with ANZ. The

other half will be made available to trainees who have successfully graduated

from the ANZ Indigenous Traineeship programs, where there are suitable roles

available in their desired location. An Indigenous Employment and Training

Team have been specifically dedicated to achieve these outcomes (Australia

and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd, 2014).

6.5.1.1 ort and development. Career development is important and ANZ have

a designated Indigenous Employment and Training Team who help

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees and trainees with opportunities

to develop their skills through training and study, and assist with career

progression (Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd, 2014).

6.5.1.2 eeships. Since 2003, ANZ has recruited over 750 Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander trainees in branches around Australia. ANZ believes that

investing in training and supporting Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander communities provides opportunities for talented individuals to grow and

open doors to a career with ANZ (ANZ Banking Group Ltd, 2014).

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6.5.1.3 -time traineeships. FTTs work at least 4 days a week in an ANZ

branch, earn money while learning new skills, achieve a National Certificate III

qualification, and are supported by ANZ staff and Aboriginal mentors. There is an

opportunity to take on career opportunities with ANZ at the end of the traineeship

(Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd, 2014).

6.5.1.4 -based traineeships. While completing year 11 and year 12

studies, trainees work at least 1 day a week in an ANZ branch and receive an

income while learning new skills. They will qualify for a National Certificate

qualification supported by ANZ staff and Aboriginal mentors, and be able to take

on career opportunities with ANZ or other opportunities at the end of their

traineeship (Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd, 2014).

6.5.1.5 employment: Permanent, temporary or contract roles.

Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people can register an interest to work at ANZ

via the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Opportunities Bank. Once registered,

the Indigenous Employment and Training Team will contact the applicant in

regards to employment (Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd, 2014).

6.5.1.6 aduate program. ANZ works with universities to promote their

graduate program, summer vacation and industry based learning programs to

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. These programs aim to attract,

develop and retain talented individuals who wish to embark on a challenging

career within the banking and finance industry (Australia and New Zealand

Banking Group Ltd, 2014).

ANZ have not commissioned any studies or independent evaluations undertaken

on their Indigenous employment strategy, although there is a case study on RA’s

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website that features the bank and its Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

employment strategy (Reconciliation Australia, 2013a).

6.6 Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Aboriginal and Torres


CBA regards its reconciliation program as an important part of their investment in

community and the sustainability of its business. CBA’s RAP provides cultural,

educational, employment and enterprise opportunities to meet the needs of

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander customers and staff. CBA’s website provides

an overview of what employment opportunities are available to Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander peoples (Commonwealth Bank of Australia, 2014b). CBA

believes it should reflect the diversity of communities they work in and offer

‘excellent’ employment opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

peoples. In 2009 CBA set a target to create 350 career opportunities for

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander job-seekers by July 2012. According to the

CBA website, they have exceeded this target.

Commitment. Ensuring CBA staff understand and reflect the

communities they serve helps them to deliver better customer service. The

Indigenous Banking Team is working with JSA employment organisations and

other providers to recruit Indigenous job-seekers to work at the

Commonwealth Bank (Commonwealth Bank of Australia, 2014b).

School-based traineeships. Through CBA’s Indigenous SBTs, 70

traineeship positions are available each year for year 11 and 12 students. The

program assists young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander high school

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students build a career in the financial services industry, combining on-the-job

experience and study (Commonwealth Bank of Australia, 2014b).

Full-time traineeships. The FTT program is offered to adult Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islander job-seekers. Traineeships are for 12 months and

provide participants with training and support aimed at securing a permanent

position once the traineeship is completed (Commonwealth Bank of Australia,

2014b).

Direct recruitment. CBA runs pre-employment programs, utilising

external recruitment and employment agencies to assist Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander job-seekers gain entry into permanent employment with CBA

(Commonwealth Bank of Australia, 2014b).

Pre-employment program. CBA also runs programs that provide up-

skilling opportunities to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander job-seekers who

want to pursue careers with the Bank. The program delivers training in

customer service values, sales skills and interview techniques

(Commonwealth Bank of Australia, 2014b).

CBA has not undertaken any studies or independent evaluations of their

Indigenous employment strategy, although there is a case study on RA’s website

that features the bank and its Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment

strategy (Reconciliation Australia, 2013a).

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6.7 Westpac Banking Corporation and Aboriginal and Torres


Westpac states that they are ‘committed to long-term solutions for a better future

for all Australians’. They also have a RAP that revolves around a range of

initiatives partnering with Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

communities to meet specific goals, including employment in both urban and

remote locations. Initiatives are geared to both make a difference at an individual

level, and also support the Westpac Group’s desire to become an ‘employer of

choice’ for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander job-seekers. Westpac’s website

provides insight into the opportunities that are available to Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander peoples (Westpac Banking Corporation, 2014b).

Show me the way. The ‘Show Me the Way Program’ is a two-way

learning approach, where ‘the student gains an understanding of the real world

from the learning partner and the learning partner develops an understanding

of the cultural diversity within the Aboriginal student community’ (Show Me the

Way, 2015). Westpac partner with ‘Show Me the Way’ to support SBTs through

e-mentoring programs across Australia (Westpac Banking Corporation,

2014b).

Career trackers. Westpac are partnering with this non-profit social

enterprise to offer internship and cadet opportunities. This is a multi-year

program that includes career planning, cultural awareness and leadership

training (Westpac Banking Corporation, 2014b).

Financial services pre-employment program. The Westpac Group

partners with external providers to deliver a pre-employment program for local

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Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander job-seekers and to help place the

graduates of this program into permanent employment within the bank

(Westpac Banking Corporation, 2014b).

School-based traineeships. For year 11 and 12 students, the

Indigenous trainees receive 2 years of industry-specific paid work experience,

a relevant nationally recognised certificate qualification as well as a certificate

recognising their completion of high school. Once completed, some trainees

will go on to continue work with Westpac (Westpac Banking Corporation,

2014b).

Cadetships and graduate programs. Westpac reaches out to

universities and other organisations to help encourage Aboriginal and/or

Torres Strait Islander people to apply for graduate positions within Westpac

(Westpac Banking Corporation, 2014b).

In addition to the Westpac website, recent media releases from the bank have

stated that the ‘Westpac Group today committed to employ an additional 500

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people by 2017 as part of a broad suite of

commitments announced in its 2015–17 Reconciliation Action Plan’ (Westpac

Banking Corporation, 2014c). In addition, they have a new 10-year plan with

Career Trackers to place 40 Indigenous interns annually. A new pathways

program was also announced, which includes a new pilot apprenticeship program

with Compass Group where 16 young Indigenous Australians will gain practical

experience and hospitality industry qualifications (Westpac Banking Corporation,

2014c).

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Westpac has not had any studies or independent evaluations undertaken on their

A&TSIEP employment strategy. However, it needs to be noted that Westpac has

only in the last few years developed their Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

employment strategy and now have a dedicated Indigenous employment

manager (who is non-Indigenous) who oversees Indigenous employment within

the Westpac Group.

6.8 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Employment

Discussion

The above discussion outlined the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

employment initiatives of the ABA and the four major banks in Australia, and

provides valuable insights into Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment

in the industry. From Table 6.2, it is clear that all four banks offer similar programs,

ranging from school-based and full-time traineeships to direct employment.

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Table 6.2: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Programs—Big Four Banks.

Bank SBT FTT Direct Employment

Internships Cadetships

RAP Graduate Program

Other

NAB Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Other

ANZ Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Pre-employment programs

CBA Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Pre-employment program

Westpac Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Pre-employment program

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However, not surprisingly, there are some gaps in what is offered. For instance,

only two of the four offer pre-employment programs, which is a vital resource to

assist Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people gain employment (Giddy,

Lopez & Redman, 2009; Gray et al., 2012; Western Australian Government,

2013). In addition, only two of the four offer graduate programs, which, according

to Carless (2007) and Davies-Netzley (2014), have an excellent track record

when it comes to employing minorities and women. Furthermore, Graduate

Careers Australia has reported that ‘Indigenous graduates were more likely to

have been in full-time employment’ than the total graduates put together (82.7%

compared with 71.3%) (Graduate Careers Australia, 2014). Based on these

statistics graduate programs do work, and so it is surprising that the banks have

not instituted this strategy. Interestingly, ANZ bank claims to have the most

successful outcomes when it comes to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

employment, yet they are the only bank who do not offer internships or cadetships

to university students. A New Zealand study in the banking sector has shown that

once the cadetship has finished retention of Maori employees is as high as 95%

(New Zealand Government, 2014).

When it comes to direct employment, all four banks advertise this on their

websites and in their RAPs. However, the recruitment processes vary significantly

between them. Some rely on psychometric testing, which is a method used to

measure individuals’ mental capabilities and behavioural style, often used in

interview processes to measure a candidates’ suitability for a role based on the

required personality characteristics and aptitude. Psychometric testing ‘is not

conducive or culturally appropriate when employing Indigenous Australians’

(Bank 2 Management 3, 2011), and can impede parity (Bank 2 Management 3,

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2011; Samuda, 1998). Most banks rely on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

peoples actively accessing their websites for employment. This again can raise

issues that only those who have access to the internet regularly can access

employment opportunities. For those in rural and remote communities this may

not be possible (Pinkstone, 2013).

Since it is clear from their websites and RAPs that the Big Four banks recognise

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander disadvantage, it also seemed relevant to

ascertain whether this was publically projected. Are there any nuances around

the projection? To ascertain this, documentary analysis of the bank’s annual

reports, shareholder reviews, CSR reviews, sustainability reports and RAPs were

utilised. On reviewing the documents of all four banks, the differences between

the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment strategies was very

obvious.

NAB was a clear leader in public projection and their reporting reflected this. Their

main objective appears to be to ensure that they continue to increase the number

of Indigenous traineeships converted to permanent employees, creating ‘real

jobs’ (National Australia Bank, 2011, 2013a). The bank acknowledged the

ongoing challenge in converting its SBTs to full-time employees. Not only did NAB

report on its Indigenous recruitment each year, but on the actual figures of

Indigenous employees, something no other bank does. In 2014 NAB employed

185 Indigenous people (National Australia Bank, 2012, 2013a, 2013b, 2014a). In

real terms, this number is not significant when you consider that NAB has over

42 000 employees, meaning their Indigenous workforce represents 0.004% of

their total workforce—but its openness is welcome.

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Conversely, ANZ has a strong history of Indigenous employment mostly through

its SBT program, and since 2003 has employed more than 800 Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander people as trainees, the majority of which are not converted

to full-time employment once the traineeship has ceased. In 2010 they clearly

stated that they would provide 100 additional traineeships to Indigenous

Australians and convert at least 65% of those who complete the program to

permanent ANZ (Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited, 2011). This

target was not accomplished; in fact, it fell very short. Even so, ANZ could still

boast that 70% of SBTs successfully completed their traineeships, well above the

‘non-trade’ Indigenous sector and equivalent to non-Indigenous traineeship

completions (Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited, 2010). In 2012,

ANZ won the Australian Human Resources Institute’s (AHRI) excellence in

Indigenous employment award (Australia and New Zealand Banking Group

Limited, 2012) for SBTs. In 2014, ANZ fell short of their SBT recruitment goals

(Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited, 2013, 2014) and their

retention rates remain very low. ANZ have had a few success stories that have

come from the SBT program. Three SBTs from rural NSW have risen through the

ranks of the bank to managerial positions, perhaps due to the dedicated

Indigenous employment team that oversees Indigenous employment. ANZ

reports that it has 8000 staff, but they do not publish how many Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander employees the bank has. It is therefore difficult to work out

the percentage of Indigenous staff to their total workforce.

Documents from the CBA indicate that in 2012 the bank had created 354 career

opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians as part of its

Indigenous employment strategy, exceeding expectations (Commonwealth Bank

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of Australia, 2012). In 2014, 137 career opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islanders were created. An Indigenous Cultural Awareness eLearning

Module was also rolled out and made available to all employees (Commonwealth

Bank of Australia, 2014a), to make CBA a more culturally appropriate place for

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to work. CBA do not report how many

employees access this eLearning module or whether it is a compulsory part of

the work environment. Of the 42 000 Australia-based staff, CBA do not report

how many of these are Aboriginal and or Torres Strait Islander, so it is difficult to

work out the percentage of Indigenous staff to their total workforce.

Westpac were the last of the Big Four banks to develop an Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander employment strategy. In 2012, Westpac reported that they had

exceeded their goal of recruiting at least 100 Australian Indigenous people

(Westpac Banking Corporation, 2012). In 2013, they reported that at least 103

Indigenous Australians were placed across the Westpac Group (which includes

St George Bank and BT Financial Group), including 38 school-based trainees

(Westpac Banking Corporation, 2013). Their 2014 data was not available,

however, from their annual report they have 33 586 FTE employees. Again, along

with CBA and ANZ, Westpac do not report how many of these are Aboriginal and

or Torres Strait Islander, so it is difficult to work out the percentage of Indigenous

staff to their total workforce. However, interestingly, they do report the total

number of women as a percentage. In Westpac’s new RAP they commit to

employing an additional 500 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people by 2017

(Westpac Banking Corporation, 2014c), but this makes no comment on what the

composition of this would be. Will the majority be SBTs with no ‘real jobs’ at the

completion of the traineeship?

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If the Big Four banks are truly interested in ‘Closing the Gap’ on Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander disadvantage, they need to make a close examination of

their A&TSIEPs with a view to effectiveness. From interviews conducted as part

of this thesis, SBTs appear to be a good way of introducing young Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander people into working in a banking environment. However, if

there are no ‘real jobs’ available at the end of the traineeships, there is little in the

way of real outcomes. There is evidence that suggests that once an SBT leaves

the traineeship, there is no guarantee that they are employable, as suggested by

Ernst & Young (2014b). In fact, there is evidence that suggests these young

people are more likely to end up on welfare and be discouraged from re-entering

the workforce (Cully, VanderHeuvel & Goodes, 2000; Martin, 2010; Solden &

Nankervis, 2014). Cully et al. (2000) found that 71% of Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander peoples who had completed SBTs were unemployed more than a

year after completing their traineeship, and more than half of those went on to

more training, as they were unable to gain employment.

In addition, with the exception of NAB, none of the banks publish their Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islander employment statistics, which may indicate that

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment is not a high priority, after all

(or the numbers are too low to publicise). All publish their statistics on women’s

participation in the workforce, so it is questionable why they do not do so for their

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participation. The Commonwealth and state

governments have a mandatory 2% Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

employment quota, which they have to report on yearly. Corporate Australia

should follow the Government’s lead on this. All of these banks utilise labour

market programs, such as the IEP, to access funds to ‘grow’ their Aboriginal and

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Torres Strait Islander employment, in some cases well into the millions of dollars,

thus reporting on the success of this funding should be standard practice.

As seen above, all four major banks in Australia have strategies aimed at

improving the disadvantage of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment initiatives of the ABA and the

four major banks in Australia were outlined, which provides valuable insights into

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment in the industry. The next section

of this chapter consists of case studies from Bank 1 and Bank 2.

6.9 Case Studies into Two of the Major Banks in Australia: How

Effective Are These Strategies?

Utilising an Aboriginal lens and decolonising methodologies, in-depth research

has been conducted into the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment

policies and strategies of Bank 1 and Bank 2 utilising documentary analysis.

Policy documents for both banks are analysed and the literature is reviewed.

Additionally, utilising the culturally appropriate and ethical interview techniques

outlined in Chapter 2, interviews were carried out with senior

executives/managers, external recruiters, Group Training Organisations and

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees to ascertain whether the

strategies of these two banks are assisting to overcome the disadvantage faced

by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. During analysis of the data,

common themes emerged, which will be discussed here. In some cases,

idiosyncrasies were revealed throughout the interview process.

It was important to ascertain the driving force behind both banks’ commitment to

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment. For instance, is it from a CSR

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perspective? Is it linked to the bank’s vision and mission? Is it an integral part of

the bank’s culture, or an afterthought? Was this a ‘feel-good’ exercise or

‘tokenistic gesture’? Are they just ‘ticking a box’ to say, yes, we are recruiting

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people? What are the retention strategies

used, and is there actually traction where you can see career progression? In

addition, were these banks utilising labour market programs funded by the

Government and discussed in Chapter 4, to fund their Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander employment policies and strategies?

The common themes that emerged when interviewing the stakeholders both

internal and external to the two banks included recruitment processes (internal

and external), employment strategies (including targets and types of employment

offered), statutory requirements (including CSR), labour market programs

(including government funding), skills and capacity of Indigenous applicants,

mentoring and the cultural appropriateness of the workplaces. As an Aboriginal

researcher, I was quite surprised by some of the responses given by the interview

participants and, in some instances, quite delighted by some of the stories they

shared.

6.10 Bank 1

Bank 1 promotes itself as one of Australia’s leading providers of integrated

financial services, which includes retail business and institutional banking. Other

financial services include funds management, superannuation, life insurance,

general insurance, broking services and finance company activities. Bank 1

conducts its operations primarily in Australia, New Zealand and the Asia Pacific

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region. Bank 1 estimates that they have created around 490 Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander employment opportunities (Bank 1, 2007–2014).

Bank 1’s Indigenous employment strategy was launched as part of their RAP

program. Prior to this time, Bank 1 only offered Indigenous SBTs. The SBT

program had been running since 2003 and laid the foundations for Bank 1 to

develop an Indigenous employment strategy as part of their commitment to

building diversity within its workforce. The strategy aimed to address current

barriers around employment and retention within the bank and to provide ongoing

training and work opportunities to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders across

the Bank (Bank 1, 2007–2014). The RAP contains commitments by the bank of

how many new employment opportunities it will provide for Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander job-seekers over the life of the RAP (usually 2 years).

Bank 1 is a signatory to the AEC (discussed in Chapter 4) and utilises labour

market programs funded by the Government (discussed in Chapter 4), although

this topic was ‘off limits’ when I brought it up in interviews. Like most of the other

major banks, their current Indigenous employment strategy offers SBTs, FTTs,

direct recruitment, internships and pre-employment. Their recruitment, career

progression and retention processes vary, depending on the program. Since

these processes are an essential part of the employment strategy, they will be

outlined and analysed separately. It is important to note here that, apart from the

RAP, the bank has no written Indigenous employment policy documents, so the

RAP was utilised to obtain the majority of the information required, along with the

bank’s website and through interviews with management and employees of the

bank.

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School-based traineeships. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

SBTs are one way in which Bank 1 believes they can deliver career pathways

for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander high school students in year 11 and

12. The recruitment process starts about half way through the year when

students are in year 10. The majority of the recruitment for these positions is

performed by Group Training Organisations (GTOs) who are commissioned

by the bank to run the programs. Indigenous SBTs are promoted to year 10

students as a way to gain valuable employment skills while completing their

Higher School Certificate (HSC). They combine vital on-the-job experience

with Certificate II in Business and a Certificate III in Financial services.

Traineeships are part-time over 2 years. Bank 1 has around 50 SBT positions

each year, which represents a realistic number of positions considering that

the bank anticipates that more than half of graduates from SBTs gain

permanent positions within the bank, whether that is full-time, part-time or

casual. ‘Obviously we don’t want … there’s no point investing for two years

and not making attempts to keep them in the bank’ (Bank 1 Management 1,

2010).

Bank 1 works with several GTOs across the country who promote and recruit to

the program. Bank 1, as the host employer, works closely with the GTOs in

positioning the trainees within branches where there is a need and, in most

circumstances, where there is a high Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

population, as the bank believes in truly representing their customer base (Bank

1 GTO 1, 2010; Bank 1 Management 1, 2010). Most of the trainees tend to be

from regional areas. The GTO works closely with the Indigenous employment

team and the regional managers to ensure the success of the program. GTO1

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(2010) believes that this model is successful for Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander people as it is a ‘wrap around service’ that involves mentoring, coaching

and caring from the GTO, with support from the host employer. Usually the GTO

will put the prospective Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander trainee through a

skills and job ready program prior to the interview for a traineeship. Once the

trainee is accepted they spend 2 weeks in the bank to familiarise themselves with

the processes, prior to commencing the traineeship in January. The trainee then

spends 1 day per week in the bank, completes the Certificate II in Business at

TAFE or another Registered Training Organisation (RTO) and the rest of the

week at school (Bank 1, 2007–2014). In addition, the trainees are able to work

extra hours during school holidays: ‘you can work as much as you want to in your

school holidays, so I worked full-time all of my holidays, it was more income that

what I would normally get’ (Bank 1 Employee 5, 2010).

Retention and outcome analysis of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander SBTs

reveals interesting information. Documentary analysis exposed quite different

outcomes to what was revealed in the interview process. For instance, in 2010

four out of 14 SBTs in one region graduated. The trainees attributed this to the

lack of support given to the trainees by the GTO. Instead of monthly face-to-face

mentoring visits, they would receive a generic phone call every three months or

so to see how they were going. Some trainees had great support within the bank,

but others did not, depending on the branch in which they were placed (Bank 1

Employee 2, 2011; Bank 1 Employee 5, 2010). Unfortunately, this was not an

isolated incident, as it reoccurred in several regions and continued into 2014. One

young trainee stated that ‘banking is a very hard industry … it is very full on …

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you need the support to get you through, whether that is internal or external …

it’s not a job which you can’t really fake’ (Bank 1 Employee 5, 2010).

There were some examples of career progression from SBT to full-time

employment, but nowhere near the 50% claimed by the bank. In addition, the

SBT had been running since 2002 and had not yielded a single Aboriginal and/or

Torres Strait Islander manager in the bank. If you compare this to the statistics of

non-Indigenous SBTs, the number that have reached managerial positions is

significantly greater. In an attempt to rectify this, Bank 1 has developed an

Indigenous Future Leaders Program, which will be discussed later in this chapter.

Tom’s Story: School-based Trainee from South Australia Throughout school I never really knew what I wanted to do, but when the traineeship came up I took the opportunity and realised it was a great career to be in … I did a 4-week course prior to getting the traineeship, job skills and interview skills. It really helped because I got the traineeship. Once I was in the traineeship there was heaps of support right throughout the traineeship not just from my school, but from the bank, the managers are great, the training centre, the GTO, they were great. They helped me out whenever I needed it. I was even asked to go into the schools and speak to a bunch of maybe 50 or so about the traineeship program. It’s just been great. I’ve always had help and support on both the bank and the GTO; it’s a really good opportunity for young Aboriginal kids. When my traineeship finished I got offered a casual position and now I am permanent part-time 28 hours a week which is just perfect because I can do extra study.

Leroy’s Story: School-based Trainee from NSW Researcher: Would you recommend working in Bank 1 to other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people? Interviewee: I do and I have. I’m a big advocate for it. My story, I don’t know where I’d be if I didn’t do it. I had no direction. I was always doing my studies and I did it well, but then if—once I finished high school, I had no idea what I wanted to do. Some of my friends wanted to go to uni and become primary school teachers. I had no idea. There were things that I was interested in but I never thought where it would take me. If I wasn’t here, I think I would still be studying. Go from degree to degree; do not know what I want to do then changing half way through and deferring, and all that kind of stuff.

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Full-time traineeships. The FTT program offers adult Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander job-seekers an opportunity to combine work skills and a

Certificate III or IV in Business or Financial Services. FTTs attend TAFE 1 day

per week and work in a branch, either in business services or customer

relations divisions in the bank. As with SBTs, Bank 1 works with several GTOs

across the country to recruit to the program (Bank 1, 2007–2014; Bank 1 GTO

1, 2010; Bank 1 Management 1, 2010). FTTs are also offered to those who go

through the pre-employment program, discussed later in this chapter. FTTs

receive mentoring with their GTO and are given support in the branch through

a buddy system. Throughout the traineeship, participants are offered other

training opportunities within the bank. There is no guarantee of full-time work

at the end of the traineeship; however, if the traineeship is successfully

completed, trainees are usually offered some form of work, mostly casual, and

they can apply for positions as they become available (Bank 1 Management 1,

2010).

Direct recruitment. There are two avenues that Bank 1 utilises for their

direct recruitment: recruitment agencies, such as JSAs, and employment fairs.

No direct recruitment is performed on the bank’s website. Bank 1’s recruitment

process is very different for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander candidates

than for mainstream candidates. ‘It’s not just a go on our web page or go on

Seek and then find a job … we tell the recruitment agencies to send applicants

directly to the Indigenous employment manager or to our Indigenous

recruitment specialist’ (Bank 1 Management 1, 2010). Recruitment agencies

are used widely, as they put applicants through a 3-day course to prepare them

for an interview with the bank. During this time, the applicant is also assessed

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for their suitability for employment with the bank (Bank 1 ER 1, 2010; Bank 1

Management 1, 2010). Ideally, people that come through the direct recruitment

process already have the skills needed to work in the bank; they need to be

‘job ready’:

We have to bring people in who have got the skills and who’ve got the

capacity … you don’t have to be good at maths, but you have to know how

to count, you have to have personality, you have to like people and you

have to want to engage with people, and be motivated and to want to be

there … the rest we will teach. (Bank 1 Management 1, 2010)

Once the applicant has completed the 3-day course, a telephone interview is

conducted by the recruitment team. If the applicant is successful at this stage

their resume is sent to the area manager and they are interviewed by that

manager. This process is carried out with the RAP and Indigenous employment

strategy in mind, so that the bank recruits its ‘Indigenous talent’ appropriately

(Bank 1 Management 1, 2010). If the applicant is successful, reference checks

and a criminal record check are performed, a medical examination is completed,

and then they are offered a job (Bank 1 ER 1, 2010). The bank may think that this

process is ‘appropriate’, however, later in the chapter it will be revealed that this

process is not ‘appropriate’.

Pre-employment program. Bank 1 offers pre-employment programs

to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander job-seekers that are interested in

working for the bank. The programs train participants in customer service,

sales and communication skills that are needed for a career in the bank. The

program has developed over the years; it initially started as a 3-day program,

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but has progressed to a 5-day, 2-week, or 4-week program. The program is

run in all major cities. Part of the program requires participants to spend time

in a bank branch to gain hands-on experience (Bank 1, 2007–2014). Although

this was not the case when the program started, the bank has obviously learnt

throughout its A&TSIEP journey and made changes that benefit the

participants. The bank utilises external recruitment agencies and JSAs to fill

the positions in the courses offered. Once the training is completed and as

positions in the bank become available, participants are sent for interviews.

Melissa’s Story: Participant in Pre-employment Program My JSA gave me a call 1 day and said there was some training going on in the Bank. With my past experience they recommended me to go for it, so we did a transition to employment course. I went for a week at the training centre in the city. They just give us the insight of how the bank runs and the history of it and what goes on in the bank. Then it was up to us to apply for jobs and go for the interviews and whatnot. I had three interviews before I got this one.

Evelyn’s Story: Participant in the Pre-employment Program The week-long course was too compact and intense. It needs to be longer so we can get our head around everything we need to know. But it was a foot in the front door and an opportunity that I wouldn’t have otherwise had. At least I got to learn all the acronyms … everything in acronyms around here.

Several participants of the pre-employment program expressed that the

interviews were challenging. Early participants of the program who did not receive

on-the-job work experience found the process especially hard. The training

covered what was expected in the bank, targets that employees had to meet,

products, and so on. Participants also thought that the training did not include

how to conduct cash transactions; there was not enough focus on the interview

processes and what to expect, and there was no on-the-job training, which would

have helped participants acclimatise to the banking environment (Bank 1

Employee 1, 2010; Bank 1 Employee 4, 2010).

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Daniel’s Story: Participant in the Pre-employment Program The training went for roughly eight weeks. It was 4 days a week. I actually found it was really, really good. We did our training at Redfern at the Indigenous centre there. The training was really to get me prepared for working in the bank, make sure I had the right customer service skills, the right mathematical skills, the right English skills. It’s really covering off all the basics which you would need when working for the bank. It took a few months for me to get a position after the training, but I got a job and I am extremely happy.

The pre-employment program run by the bank is providing Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander peoples with an admirable opportunity to gain the necessary skills

to be employed in the bank. There is no guarantee that participants will acquire

positions in the bank at the end of the training. Participants are notified when

positions become available and their names are put forward for an interview.

Several of the participants that I interviewed were grateful for the course and the

opportunities that working in the bank delivered for themselves and their families.

It would have been interesting to interview some of the unsuccessful participants,

but the opportunity did not arise.

Melissa’s Story: Working in the Bank Has Given Me Some Great Opportunities

Melissa is a single mum of three children who commenced work with the bank 6 months ago. Working with the bank has made a huge difference to the lives of this family in several ways. Melissa feels more financially secure and is able to assist her parents and other family members to reach financial security by advising them of all the different things that the bank can offer, such as savings accounts, retirement planning, superannuation and life insurance. ‘Life insurance is not something us blackfellas think about really, but I have it now and I got it for Mum and Dad too’. Last week Melissa bought herself and her family a new table and chairs. ‘I was so thankful. I’ve never bought anything brand new before, but I ended up doing that, that was just from saving … I said to my daughter, thank God for this job, we’re really thankful’.

Cadetship program. Bank 1 offers a cadetship/internship program to

current university students. The recruitment of these positions is performed

through CareerTrackers. CareerTrackers is a national non-profit organisation

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that creates private-sector internship opportunities for talented Indigenous

university students (CareerTrackers, 2015). CareerTrackers work with all four

big banks to provide this program. The internships are multi-year, from 1–4

years depending on what stage the university student is at in their degree. The

aim of the internship is to convert to full-time employment once the student

graduates from university (Bank 1, 2007–2014). Bank 1 has only had the

internship program running for a few years, so it is not possible to determine if

the program is a success. However, when I interviewed one intern they

commented what a great opportunity it was and how they received great

support from the bank and CareerTrackers.

Elise’s Story: University Intern I went onto the CareerTrackers website and filled out an expression of interest. Then I received a phone call to come to an information and orientation session. At the session we were told about bank internships and asked if we were interested. We were asked to fill out questionnaire about our studies and interests. CareerTrackers use that questionnaire to match you to a company that will best fit you. Once I was matched I went for a session on interview preparation and my resume was sent to the bank. The bank liked what they saw, so I was offered an interview with the Indigenous engagement officer and the manager of the area I was to do the internship in. Prior to commencing the internship I went for an induction. The internship is great, I work for 12 weeks of the year, 8 in the summer break and 4 in the winter break. The rest of the time I am a full-time student. It’s a great opportunity; I get good support from both CareerTrackers and the bank. We are given a buddy within the bank that helps us whilst on placement.

Other programs. Bank 1 also offers programs to enhance the

leadership capabilities of its Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff. The

Indigenous Future Leaders Program is offered to selected permanent

employees that show ‘leadership potential’. The program explores what it

means to be an Indigenous leader in the community as well as developing

participants’ banking-specific leadership skills. The bank sees this as a good

way to ensure career paths for their Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

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employees. The training is delivered in blocks over a 12-month period (Bank

1, 2007–2014; Bank 1 Management 1, 2010).

Leroy’s Story: Indigenous Future Leader Program Participant I got the opportunity to do the program; it facilitates my learning about branch management, about different clients, about hard conversations and a repertoire of skills that you need in leadership. At the end of it, you do a presentation to area managers, all area managers, so they can meet you, know what you’ve learnt from the programme and so they know who you are as well. There were six of us on the course and there are two of us from New South Wales, others from other states. We were the first ones to do the program. When you do courses like this, it’s just full on learning and then when you come back, you then put it into practice and then—so it adds on to my development. The opportunities in the bank are endless.

Bank 1 also offers Indigenous cultural awareness to all bank employees through

an online process, which focuses on how understanding cultural backgrounds will

support the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff and customers.

The module, according to Bank 1, ‘provides our people a greater understanding

of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and cultures’ (Bank 1, 2007–

2014). In addition, the bank offers cultural workshops for leaders of the bank to

increase their knowledge and understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander peoples, history and culture. Cultural awareness/cultural competency

training is often used by organisations. Training aims to expand the knowledge

and understanding about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and

cultures and assists in developing skills and values that enables positive changes

in professional practice so participants can work effectively with Aboriginal and


Despite receiving cultural awareness training, some participants in this study

commented that they were subjected to discrimination and racism in the

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workplace by fellow employees; in addition, there were several incidents of

racism with bank customers.

Melissa’s Story: ‘Everything I Do is Scrutinised’ ‘We were at lunch the other day and my friend got a ripped $20 note. In the banking industry we call them mutes … and we are allowed to swap them. So back at the bank after lunch, my friend asked if I could swap the mute. I said yes, so she gave me the mute $20 and I swapped it. The lead teller watched us and that was fine. However, another employee saw me pull $20 from my drawer and give it to my friend, she didn’t see the initial part of the exchange. We were dragged into the office. I was really angry. Luckily the head teller stood up for us. Blackfellas are just not trusted to be around money’.

Unfortunately, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples ‘experience high

levels of racism across multiple settings … four times higher that of non-

Aboriginal Australians’ (Szoke, 2012). One study participant spoke about a

regular customer of the bank who came in every day. ‘As a teller you always greet

the customer and say hi, but this one customer refuses to speak to me, but when

she is served by ‘a white girl’ she all happy and talks about her weekend or

whatever … That really annoys me, it makes me angry’ (Bank 1 Employee 1,

2010). Another participant commented:

I’ll get customers that come in and don’t want to be served by me. They’d

rather wait 10 or 15 minutes in the line to be served by the lady next to me,

who’s only going to do the exact same thing as I will do. I believe a

blackfella’s always got it a little bit harder than the white fellow in the job.

(Bank 1 Employee 5, 2010)

Other participants spoke about asking the manager to step in when racism with

customers had occurred and reported that managers were very helpful in dealing

with the customers.

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In the next section, the A&TSIEP of Bank 1 will be measured against the


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Table 6.3: Bank 1 A&TSIEP Strategy Evaluative framework.


Yes/No Comments/Key findings

Planning and Pre-Employment Stage


Yes

Establish partnerships Yes Strong partnerships/ community programs


Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander manager

Yes

Developed A&TSIEP

% target for employment

No Ad hoc strategy, nothing written except RAP. Target

in RAP

Culturally appropriate workplace Yes Online cultural awareness available to all employees




Information sessions Yes Specifically for pre- employment program

Work ready/pre-employment programs Yes Pre-employment program

Assessment centres Yes For direct employment only



Formal mentoring Yes Only for SBT

Career development and training Yes Leadership program


Flexible working hours and conditions Yes Full-time, part-time and casual work available

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Is the program monitored, evaluated and refined?

No


Is rural and remote employment offered? Yes Rural employment no remote

Bank 1 summary. Utilising the data in Table 6.3, it is clear that Bank 1

does not meet all the requirements of the evaluative framework. In the planning

and pre-employment stage, Bank 1 scores highly for having the commitment

of senior management driving the strategy, they also have partnerships with

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community organisation, however, this is

only for the community programs they are associated with and not for their

A&TSIEP. In addition, they do not have an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

advisory group that has been consulted and assisted in the development of

the A&TSIEP and RAP. Bank 1 does employ an A&TSEM, who is an Aboriginal

person, who has the lived experience necessary for the roles. The A&TSIEP

for Bank 1 has only been operating for approximately 5 years and was mostly

developed through its RAP, so it is relatively new to the process. They do not

have a formal written A&TSIEP, or any other written formal policies around

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment apart from the RAP. Most of

the programs that Bank 1 offers have been developed by looking at what other

banks and companies are doing. Bank 1 has a numerical target in their RAP

for the employment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. However,

when it comes to reporting on outcomes it only states they have given X

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amount of opportunities. There is no mention of actual numbers of Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islander employees. Bank 1 offers all its employees online

cultural awareness training, but the training in not compulsory and there are

no incentives for staff to take the training. It does have compulsory cultural

awareness training for all senior management.

In the employing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander stage, the variety of

recruitment strategies Bank 1 utilises are culturally appropriate. They prefer face-

to-face recruitment, using specialist recruitment services and JSAs, and avoid an

online application system. Bank 1 holds information sessions and run pre-

employment programs. When recruiting for direct employment, recruitment

agencies put applicants through interview training and assess applicants for their

suitability for employment with the bank. The interview practices of Bank 1 do not

align with the evaluative framework and are not culturally inappropriate, as there

is no Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people on the interview panels.

When it comes to retention strategies, Bank 1 has no mentoring programs except

for SBTs, who receive mentoring through the GTO. The fact that Bank 1 has no

mentoring is hugely disappointing, as culturally appropriate mentoring is a vital

strategy that has a proven record for assisting Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander employees overcome barriers faced in the workplace. Despite this,

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees who were interviewed said, for

the most part, that they were supported in the workplace. One thing unanimously

reported by all interviewed participants was that the bank needed to supply an

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employee network and mentors; the

participants felt that, at times, they had no one to turn to when there was ‘a death

in the family’ or ‘to deal with blackfella stuff’. Bank 1 does have career

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development opportunities; the Indigenous Future Leaders Program is offered to

carefully chosen permanent Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees who

show ‘leadership potential’. Participants in the study noted that there were good

opportunities for career development, as the bank offered internal training, and

some external training was supported. Despite there being several career

development opportunities available, there is no data available on career

progression for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees within the

Bank—data, for instance, on how many Aboriginal people held management

positions. Bank 1 has no cultural leave positions in their enterprise agreement,

but it does offer flexible working hours, with full-time, part-time and casual

positions available. Some participants felt that they would like to work more hours,

while others wanted to work less (especially the mums).

Bank 1 has no monitoring tools for its A&TSIEP and the bank has not completed

any internal or external evaluations of the program. The pre-employment program

has been refined since its inception, based on the feedback of the participants.

Bank 1 has branches in urban and rural locations throughout Australia, but no

branches in remote Australia. A substantial portion of Bank 1’s SBTs are in rural

locations around Australia, which provide a good opportunity for young Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islander peoples to gain a career.

Additional information that came out of the interviews with Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islanders was the overwhelming belief held by the Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander participants that Bank 1 was genuinely trying to assist Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islander peoples to gain employment. They did not see their

employment as ‘tokenistic’.

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All interviewed participants mentioned how they felt they had become role models

in their families and communities, and working for the bank had made a real

difference in their lives.

Evelyn’s Story: ‘Put Yourself Out There’ You have to put yourself out there, so it takes a bit of courage and sometimes the shame factor can get in in a way, but that’s probably the one thing that’s always been my problem over the years, and you’ve got to get out of the shame mentality and ask, I need help. The bank keeps on encouraging that if I want some help, if I want training, they will do it for me. You can’t ask for more than that. I feel financially secure and I am able to assist with my family, which is important for us mob, so working in the bank has been really good for me.

As there was no access to former employees of the organisation, the data

collection is incomplete and does not provide a complete picture of the

organisations Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment capabilities.

When senior management were interviewed, they were reluctant to discuss the

A&TSIEP-based labour market funding they received from the Government. Nor

could the Bank provide accurate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

employment statistics. There is also no mention of these statistics in their annual

reports. Despite the lack of data, Bank 1’s A&TSIEP does not meet all the

requirements of the evaluative framework. Bank 1 has a substantial amount of

work to do to make the strategy a success.

6.11 Bank 2

Bank 2 believes in the strength of a diverse and inclusive workforce that helps it

have strong connections with their customers. They believe that Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander employment makes good business sense, as it is

representative of the communities in which they operate. Bank 2’s Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander employment strategy was launched in 2007 as part of their

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RAP program. Prior to this time, Bank 2 only offered Indigenous SBTs. The SBT

program was developed in Moree, NSW, and was the brainchild of the regional

manager, who teamed up with a local Aboriginal organisation ‘to fill the need for

more Indigenous representation in employment … we didn’t do it from a corporate

responsibility angle … we basically wrote our strategy on the hop … I don’t think

we ever finished it’ (Bank 2, 2007–2014; Bank 2 Management 1, 2010).

Bank 2 has now launched three RAPs, each one building on the commitment of

their first. The latest RAP contains key commitments around employment

opportunities and targets the various programs that it delivers, such as SBTs,

FTTs, direct employment, graduate recruitment, cadetships and the career

development of existing Indigenous employees (Bank 2, 2007–2014). The

publicly-stated sentiments of Bank 2 appear to be internalised by senior

managers as part of their everyday activities—if the comments of one manager

is anything to go by: ‘We don’t want to be one of those lip service companies that

feel good and then don’t have the runs on the board’ (Bank 2 Management 3,

2011).

Bank 2 is a signatory to the AEC (discussed in Chapter 4) and utilises labour

market programs funded by the Government (discussed in Chapter 4). Bank 2

received millions of dollars from the Government to fund an expansion of their

A&TSIEP. There are some in the bank who believe that, if the bank was serious

about Indigenous employment, it should have been self-funded; however, the

bank justifies receiving funding on the basis that the funds will be used to expand

the A&TSIEP with a dedicated team of 10—12 people working on Indigenous

employment (Bank 2 Management 7, 2011). ‘They could have funded that

themselves … they’re a large corporate … and that’s the shame ... It puts a real

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tarnish on the broader picture of their efforts … because realistically, if they were

fair dinkum, they’d fund it themselves’ (Bank 2 GTO 1, 2011).

The recruitment, career progression and retention processes that Bank 2 utilises

vary depending on the program and is an essential part of the employment

strategy. As such, they will be outlined and analysed separately. It is important to

note here that, apart from the RAP and a few brochures, the bank has no written

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment policy documents, so the

majority of the information utilised was from interviews with management and

employees of the bank.


SBTs are the cornerstone to Bank 2’s A&TSIEP. Since its first SBT in 2002,

Bank 2 now offers in excess of 100 SBTs each year. Through the use of

government statistics, Bank 2 identified that retention rates for Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander students beyond year 8 were poor. ‘We were looking

from a community perspective, how we got our kids to stay in year 11 and year

12 and have a job at the end … so we sat down with community and asked

what they wanted … then we sat down with a group of specialists and set out

to develop the program’ (Bank 2 Management 3, 2011). Bank 2 began to use

SBTs as a retention tool to assist ‘Indigenous kids’ to stay at school. They

teamed up with the various state government departments of education and

with several GTOs to introduce the program across Australia. The focus

started in areas where there was a high Indigenous population in the schools.

In Moree, for instance, 40% of the population are youth, of whom a majority

are Indigenous (Bank 2 Employee 3, 2010). Once they determined what

branches were in those areas they then determined the capacity of each

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branch to host Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander SBTs. ‘There is a sign out

the front, they all wear the same uniform, but people in the branches are all

different … so we have a suitability checklist … so we get the fit right … We

don’t want to set anyone up to fail (trainee, team member or manager) … The

cultural sensitivities of a branch can never be tested by a tick a box’ (Bank 2

Management 1, 2010). The bank has a traffic light system it uses to ascertain

whether a branch is suitable for Indigenous employees. The bank says this is

particularly important for SBTs, as ‘you can’t put a child into a situation where

they’re not going to be nurtured’ (Bank 2 Management 8, 2011). ‘We place

SBTs especially in the green light areas, not in amber or reds … amber means

that cultural awareness is needed, and the reds we just don’t place SBTs there’

(Bank 2 Management 3, 2011).

Bank 2 has a different approach to recruitment than Bank 1, as they start targeting

potential trainees in year 8, nurture them to year 10, and then the trainees can be

recruited for the program. Bank 2 engages eight different GTOs around Australia

who do the majority of recruitment and run the program. Extensive research is

performed on the GTO to ensure they meet the standards required by the bank.

‘We try to pick GTOs with a track record in dealing with young Aboriginal people,

so we know they have the sensitivity that is required … and so they approach it

in the right way … and do the right thing by the trainees’ (Bank 2 Management 9,

2011). ‘We really suss out their after sales service, their mentoring support, their

cultural awareness and the work that they’ve done in the culture area, before

engage them’ (Bank 2 Management 1, 2010).

Active recruitment starts in April each year. Bank 2 offers in excess of 100 SBT

positions each year, with a priority on supporting participants to complete the full

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duration of their traineeship. The bank offers an enhanced interview and

screening processes to include a voluntary week of work experience before the

traineeship commences, helping the prospective trainees to decide if the program

is right for them. ‘After the work experience we ask the trainees, is this what you

want to do? Are you happy with it? Are you going to commit to this for 2 years?’

(Bank 2 Management 8, 2011). There is a greater emphasis on managing

expectations and selecting the most suitable candidates; ‘that’s why 93% of

trainees stay with us and finish the full 2 years’ (Bank 2 Management 1, 2010).

Bank 2 receives over 1000 applications per year from Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander school students wanting a traineeship (Bank 2 Management 7, 2011),

and ideally it would like to give every person an opportunity with the bank.

However, ‘what happens in 2 years when they all finish? There’s not going to be

1000 jobs, so that’s why we manage the numbers’ (Bank 2 Management 7, 2011).

Bank 2: Program Manager, Indigenous Employment So we are not just employing Aboriginal kids for the sake of marking numbers off on a responsibility report, it’s really about building careers for those kids and the benefit to the bank is that you get a lot of loyalty from the trainees that finish the program because the people in the branches put in so much time and effort into their career development that you get staff that are really committed to staying around and making [Bank 2] a better place.

As with other SBTs, the trainees spend 1 day a week in the bank and complete

a Certificate II in Business. One element of the SBT that sets Bank 2 apart from

other banks is the dedicated team of career development managers and support

staff that work with all trainees to ensure they get the most out of their experience

with the bank. The support that the trainee receives includes the GTO, field

officer, branch manager, a buddy in the branch and an Aboriginal mentor to assist

and guide the trainees. Studies show that ‘culturally sensitive formal mentoring is

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seen as a major component to ensuring positive Indigenous employment

outcomes’ (Burgess & Dyer, 2009).

Ben’s Story: School-based Trainee ‘I started a school-based traineeship in 2004 in country NSW. My parents were my driving force, having good role models is important and knowing what is good for you and you’re community’. ‘I saw this as a good opportunity and I had good standing at school, playing sport and in different leadership roles … it was a real confidence booster, saying yeah, I am good enough, I can get these kind of roles … and the branch I was placed at was really wonderful, they were like my second mothers as they all had kids my age, so they really looked after me and helped and coached me’. ‘So that was the main reason behind going in for this role is that there was an opportunity. These opportunities don’t really come around that often … and yeah I was successful’.

Career Development Manager ‘I had a young trainee whose family were beside themselves with excitement because he completed year 10. He was the first in the family to go that far in school and on top of that he has a traineeship with the bank and he is doing really, really well’.

Bank 2 estimates that as of 2014 they had given over 750 employment

opportunities to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people through SBTs. SBTs

are not technically employed by the bank—they are employed by the GTO and

the bank is their host organisation.

Retention and outcome analysis of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander SBTs is

difficult to ascertain, as Bank 2 does not document any information about the

retention of SBTs within their annual returns or other company documents. Again,

interview data has been utilised to fill in these gaps. The trainees ‘don’t have an

obligation to stay with us … but obviously if they like working with us and we want

them to continue … then we try to make it happen’ (Bank 2 Management 9, 2011).

‘The retention rates from SBTs are good’ (Bank 2 Management 7, 2011), with

one manager saying that around 70% of SBTs that complete the traineeship have

been ‘migrated’ to permanent jobs with the bank; the other 30% have ‘positive

239

outcomes’ (Bank 2 Management 1, 2010). ‘There are some that do the

traineeship and realised they don’t like working in the bank, so they go off and do

other things’ (Bank 2 Management 7, 2011). ‘Some might not want to stay at the

bank, so they go and do further study’ (Bank 2 Management 1, 2010). ‘We don’t

guarantee a position’ (Bank 2 Management 6, 2010). It is not uncommon practice

in the private sector to ‘employ’ trainees and not guarantee a job at the end.

Interview data from some of the past trainees painted a different picture than was

painted by management and the GTO. One trainee noted that there was no

support at all provided by his GTO throughout the entire traineeship: ‘It was a

joke … no mentoring, no contact, this is one thing that definitely needs to improve’

(Bank 2 Employee 9, 2011). It became very obvious through the interview

process that some GTOs provided exceptional support to the trainees, while

others provided none at all. Another issue with the GTOs was the high turnover

of Indigenous mentors, which left trainees feeling less supported and without

continuity in the traineeship.

There were some good examples of career progression from SBT to full-time

employment. Some employees that I interviewed came through the SBT program

and were working either part-time or full-time in the bank. In addition, several SBT

had gained good career outcomes and were progressing towards management

positions, and others have gone on to assistant managers, branch managers and

other types of managers within the banking systems. This is a huge achievement

for not only the bank but for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Full-time traineeships. The FTT program with Bank 2 is offered to

adult Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders who have successfully completed

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year 12 or year 10 with some customer service experience (Bank 2, 2007–

2014), and is completed within 12 to 18 months. Bank 2 uses an online

application process as well as the services of several GTOs to recruit people

to the FTT program. FTTs work 35 hours per week in the branch while

completing the traineeship, and are also expected to complete a Certificate III

in Banking and Finance with an RTO. Trainees are given 4 hours of study time

per week, however, it is up to the branch that the trainee is employed in to

allow time off for study. This has created several problems for trainees who

have not been given adequate study time. ‘I have to do my study between

customers or study at home … then I was told to do it at home’ (Bank 2

Employee 13, 2011). ‘It wasn’t enforced that the trainees need 4 hours a week

to do their homework, and I never got that 4 hours’ (Bank 2 Employee 2, 2011).

In fact, the majority of interviewed trainees said they were not given their

allotted 4 hours of study per week, and often had to do the work at home where

they had no support if they needed it.

FTTs receive mentoring through their GTO and are also supported in the branch

by staff, managers and career development managers. Bank 2 also has an

Indigenous intranet site that offers peer support to all Indigenous staff. Some

trainees commented that the GTO was less than supportive and they received no

mentoring at all, while others received good support and mentoring from their

GTO. Analysis of the interviews showed a definite pattern to which GTOs were

supporting trainees and which were not. Only one trainee felt they were not very

well supported in the branch by staff and managers. This trainee felt quite

ostracised by staff, and believed that they thought she was ‘trying to steal their

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jobs’ (Bank 2 Employee 10, 2011). The support from the career development

managers also varied, from little contact to monthly phone calls, emails or visits.

Throughout the traineeship participants are offered other training opportunities

within the bank to up-skill for when the traineeship is completed, enabling them

to compete for an ongoing position. There is no guarantee of full-time work at the

end of the traineeship. Some trainees are offered casual work, but most have to

apply for vacant positions. ‘My manager just offered me the position, we had a

lady leave, so instead of recruiting, she asked if I wanted the job’ (Bank 2

Employee 8, 2011). ‘I completed by traineeship in 9 months, but then I had to wait

for a position to come up somewhere that I could apply for’ (Bank 2 Employee 5,

2011).

Stephanie’s Story ‘I am almost at the end of my traineeship, actually only 2 days to go. I was given a going away dinner, I got teared up and everything, it’s very sad … it feels like I’m almost being fired, because I haven’t asked to leave … I would like a job here, but it turns out they didn’t have any positions … but I do have another job within the bank which is good … My Indigenous Career Development Manager helped me spread my resume within the bank, in the areas that I was interested in … so I now have a job in the general enquiries call centre … so if you ring 13**** you will get me’.

Direct recruitment. Bank 2 received several million dollars from the

government to develop the direct recruitment component of their A&TSIEP,

which included a pilot program, employing Indigenous resourcing managers

and setting up dedicated assessment centres to boost Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander employment within the bank. The bank uses an online process

for their direct recruitment through their website. Bank 2’s recruitment process

is very different for Indigenous candidates than for mainstream candidates.

First, there is a pre-screening process that will determine if they can be directly

242

employed or should complete a pre-employment program to get them bank

ready. Second, applicants must have 6 months of prior sales experience

instead of the usual 12–18 months (Bank 2 Management 3, 2011). ‘The pre-

screening is done over the phone by the Indigenous recruitment team, it’s not

an interview process, it’s a get to know you process, can the applicant go

straight into employment or do they need a bit of polish … it looks at skills and

attitude’ (Bank 2 Management 1, 2010).

Once pre-screening is completed, applicants will be asked to attend an

assessment centre. ‘We’re telling people it’s not about us assessing you, it’s

about you assessing us’ (Bank 2 Management 3, 2011). Participants are given a

variety of activities at the assessment centre, including group activities and an

overview of the service consultant’s role, as well as being introduced to the team

that will assist them to succeed. This is all executed in a culturally sensitive and

nurturing environment that makes the Indigenous applicant feel comfortable

(Bank 2 Management 3, 2011). Then there is a one-on-one interview where

applicants are assisted with interview techniques and given an understanding of

the bank’s ‘jargon’. Once the process is complete, the applicant will go for an

interview for a position and hopefully be offered a job.

In assessing if direct recruitment was effective in Bank 2, documents obtained by

the researcher indicate that in a 10-month period 735 applications were received.

Of those, 397 were phone screened, with the other 338 deemed to be lacking in

required experience. Of the 397 that were phone screened, 144 passed. Ninety-

two applicants went on to gain interviews and 22 were placed in positions. The

70 people who did not gain employment were waiting for a vacancy to occur,

waiting for second interviews or took up other employment opportunities. Other

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statistics provided by the bank included that 65% of ‘candidates waiting for

interview’ were waiting to be shortlisted for a hiring manager interview.

Pre-employment training. As part of the direct employment initiative,

Bank 2 decided to instigate pre-employment programs using external

providers, which would provide Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander applicants

up-skilling so that they were ready for employment with the bank. The program,

an 18-week course on financial services, was run in capital cities around

Australia and was designed to give job-seekers the best possible chance of

being able to secure employment. Participants are recruited either from those

accessing the employment website who are determined ‘not job ready’ or

through JSAs who work alongside the external training provider. The bank sets

rigid entry-level criteria for the training provider to follow. Key features of the

program include: an introduction to the bank, key requirements of the job, job

application skills and interview techniques, criminal records checks, workplace

communication, teamwork skills, employer and employee expectations and

on-the-job work experience components (Bank 2 Management 1, 2012).

Because the program was run across different states, different service providers

were utilised and thus the content and outcomes varied. I interviewed two

participants from different states to gauge the effectiveness of the program for

them. One of the external providers developed a personal awareness component

to the program, which had mixed results. ‘I was forced to deal with issues in the

past, bring it up and relive it through the session … it made me very

uncomfortable … and then we were left to deal with the aftermath’ (Bank 2

Employee 1, 2012). In fact, this component of the training was so unpopular that

several participants complained to the training organisation and the bank. This

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same external provider told all participants that those who completed the program

would end up with jobs in the bank, which was totally incorrect. In fact, there were

limited placements available, and only four participants out of 30 gained

employment. All participants from the program still had to go through the same

selection process as mainstream applicants (Bank 2 Employee 1, 2012). These

figures were echoed in other states where the program operated. Another

downside to the program was that the ‘on-the-job’ component was virtually non-

existent: ‘we got 3 actual days in the branches … 3 days in 3 months … it was a

joke’ (Bank 2 Employee 1, 2012).

Those who were fortunate enough to secure work with Bank 2 were to be

provided with a mentor for the first 2 years of employment. The mentoring varied

depending on the service provider: ‘I waited 3 months and didn’t hear from my

mentor … when I had an issue I sent him a text … he text back saying can I call

you tomorrow I am busy … I told him not to bother tomorrow was too late’ (Bank

2 Employee 14, 2012). For this particular participant, the mentoring came mostly

from the branch manager and from people within the branch.

Running the pre-employment program was a ‘big lesson for the bank … we need

to be more explicit about requirements and more hands-on in the planning stage’

(Bank 2 Management 1, 2012). It is unclear from the reporting of the bank

whether they still run pre-employment programs.

MaryAnne’s Story ‘I was one of the fortunate ones that at the end of the pre-employment course I was placed with the bank … I was only with them 3 months and got promoted to a personal banker role. I’m pretty much the only one who succeeded that quickly from the entire group that got positions … but then I am more qualified … I’ve got a diploma in management and I have had my own business so my skills are put to good use in the bank.’

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Graduate program. Bank 2 works with universities to promote its

graduate, summer vacation and industry-based learning programs to

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. These programs aim to attract,

develop and retain talented individuals who wish to embark on a challenging

career within the banking and finance industry. At the time of data collection,

the bank was only just starting to promote this new program, and no

information was available to evaluate the success of the program. However, in

the 2014 annual report they had recruited four graduates from an Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islander background (Bank 2, 2007–2014).

Career development managers. Bank 2 has assigned dedicated

career development managers to their work with the Indigenous Employment

and Training Team. The career team help Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

employees and trainees manage their career progression and to identify

opportunities to develop skills through training and study (Bank 2, 2007–2014).

Career development managers have a case load of around 100 each and play

an important role in the SBT program when, in the second year, trainees are

weighing up their options. They also assist FTTs coming to the end of their

traineeship to seek out and apply for positions available in the bank. They also

play a role in direct recruitment in developing policies and procedures around

recruitment, selection and retention of candidates (Bank 2 Management 1,

2010; Bank 2 Management 3, 2011; Bank 2 Management 6, 2010).

Participants in this study had mixed interactions with the career development

managers. Some participants found them extremely helpful: ‘My Indigenous CDM

helped me spread my resume within the bank, in the areas that I was interested

in’ (Bank 2 Employee 2, 2011). Other comments indicated that they received a

246

few emails or an occasional phone call, but did not receive the level of support

that Bank 2 management claimed was available.

Career progression for their Indigenous employees is certainly important to Bank

2, with numerous examples of SBTs progressing through the bank. ‘“The bank”

has career development people in place. It’s so critical … probably the most

advanced of all the banks in this area … there’s actually traction that you can see

of career progression’ (Bank 2 GTO 1, 2011).

Other programs. Within Bank 2’s RAP is a commitment to provide

cultural awareness training and capacity building to all ANZ employees, with

priority to those branches with Indigenous employees. Moreover, Bank 2

believes that giving all staff cultural awareness training will help them to better

serve their communities, especially their Indigenous communities. Despite

bank employees receiving cultural awareness training, the participants in this

study reported several incidents of racism within the workplace from other

employees and from clients. ‘It’s not very often that they see an Aboriginal

person in the bank … and I have had little comments here and there’ (Bank 2

Employee 10, 2011). ‘I had an incident with a customer who actually was

ranting at me, calling me a throwback … they were arguing with me and they

told me I was too pretty to be Aboriginal … but it was good because when

others in the bank heard, they were really supportive of me’ (Bank 2 Employee

6, 2011). ‘I had to go to my manager and my district manager and then it all

stopped, they would just say stuff behind my back’ (Bank 2 Employee 10,

2011).

There Are No Winners in This Situation

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An employee went on her induction training and a couple of the participants in the training made some inappropriate comments. She raised that with her branch manager, which was good. The matter escalated to a formal investigation. ‘The employee didn’t want it to go any further … however the behaviour was totally inappropriate and we don’t condone that behaviour’ (Bank 2 Management 6, 2010). There was a formal investigation and the allegations were found to be factual, the employee involved was counselled about their behaviour, told to attend cultural awareness training and put on notice that the offensive behaviour would not be tolerated.

The next section will measure the A&TSIEP of Bank 2 against the evaluative

framework developed in Chapter 5.

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Table 6.4: Bank 2 A&TSIEP Strategy Evaluative framework.



Planning and Pre-employment Stage


Yes




No

Developed A&TSIEP % target for employment

No Ad hoc strategy nothing written except RAP, target

in RAP

Culturally appropriate workplace Yes Online cultural awareness program (not compulsory)


Recruitment strategies No Relies on online except for SBT

Face-to-face recruitment practices No

Information sessions No





Formal mentoring Yes SBT, FTT and pre- employment program

participants

Career development and training Yes Career development managers


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No


Is rural and remote employment offered? Yes Rural employment, no remote

Bank 2 summary. Utilising the data in Table 6.4, it is clear that Bank 2

does not meet all the requirements of the evaluative framework. In the

‘planning and pre-employment stage’ Bank 2 scores highly for having the

commitment of senior management driving the strategy. They also have

partnerships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community

organisations, but this is only for the community programs they are associated

with and not for their A&TSIEP. In addition, an Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander advisory group was not consulted regarding the development of the

A&TSIEP and RAP. Bank 2 does not employ an A&TSEM; instead, there is a

non-Aboriginal person who manages their Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

employment. The A&TSIEP for Bank 2 has been operating ‘ad hoc’ for

approximately 9 years and was mostly developed through its RAP, apart from

the SBT program. They do not have a formal, written A&TSIEP, and most of

the programs thus far have been developed ‘ad hoc’ (Bank 2 Management 1,

2010). Bank 2’s RAP states that an A&TSIEP was to be developed by 2012,

but this has not happened. Bank 2 has no other written formal policies around

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment, apart from the RAP. Bank 1

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has a numerical target in their RAP for the employment of Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander peoples, however, it does not report on the outcomes

from the RAP, though it is stated in their annual return that they ‘fell short of its

Indigenous recruitment goals’ (Bank 2, 2007–2014). There is no mention of

actual numbers of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees, just

employment opportunities. Bank 1 offers all its employees online cultural

awareness training. However, the training is not compulsory and there are no

incentives for staff to take the training. Despite cultural awareness training

provided to staff, participants noted that racism was still present in the

workplace.

In the ‘employing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander stage’, Bank 1’s

recruitment strategies are mostly online, with the exception of the SBT.

Recruitment practices that are face-to-face as opposed to online are more

culturally appropriate when recruiting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

peoples, especially for the entry-level positions that are offered with Bank 2. Bank

2 does not run information sessions about working for the bank, even for their

pre-employment programs. Recruitment for the pre-employment programs is

through online enquiries or JSAs. Direct recruitment practices include an

assessment of the applicant’s suitability during a 3-day employment preparation

course. The interview practices of Bank 2 do not align with the evaluative

framework, as they are culturally inappropriate due to the absence of Aboriginal

and/or Torres Strait Islander people on the interview panels.

When it comes to retention strategies, Bank 2 has formal mentoring programs for

its SBT, FTT and participants of the pre-employment program. The mentoring

goes for the first year of employment. Participants interviewed reported that the

251

mentoring provided as part of the SBT, FTT and the pre-employment program

was inconsistent between service providers. Bank 2 also has an online Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islander employee network, where employees can utilise peer

mentoring. Bank 2 offered career opportunities to those SBTs and FTTs who

were successful in gaining work after their traineeships ended, with the bank

offering substantial training to up-skill employees. There were numerous

instances of Indigenous SBTs and FTTs progressing through the bank to

management positions. This could be attributed to the bank having career

development managers to assist trainees’ progress in the bank.

Ben’s Story: Where a Job in the Bank Can Lead ‘I started a school-based traineeship in 2004 in rural NSW. In 2006 I moved to Sydney to go to university. I applied for a job in two different banks, the other one came up first so I took it, but it was only a few months later I got a call from Bank 2 who offered me a role in a new “Indigenous team” starting up’. ‘It was really good to explore the different cultures within the two big banks, and when this job came up I jumped at it. … Study wasn’t always my greatest side but now, I love working and I love working in a good team with Bank2’. Since completing his SBT, Ben has worked in branches and the foreign exchange centre. He was an assistant manager in business banking and at the time of interview was a business analyst in the Indigenous employment team.

Simi’s Story Simi’s career with Bank 2 started as a 16-year-old Indigenous trainee at a branch in rural NSW. She spent 1 day a week working in the branch while simultaneously completing her studies at high school. After completing her HSC, Simi was offered a permanent role with us as personal banker. These days, Simi is a branch manager in a large branch in a capital city.

Interviewees expressed some concern over the lack of readily available positions

in the bank when traineeships finished, and trainees thought they should be given

a guarantee of work with the bank for their hard work within the traineeship. The

researcher accessed statistics included in monthly reports that indicated that in

252

2012 there were five ‘self-identified’ Indigenous managers and 24 other

Indigenous staff in grade five roles or higher.

Other retention strategies, such as cultural leave positions, are absent in Bank

2’s enterprise agreement, but the bank does offer flexible working hours, with full-

time, part-time and casual positions available. However, most trainees would

have liked permanent work upon completion of their traineeship, but were only

given casual or part-time work.

While Bank 2 has no monitoring tools for its A&TSIEP and the bank has not

performed any internal or external evaluations of the program, there is internal

monthly reporting of their ‘Indigenous activities’, which includes reporting to

senior managers on the A&TSIEP . The bank was undertaking a longitudinal

study of its SBT program in 2011, but this was not completed.

Bank 2 has branches in urban and rural locations throughout Australia, but no

branches in remote Australia. Bank 2’s SBT program commenced in rural NSW

and a significant portion of SBTs are in rural locations around Australia. However,

according to past trainees, gaining positions in rural branches is virtually

impossible: ‘someone literally has to die to get a position’ (Bank 2 Employee 14,

2012).

Important additional information that came out of the interviews with Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islanders was that participants of this study–employees,

management and GTOs–believed that Bank 2 was doing a good job of employing

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people when it came to SBT, but not enough

to retain trainees upon completion. Even so, those employed did not see their

employment as ‘tokenistic’. All interviewed participants mentioned that they felt

253

they had become role models in their families and communities and working for

the bank had made a real difference in their lives. Fortunately, with Bank 2 access

was gained to some former employees, which made for a more holistic data

collection and provided a more complete picture of the organisation’s Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islander employment capabilities.

Senior management of Bank 2 were happy to discuss the labour market funding

under the IEP that they receive from the Government for their employment

strategy, and were open and honest about the outcomes. From organisational

reports, it appears the direct employment initiative that received $2.4m in funding

was a failure, as there were not enough positions available in the first place. In

addition, statistics in the reports included SBTs and FTTs, which are technically

not employed by the bank. Bank 2’s annual report only comments on how many

‘employment opportunities’ they provided to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

people, and does not give an accurate account of how many people are actually

employed by the bank.

Despite the lack of data and conflicting or inaccurate data, Bank 2’s A&TSIEP

does not meet all the requirements of the evaluative framework. Bank 2 has a

substantial amount of work still to do to make the strategy a success.

6.12 Conclusion

Throughout this chapter, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment

policies and practices of the banking industry have been examined, starting with

the Big Four banks. The chapter also presented two case studies from

organisations within the banking industry, which included analysis of internal

documents, publicly available information on the bank websites, annual reports,

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RAPs, and interviews with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees,

managers, external recruiters and GTOs to assess the cultural appropriateness

of their A&TSIEP, as measured against the evaluative framework developed in

Chapter 5. To conclude, this chapter answers the following key research

questions: What was the rationale for the introduction of A&TSIEPs by the

organisation? To what extent is government support necessary or accessed?

What supporting mechanisms are in place to support A&TSIEPs? By what

criteria, and how often, are A&TSIEPs evaluated? What was the experience of

participants in A&TSIEPs? What in the A&TSIEPs is helping to retain Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islander employees?


organisation? Both banks stated that the reason they introduced A&TSIEPs

into the organisation was it made good business sense to have a diverse

workforce that reflects their customer base. Since both A&TSIEPs started with

SBT, mostly in rural Australia, this justification seems reasonable. One bank

did state that it was a strategy to keep Aboriginal kids in school. Under ‘Closing

the Gap’, one strategic aim is to halve the gap for Indigenous students in year

12 (or equivalent) attainment rates by 2020. By keeping Aboriginal kids in

school, Bank 2 is showing that it is a good corporate citizen.


Both Bank 1 and 2 utilised government support for their programs under the

IEP. Both use the IEP funding to assist in the costs of their SBT programs.

Both used IEP funding to support their pre-employment programs. However,

Bank 1 was reluctant to speak about how much funding they received, whereas

Bank 2 was open about being funded several million dollars to expand its

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A&TSIEP to include direct employment options. Whether accessing

government support was necessary is entirely another question. Both banks

made profits in the billions of dollars in the years 2009–2012—the same time

the funding was accessed. Bank 2 was questioned about this:

There’s been a bit of I suppose media play about the millions of dollars

that the bank got from DEEWR to fund the A&TSIEP expansion and

people are saying, why can’t the bank fund it themselves. How would you

respond to that? (Interviewer)

There’s funding that we get from DEEWR and there’s also funding that we

put in ourselves. So it’s not that the bank is not investing in it. It’s much

like any investment project. If the Government finds it important enough

and an organisation find it important enough, then it’s about partnership.

(Bank 2 Management 7, 2011)

Both banks indicated that without the IEP and government funding, they would

not be in a position to run the programs they ran.


Both banks have supporting mechanisms in place to support Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander employees within the A&TSIEP. Bank 2 has mentoring

available for all its employees, including an online network for its Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islander employees. In Bank 1, mentoring was only available

for trainees through their GTO, and no Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

employee network exists. Both banks have career development strategies

within their A&TSIEPs and both offer flexible working hours. However, neither

256

have cultural leave provisions available to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

staff.

By what criteria, and how often, are A&TSIEPs evaluated? Neither

Bank 1 nor Bank 2 have had their A&TSIEPs evaluated in the whole time they

have been operational. Therefore, I cannot determine by what criteria their

A&TSIEPs are evaluated. Bank 2 had commissioned a longitudinal study on

its SBT to ascertain how successful they were, but the study was never

completed.

What was the experience of participants in A&TSIEPs? The

experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participants in both banks’

A&TSIEPs have been documented in the case studies presented in this

chapter. However, for Bank 1, access to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

employees who had left the organisation was impossible. Therefore, the

experience of participants was incomplete and possibly did not provide a

complete picture of the organisation’s A&TSIEP. However, there was access

to some former SBTs of Bank 2, which is reflected in the case studies.

What in the A&TSIEPs is helping to retain Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander employees? Neither bank is doing enough to retain its

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees, especially SBTs once they

have completed their traineeship. SBTs are the core of both banks’ A&TSIEPs.

However, SBTs are not technically employed by the bank—they are employed

by the GTO and the bank is their host organisation. In 2014, Bank 2 estimated

that they had given over 750 employment opportunities to Aboriginal and

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Torres Strait Islander people through SBTs. The simple fact is that there are

not enough positions within either bank to sustain all SBTs on completion.

It is clear from applying the evaluative framework to both banks in the case

studies that both banks have a substantial amount of work to do on their

A&TSIEPs if they want their strategies to be successful.

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Employment in the Retail Sector

7.1 Introduction

This chapter examines the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment

policies and practices of the retail industry. It discusses the case study

organisations within the retail industry. As the identity of the retailers is to remain

de-identifiable by the research, they have been given the pseudonyms of

‘Supermarket Co’ and ‘Variety Co’. In accordance with ethical and confidentiality

requirements, any information identifying the retailers has either been

generalised or, where not deemed necessary for further analysis and discussion,

omitted.

The chapter begins with a brief overview of industry statistics, including

employment in the retail industry and current Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander employment or underemployment in the retail industry. An overview of

the retail sector’s A&TSIEPs will then be presented, derived from the Australian

Retailers Association (ARA), and the two largest retailers in Australia. The

chapter will then introduce Supermarket Co and Variety Co, including a

snapshot of their respective Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment

strategies, their commitment to ‘Closing the Gap’, the cultural appropriateness

of their programs, their recruitment strategies and whether they have utilised

labour market programs funded by government to increase Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander participation within the retail outlet. Each retailer’s

progress and achievements will be assessed in accordance with the evaluative

framework developed in Chapter 5.

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7.2 Industry Statistics

As with the majority of industries within Australia, Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander peoples are significantly under-represented in retail. Australia’s retail

industry is a $240 billion sector that employs over 1.2 million people, making it

the second largest employer in Australia (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2012;

Reconciliation Australia, 2015a). The industry has high levels of part-time, casual

and lower skilled workers; training opportunities in the industry are few. There is

a high number of entry-level positions and the potential for career advancement;

there is flexibility in hours and working conditions, and the industry is

geographically spread, with jobs in urban and rural Australia. Consequently, ‘the

retail industry has the potential to provide significant employment opportunities to

the largest groups of disadvantaged Indigenous job seekers’ (Ingersoll, Markey,

Bond & Mortimer, 2002). At the 2006 census, only 6.6% (approximately 20 500)

of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population participating in the labour

force were employed in retail (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2012). Given that

the retail workforce was then at 1.2 million workers, this represents 0.01% of the

retail workforce.

7.3 The Australian Retailers Association

The ARA has been the peak industry body representing Australia’s $265 billion

retail sector since 1903. While the ARA actively works to ensure retail success

for its members in numerous ways, it has no specific policies for Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander employment. However, it is a signatory to the AEC, and the

ARA Retail Institute has for many years ‘delivered Jobseeker training programs

that aim to inform retail employers of opportunities to employ Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander peoples’ (ARA Retail Institute, 2015a). The ARA Retail

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Institute is the leading national body that provides for the education, consulting

and professional development requirements of the Australian retail industry. It

offers a range of training, from the Certificate II in Retail to the Diploma of Retail

Management, as well as customised in-house training programs. They provide a

diverse and flexible range of education products to suit industry needs (ARA

Retail Institute, 2015a).

The ARA Retail Institute state that they work closely with organisations to employ

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples by providing support services, such

as finding suitable candidates, providing cultural awareness training, mentoring

candidates, assisting with developing an A&TSIEP, building relationships with the

local Aboriginal communities, and identifying suitable training programs (ARA

Retail Institute, 2015b).

In Victoria, the ARA Retail Institute works with the Department of Business and

Innovation to assist with the delivery of a Bridge to Work program that is part of

the Victorian Government’s commitment to ‘close the gap’ on Indigenous

disadvantage (ARA Retail Institute, 2015b). ‘The Bridge to Work program aims to

address this issue by offering Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples quality

retail employment opportunities, retail based training and focuses on skills

directly relevant to working in retail’ (ARA Retail Institute, 2015b).

In NSW, the ARA have partnered with JobFind Centre (a job services provider)

to run a Retail Skills Indigenous Employment Program utilising funding under the

IEP funded by DEEWR. The program aims to provide meaningful and sustainable

work in the retail industry. The participants are put through a pre-employment

program specifically designed for Indigenous Australians to learn skills such as

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using a computer, time management, dealing with money, reading and

mathematics. In addition, they undertake a Certificate III in retail and are given

hands-on work experience with a number of local retailers, such as Myer, Kmart,

Target and Bunnings Warehouse. The program also offers post-placement

mentoring, support services and financial assistance to help employers retain

their Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees for the long term (JobFind

Centre, 2011). The next section will examine the two largest retailers in Australia

to ascertain what employment programs they offer to Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander peoples.

7.4 Overview of What the Two Largest Retailers in Australia

Offer to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Employment

In Chapter 6, it was discussed how all four major banks in Australia adopted a

RAP that outlined their commitments to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

peoples in employment. The two biggest retailers in Australia, Woolworths

Limited and Wesfarmers are also signatories to the RAP program, however only

Woolworths Ltd is a signatory to the AEC. In addition to Indigenous employment,

the two major retailers have developed community programs that assist

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and alleviate disadvantage,

some of these programs are listed in their RAPs and reported on in their annual

reports.

7.5 Wesfarmers

From its origins in 1914 as a Western Australian farmers’ cooperative,

Wesfarmers has grown into one of Australia’s largest listed companies and one

of the two largest retailers in Australia, with headquarters in Western Australia.

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Wesfarmers has diverse business operations covering supermarkets,

department stores, home improvement and office supplies; coal production and

export; chemicals, energy and fertilisers; and industrial and safety products. As

such, it is one of Australia’s largest employers (Wesfarmers, 2015a). Wesfarmers

currently employs around 200 000, of which approximately 1700 (0.0085%) are

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders (Wesfarmers, 2014d).

In 2009, Wesfarmers developed a RAP that encouraged their divisions to take

actions that would be relevant and sustainable, with its main focus being

Aboriginal employment (Wesfarmers, 2014c). In 2015, Wesfarmers launched its

sixth RAP, which builds on the work of previous RAPs with a particular emphasis

on increasing, retaining and developing their Aboriginal workforce. Wesfarmers

acknowledge that their achievements have ‘been made possible by passionate

team members across the Wesfarmers Group, in collaboration with a wide range

of Aboriginal community partners and businesses’ (Wesfarmers, 2014c).

Employment and training opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander peoples. Each Wesfarmers division operates as a separate

business with its own distinct culture. All Wesfarmers divisions have their own

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander strategies and RAPs. These strategies

align with the corporate RAP and reflect the unique divisional priorities,

operations, localities and cultures. Wesfarmers also have an Indigenous

Network (WIN), which is an internal network that facilitates the sharing of RAP-

related information between Wesfarmers divisions to assist in creating a

holistic approach to Indigenous employment and engagement. Indigenous

employment within the retail operations in Wesfarmers includes: Coles

Division (Coles, BiLo, Coles Liquor and Coles Express), Bunnings,

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Officeworks, Target and Kmart. It is the focus of this section of the thesis

(Wesfarmers, 2015c).

Pre-employment training. In 2013, Wesfarmers ran a multi-divisional

place-based employment program for 10 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

participants. All retail divisions participated in the pilot program that was run in

Perth, WA. The program included pre-employment elements and mentoring.

After the program, all 10 participants were placed in part-time employment

within retail divisions of Wesfarmers (Wesfarmers, 2014e). The pilot program

was deemed successful, so Wesfarmers now run the program several times a

year, in different locations, to increase Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

participation in their retail stores.

Work for Life program. In addition to their own pre-employment

program, Wesfarmers retail divisions participated in the Federal Government’s

‘Work for Life’ project in Cairns. The $600 000 project, funded under the IEP

program, aimed to prepare a minimum of 60 local Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander job-seekers to access entry-level employment opportunities. All

participants graduated the program with a Certificate II in Customer Service as

well as relevant work experience and life-skills training.

7.6 Coles Division

Coles is a leading food, liquor and convenience retailer, operating more than

2300 retail outlets across every state and territory within Australia. Across

Australia, Coles currently employs over 100 000 team members at its

supermarkets, liquor stores, Coles Express stores, support centres and

distribution centres. Coles make a commitment on their website ‘to ensure “our

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team represents the communities we serve”’ and, as such, have an Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islander plan that highlights their commitment to ‘provide more

jobs for indigenous team members throughout our business and actively develop

their careers within the company’ (Coles, 2015).

In March 2014, Coles Managing Director Ian McLeod pledged that Coles would

triple the number of Indigenous team members from 1000 to 3000 before the year

2020. ‘We want to do more and today I am pleased to announce we will treble

the number of Indigenous team members working in our supermarkets to better

reflect and support the communities in which we operate,’ he said. ‘In the past 5

years, with the help of the Federal Government, we have dramatically increased

our employment of Indigenous team members, but we are keen to offer more

opportunities to Indigenous Australians’ (Coles Division, 2014).

Pre-employment programs. Coles’ First Step Aboriginal pre-

employment program is specifically designed for Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander job-seekers and includes job-ready training, store visits and work

placements. There is also significant interaction with the staff of Coles, who

attend and actively participate in First Step. The Coles First Step program is

supported by the Australian Government and engages Aboriginal job-seekers

in 2 weeks of pre-employment training and 1 week of work experience. At the

successful completion of training, job-seekers commence permanent part-time

employment, supported by a professional mentor for the first 6 months.

Wesfarmers claim that over 200 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people

have been recruited with this program (Wesfarmers, 2013).

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Vacation program. University students in their second last year of their

degree can apply for the Coles vacation program. The program runs for 6

weeks in January and July and gives the participants the opportunity to

develop ‘specialist understanding and generalist leadership capabilities’ and

insights into the opportunities available within the organisation. The program

is based in Melbourne, so it is not accessible to everyone. Applications for the

program are submitted online and are open to all university students who meet

the criteria. There is no information available on Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander participants (Coles Supermarkets Australia Pty Ltd, 2015a).

Retail leadership program. The Retail Leaders program run by Coles

offers development pathways that are focused on accelerating the participant’s

retail career and involves both classroom and on-the-job learning for 12 weeks.

The program’s aim is to develop confident and capable leaders and is tailored

to the different levels, such as department; store or regional manager and

participants gain a clear distinction between theory and practice and an

opportunity for in-store experience at a more senior level (O’Keeffe, 2011).

Apprenticeships. There are several apprenticeship opportunities within

the Coles Division for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Within

Coles supermarkets there are retail baking and pastry chef apprenticeships

and butchery apprenticeships. The retail baking apprenticeships are offered

as a fast track in-house program where the participants gain a Certificate III in

retail baking (Wesfarmers, 2014b).

Internships. Internships with Coles are for 10 months, and commence

early January with an intensive and comprehensive induction program. To be

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eligible, participants must be in their final year of an undergraduate degree at

university. There is a wide variety of work placements available within finance,

HR, procurement, supply chain, marketing and IT. Coles state that their intern

program builds fundamental business skills to set the intern up for success.

Interns work on real projects in a number of different teams, have the

opportunity to learn from other leaders and are provided with a buddy that

provides support and friendship throughout the internship program. This

program is offered to every undergraduate, but there is no information

available regarding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who have

utilised the program (Coles Supermarkets Australia Pty Ltd, 2015b).

Graduate program. Coles Division graduate program offers people who

have completed a bachelor’s degree a 2-year generalist program or a 2-year

technical program. The generalist program is based in the buying and trading,

procurement or marketing teams, whereas the technical program is in the

finance, product technology and product development teams. Coles provides

opportunities in its graduate program for working on projects in cross-

functional teams and presenting business cases to senior management.

Graduates are provided an acceleration coach and a buddy to assist them to

navigate through the organisation. There are no statistics available indicating

whether there have been any Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander participants

of this program (Coles Supermarkets Australia Pty Ltd, 2015a).

7.7 Target

Target’s vision is to ensure they always welcome Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander peoples as customers, team members, suppliers and visitors. ‘As an

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iconic Australian brand, we can play our part in building sustainable economic

and social outcomes with Indigenous communities’. Target’s purpose is making

fashion, style and quality affordable and they can see a great opportunity to

celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture, art and design throughout

their business (Target Australia Pty Ltd, 2014).

Work experience program. Target Bairnsdale came up with an

innovative way of investing in young people in the community. In conjunction

with the Clontarf Foundation, the store management offers a work experience

program with the local secondary college. The program has been quite

successful and the youth of Bairnsdale have gained skills in customer service

and have moved into management roles (Target Australia Pty Ltd, 2014).

There are now many more Target stores taking up this initiative and linking into

the local community to recruit Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander team

members. Stores such as Shepparton and Dubbo have worked with local

Aboriginal organisations to recruit Aboriginal team members to Target. According

to Target, they are demonstrating one of the key platforms of Target’s Indigenous

employment strategy: cultivate meaningful relationships with their local

community to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment and

retention (Target Australia Pty Ltd, 2014).

7.8 Kmart

School-based traineeships. AFL SportsReady (a national not-for-profit

company that has facilitated employment and education for young Australians

since 1994), through its Indigenous Employment Program, have partnered with

Kmart to provide young Indigenous Australians with SBTs, which provide an

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excellent opportunity for year 10 and 11 students to learn about retail while

studying their HSC. SBTs are a customer service role where participants learn

the operations of a big business, which may lead to employment after school.

Trainees undertake a nationally recognised Certificate II or III retail

qualification as part of their HSC studies. Trainees are provided with an

Indigenous mentor to help and guide them through the traineeship.

Traineeships are available across Australia and trainees are exposed to a wide

range of tasks within Kmart stores, including merchandising, layout,

presentation and replenishment. Trainees work 1 day a week in store while

completing school. There are no statistics available on how many Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islander trainees currently undertake the program (AFL

Sportsready Education and Employment, ND; Wesfarmers, 2014c).

Apprenticeships. Within Kmart Tyre and Auto Service (KTAS),

automotive apprenticeships are available. In February 2012, KTAS announced

a partnership with the AES that offered 14 school-based automotive

apprenticeships across NSW, QLD, VIC, NT and WA. Indigenous students

complete the first year of the Light Motor Vehicle Certificate 3 throughout years

11 and 12. Following completion of the course and the HSC, students involved

in the program are then eligible to be employed as a second year automotive

apprentice. KTAS provides a full range of automotive services, including

scheduled servicing, tyres, brakes, suspension, batteries and general

mechanical repairs, so participants gain a wider variety of skills than if just

doing an apprenticeship in an automotive workshop (Kmart Tyre and Auto,

2013).

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7.9 Home Improvement and Office Supplies Division

In November 2007 Bunnings was joined by Officeworks to form the Home

Improvement and Office Supplies division. Bunnings is the leading retailer of

home improvement and outdoor living products in Australia and New Zealand

and a major supplier to project builders, commercial tradespeople and the

housing industry. Officeworks is Australia’s leading retailer and supplier of office

products and solutions for home, business and education (Wesfarmers, 2015a).

Officeworks. Operating through an Australia-wide network of stores,

online platforms, customer service centres and a business sales force,

Officeworks caters for a broad range of customers, from consumers to

businesses of all sizes as well as students, teachers and education institutions

(Wesfarmers, 2014a). The Officeworks sustainability report (2014) states that

67 team members (1% of their workforce) are Aboriginal or Torres Strait

Islanders. Officeworks is working towards a target of 2% by 2015.

Officeworks launched its ‘Aboriginal strategy’ in 2013, which reflects the

Wesfarmers RAP. Stan Yarramunua, a Dja Wathaurong man from Victoria,

addressed 300 Officeworks leaders at the Officeworks National Conference and

helped cement the importance and relevance of the strategy to Officeworks

leaders across all areas of the business. A key part of the strategy includes the

continued support of Aboriginal education initiatives (Wesfarmers, 2013). Despite

launching this strategy, there is nothing on the Officeworks website that mentions

the strategy or encourages Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander applicants.

School-based traineeships. In partnership with AFL SportsReady,

Officeworks offers Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students SBTs, which

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provide an excellent opportunity for year 10 and 11 students to learn about

retail while studying their HSC. SBTs are an opportunity to gain work

experience and complete a nationally accredited qualification while

undertaking your secondary school studies. A traineeship counts towards the

Australian Tertiary Admission Rank, and provides a brilliant practical learning

experience, according to AFL SportsReady (AFL SportsReady, 2015).

Full-time traineeships. In partnership with AFL SportsReady,

Officeworks also offers Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander FTTs, which

provide an opportunity to build work experience, skills and confidence while

studying for a nationally accredited qualification (AFL SportsReady, 2015).

Leadership program. Officeworks offers two accredited leadership

development programs, the Future Leaders Program and the Officeworks

Leadership Program. Both programs aim to facilitate meaningful personal and

professional development, helping the participants to identify and achieve their

potential while driving the business’ goals. Managers identify ‘talented team

members’ who are put forward for the leadership programs (Wesfarmers,

2014a).

Bunnings. Bunnings is the leading retailer of home improvement and

outdoor living products in Australia and New Zealand and a major supplier to

project builders, commercial tradespeople and the housing industry. Operating

from a network of 223 large warehouse stores, 64 smaller format stores, 33

trade centres and three frame and truss manufacturing sites, Bunnings caters

for consumers and both light and heavy commercial customers across the

home improvement and outdoor living market (Wesfarmers, 2014a).

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Wesfarmers state that all their divisions have Aboriginal plans; however, there is

little or no information on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment within

Bunnings. Each year, Wesfarmers’ RAPs talk about the work Bunnings do in the

Aboriginal communities in which they operate, but there is no mention of

employment initiatives in the RAPs, annual reports or on the Bunnings website

(Wesfarmers, 2013, 2014a, 2014c, 2014e).

7.10 Wesfarmers Employment Initiatives Discussion

Wesfarmers have celebrated 5 years of RAPs. Across the organisation,

Wesfarmers made commitments through their RAPs to increase their Aboriginal

cultural awareness, support Aboriginal organisations through employee

secondments, invest in Aboriginal education, increase purchasing from

Aboriginal-owned businesses and grow their Aboriginal workforce. Aboriginal

employment remains the primary focus of Wesfarmers’ RAP. Full-time and

school-based traineeship programs are in place in four divisions and Indigenous

cadetships are offered in corporate office and one division. Coles provides access

to store-level employment through the First Step pre-employment training

program, as well as placing an increased focus on direct recruitment. In 2014

Coles Division hired over 300 new Indigenous team members through targeted

programs, which are reflected in Table 7.1. Wesfarmers; RAP indicates that 1%

of Wesfarmers’ Australian workforce is Aboriginal. Wesfarmers have stated that

they would like to improve their data collection methods to more accurately

identify Aboriginal team members. Table 7.1 shows the growth in Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander employment since 2012 at Wesfarmers (Wesfarmers,

2014e, 2015d). The table shows a steady growth each year, indicating that

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Wesfarmers are attempting to ‘close the gap’ on Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander disadvantage through employment.

Table 7.1: Wesfarmers Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Employees,

2012–15.

Source: Wesfarmers, 2015d.

The research conducted on Wesfarmers indicates that Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander employment growth could be substantially higher if there was more

targeted advertising of employment opportunities on the division’s websites.

There is nothing on the Bunnings, Officeworks, Kmart or Target websites

concerning employment opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

peoples. Coles is the only Wesfarmers division that has a specific link that

advertises their Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment plan, with an

email address provided where you can contact someone for more information.

Although not ideal, this is a step in the right direction.

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There is no data available about retention strategies utilised by Wesfarmers or its

subsidiaries. No information on career development and progression, training

and skills development is available. If Wesfarmers truly want to ‘close the gap’ on

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander disadvantage through targeted labour

market programs, they need to implement a strategic approach throughout the

organisation that will deliver real employment outcomes.

7.11 Woolworths Ltd

Woolworths Limited manages some of Australia’s most recognised brands, such

as Woolworths Supermarkets, Woolworths Petrol, Dan Murphy Liquor, BWS

Liquor, Cellarmasters, Big W discount stores, Masters Home Improvement

stores, ALH Hotel Group, and financial services (Woolworths Limited, 2015f).

Woolworths is an Australian company founded in 1924 in Sydney. Woolworths

serves an estimated 28 million customers each week and have more than 3000

stores across Australia and New Zealand, employing more than 198 000 people

(Woolworths Limited, 2015h).

In 2012 Woolworths Limited signed a landmark ‘Fresh Start agreement’ with the

Australian Government that focuses on advancing workplace participation for

people with diverse backgrounds, including Indigenous workers, people with a

disability, older workers and the long-term unemployed, and involves new job

creation and skills and development training (Woolworths Limited, 2015e). In

2011 Woolworths Limited launched its first RAP to assist in ‘Closing the Gap’

between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. Since then, Woolworths

Limited has actively increased the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

employees (Woolworths Limited, 2015e).

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Woolworths has identified retention as the main problem in integrating more

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples into its workforce. In 2009,

Woolworths CEO, Michael Luscombe, committed Woolworths Limited to rectify

these retention issues as part of its broader commitment to increase diversity in

the organisation. Woolworths created the position of diversity manager and

formed a Diversity Steering Committee comprised of senior members from all

parts of the business. Part of the strategy was aimed at greater Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander employment, so in 2011 a RAP was launched.

Pre-employment programs. Woolworths say that they are committed

to providing employment and career progression opportunities for Aboriginal

job-seekers across all operational and business lines. Woolworths work with

external partners who provide pre-employment programs across Australia to

ensure that there is real access and jobs for Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander peoples (Woolworths Limited, 2014a). Diversity Dimensions work with

Woolworths nationally, in conjunction with LALCs to deliver pre-employment

programs across all Woolworths brands (Diversity Dimensions, 2015).

Woolworths have also partnered with Ostara Australia, Aboriginal Recruitment

and Training, and TrainMe4Work to recruit, train and place Aboriginal job-

seekers into real jobs across their stores in South Australia and Victoria

(Ostara Australia, 2015; TrainMe4Work, 2015). In Queensland, Woolworths

partner with Salvation Army Employment Plus to run pre-employment

programs for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Other partners

across Australia include Kimberly Personnel and Kimberley Employment

Services, Gandangara Management Services, Globally Make a Difference and

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Dja Wurrung Enterprises. Former partners include the Mining, Energy and

Engineering Academy (MEEA) (Woolworths Limited, 2012b).

The pre-employment programs offered are different all over the country,

depending on which organisation delivers the program. The success of the

program has also varied. However, Woolworths has taken a staged approach to

its Indigenous employment program, starting with one store, finding appropriate

models, and then reviewing the outcomes with a view to continuously improving

the program (Pinkstone, 2011b).

Diversity dimensions. Diversity Dimensions is Woolworth’s largest

national partner. Their pre-employment program focuses predominantly on

‘ready now’ candidates returning to the workforce. To date, Diversity

Dimensions has placed over 650 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples

nationally into employment with Woolworths, over a 4-year period. Diversity

Dimensions say that the program relies on a number of stakeholders including

LALCs and JSAs who are ready and willing to recruit people for a wide range

of roles within Woolworths. The success of the program hinges on the

managers, HR, Woolworths staff, trainers and experienced mentors working

together to ensure success. Diversity Dimensions acknowledge that the

program has not been without its challenges, but the positive difference that it

makes in the lives of the participants and the communities makes it worthwhile.

Diversity Dimensions not only supply Woolworths with ‘ready now’ candidates,

they also ensure that the teams at Woolworths receive cultural competency

training to facilitate sustained employment outcomes. The program consists of

a 3-day pre-employment session that covers strengths, weaknesses, likes,

work ethics, workplace diversity, customer service, dealing with difficult

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customers, team work and what is expected in the workplace. Then the

participants do a 2 week, 20 hours per week work experience program

(Diversity Dimensions, 2015). Successful participants are provided with a

workplace mentor and are guaranteed a part-time position at the end of the

program. The pre-employment programs run by Diversity Dimensions for

Woolworths are funded under the Federal Government’s IEP program.

Ostara Australia, Aboriginal Recruitment Training and

Employment, and TrainMe4Work. In South Australia, Woolworths have

worked with several organisations to deliver pre-employment programs for

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The current organisations—

Aboriginal Recruitment Training and Employment, Ostara Australia and

TrainMe4Work—commenced pre-employment programs for Woolworths in

2013. Their program provides Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander job-seekers

with online application and registration support, career pathways and resume

development, interview techniques and presentation, and mentoring support

on and off the job. Participants are guaranteed a part-time job of at least 20

hours per week at the successful completion of the program. The pre-

employment programs run in South Australia for Woolworths are funded under

the Federal Government IEP program (Ostara Australia, 2015; TrainMe4Work,

2015).

Mining, Energy and Engineering Academy. MEEA were previously

partners with Woolworths in South Australia, Victoria and the Northern

Territory and delivered pre-employment programs until 2012. The 10-week

pre-employment course was tailored to Woolworths’ needs. The program

incorporated a substantial personal development component and included

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skills to manage negative experiences (anger, frustration, racism, rejection,

criticism, etc.). Key features of the training approach include the teaching of

business culture, structuring social opportunities for employee and employer

to meet and establish a rapport, and a guaranteed job on completion of a

program, provided participants have met all expectations satisfactorily (Mining

Energy and Engingeering Academy, 2012a). Program participants on

completion received a Certificate II in Retail. MEEA ran successful programs

in Adelaide and suburbs, Whyalla, Alice Springs and Katherine, and in October

2012 celebrated 325 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people that

commenced training, 240 that completed their training, 180 that went into

employment with Woolworths, and 150 that still remain employed with

Woolworths (Mining Energy and Engingeering Academy, 2012b). The pre-

employment programs run by MEEA for Woolworths were funded under the

Federal Government IEP program.

Salvation Army Employment Plus. Woolworths Limited partnered

with The Salvation Army Employment Plus (TSAEP) to implement the

Queensland Indigenous Employment Program. The program has been

designed by Woolworths and TSAEP to provide Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander job-seekers with a solid pathway into productive long-term

employment within the retail sector (Woolworths Limited, 2011). Participants

in the program complete 10 weeks of accredited training in a Certificate I in

Retail Services; they then have the option to progress to a qualification in Retail

Services (Stores Operations) or Food Processing (Retail Baking–Bread or

Meat Processing) (Arbib & McLucas, 2011). As with the other pre-employment

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programs that Woolworths run in conjunction with their partners, the program

is funded by the Federal Government IEP program.

School-based traineeships with Woolworths supermarkets.

Woolworths supermarkets offer senior secondary students the opportunity to

gain a nationally recognised qualification in Certificate II in Retail Operations

as part of the HSC. As with other SBTs, the participant works 1 day a week in

the workplace, while completing their HSC at school. The SBT program also

includes a TAFE component.

Apprenticeships. Woolworths has become the largest employer of

apprentices in Australia. The Woolworths supermarket division offer a

nationally recognised trade qualification in bakery and butchery.

Apprenticeships are completed over 3 or 4 years through a combination of on-

the-job training within a Woolworths Supermarket and off-the-job training at

their local TAFE College. At the completion of the apprenticeship the

participant will be a qualified baker or butcher. A Woolworths apprenticeship

also prepares the participant for further advancement within Woolworths,

including towards Supermarket Bakery Manager, Supermarket Butchery

Manager or other management positions, such as store manager (Woolworths

Limited, 2015a, 2015g).

Cadetships/internships. In partnership with Career Trackers and

universities around Australia, Woolworths offer Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander university students internships. The internships run from between 1

and 4 years, depending on what stage the university student is at in their

degree. Internships are available in management, marketing, finance, and HR

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management, just to name a few. The aim of the internship is to convert to full-

time employment once the student graduates from university.

7.11.9 Graduate programs. Woolworths’ graduate programs are for 2 or 3 years,

depending on the program chosen. Each stream of the program offers different

rotations and experiences to develop capability in the graduate’s chosen area. All

streams participate in the graduate leadership development program in

preparation for a leadership career. The program places graduates into

meaningful roles where graduates have real responsibilities and real decision-

making authority, which develop the leadership skills of the graduates. Graduates

are buddied with a ‘talented leader’ and given ‘unparalleled access to leaders

across Woolworths’. Rotations place the graduate into a variety of different roles

and projects to develop their skills and capabilities (Woolworths Limited, 2015d).

Woolworths’ graduate programs are open to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

graduates, as well as non-Indigenous graduates.

Woolworths FastTrack Management Program. The FastTrack

Programs to Management and Leadership were developed for Woolworths

employees in operations (Stores and Distribution Centres) and aim to build

skilled retailers early in their careers. The program identifies and develops

talent for future management and leadership roles. Employees can nominate

themselves for the program or be nominated by their managers. Applicants are

chosen based on their capability and motivation to be future store managers,

site managers and area managers within Woolworths. Participants have

access to mentoring and coaching with a FastTrack Coach who is a leader

within Woolworths (Woolworths Limited, 2015c).

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Woolworths scholarships. In partnership with the Macquarie

Graduate School of Management (MGSM), Woolworths offer one scholarship

each year for an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander person or a person with

a disability to complete the MGSM Postgraduate Certificate in Management.

Applicants must have an undergraduate degree or 2–5 years of relevant work

experience and a commitment to a career in the retail industry (Macquarie

Graduate School of Management, 2010).

Woolworths employment initiatives discussion. Unlike

Wesfarmers, Woolworths A&TSIEP and RAP are centralised and encompass

the various divisions in the organisation. The strategy and RAP were instigated

by the CEO and it is the primary role of the diversity division to implement the

strategy and RAP. The diversity manager works closely with the HR managers

of all divisions to ensure the strategy is implemented and evaluated. Within the

RAP, Woolworths states that they will ‘continue to recruit from local

communities to ensure workforce is reflective of the customer and community

we serve … continue to identify and implement strategies aimed at increasing

retention and development of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees’

(Woolworths Limited, 2012b, p. 11).

Woolworths does not require its employees to identify if they are Aboriginal and

or Torres Strait Islander. The 2012 annual report states that Woolworths had 949

self-identified Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees (Woolworths

Limited, 2012a), and in the 2013 annual report Woolworths state that 2506

employees self-identified as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, including two

interns and one graduate position (Woolworths Limited, 2013). This is an

indication that the pre-employment program and other programs that Woolworths

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run are having an effect on the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

employees. The Woolworths 2014 corporate responsibility report states that they

employ 2156 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, constituting 1.2% of the

Woolworths Australia workforce (Woolworths Limited, 2014b). Woolworths’ 2015

corporate responsibility report says they employ 1953 Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islanders, down from 2014 (Woolworths Limited, 2015b). Table 7.2 outlines

Woolworths’ Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment, 2012–2015.

Table 7.2: Woolworths’ Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Employment

Figures, 2012–2015.

Year 2012 2013 2014 2015

Number of A&TSI Employees 949 2506 2156 1953

Source: Woolworths Limited, 2015b.

There is no mention of Woolworths’ A&TSIEP within its strategic priorities in their

annual reports. In addition, the Woolworths RAP was released in 2011, and

covered 2011–2012, therefore it is already out of date.

Research conducted on Woolworths indicated that within the Woolworths RAP

there are no specific numeric targets, only a commitment to proactively recruit

new Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and to expand its current pre-

employment training programs Australia-wide (Woolworths Limited, 2011).

Woolworths could improve their Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment

by having a good presence on the website. Their website does state that they

have pre-employment programs; however, the page is blank, with no information

about applying for the program—not even a phone number or email address.

There is no data available about retention strategies utilised by Woolworths, and

no information on career development and progression, training or skills

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development available. If Woolworths truly want to ‘close the gap’ on Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islander disadvantage through targeted labour market

programs, they need to develop a strategic approach throughout the organisation

that will deliver real employment outcomes.

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Table 7.3: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Specific Programs—Wesfarmers/Woolworths.

Organisation SBT FTT Apprenticeships Internships Cadetships

RAP Pre-employment Program

Other

Wesfarmers/ Coles

No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Graduate program,

Vacation Programs, Leadership

program

Wesfarmers/ Kmart

Yes No Yes No Yes No

Wesfarmers/ Target

No No No No Yes No Work experience program

Wesfarmers/ Officeworks

Yes Yes No No Yes No Leadership program

Wesfarmers/ Bunnings

No No No No Yes No Community programs

Woolworths Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Graduate programs, fast track program, scholarships

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7.12 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Employment

Discussion

The preceding discussion outlined the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

employment initiatives of the ARA and the two major retailers in Australia, which

provides valuable insights into Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment

in the industry. In Table 7.3 we can see at a glance the range of programs on

offer. Wesfarmers does not have a holistic approach to Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander employment, thus all its subsidiaries are listed separately.

Conversely, Woolworths have a holistic approach, therefore subsidiaries are not

listed separately.

Not surprisingly, there are extensive gaps in what is offered. For instance, Kmart,

Officeworks and Woolworths offer SBTs, while Coles and Woolworths offer pre-

employment programs. Pre-employment programs are a vital resource to assist

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to gain employment (Giddy et al.,

2009; Hunter & Gray, 1999). Apprenticeships are offered by Coles, Kmart and

Woolworths. Biddle, Brennan and Yap (2014, p. 1) state that ‘apprenticeships are

commonly seen as a useful tool for “Closing the Gap”’. Graduate programs are

only offered by Coles and Woolworths, which is surprising given the number of

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students who graduate each year from

university. When it comes to direct employment, neither Wesfarmers nor

Woolworths advertise this on their websites or in their RAPs. Most organisations

rely on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples actively accessing their

websites for employment, however, neither organisation has an adequate online

presence that states what programs are on offer or how to apply.

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Since it is clear that Wesfarmers and Woolworths recognise Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander disadvantage from their RAPs, I was interested to ascertain

whether they actually do what they publically project. To ascertain this, I utilised

documentary analysis of the retailers’ annual reports, shareholder reviews, CSR

reviews, sustainability reports and RAPs. On reviewing these documents, the

differences between the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment

strategies was obvious.

Coles was the only organisation to publicly acknowledge the number of Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islander employees: Table 7.1 showed that Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander employment had grown from 2012–2014. In addition, in

their 2014 annual report Coles state they will ‘treble the number of Indigenous

team members working with us by 2020’ (Coles Supermarkets Australia Pty Ltd,

2014). In the Wesfarmers 2014 annual report, the only mention of Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander employment is the Coles First Step program, which they

state is ‘supported by the Australian Government, [and] provided mentoring and

roles for 126 new team members’ in various locations throughout Australia

(Wesfarmers, 2014a, p. 30). Wesfarmers’ 2015 annual report states that they

‘now employ several thousand Indigenous Australians when just a few years ago

we had only a handful’ (Wesfarmers, 2015b, p. 3): a total of 2762, which

represents 1.4% of the Wesfarmers workforce (Wesfarmers, 2015b, p. 55), with

Coles employing an extra 500 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in

2015, of whom self-identifying Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander team

members increased by more than 900, bringing the total to 1765 (Wesfarmers,

2015b, p. 24). Wesfarmers, in their 2015 annual report, state that Coles want to

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increase the percentage of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander team members

from 1% to 3% by 2020.

Unlike Wesfarmers, Woolworths’ Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

employment strategy and RAP are centralised and encompass the various

divisions in the organisation. Table 7.3 shows that Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander employment rose in 2012 and 2013; however, unlike Wesfarmers,

Woolworths’ Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment has been in

decline since 2013, despite Woolworths stating they have put over 900 Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islander employees through pre-employment programs in the

last 2 years. Unlike Wesfarmers, Woolworths do not publicly state any targets for


If Wesfarmers and Coles are truly interested in ‘Closing the Gap’ on Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islander disadvantage, they need to closely examine their

A&TSIEPs. Commonwealth and state governments have a mandatory 2%

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment quota, which they have to

report on yearly. So it seems logical that corporate Australia also do this. Both

Wesfarmers and Woolworths utilise labour market programs such as the IEP to

access funds to ‘grow’ their Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment, in

some cases well into the millions of dollars, so reporting on the success of this

funding should be forthcoming.

7.13 Case Studies into Two of the Retailers in Australia. How

Effective Are These Strategies?

As seen above, the two major retailers in Australia have strategies aimed at

improving the disadvantage of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The

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Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment initiatives of the ARA and the

two major retailers in Australia were outlined, which provides valuable insights

into Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment in the industry.

The next section of this chapter consists of two case studies: Supermarket Co

and Variety Co. Utilising an Aboriginal lens and decolonising methodologies, in-

depth research has been conducted into the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

employment policies and strategies within these two retail stores, utilising

documentary analysis. Policy documents for both retailers are analysed and the

literature is reviewed. Additionally, utilising the culturally appropriate and ethical

interview techniques outlined in Chapter 2, interviews were carried out with senior

executives/managers, external recruiters, GTOs and Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander employees to ascertain whether the strategies of these two retail stores

are assisting to overcome the disadvantage faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander peoples.

It was important to ascertain the driving force behind both retail stores’

commitments to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment. Was it a

function of CSR perspective? Was it linked to the retailer’s vision and mission?

Was it an integral part of the retailer’s culture, or an afterthought? Was it a ‘feel-

good’ exercise or ‘tokenistic gesture’? Was it just ‘ticking a box’ to say, yes, we

are recruiting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people? What were the

retention strategies used and was there traction in terms of generating career

progression? In addition, were these retail outlets utilising labour market

programs funded by the Government (discussed in Chapter 4) to fund their

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment policies and strategies?

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Like the banking industry, some common themes emerged during the interview

process. The two retail stores showed common themes in the recruitment

processes (internal and external). Both offered pre-employment programs and

other similar employment strategies. They both utilised labour market programs

(discussed in Chapter 4) and were funded under the Federal Government’s IEP

program. During the interview process, the level of racism found at some

locations was alarming, not only from the customers in the stores but from

management as well. Questioning whether the retail stores were committed to

the process, one of the retailers’ CEOs asked that if issues were found that were

detrimental to the program they be notified, as they wanted to make a difference.

This feedback was provided.

7.14 Supermarket Co

Supermarket Co has a presence in almost every metropolitan and regional centre

in Australia. Supermarket Co conducts its operations primarily in Australia and

New Zealand. Supermarket Co’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

employment strategy was launched as part of their RAP program in 2011. Prior

to this time, Supermarket Co only offered ad hoc employment opportunities to


Supermarket Co is a signatory to the AEC (discussed in Chapter 4) and utilises

labour market programs funded by the Government (discussed in Chapter 4). The

funding received under the IEP is approximately $17 000 per participant and is

used in the pre-employment programs to ensure Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander peoples are employment ready (Supermarket Co Recruiter 2, 2012) and

have adequate support mechanisms in place within the workplace, ‘because you

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can’t just take them off the streets, throw them in a job and just leave them, it

doesn’t work, no matter what anyone says’ (Supermarket Co Recruiter 2, 2012).

Pre-employment program. Supermarket Co runs pre-employment

programs across Australia for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples

who want a career with the supermarket. Supermarket Co uses external

recruiters to run the programs and realises that a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach

does not work in pre-employment programs. They have a ‘multi-pronged’

approach that takes into account the diverse circumstances of the participants

(Supermarket Co Management 1, 2012).

Supermarket Co, along with their external recruiters and GTOs, take a very

hands-on approach to the employment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

peoples. They start by going into communities and speaking with traditional

custodians, land councils and community organisations. They hold community

briefing sessions and information sessions so all stakeholders are aware of what

employment is available. The information session includes a store tour

(Supermarket Co Management 2, 2012). Supermarket Co have a screening

process that allow them to determine whether potential participants are ‘work

ready’ or need extra skills to get them ‘work ready’ (Supermarket Co Management

2, 2012).

The participants who come to Supermarket Co ‘work ready’ are put through a

transition to work program, which consists of working with the participants on their

strengths, building their confidence and customer service skills, exposing them

to tactics to deal with difficult customers and instruction on how to work as a team

(Supermarket Co Recruiter 1, 2012). The participants then complete 2 weeks of

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work experience in the supermarket. This is designed to equip participants with

the knowledge they need about the processes within the supermarket

environment. There were some participants who thought that even though they

were ‘job ready’, the training supplied in the program was too short and didn’t

equip them for working in a supermarket.

Natalie’s Story I was a participant in the work ready program, and I’ve been in customer service a long time, retail is a whole different ball game. You can’t train people for retail in one week, so I was disappointed in the course’.

One external recruiter who runs this program estimates that about 98% of

participants in the program move into a job (Supermarket Co Recruiter 1, 2012).

However, there is no actual data available to verify these statistics. Successful

participants are provided with mentoring while they transition into the workforce.

The mentors are provided as part of the funding that the external recruiter applies

for under the Commonwealth IEP program. In most instances, the mentors were

non-Indigenous, and the mentoring outcomes varied greatly.

Isaac’s Story My mentor … was good when I first got here, but there has been no follow up, I have had trouble with the manager of my store … the current climate is not good here for Aboriginal people, but they have ignored my requests for assistance.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participants that are not ‘work ready’ are put

through a longer program to equip them with all the information they need to

obtain a job with Supermarket Co. This program consists of gaining either a

Certificate 1 or Certificate 2 in Retail Services. Modules include communication

and working in a team, operating retail technology, customer service skills, safe

work practices, food safety practices, displaying products and planning a career

in retail (Supermarket Co Recruiter 2, 2012). Other elements of the training

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include resilience skills, how to deal and manage racism, team building and

professional development.

Mariah’s Story ‘The course taught us how to socially act and to be able to accept any type of insult and control our emotions so we can work better without getting pissed off at customers, teaching us how to smile.’

Lyn’s Story ‘We are trained to diffuse situations like that or totally ignore it and keep our customer service positive regardless.’

During the program, participants are introduced to store managers at social

events, like barbeques. ‘We do this so the environment where they first meet the

manager is non-threatening or intimidating’ (Supermarket Co Recruiter 3, 2012).

Brenda’s Story ‘I can’t speak highly enough about the opportunity to meet HR, to meet the management, you became very visible. The barbecues we had … we had a barbecue where the management comes out and the HR people come out, you meet them. So we met them before we started in the supermarket.’

At the end of the training participants are placed in a supermarket for 2 weeks of

work experience. During this time, they are rotated around the various

departments, so they become multi-skilled and so that participants develop a

feeling for which department they would like to work in (Supermarket Co


Brenda’s Story ‘Two weeks work placement gave me a leg up, it was so invaluable, and they liked the fact I’ll speak over the PA.’

Isaac’s Story ‘I like the fact you can specialise with Supermarket Co … I was previously employed with another supermarket chain in the produce department, but I had to quit because I was burnt out doing three jobs all casual. I told them I have previously worked in produce and really wanted to be there. They said yep that’s fine … I have a great rapport with the customers … I give great customer service and people seek me out because of it.’

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Prior to the work experience component, each pre-employment participant is

given a uniform to wear. ‘For the work experience component we provide them

with their supermarket uniform as it gives them a sense of pride’ (Supermarket

Co Recruiter 2, 2012).

Deborah’s Story ‘When I first got my uniform, I’m like shame, I can’t wear that, but you know, I feel a sense of pride wearing it.’

Supermarket Co say they are committed to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

employment and do not do training for training sake, ‘we guarantee there are jobs

but we do not guarantee them a job’ (Supermarket Co Recruiter 2, 2012). The

participants are required to be committed to the program. Once the training is

finished, Supermarket Co tries to place the successful participants in a store close

to where they live, so that transport is not a barrier to coming to work.

Lyn’s Story ‘So after the training we are placed in a store according to available positions, I was fortunate to get a store close to public transport, I love working here.’

Brenda’s Story There are a fair few stores here in Adelaide, they try to place you as close to home as possible, they are aware that not many of us have a driver’s licence or a car, so putting us in a store close to home, means we are more likely to be able to come to work, and be here on time … that’s really important.

Supermarket Co says they are getting around 85% employment outcomes from

the pre-employment programs Australia-wide (Supermarket Co Management 1,

2012; Supermarket Co Recruiter 2, 2012). However, there are no hard statistics

to back up this statement. Successful participants in the pre-employment

programs are given a mentor for 2 years by the external recruiter, which is paid

for under the Commonwealth Government IEP program. In most instances the

mentors were non-Indigenous and the outcomes of the mentoring provided mixed

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results. For instance, the mentoring seemed better in some states than in others

and was a direct result of which external recruitment agency was used. Some

external recruitment agencies utilised mentors with a wealth of experience

working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples; some chose mentors

that would ‘fit into the company’—sometimes this was a prior staff member of

Supermarket Co who ‘knew what was needed by the company’. ‘I think the role

of the mentor is quite important and quite difficult, the mentor needs to understand

the problems that the participants face, but by the same token they have to

sometimes take a hard line with the participants’ (Supermarket Co Management

3, 2012).

Philippa’s Story So I came into the mentoring role as I am a prior employee of Supermarket Co. I was in HR before giving up full-time work to go to university. I got a call one day and was asked if I would like to be a mentor in this program. I jumped at the chance, but it’s been a real learning curve for me, prior to this role, I had no real contact with Aboriginal people … I work as a conduit between the participants and the organisation … I bring a wealth of organisational knowledge to the position … so I can help the participants navigate in the supermarket.

Kenny’s Story For me the mentor is the key … having a mentor who will support the participants through thick and thin. Some participants get a bit lost in the job placement … sometimes it’s their first job … so there is a bit of hand holding. Dealing with employers for me is important, that there is co- ordination between the participant, mentor and supervisor, just so the workplace have an understanding what’s happening in the participants lives.

Felicity’s Story In the workplace, navigating through the workplace and gaining understanding of the processes and so forth, the participants are given some, or are prepared to some degree, but I don’t think the pre-employment preparation received can ever adequately cover all they need to know in the workplace, learning is an ongoing process, so as a mentor, I am here to navigate that with them.

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From the participant’s perspective, the mentoring they received was invaluable.

Most interviewed participants stated that their mentor was extremely helpful in a

variety of situations and for a variety of issues that had arisen within and external

to the workplace. ‘Basically I love ***, if I have any dramas I ring her up and she’ll

help me through it as best she can’ (Supermarket Co Employee 9, 2012). ‘*** is

brilliant, she is a good help, like I might ring her at midnight after a bad shift and

she will listen and help me cope’ (Supermarket Co Employee 8, 2012).

Julie’s Story I suffer from mental health issues, I get panic attacks, and sometimes I am not in a good frame of mind. I can ring *** and tell her what’s going on in my head. She can talk me through things, get me help, she is a very supportive mentor, and I would not be in the program if it wasn’t for ***, probably would not be still here.

Mentors interviewed reported dealing with issues such as lack of housing,

transport issues, domestic violence issues, and gaining access to vital services,

pay day loans, health issues and mental health issues. ‘Participants that come

into this program are usually long-time unemployed and they need a helping hand

to assist them in getting on track … we don’t tell them what to do, but we provide

the opportunities and access to services so they are empowered’ (Supermarket

Co Mentor 3, 2012). Sometimes when a mentor feels that they do not have

enough knowledge to support the participant, they will turn to an Aboriginal Elder

in the community to provide extra support and knowledge on how to deal with

issues, especially cultural issues (Supermarket Co Recruiter 1, 2012).

Felicity’s Story ‘One of my participants is 47, she has never worked before, she is a grandma, and a mother as well, and her youngest is 7. Significant issues from domestic violence to substance abuse that have ricocheted through her family and impacted on her, but she does 15 hours per week and she loves it. She got a car, she got her licence all since starting work … that’s the sort of difference we are making in people’s lives.’

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Participants also noted that it would be good to have an Aboriginal worker in the

workplace with whom they could discuss issues, ‘because in the workplace,

sometimes you need to be careful who you talk to … I’ve had some bad

experiences’ (Supermarket Co Employee 6, 2012).

Supermarket Co, unlike some retail outlets, prefers their workforce to be either

permanent full-time or permanent part-time. Participants of the programs are

mostly offered permanent part-time positions. ‘The reason for this is twofold,

firstly we want them to stay, so permanent part-time is a good option, but it also

offers flexibility around family and community obligations’ (Supermarket Co

Management 1, 2012). Supermarket Co says they often find that participants are

not ready for full-time work, especially if they have been out of the workforce for

a long time.

Success of the pre-employment program. Supermarket Co say that

in all programs the driver is real jobs and retention (Supermarket Co

Management 1, 2012). Although they cannot confirm these statistics,

Supermarket Co say they have a 75% retention rate 6 months after the

programs have run. The participants of the program that were interviewed

overwhelmingly said that Supermarket Co was a great place to work. They

reported that the company was supportive and flexible to their needs and was

very family oriented. One participant stated: ‘It’s probably the first job that I’ve

ever had that I’ve felt like getting out of bed for each morning and going to

work. I’ve had jobs before where I didn’t want to get out of bed’ (Supermarket

Co Employee 2, 2012).

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Participants also commented on the career progression that was available

through Supermarket Co. ‘There are so many avenues’ (Supermarket Co

Employee 2, 2012). ‘Not many people would know the career paths that are

available’ (Supermarket Co Employee 8, 2012).

Rochana’s Story They ask us where we want to go and I just said I like cash registers, I like meeting people, but if I wanted to train in different areas I can. I told them I want to stick with registers. At the moment I’m a training supervisor and the eco ambassador, it’s pretty cool. I just want to work my way up.

Colleen’s Story After the pre-employment program finished, I said I would like to be in the Deli department. So my manager got me specific training in that area. I am now a full-time employee and second in charge of the Deli.

As the pre-employment program was run across different states, utilising different

service providers, the content and the outcomes varied. I interviewed participants

from different states to gauge the effectiveness of the program for them. One of

the external providers developed a personal awareness component to the

program, which had mixed results. One participant commented: ‘I was carrying a

lot of scars from having depression, a nervous breakdown and trying to commit

suicide … the course helped me unpack that and get back on track … it helped

me to grow as a person’ (Supermarket Co Employee 13, 2012). Another

participant did not find the program helpful and commented: ‘I found it a complete

waste of time, I don’t see how getting in touch with your feelings will help in a job

situation’ (Supermarket Co Employee 2, 2012).

Right from the start, participants were told there was no guarantee of a job once

training was complete unless the participants put in the time and effort required.

While Supermarket Co was committed to increasing Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander employment, they did not simply mandate change, or try to change

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everything at once. They started with a limited number of programs using a limited

number of partners. Where they observed success they replicated the program

elsewhere. As the program was refined, Supermarket Co kept the components

that worked and having good partnerships helped.

Unfortunately, Supermarket Co has not undertaken any external evaluations to

gauge the success of the pre-employment programs. However, using

observations within Supermarket Co stores, and by interviewing participants,

there does seem to be a genuine commitment to increase the number of

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees within the supermarket.


SBTs are one way in which Supermarket Co believes it can deliver career

pathways for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander high school students in

years 11 and 12. The recruitment process starts about half way through the

year when students are in year 10. Supermarket Co, as the RTO, promotes

and recruits to the program utilising schools that have signed up to participate

in the program. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander SBTs are promoted to

year 10 students as a way to gain valuable employment skills while completing

their HSC. They combine vital on-the-job experience with Certificate II in Retail

Services. Traineeships are part-time over 2 years.

Supermarket Co could not provide any retention and outcome statistics to

ascertain whether the SBT program is successful and no SBTs were interviewed.

There was also no information available about the career progression of SBTs.

Rita’s Story I was working at a career expo for Supermarket Co, we had high school kids, boys and girls just flooded around us wanting to fill out forms for school-

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based traineeships. I think seeing us inspired them, you know seeing other black faces, and knowing it’s a good place to work.

Apprenticeships. Supermarket Co is one of the largest employers of

apprentices in Australia. Apprenticeships are available in Bakery or Butchery

and are completed over 3 or 4 years through a combination of on-the-job

training and off-the-job training at the local TAFE College. Apprentices are also

prepared for further advancement with Supermarket Co. Once qualified, the

baker or butcher can apply for positions such as bakery manager or butchery

manager.

Brendon’s Story I’ve got a 6-months trial for a 4-year apprentice butchers at Supermarket Co. I’m pretty happy about that, the manager saw that I had the potential and offered me the opportunity. I will get help with my studies if needed, I got a mentor to talk to if I have any difficulties … it’s a great opportunity. For me I know I can make a difference and I am making a difference for my culture, it’s about being positive, not showing hatred or being negative and showing passion for the work environment.

Matt’s Story I was approached when I was still at school by the school councillor, she said Supermarket Co have apprenticeships on offer, do you want to try for one. I’m like are you for real … so I went in there, there were other Indigenous kids there too and they asked if I wanted to do a butcher or baker and I said I’ll do baker, my brother put his hand up to do butcher. So the next thing I’m leaving school and starting the apprenticeship and doing TAFE. We did 12 weeks at TAFE then went straight to work in the supermarket.

Korinne’s Story ‘I started as an apprentice pastry chef more than 20 years ago. I have since gone on to manage several store bakery departments. Working for Supermarket Co teaches you the basics of bakery.’

Cultural awareness training. Supermarket Co has utilised its

extensive partnership arrangements to deliver cultural awareness training to

their managers and staff across the country. This is part of its nationwide

initiative to increase employment opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait

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Islander peoples. It is a pre-requisite that all store managers who have

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees undergo this training. The

delivery of cultural awareness training differed depending on the region and

the training provider. The training usually consisted of a half- to 1-day training

course and covered topics such as Aboriginal identity, Aboriginal history,

Aboriginal culture, stolen generations, ‘Closing the Gap’ and working with

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Regional Store Manager’s Story ‘There was a 1-day course for myself and other managers, it went through the background, what to say, what not to say, etcetera. It was pretty simple stuff, what we should have already known I suppose, but it was good for us to open our eyes.’

Mentor’s Story ‘We have cultural training this week actually, with the management team here. It will actually be my first exposure to the cultural training, so I am looking forward to it … I believe it will make a big difference to how I work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples … before becoming a mentor I had no involvement with Aboriginal community or anything.’

One concern that I took up with the management of Supermarket Co was that

they had employed a non-Aboriginal mentor to work with Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander employees, who did not receive cultural awareness training until

they had been employed for over 6 months, despite the fact they were dealing

with varying issues from homelessness, to addiction, to domestic violence. This

actually explained quite a lot of what the employees had been saying, to the effect

that she did not know how best to assist them and they felt that they could not

approach or confide in her.

Store managers (not all are good). Supermarket Co prides itself on

its cultural diversity and has a program of education for its internal managers,

‘because they are on the ground floor and it’s about the business embracing

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Indigenous employment and wanting to do it’ (Supermarket Co Management

1, 2012). Supermarket Co believe that each store should be representative of

the community they serve. When interviewing store managers, I found that

some were really supportive and others were not. In fact, some were outright

racist towards me and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff in their

charge. In one instance, in front of me, the store manager lined up the

employees who were to be interviewed and warned them against saying

anything bad about him or the company.

NSW Rural Manager ‘Even the better ones I’d still be very hesitant to stick my neck out for or put them on a training course … because they come with emotional baggage and things like that … you just can’t trust them … they take too much babying and then they just go walkabout … I don’t have time for that.’

This particular store manager was placed in a brand new store with 12 freshly

inducted Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees who had completed the

pre-employment program. Within 4 months there were only four of these

employees left. The four remaining Aboriginal employees were interviewed, who

all overwhelmingly said that the manager was a racist who did not acknowledge

their existence, never made eye contact with them and was ‘an ignorant white

fella, who doesn’t want Aboriginal people in the workplace’ (Supermarket Co

Employee 15, 2012).

This was not an isolated incident. There were a few managers who were reluctant

to have Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees in their stores. In a large

rural Queensland town, the manager told me they held bias towards Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islander people ‘because I’ve had nothing but negative

experiences in the past … I just don’t want them in my store but I am forced to by

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higher up’ (Supermarket Co Management 5, 2012). Fortunately for Supermarket

Co, the supportive managers far outweighed the un-supportive ones.

Racism in the workplace. Despite receiving cultural awareness

training, some participants in this study commented that they were subjected

to discrimination and racism in the workplace by fellow employees, by

managers in addition to racist incidents with customers.

Julie’s Story One day I had my tooth pulled and I rang ‘him’ up because I was in pain and I felt crook. He was accusing me of being drunk. He goes ‘you’re drunk Julie, aren’t you?’ I went no. He said ‘yeah you’re drunk. You sound drunk.’ I’m like, ‘I’ve just had my tooth pulled, and I can’t talk properly.’ ‘No you’re drunk,’ he said … and I’m like you arrogant pig, how dare you, but of course I couldn’t tell him that but my mentor got stuck into him, she was ropable.

Rita’s Story Sometimes they give you the impression that they don’t want to be served by you, they sort of look over to see if anyone else is available to serve them … maybe to others its nothing, but to me it really offends me, but I’m learning not to let it bother me.

Natalie’s Story The HR people told us we get a 10-minute break. Anyway we came and we started our 10 minutes, we’d leave our work, come to the toilet and go and sit outside because we felt uncomfortable in the lunchroom, because everyone would be yacking away and as soon as we came in everyone would be like … you got the feeling they were talking about me, why is everyone silent? So I felt uncomfortable, so I would grab my stuff and sit outside on the stools and have my break there. I count my 10 minutes from when I get out there, but that is not it—that 10 minutes starts from when I left where I was. I didn’t notice that one of the girls was taking notice of what we were doing. She spoke to the assistant manager and I got told they had camera shots of me taking longer breaks and that other people were talking. The way she said that, I was so upset. I’m only training; I was not told that the break starts when you leave your work area. I was bawling my eyes out. She could have just explained the whole 10-minute thing but the way she went about it, it just goes to show the level of racism there is, when people do that to you.

Unfortunately, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples ‘experience high

levels of racism across multiple settings … including raced based exclusion in the

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workplace … the incidents are up to four times higher that of non-Aboriginal

Australians’ (Szoke, 2012). One study participant spoke about how ‘you get some

good customers, and then some not so good … some will have a conversation

with you, others will give you “that look”’ (Supermarket Co Employee 4, 2012).

Another participant spoke about having issues with a colleague in the workplace

who was being extremely racist. Supermarket Co did not tolerate his behaviour

and that person no longer works there.

Career prospects. One of the good things about Supermarket Co is

that you can come to the organisation with little or no experience and work

your way up through the organisation. ‘There is no limit to what you can aspire

to, because there is training along the way if you want to go further’


Supermarket Co offers their staff Certificates I, II, III and IV in Retail Services. In

addition, they have relationships with universities across Australia to offer staff

the opportunity to gain tertiary qualifications in undergraduate and postgraduate

degrees. Supermarket Co believes they offer good career progression to all

employees. ‘One of our directors started here as a trolley boy, as he calls himself

… so absolutely we push the message that there are career opportunities’


In the next section, the A&TSIEP of Supermarket Co will be measured against

the evaluative framework developed in Chapter 5.

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Table 7.4: Supermarket Co A&TSIEP Strategy Evaluative framework.



Planning and Pre-employment stage


Yes

Establish partnerships Yes Strong partnerships for A&TSIEP

Advisory group/consultative committee Yes


No Diversity manager

Developed A&TSIEP


No Ad hoc strategy, nothing written except RAP. No target

in RAP

Culturally appropriate workplace Yes Cultural awareness training that is compulsory for

managers

Employing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees




Work ready/pre-employment programs

Yes Pre-employment program

Assessment Centres Yes For direct employment only



Formal mentoring Yes All programs have mentoring attached

Career development and training Yes Internal and external training available

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No


Is rural and remote employment offered?

Yes Rural employment

Supermarket Co summary. Utilising the data in Table 7.4, it is clear

that Supermarket Co does not meet all the requirements of the evaluative

framework. In the planning and pre-employment stage, Supermarket Co

scores highly for having the commitment of senior management driving the

strategy. They also have partnerships with several Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander community organisations for their A&TSIEP.

Supermarket Co have an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander advisory group

that is consulted and has assisted in the development of the RAP, and has had

input into pre-employment programs. Supermarket Co does not employ an

A&TSEM, instead they have a diversity manager who manages all workforce

diversity within Supermarket Co. The A&TSIEP for Supermarket Co has only

been operating for approximately 5 years and was mostly developed through its

RAP, so it is relatively new to the process. They do not have a formal written

A&TSIEP, or any other written formal policies around Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander employment, apart from the RAP. Supermarket Co does not have a

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numerical target for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment in their

RAP. When it comes to reporting outcomes from the RAP and A&TSIEP,

Supermarket Co states they have given employment opportunities to Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islander peoples, but do not state to how many. Supermarket

Co offers cultural awareness training to employees, with an emphasis on the

managers who supervise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees

completing the training.

In the employing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders stage, the variety of

recruitment strategies Supermarket Co utilises appear to be culturally

appropriate. They utilise specialised external recruiters and GTOs. In addition,

Supermarket Co goes into communities, speaks with elder groups, Land Councils

and community organisations and they hold information sessions so that the

community is aware of the available employment. Supermarket Co prefers face-

to-face recruitment using specialist services and JSAs, and avoid an online

application system. Supermarket Co run two pre-employment programs, one for

‘work ready’ applicants and one for those who are not ‘work ready’. The programs

assess each applicant’s suitability for employment with Supermarket Co. When it

comes to interview practices, Supermarket Co does align to the evaluative

framework, as there are no Aboriginal and or Torres Strait Islander people on the

interview panels.

When it comes to retention strategies, Supermarket Co have formal mentoring

programs attached to their SBTs, who receive mentoring throughout the

traineeship, which is provided by the GTO. Participants of the pre-employment

program receive mentoring for the first 2 years of employment, which is provided

by the external recruiter. Participants of the apprenticeship program only receive

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mentoring if they came through the pre-employment program or if they are placed

in a NSW store, where mentoring is provided through The Way Ahead Aboriginal

People program. The mentoring provided by the external recruiters is performed

by non-Indigenous mentors and could be classified as not culturally appropriate.

Despite this, the majority of the participants who received mentoring were grateful

for the support they received from their mentors (except for one mentor who was

‘clueless’, according to participants). There were good opportunities for career

development, with Supermarket Co offering internal training and supporting

external training; career progression prospects were good. Supermarket Co does

not have any cultural leave provisions, however, they were flexible and other

leave could be accessed if needed. When it came to employment conditions and

flexible working hours, Supermarket Co offers full-time, part-time and casual

employment. For the most part, participants were happy with their hours of work,

and said that the workplace was flexible around family commitments.

Supermarket Co has no monitoring tools for its A&TSIEP and there has been no

internal or external evaluations of the program. I was told by Supermarket Co that

if I found any areas where I thought the A&TSIEP could be improved my feedback

would be welcome. My first suggestion will be to have a written A&TSIEP and

evaluate the programs they are running now.

Supermarket Co has branches in urban and rural locations throughout Australia,

and a few branches in remote Australia. However, the majority of the pre-

employment programs are run in urban locations.

Additional information that came out of the interviews with Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander participants indicated that they believed the programs offered by

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Supermarket Co to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples gave good

opportunities for meaningful work. They did not see, nor were they made to feel,

that their employment was tokenistic.


in their families and communities and it had made a real difference in their lives

working for the supermarket.

Natalie’s Story I reckon with what’s going on here, how Supermarket Co has opened the door here, this is part of Closing the Gap because you’re giving something back to Aboriginal people as far as their identity and their confidence back to them. It’s just gutting when you go for job after job and you’re getting knocked back and pulled down—and you know it’s the fucking colour of your skin.

Sharon’s Story I’m an apprentice butcher in South Australia, I love working in a male dominated area, it’s not something you would expect a female to do. Anyway I’m doing really well and I was just awarded South Australian apprentice of the year. Like who would have thought. Talk about being a role model, but I don’t let it go to my head. Our mob don’t like that hey.

Senior management of Supermarket Co was happy to discuss the labour market

funding under the IEP that they receive from the Government for their pre-

employment programs, although reluctant to state the monetary value involved.

One of the external recruiters informed me that the pre-employment program

received funding of $17 000 per participant.

Supermarket Co’s A&TSIEP does not meet all the requirements of the evaluative

framework. Supermarket Co has a substantial amount of work to do if to make

the strategy a success.

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7.15 Variety Co

Variety Co employs over 17 000 people across Australia, and has a presence in

most metropolitan and regional centres in Australia. Variety Co launched its

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment strategy as part of its RAP

program. Prior to this time, Variety Co ran some programs intermittently, but did

not promote employment opportunities to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

peoples.

Variety Co utilises labour market programs funded by the Government (discussed

in Chapter 4). The funding received under the IEP is approximately $17 000 per

participant (this is a standard amount offered to all employers or RTOs) and is

used in the pre-employment programs to ensure Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander peoples are employment ready and have adequate support mechanisms

in place within the workplace, such as mentoring and buddy systems.

Pre-employment program. Variety Co runs pre-employment

programs across Australia for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples

who want a career in retail, specifically in a department store setting. Variety

Co uses external recruiters to run the programs across Australia. All external

recruiters utilised by Variety Co are ‘specialists in Indigenous recruitment’. The

external recruiters apply for and access funding through the Federal

Government IEP program, then they recruit participants using local Aboriginal

communities. The programs vary around the country as they are customised

to the communities in which they run (Variety Co Management 6, 2012). Most

of the training varies between 5 and 10 weeks and the participants receive a

Certificate II or Certificate III in Retail Operations (Variety Co Recruiter 2, 2012;

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Variety Co Recruiter 4, 2012). ‘The reason we use external recruiters are that

we have never had any luck with Job Service Providers’ (Variety Co


Variety Co tries to cater for all job-seekers recruited to the program. Some may

come ‘more ready’ than others, and so they are put through a short refresher

course, ‘which was a kind of expectation training, how to dress, react etc.’ (Variety

Co Management 5, 2012). Others described the training as an induction to the

workplace, policies, procedures, health and safety in the workplace and a week

or two trial at a Variety Co store (Variety Co Recruiter 1, 2012). This is designed

to equip participants with the knowledge they need about the processes within

Variety Co. This short course does not have an accredited certificate attached to

it.

Daniel’s Story I came from Lightning Ridge where I worked at the IGA. It was basically the only place that work was available. When I arrived here, I got into this program, there was a bit of theory and some practical experience, which I reckon was great as it got us ready for the job. My program was only short as I had come from working in retail, albeit very different, but it was great, just what I needed.

Sonya’s Story I did a 10 week course which consisted on going to TAFE and on-the-job experience. We learnt how to use the cash registers, computers, stock control. Then I got a job doing 20 hours a week, it’s great.

Robbie’s Story The retail program that I did was run through the TAFE, it ran for 10 weeks which was inclusive of 2 weeks work experience in the store. I have nothing but the utmost respect for the course, the service delivery of the retail course was spot on, it provided the necessary tools for our success.

At the end of the training participants are placed into the department store for 2

weeks of work experience. During this time, they are rotated around the various

departments, so participants obtain a feeling for which department they would

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like to work in. Variety Co believed that if participants liked the work, they would

be happier, and happy to promote the organisation (Variety Co Management 5,

2012). Participants are also given a ‘buddy’ in the department store, ‘because we

want to make sure that the person who does work experience actually got a

meaningful experience’ (Variety Co Management 6, 2012). The buddy system

involves the participant shadowing a more experienced employee to gain a better

understanding of how the business operates and the work required. All buddies

are provided with cultural awareness training, discussed later in this section. One

manager stated:

We haven’t just got them cleaning shelves; we’re actually engaging the

stakeholders in the beginning and making sure the manager understand

these people are doing work experience in these roles with the hope of

actually securing the position after the work experience program, so it’s in

their best interest to make sure they invest time and make sure the person

is doing something meaningful. At the end of the work experience

program, they’re making a determination based on a person’s

performance as to whether or not we want them to stay in that role

ongoing. (Variety Co Management 6, 2012)

Positions are not guaranteed; participants gain a position based on how they

perform both in their work experience and in the theory component.

Millissa’s Story I got trained in the different areas; basically in apparel and putting stock on the floor and then we learned the checkouts, that taught me a lot as well and boosted my confidence, I used to be afraid of checkouts but now I like them. I was also trained on the door, basically everywhere in the store.

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Several Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participants said they loved being

on the door. ‘Yeah I like doing that better than anything else … I just prefer to

meet people’ (Variety Co Employee 1, 2012).

Robbie’s Story ‘I’m the customer champion. The meet and greeter on the front door. Our management thought that I suited the role down to a T. I’ve basically been doing that role and I also do some night fill. I try to meet every person. I have my little subtleties and my ways of making people look at me and acknowledge that I am there. It’s like the good old days when you would walk down the street and it was considered rude not to say hello. I try to accommodate everyone that comes through the doors to the best of my ability … the way I see it, it is not hard to stand at the front door and meet and greet the members of your community; be it Indigenous or non- Indigenous and it’s also a great representation throughout the town. I’m not only representing my people, I’m also representing the people of our community, which is a great pleasure really; to be involved in something.’

Michael’s Story ‘I’m at the door, like security and its really good. I got some extra training to assist me in this role, it involved all the policies, how to react in certain situations, such as stealing offences and that sort of stuff. I always have a smile on my face, and people really appreciate that. I have a good yarn with the elders, most of the old men and women that come through the door. I call them by their names now and it’s a good response. I’ve got a lot of results from here from non-Indigenous people which makes me really happy, it does when they show respect, coming from them it’s really good. I’m just out there using my manners and being polite to people whether they’re Indigenous or non-Indigenous. Being polite goes a long way with people.’

One strategy that Variety Co adopts is that for each new store they open, ‘we

make sure there are certain positions that are allocated for Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander employment as this eliminates training for training’s sake’ (Variety

Co Management 6, 2012). ‘The success of those programs is about running a

program when we actually have positions available. So we don’t go out and run

programs for the sake of doing it, we actually have positions available’ (Variety

Co Management 6, 2012).

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Participants who successfully completed the training and work placement are

given mentoring to assist in their transition into the workforce. The mentors are

provided as part of the funding that the external recruiter applies for under the

Commonwealth IEP program. The mentors were a mixture of Aboriginal and non-

Indigenous mentors, mostly depending on the external recruiter. Some non-

Indigenous mentors had a wealth of experience working with Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander peoples, others had experience in the retail environment.

Some external recruiters saw that there was much more value in employing

Aboriginal mentors, ‘as the success rate seemed to be higher’ (Variety Co

Recruiter 4, 2012). ‘Let’s face it, I’d want somebody who knows my trouble, knows

where I come from, where my family’s from, how hard it has been to get to where

I am today. A non-Indigenous person cannot do that’ (Variety Co Mentor 1, 2012).

From the participant’s perspective, the mentoring they received was invaluable.

Most interviewed participants stated that their mentor was extremely helpful in a

variety of situations and for a variety of issues that had arisen both within and

external to the workplace. However, some participants said that the ‘mentoring’

was inadequate or non-existent.

Sharelle’s Story ‘Emotionally, she was there to give you that support. If there was fear for ringing work or any issues she wouldn’t hold your hand but she’d say I’ll support you but I want you to do it. That’s how she came across. She’d say you’ve got to do it but she’d coach you to do it. She gave us advice outside stuff like if you had any problems that would affect us working, like any issues, housing or financial or anything like that. She was always there. She had our back you know, more or less, she’d help us with anything like that. She made that whole year so much easier because I always knew that I had her there. After a while she taught me to be strong and I didn’t need her much after that. But she would always ring just to check on me anyway … One thing I learnt through this, was that before in the other job when I didn’t have a mentor that helped me cope when things came up, that’s why I didn’t

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last, my mentor has taught me so much … I really feel so lucky to have had her.’

Kiara’s Story ‘What she showed us was that her compassion was there, her heart was in it and she was like doing the best she could. All of her strengths and good qualities were all there. She didn’t hold back on anything really. I just think it takes a special type of person to be non-Aboriginal, to walk into training like this for Aboriginal people; eyes were on her and probably judging her, you know, it took a strong person to do that.’

Robbie’s Story ‘I would really like to see the mentors set up beforehand, because it’s hard for an Indigenous person going into the workforce to begin with and if you don’t have the support, one-on-one, then you get dropout rates like we have had. Eleven of us started and there are only three left. They need to fix that before they run the program again … It seems like an important imperative to have an Indigenous mentor. I’m not taking anything away from non- Indigenous mentors, but it’s a different kettle of fish; when you’re Indigenous and your mentor is Indigenous they can relate on a personal level; a large majority of Indigenous people may not feel comfortable talking to a non- Indigenous mentor.’

Mentors reported dealing with issues that included lack of available vital services

and resources for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, exploitation by

‘cash for pay day providers’, health issues, mental health issues, domestic

violence issues, and drug and alcohol issues, which all impact on the participant’s

ability to attend work. ‘Some issues are absolutely horrendous’ (Variety Co

Mentor 3, 2012).

South Australian Mentor Story ‘For instance, I’ve got a grandma who just recently her grandchildren were removed from her daughter and she’s got to undertake the care of them. Now she will have four of her own children in the house and then she’s got to undertake the care of an additional two. So six kids—that’s a full-time job anyway, and she hasn’t for a minute said, no, I’ll stop my job. ‘I really want that job,’ she said, ‘I’m not giving that up, I really like it, it’s somewhere for me to go, I get extra money’.’

Lee’s Story The things I do as a mentor have been really in some ways confronting and in other ways very easy to deal with. Creating a new rapport with people and

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clients and coming to understand them their level … building trust and rapport is very important. I think as a mentor because you’re setting so many examples in so many different ways … I have found it enormously rewarding and encouraging. It’s a two-way street with the encouragement, because if you have good feedback from the participant you are working with, and you see them achieve something really good … It feels really good.’

Variety Co has a graduation ceremony at the end of the pre-employment program

where participants share morning tea and celebrate completing the course and

receive a certificate of completion.

Variety Co offers successful participants a variety of types of employment.

Initially, casual work is offered, however, permanent full-time or permanent part-

time work is also available. Variety Co tries to ensure that the hours that are

offered to all their employees are flexible to fit family and lifestyle. ‘It’s flexible with

the hours and suits my family life, so it’s good there’ (Variety Co Employee 10,

2012). ‘It fits well for me because I can pick the kids up from school, don’t want

them standing around on the street outside their school’ (Variety Co Employee 7,

2012). ‘I was doing 22 hours, but they have let me cut back to 17 hours a week

so I could spend more time with my grand-daughter, she’s not very well’ (Variety

Co Employee 1, 2012).

Success of the pre-employment program. Variety Co says it is

getting around an 80% employment outcome from the pre-employment

programs across Australia (Variety Co Management 1, 2012; Variety Co

Recruiter 1, 2012). However, there are no hard statistics to back up this

statement. Variety Co say that in all programs the driver is real jobs and

retention (Variety Co Management 1, 2012). Variety Co says it has a 75%

retention rate 6 months after the programs have run, although they cannot

confirm these statistics. From the interview process, I obtained a different view

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of the retention rates, with some participants stating the programs they were

involved in started with 10 participants but in most cases there were only a few

who remained in employment, with reasons varying from family commitments

to not liking the work environment. The participants of the program that were

interviewed overwhelmingly said that Variety Co was a great place to work and

that they felt supported in the workplace.

Participants were informed from the outset that there was no guarantee of a job

unless they were willing to put in the time and effort. Variety Co say it is committed

to increasing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment; as the pre-

employment programs progress they are internally evaluated and refined to

ensure maximum benefits to the organisation and participant.

Unfortunately, Variety Co has not undertaken any external evaluations to gauge

the success of the pre-employment programs. However, using observations

within Variety Co stores, and by interviewing participants, there does seem to be

a genuine commitment to increase the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander employees within Variety Co.


SBTs are one way in which Variety Co believes they can deliver career

pathways for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander high school students in

years 11 and 12. The recruitment process starts about half way through the

year when students are in year 10. Variety Co uses a number of RTOs to

promote and recruit to the program and utilise schools that have signed up to

participate in the program. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander SBTs are

promoted to year 10 students as a way to gain valuable employment skills

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while completing their HSC. They combine vital on-the-job experience with

Certificate II in Retail Services. Trainees are provided with a mentor to help

and guide them through the traineeship. Traineeships are available across

Australia and trainees are exposed to a wide range of tasks within Variety Co,

including merchandising, layout, presentation and replenishment. Trainees

work 1 day a week in the store, while completing school. Traineeships are part-

time over 2 years. Variety Co could not provide any retention and outcome

statistics to ascertain whether the SBT program is successful, and no SBTs

were interviewed. There was also no information available about the career

progression of SBTs (VarietyCo, 2009–2014).

Direct employment. Variety Co, like most other organisations today,

has online job applications. You can go onto the organisation’s website and

search for jobs in specific occupations and in specific locations. Online

applications are open to everyone. Variety Co employs a significant number of

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people through this process. Some

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are ‘put off’ by an online process,

as one Aboriginal woman said: ‘I never had education, so I didn’t apply online

as I didn’t think I could get in’. Other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

people do not have an issue:

We have an Aboriginal lady working for us that came straight off the

internet, she applied, went through the normal process and has a job … I

asked her, did she mind telling me about the process … she said I applied

online, I saw the job and I felt comfortable to apply for it … it turns out she

had seen other Aboriginal people working in the store, and she wanted to

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work here too … that is good feedback that I sent to head office. (Variety

Co Management 5, 2012)

Internships. Variety Co runs an internship program in conjunction with

universities across Australia. Interns are put into meaningful roles working on

projects with real responsibilities and real decision-making authority. The

program runs for 12 weeks in the university summer break. Variety Co has

several Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander interns, but they were not able to

be interviewed for this project (VarietyCo, 2009–2014).

Graduate programs. Variety Co has graduate programs in a variety of

disciplines, including business management, logistics, HR management,

finance, information technology and procurement, and so there are many

career directions available. There are two ways to apply for the graduate

program. First, Variety Co has partnerships with universities across Australia

that promote the program. Second, there is an online option. Graduate

programs run for 2 or 3 years depending on the stream selected. Applicants

must be in their final year of university study or have recently completed study.

Variety Co has a number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in

the graduate program, but they were not interviewed as part of this thesis

(VarietyCo, 2009–2014).

Cultural awareness training. Variety Co utilise its extensive

relationships with external recruiters to deliver cultural awareness training to

its managers and staff across the country. This is part of its nationwide initiative

to increase employment opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

peoples. Variety Co focus the cultural awareness training on line managers,

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‘as they are the ones that drive the leadership behaviour’ (Variety Co

Management 6, 2012). It is then the responsibility of the line manager to

engage their team; as teams within Variety Co can include over 100

employees, it can be difficult to send all staff to do the training. In addition, all

management training offered through Variety Co has a component that relates

to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

I went to leadership training. We did a section on Indigenous in the

leadership training … a few went to engagement training and there was a

segment on Indigenous … in our business acumen training and they speak

about how we help Indigenous people to get work with Variety Co, so it’s

everywhere in the organisation. (Variety Co Management 5, 2012)

Racism in the workplace. Receiving cultural awareness training

should mostly eliminate racism in the workplace. However, in one particular

store in rural NSW there have been some teething problems implementing the

pre-employment programs.

Chris’s Story We were in the lunch room and one person said, ‘You know they are going to run a diversity program, that means they’re going to employ a lot of Aboriginal people.’ I said, ‘Yes that’s right.’ She said, ‘Then we’re going to have no one turn up for work. I hope they’re better than the last three Aboriginal people we employed because they didn’t turn up.’ I said, ‘Tell me if I’m wrong but the last young Aboriginal person that worked for us on check out went to uni at the end of January.’ She said, ‘Yes.’ I said, ‘Every week you used to come complaining to me about kids that don’t turn up for work and people that don’t turn up for work on checkouts.’ She said, ‘Yes.’ I said, ‘So would you like me to stop employing white Australians? Who do I employ?’ She said, ‘Point taken.’ I said, ‘Everyone has to be treated on their own merits and people have to be made to feel comfortable.’

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Variety Co participants in this study commented that they were not subjected to

discrimination and racism in the workplace by fellow employees or managers, but

had experienced racist incidents with customers.

Tanisha’s Story It’s a bit racist up this way, in the south of Adelaide. I have been sworn at by a customer and called a fucking boong, I was quite upset, so I went and told the manager and the customer was asked to leave the store … we had a few racist staff but they have all left.

Rural Manager’s Story I had a lady ring me one day to tell me how disgusting it is that the OEC made us employ ‘them type of people’. I said, ‘I beg your pardon.’ She said, ‘Those type of people that you’ve had working in your store of late. I can’t believe the OEC made Variety Co employ them.’ I said, ‘OEC didn’t make us employ anyone; we’ve employed our new recruits because we wanted to, they passed the process and they are staff members in our store. We employed them on their own morals and their work ethic, no hands held from OEC.’ She could not fathom the fact that we would employ an Aboriginal person—little old lady. It’s just the way they were brought up and they have a mindset and you’re not going to change the mindset of some people.

Bonny’s Story Sometimes I find ‘cause I don’t look Aboriginal and people say—they start talking shit and then the minute you turn around and you say I’m Aboriginal they go oh well I didn’t mean it the way it came out. They start trying to justify their behaviour. Racism is racism, it’s just not right.

Mick Gooda, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner,

explains that racism can take many forms: ‘Aboriginal people experience direct

as well as more subtle forms of racism at work’ (Diversity Council of Australia,

2015). Participants spoke about how are good customers, and then some not so

good ones. ‘We had an incident where an Aboriginal lady was working in Lay-by

and the client would not give out their last name, address or phone number, it’s

quite sad really, we do not tolerate racism in the workplace from staff or from

customers’ (Variety Co Management 3, 2012).

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Some participants spoke about some positive experiences with customers such

as:

Daniel’s Story ‘No one is racist towards me, against me here and they treat me just the same as everyone else. I suppose if you show respect, you get respect. And that’s the way it is around here I reckon. We are all the same people in the end.’

Career prospects. There is a large variety of professional development

available to employees of Variety Co, which is the same for every employee.

Each employee goes through a performance appraisal every 12 months. As

part of the appraisal the employee is asked about what else they would like to

do in Variety Co, and there is a section where they can comment on what

professional development they are interested in, as well as how they would

like to progress through the company. The participants in the Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander pre-employment program are given a 6 week and an 11-

week appraisal. ‘The first appraisal is a discussion on how things are going,

and the 11 week one we start to discuss professional development, their

strengths, where they see themselves in the company and career

advancement opportunities’ (Variety Co Management 5, 2012). In addition, if

there is an opening in the store the position is placed on the notice board for

people to apply. The career prospects with Variety Co was a big yarning point

among participants, most of whom were well aware of the opportunities

available to them.

Sharlene’s Story I work 38 hours a week on a contract, so full-time. Next week they have asked me to train as an assistant manager, so that’s for the next 5 or 6 weeks, so we will see what that leads to.

Robbie’s Story

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I have only been here for 3 months, but the manager is already asking if I want to be a trainee manager. They have gone out of their way here to make me feel at home and part of the team. I’ve worked for 16 years in hospitality and service delivery and I have come with a wealth of knowledge and they see the potential I have, which is great.

One positive noted by Variety Co participants was that ‘you can come to the

organisation with little or no experience and work your way up through the

organisation’ (Variety Co Employee 7, 2012). Variety Co has relationships with

universities across Australia, so staff can have the opportunity to go to university

and earn a degree.

In the next section, the A&TSIEP of Variety Co will be measured against the


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Table 7.5: Variety Co A&TSIEP Strategy Evaluative framework.





Yes

Establish partnerships Yes External recruiters have partnerships

Advisory group/consultative committee Yes


No Shared role, diversity manager and HR

Developed A&TSIEP


No Ad hoc strategy, nothing written except RAP, no target

in RAP

Culturally appropriate workplace Yes Cultural awareness program for managers


Recruitment strategies Yes Relies on external ‘specialist’ recruiters

Face-to-face recruitment practices Yes Through external recruiters

Information sessions Yes

Work ready/pre-employment programs

Yes Pre-employment program

Assessment centres No



Formal mentoring Yes Pre-employment program participants

Career development and training Yes Internal and external training


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No


Is rural and remote employment offered

Yes Rural employment, no remote

Variety Co summary. Utilising the data in Table 7.5, it is clear that

Variety Co does not meet all the requirements of the evaluative framework. In

the planning and pre-employment stage, Variety Co has the commitment of

senior management driving the strategy. Their CEO was present at the launch

of the RAP and has attended meetings with Aboriginal community

organisations with whom they have partnerships. Variety Co and its external

recruiters have partnership agreements with several Aboriginal community

organisations around Australia to deliver their programs and mentoring for

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees. Variety Co have an advisory

group made up of Variety Co senior management and Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander community members, which is consulted concerning the

A&TSIEP and which assists in the development of the RAP. Variety Co’s

A&TSIEP is driven dually, by a diversity manager and HR manager; they do

not employ an A&TSEM. Variety Co have no written A&TSIEP. Though they

do have a RAP, there are no numerical targets or percentages in their RAP for


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Variety Co reports its progress on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

employment in their annual reports. However, it does not give actual figures; they

only indicate that they have provided a certain number of opportunities to

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Variety Co has compulsory cultural

awareness training for managers who supervise Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander employees and other employees who may wish to complete the training.

Variety Co would like to make cultural awareness training compulsory for all

employees, however, this is logistically impossible due to the number of casual

employees.

In the employing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders stage, the variety of

recruitment strategies that Variety Co uses are mostly culturally appropriate, as

they utilise specialised external recruiters and GTOs, who have partnerships with

local Aboriginal organisations, to assist in the recruitment process. Information

sessions are held by the external recruiters in conjunction with Aboriginal

community organisations so that the communities are aware of what employment

is available. Variety Co have online recruiting as well as face-to-face. Variety Co

run tailored pre-employment programs to meet the needs of the participants and

the organisation. These programs are run in urban and regional locations

throughout Australia where Variety Co have a presence. Variety Co use a variety

of interview practices, depending on the applicant. For instance, if the applicant

came through the pre-employment program, interviews are with store managers

and external recruiters. If the applicant has applied online, they go through

standard interview processes. Therefore, some interview processes could be

more culturally appropriate.

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When it comes to retention strategies, Variety Co have formal mentoring

programs for all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees who come

through their programs. Mentoring is performed by the external recruiter or the

GTO and the majority of the mentors are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, in

which case, the mentoring is culturally appropriate. The participants who received

mentoring as part of their employment thought the support they received was

fantastic (except for in one region where the mentoring was not provided in a

timely manner). Variety Co also have a ‘buddy system’ to assist new Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islander staff members to acclimatise to the organisation. All

buddies are given cultural awareness training. Participants of the study thought

that Variety Co offered lots of career development opportunities, there were many

internal training opportunities, and some participants had already progressed to

second-in-charge in their respective departments. Variety Co does not have

specific cultural leave provisions. However, they were ‘looking into it for the

future’. Family leave was able to be taken for cultural reasons, if the supervisor

or manager agreed. Variety Co offers fairly flexible working conditions, with full-

time, part-time and casual employment available, and participants commented

that the managers were very flexible when it came to family commitments.

Variety Co has no monitoring tools for its A&TSIEP and there has been no internal

or external evaluations of the program. However, this was on the agenda for the

next advisory group meeting. Variety Co has department stores in urban and rural

locations throughout Australia, but no stores in remote Australia. Pre-employment

programs are run in rural locations and in major cities.

From the interviews with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Variety Co

employees it also emerged that Variety Co offered them meaningful work with

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good career prospects, especially if they wanted to move to different locations in

Australia. Most were made to feel comfortable and welcome in the workplace.


in their families and communities and working for the retailer had made a real

difference in their lives.

Michael’s Story ‘I love this job. I do another job at night, 4 nights a week; I work with the Attorney Generals department in a program to keep our kids off the street. You know I used to be into drugs and alcohol and all the rest of that stuff, but I gave it up for my grandkids. I’m making a statement for them. The opportunity Variety Co has given me, I grabbed it with both hands and I’m going to hold on to it … there is hardly much work out there for us Koori’s unless you have a degree or trade … but it important for me to be a good role model … I can do that here. I’ve been here for about 12 months now, and last month I was awarded employee of the month. I got a little trophy and photo up on the wall. It blew me away. That’s what being a role model is, my family and community are proud too.’

Robbie’s Story It’s a great representation to have Indigenous people employed in small country towns. It breaks down those barriers of those pre-conceived generalisations that we all have to put up with. Indigenous people have to put up with generalisations and stereotypes, so this initiative is really good.

Kiara’s Story When I work there now I see that I’m showing any other Aboriginal people that when they walk in there, there’s a black face in there. So that’s my part that I’m proud of. I’ve come from feeling intimidated in that shop, to working there and being as good as everyone else. It’s really changed my way of thinking.

Variety Co did not access government funding to run its programs, however, the

external recruiters who ran the pre-employment programs were funded through

the IEP.

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Variety Co’s A&TSIEP does not meet all the requirements of the evaluative

framework. Supermarket Co has a substantial amount of work to do if to make

the strategy a success.

7.16 Conclusion

Throughout this chapter, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment

policies and practices of the retail industry have been examined, starting with

Wesfarmers and Woolworths, the two biggest retailers in Australia. The chapter

also presented two case studies from organisations within the retail industry,

analysing internal documents, publicly available information on the retailer’s

websites, annual reports, RAPs, and interviews with Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander employees, managers, external recruiters and GTOs to assess the

cultural appropriateness of their A&TSIEP in accordance with the evaluative

framework developed in Chapter 5. As with the previous chapter, the key

research questions will be answered in this conclusion.


organisation? Both Supermarket Co and Variety Co stated that they

introduced A&TSIEPs into the organisation as part of their diversity programs.

One manager at Variety Co stated:

It’s not just something that we are doing because it’s the right thing to do,

it’s something we’re doing because we genuinely care and we’re

passionate about it and it’s close to our hearts … so it’s more around

something that we want to do not something that we have to do. (Variety

Co Management 1, 2012)

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From my interviews with management of Supermarket Co and Variety Co, I

developed the impression that the companies genuinely wanted to ensure that

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples had good opportunities to gain

meaningful employment.


Both Supermarket Co and Variety Co indirectly utilised government support for

their programs under the IEP. Supermarket Co and Variety Co both use

external recruiters to run their pre-employment programs, and it is the external

recruiters who apply for and receive the funding to run the programs, in

partnership with Supermarket Co and Variety Co. The funding received under

the IEP is $17 000 per participant. Both Supermarket Co and Variety Co made

profits each year in excess of several million dollars, from 2011–2015.

According to Supermarket Co, they have put over 900 participants through its

pre-employment program, so the funding would be in excess of $15 million.

Both Supermarket Co and Variety Co indicated that without the IEP and

government funding, they would not be in a position to run the programs they

did.


Both Supermarket Co and Variety Co have supporting mechanisms in place to

support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees within the A&TSIEP.

Both Supermarket Co and Variety Co have formal mentoring for all those who

come through their programs. This mentoring does not extend to those

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who apply for positions online.

Both Supermarket Co and Variety Co have very good career progression

opportunities for employees, with internal and external training available.

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However, neither have cultural leave provisions available to Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander staff.


Variety Co nor Supermarket Co have had their A&TSIEPs evaluated since

inception. Therefore, it is impossible to ascertain by what criteria they might be

evaluated. I was asked by Supermarket Co to let them know if I found anything

that could be improved in their A&TSIEP. Hopefully they will act on the findings

of this study.


experience of participants of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

participants of both retail outlets’ A&TSIEPs have been documented in the

case studies presented in this chapter. I was able to gain access to some of

the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participants of Supermarket Co’s pre-

employment program who had not gained positions with the company. Their

experiences are also documented. I was not able to gain access to any of

Variety Co’s unsuccessful pre-employment program participants, therefore,

the experience of Variety Co’s participants is incomplete.

What in the A&TSIEPs are helping to retain Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander employees? Both retailers are trying to retain their Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islander employees. One of the biggest issues that Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islander participants of this study faced, whether they worked

for Supermarket Co or Variety Co, was the level of racism present in the

workplace, not only from customers, but from colleagues and managers.

Apparently, the top down approach to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

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employment does not reach lower levels of management. This needs

addressing. Cultural awareness training will only help to a certain extent. More

needs to be done by the senior management of both organisations to combat

this.

It is clear from applying the evaluative framework to both retailers in the case

studies that both retailers have a substantial amount of work to do on their

A&TSIEP if they want their strategy to be successful.

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Employment in the Mining Sector

8.1 Introduction

This chapter unpicks the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment

policies and practices of the mining industry from an Aboriginal perspective. It

discusses the case study organisations within the mining industry. As the identity

of the mining companies is to remain de-identifiable by the research, they have

been given the pseudonyms ‘CoalCo’ and ‘IronOreCo’. In accordance with ethical

and confidentiality requirements, any information identifying the mining

companies has either been generalised or, where not deemed necessary for

further analysis and discussion, omitted.

The chapter begins with a brief overview of industry statistics including

employment in the mining industry and the current Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander employment in the mining industry. This is followed by a review of the

mining sector’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment policies as

documented by the Minerals Council of Australia (MCA), the peak body

representing Australia’s mining sector, and the International Council on Mining

and Minerals (ICMM), the peak international body representing mining

companies. This is followed by an overview of what large mining companies

offer in terms of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment. The chapter

will then introduce CoalCo and IronOreCo, including a snapshot of their

respective Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment strategies, their

commitment to ‘Closing the Gap’, their cultural appropriateness, their

recruitment strategies and whether they have utilised labour market programs

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funded by government to increase Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

participation within the mines.

8.2 Industry Statistics

Australia earns billions of dollars in exports from a variety of mining operations

and provides 750 000 jobs for Australians—187 400 direct jobs and 599 680 jobs

in support industries. As far as producing minerals from mining, Australia is the

largest producer of bauxite and iron ore in the world, the second largest producer

of lead, manganese and alumina, and produces the third largest quantities of

gold, brown coal, uranium, lead and nickel. Australia is the fifth largest producer

of tin. As well as exporting minerals, Australia is the largest supplier of mining

technologies and services 60% of the world’s mines with Australian made and

designed software. Six percent of Australia’s economy comes from the mining

industry, which equates to $121 billion per year. In the past 10 years, the mining

industry has invested in excess of $125 billion in Australia (Australian Mining,

2015).

8.3 The Minerals Council of Australia

The MCA is the peak body representing Australia’s exploration, mining and

minerals processing industry, nationally and internationally. According to the

MCA, Australia’s minerals industry is technologically advanced, innovative,

capital intensive and environmentally and socially progressive. The industry is a

key contributor to the nation’s economy through investment, high-wage jobs,

exports and government revenues in Australia (Minerals Council of Australia,

2015a). The MCA represents the mining industry by advocating ‘public policy for

a socioeconomic environment conducive to growth and prosperity, identifying and

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promoting leading operation principles, engaging with opinion leaders and other

stakeholders building a public presence that reflects the industry’s contribution to

the sustainable economic benefit of all Australians’ (Minerals Council of Australia,

2015a). The MCA advocates for an industry free of fatalities, injuries and

diseases, a macro-economic framework beneficial to sustainable economic

growth and global competitiveness, a skilled and productive workforce, effective

and efficient export infrastructure and mutually beneficial relationships with

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities through engagement and

capacity building (Minerals Council of Australia, 2015a).

8.4 International Council on Mining and Metals

The ICMM was founded in 2001 and represents 23 mining and metals

companies, along with 35 national and regional mining associations and global

commodity associations. Its aim is to improve sustainable development

performance in the mining and metals industry. ICMM serves as a representative

for change and constant improvement on issues relating to mining and

sustainable development. ICMM engages with a ‘broad range of stakeholders

(governments, international organisations, communities and Indigenous peoples,

civil society and academia) to build strategic partnerships’ (International Council

on Mining and Metals, 2015a). The ICMM’s Council sets strategic direction,

determines priorities, and decides on policy that affects its membership and

stakeholders.

In 2008, the ICMM indicated there was a need for more constructive relationships

between the mining and metals industry and Indigenous peoples around the

world, based on respect, meaningful engagement and mutual benefit. The ICMM

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recognised ‘the necessity for mining companies to develop and maintain

respectful relationships with the communities that may be affected by their

activities’ (International Council on Mining and Metals, 2015a, 2015b), so in

consultation with Indigenous communities worldwide, the ICMM developed a

position statement for constructive relationships between the mining and metals

industry and Indigenous Peoples and a Good Practice Guide: Indigenous

Peoples and Mining. The ICMM says the guide ‘stems from a commitment by our

members to ensure the responsible extraction/production of minerals and metals.

At its heart is a commitment to establishing positive engagements and

relationships with Indigenous peoples’ (International Council on Mining and

Metals, 2015b, p. i). The ICMM guide also recognises that its members’ mining

activities will continue to affect the land, territories, resources and way of life of

Indigenous peoples along with the importance of upholding a healthy and natural

environment to support local communities.

Figure 8.1 was extracted from ‘Good Practice Guide: Indigenous Peoples and

Mining’, developed by the ICMM, outlining a mining company’s engagement

sequence with Indigenous peoples.

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Figure 8.1: Mining Company Engagement Sequence with Indigenous

Peoples (International Council on Mining and Metals, 2015b).

8.5 The Mining Industry’s Engagement with Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander Communities

The mining industry in Australia has not always engaged with Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander communities, despite mining on land that is owned,

occupied or is near Aboriginal communities. As Langton (2015, p. 13) notes:

Few Australians working in the minerals industry today, especially those

involved in Indigenous or community relations, would remember the

acrimonious relationships between Aboriginal and industry

representatives that characterised a number of highly contentious mining

projects between the mid-1960s and the mid-1990s.

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Although mining operations in Australia only cover a small land mass, the mining

industry’s reputation was tarnished by infringing on Aboriginal lands and cultural

beliefs (Harvey & Gawler, 2003). Aboriginal peoples have fought long and hard

for formal recognition of the importance of land. That recognition finally came in

1992 after a decade of legal arguments culminating in the Mabo Case, which

recognised Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders’ connection to land and resulted

in the ‘statutory recognition of common law Native Title as a form of Aboriginal

land tenure that existed prior to colonisation and remains in areas where not

explicitly extinguished’ (Harvey & Gawler, 2003, p. 197). The Mabo decision and

the passing of the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth) (NTA) in the early 1990s forced the

mining industry to reassess its relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander peoples. The mining industry now had to work with local Indigenous

peoples and improve their relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

communities. This has developed alongside the growth of mining operations, due

to the fact that over 60% of mining operations in Australia are either located on

or are in close proximity to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, and

are located on land with Aboriginal interest or historical ties. There also emerged

hundreds of associated land use agreements under the NTA, and so the industry,

through the MCA, has developed a specific framework for engagement with

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander stakeholders (Australian Mining, 2015;

Barker, Bull, Pascoe & Brereton, 2005; Langton, 2015).

In remote regions of Australia, the mining industry provides employment and

business development opportunities and generates substantial opportunities in

related service industries. It is the largest private-sector employer of Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islander peoples, which is largely a result of ILUAs. These

337

agreements have generated beneficial impacts for Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander peoples, including direct financial benefits and increases in employment

and enterprise activity (Australian Mining, 2015; Langton, 2015). However,

according to Muir (2001), not all ILUA meet with the needs, desires and

aspirations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

8.6 Native Title

Native title legislation in Australia has instigated changes between the mining

industry and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, providing a context for

negotiating land use agreements. Prior to 1994, limited rights were available to

Aboriginal traditional owners in the Northern Territory to veto dealings on

Aboriginal land under the terms of the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory)

Act 1976 (ALRA). The introduction of the NTA in 1993 (and subsequent

amendments) established important provisions for agreement-making. The NTA

did not allow native title holders a right of veto, but the Native Title Amendment

Act 1998 (Cth) introduced the right to negotiate provision (RTN) with a new form

of agreement—the ILUA. ‘These amendments shifted the focus of native title law

towards negotiation and agreement-making under the terms and conditions upon

which land use and access could occur’ (Langton, 2015, p. 27).

8.7 Indigenous Land Use Agreements

The MCA engages with mining companies and Aboriginal peoples in the

negotiation of ILUAs. There are 432 ILUAs across 200 mining operations in

Australia, providing for secure land access for project rights. An ILUA is a

voluntary agreement between a native title group and a mining company about

the use of land and waters, however once an agreement has been reached it is

338

legally binding. These are flexible, pragmatic agreements that suit the needs of

the participants. ‘An ILUA can be: over areas where native title has, or has not

yet, been determined; entered into regardless of whether there is a native title

claim over the area or not; part of a native title determination or settled separately

from a native title claim’ (National Native Title Tribunal, 2015). Topics ILUAs cover

include how native title rights coexist with the rights of other people, native title

holders agreeing to a future development, access to an area, extinguishment of

native title, compensation, employment and economic opportunities for native title

groups, Aboriginal cultural heritage protection, the management of natural

resources and mining. The most important clauses are those that provide the

native title party’s consent to possible future acts, such as mine expansion or

closure (Langton, 2015; National Native Title Tribunal, 2015; Smith, 1998). In

addition, in conjunction with the Australian Government the MCA has an

innovative partnership that expands access to employment and business

development opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and

communities in mining regions (Australian Mining, 2015).

Sixty percent of mining currently occurs on Aboriginal land, and new mines are

likely to be on land subject to native title. Therefore, maintaining positive

relationships with traditional owners is becoming increasingly important to mining

companies. In addition, the principles of corporate and social responsibility as

well as sustainable development are imperative, as is addressing Indigenous

socioeconomic disadvantage (Brereton & Parmenter, 2008). One of the reasons

why Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment is often placed on the

negotiation table is ‘the hope that mining operations, which can be a significant

339

economic driver in remote regions, can improve the socio-economic conditions

of Aboriginal people’ (Barker, 2006, p. 5).

Not all Aboriginal communities in Australia are covered by ILUAs, so these

communities try to negotiate with mining companies where the ‘power position

leads to inequities between disadvantaged Indigenous communities and well-

resourced mining behemoths’ (Coronado & Fallon, 2010b, p. 667). The situation

is often one in which mining companies:

construct a public image of their benevolence towards broadly conceived

homogenously identified Indigenous issues while simultaneously

exploiting land to which particular Aboriginal communities are connected,

thus actually but false-heartedly giving to Indigenous peoples with one

hand but taking many times over with the other hand. (Coronado and

Fallon, 2010b, p. 667)

8.8 Perceived Benefits of Mining and Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander Communities

As noted, a significant proportion of mining takes place on or near Aboriginal land,

and, although not all mines are covered by ILUAs, mining companies represent

that there will be benefit to Aboriginal communities. BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto

have developed RAPs that clearly outline their contribution to reconciliation and

the practical actions the organisations will take to ‘build strong relationships and

enhanced respect with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ (Hill, Leske

& Lillywhite, 2013, p. 9). According to Coronado and Fallon (2010b, pp. 675–676),

as part of BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto’s strategies to enhance their reputation, both

companies have developed genuine opportunities for some Aboriginal groups by

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contributing to ‘funds or foundations’ and in partnerships with Aboriginal and non-

Indigenous government agencies and NGOs. At other levels, both companies

engage with local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities as part of

their RAP program, which focuses on issues such as education, health, sport and

art. In their analysis of the mining sector’s treatment of Indigenous stakeholders,

Coronado and Fallon (2010b, p. 677) state that ‘the analysis highlights some

common discursive mechanisms that show how BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto

strategically promote their reputation by representing their relationships with

Aboriginal stakeholders in terms of collaboration and “mutual respect”.’

Langton (2015, p. 7) argues that some minerals companies have a positive

approach towards their relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

communities, which has fostered ‘respect for Aboriginal culture and history and

delivered tangible socio-economic benefit’. However, in other studies the benefits

to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples from mining projects appear to

be more limited, with the problems associated with mining far outweighing the

benefits (Hill et al., 2013). One commentator stated that, ‘despite the lack of a

compelling evidentiary basis, the benefits the industry offers to Indigenous people

seems rapidly to have become an article of faith among politicians and the

commentariat’ (New Matilda, 2010). Much of the wealth generated by the mining

sector is from Aboriginal lands. However, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

people do not share equally in the wealth. ‘There is considerable empirical

evidence that Indigenous people rarely benefit equitably when major extractive

activities occur on their customary land’ (Altman, 2009b, p. 3). Similarly, Sawyer

and Gomez (2008) point out that it is far more common for such activities to have

a negative impact on the livelihoods and cultures of Indigenous communities.

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Considerable historical evidence shows that Aboriginal communities residing in

mine hinterlands in remote Australia have not only been socioeconomically

disadvantaged, but the mines have caused major disruption to communities.

According to Scambary (2009), the substantial value of the minerals sector to

Australian prosperity is in stark contrast to the economic poverty experienced by

many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, particularly those residing in

mining regions, and despite the existence of ILUAs. Scambary (2009) analysed

the Ranger Uranium Mine Agreement in the Kakadu Region of the Northern

Territory, the Yandicoogina Land Use Agreement in the Central Pilbara of

Western Australia, and the Gulf Communities Agreement in the southern Gulf of

Carpentaria, Queensland. These three agreements are considered ‘best practice’

agreements in the mining industry for their apparent capacity to deliver extensive

and viable benefits to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Despite this,

sustainable outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participants were

limited by the inherent disadvantage faced and the mainstream development

parameters within these agreements (Scambary, 2009). All three agreements

provide an element of compensation and ‘community benefit’, such as trust funds,

royalty payments, employment, training, education and cultural heritage

protection. However, there are critical differences, including ‘the role of land

councils and native title representative bodies, the intended purpose of funds

arising from agreements, and issues of governance associated with agreement

structures’ (Scambary, 2009, p. 172). Many of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander peoples that participated in the research ‘maintain that they have seen

little benefit from mining agreements’, mostly due to the antagonistic relations

between the mining industry and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, a

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state of affairs that arises from profoundly different interpretations of land and its

resources (Scambary, 2009, p. 192):

Poor understanding of Indigenous capacity by the state and the mining

industry perpetuates dichotomous relationships with Indigenous people.

Such relationships, combined with the historic under-funding of services

by the state, and the lack of recognition of the citizenship rights of

Indigenous people, limits the capacity for economic and social

engagement, and compounds Indigenous poverty. (Scambary, 2009, p.

201)

The state, according to Altman (2009b), plays a large role in the lives of Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islander peoples, especially where mining is concerned.

Lawrence (2005, p. 40) argues that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples

who live near mines are ‘neoliberal and job ready subjects’, and so it is not

surprising that ‘neoliberal Governmentality seeks to use opportunities provided

by mining to convert Indigenous subjects to autonomous, responsible, employed

and entrepreneurial individuals, sometimes in a paternalistic, even coercive

manner’ (Lawrence, 2005, p. 42).

Katona (1998) argues that the benefits mining companies bring to Aboriginal

communities are another form of assimilation, as the pressure applied to these

communities by the mining companies and governments leaves the communities

little choice but to accept mining. This is certainly the case in a long running

dispute between Fortescue Metals Group (FMG) and the Yindjibarndi Aboriginal

Corporation. FMG is seeking the use of land to expand its multi-billion dollar

Solomon Hub project by building a mine about 60 kilometres north of Tom Price

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in the Pilbara. The mine sits on the traditional lands of the Yindjibarndi peoples,

who are represented by the Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation. FMG started

negotiations with the Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation in 2007, offering $4

million a year in compensation, which the community rejected as too low. Since

then, the mine expansion has caused a huge rift in the community, leading to a

bitter ‘falling out’ of leaders within the community, resulting in a breakaway group,

the Wirlu-Murra Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation, trying to gain the native title

rights to the land. FMG has thrown its support and resources behind the Wirlu-

Murra Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation, as this group will accept the

compensation offered by FMG (Christodoulou & Long, 2015; Michelmore, 2011;

Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation, 2015).

At a meeting, community members were asked to vote for which corporation they

wanted to represent them in the native title negotiations with FMG. The Wirlu-

Murra Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation won the vote. However, the

subsequent supreme court case that followed found that ‘Andrew Forrest’s

Fortescue Metals Group helped organise a meeting of Aboriginal leaders aimed

at ousting the recognised Indigenous representatives and freeing up access to

land its mines sit on’ (Christodoulou & Long, 2015). In the court proceedings,

Justice Steven Rares commented that ‘FMG orchestrated the convening of the

meeting and the voting procedure to a considerable degree.’ In addition, the court

found that FMG helped print merchandise for the Wirlu-Murra campaign, and

rewarded those who voted yes with a $400 Woolworths voucher (Christodoulou

& Long, 2015; Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation, 2015). The court overruled the

powers of Wirlu-Murra Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation, which sought to

cement a $4 million benefits package with FMG (Christodoulou & Long, 2015).

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Michael Woodley, chief executive of the Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation, said:

‘FMG’s involvement showed it was trying to impose terms on the community’

(Christodoulou & Long, 2015). Howitt (1989, p. 233), argued that:

Despite wide public acceptance of the need to recognise Aboriginal land

rights in Australia significant political and economic opposition has

restricted formal recognition of Aboriginal sovereignty, so that legislation

on land rights, sacred sites and Aboriginal community issues differs from

state to state.

This is certainly the case for mining in Western Australia, where the state

Government has continued to grant mining leases despite traditional owners

rejecting mining on their lands. The Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation lodged a

Federal Court appeal against the Western Australian Government for granting

mining leases to FMG despite the Aboriginal community clearly stating that they

did not want the mine expansion to go ahead (Kennedy, 2011). This indicates

that, despite the hopes raised by native title legislation over 20 years ago, miners

maintain the upper hand in negotiations:

Under the legislation all mining companies are compelled to give native

title holders is a hearing. If after six months of negotiations there is no

agreement, the miner can apply to the Native Title Tribunal for approval—

and in almost every case the mining lease has been granted. (Michelmore,

2011)

This is the context within which Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders must

attempt to find meaningful work. In the next section the levels of Aboriginal and

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Torres Strait Islander employment in the mining industry will be discussed with a

view to determining whether the industry has any best practice models.

8.9 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Employment in the

Mining Industry

Historically, the mining sector has employed only small numbers of Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islander workers. Up until the early 1990s, Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander employment in the mining industry was virtually non-existent. By

the mid-1990s there were a few hundred (Taylor, 1993), by 2006 there were 2488

(Brereton & Parmenter, 2008), and by 2011 the number of Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islanders employed in the mining industry had increased to more than 7000,

of whom 12% were women (Minerals Council of Australia, 2007). In addition, the

past decade has seen Australian mining companies utilise the assistance of state

and federal governments to take a proactive approach to increase Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander participation in the mining workforce (Brereton &

Parmenter, 2008, p. 68; Hunter, Howlett & Gray, 2015). According to ABS data

(as cited in Brereton & Parmenter, 2008), Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

peoples made up 2.3% of the entire mining workforce in 2006.

This shift has come partly from the formal recognition of Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander rights through the NTA, which provides a framework for a right to

negotiate over mining. This has given Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

peoples and mining companies a framework to negotiate ILUAs under the NTA,

as opposed to relying on strict legal rights expounded in case law (Brereton &

Parmenter, 2008, p. 68).

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A 2014 study of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workforce undertaken

at the Australian National University (ANU) reported the continuing growth of

employment in the mining industry. The study found that, in 2011, in remote

mining areas 9% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment was

attributed directly to the mining industry, much lower than the 22% of non-

Indigenous employment in the same areas (Hunter et al., 2015). When it came to

non-remote mining areas, 9% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

employment was in mining, as opposed to 13% of non-Indigenous employment,

and in 2011 the employment to population ratio for Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander peoples was higher in mining areas than in non-mining areas (Hunter et

al., 2015). The same study also found that, despite the employment rate of

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the mining industry being higher

than other industries, there was substantial inequity in the living standards of

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous employees (Hunter et

al., 2015). However, Langton (2015) states that mining employment was shown

to be the most important component of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

employment in locations close to mines, such as in the Pilbara and central

Queensland. Langton’s study was commissioned by the MCA, and therefore it

could be considered biased, despite this, the study is significant as it outlines how

negotiations between Aboriginal peoples and mining companies have developed

and the need for policy reform due to the power imbalance in NTA and ILUA

negotiations.

Figure 8.2 shows Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment in the

Minerals industry.

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Figure 8.2: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Employment in the

Minerals Industry (Langton, 2015).

According to the Australian Mines and Metals Association (AMMA), the peak

employer association for the mining industry, mining companies encourage

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders to join the industry, ‘even if you have no

experience, especially if you live in a community close to a mine, as leading

mining companies have created pre-employment training and apprenticeships

that target Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ (Australian Mines and

Metals Association, 2013). The AMMA also made a submission to the review of

Indigenous Training and Employment, commissioned by the Abbott Government

and chaired by Andrew Forrest, seeking legislative changes that would allow

mining companies to legally target Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander job-

seekers (Barklamb, 2014). The easiest way, according to the AMMA, for

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to gain employment in the mining

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industry would be to undertake training opportunities that are available. The

courses are ‘specifically designed to assist Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

peoples [to] gain qualifications and work experience’ (Australian Mines and

Metals Association, 2015). Pre-employment programs/vocational courses and

mine-specific training programs, along with apprenticeships and traineeships, are

offered by mining companies to assist Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

peoples to gain employment in the mining industry (Australian Mines and Metals

Association, 2015).

Tiplady and Barclay (2007, p. 13) state that the greatest barriers to increasing

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participation in the mining workforce are

poor levels of numeracy and literacy, especially with the populations in remote

areas where mines are located. As discussed previously in this thesis, Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islander people have been marginalised from mainstream social

and economic institutions, leaving a legacy of poor educational outcomes.

Tiplady and Barclay’s study (2007, p. 13) found that ‘skills to perform tasks that

most people take for granted; reading the positions vacant section of a

newspaper to look for jobs, getting a drivers licence, preparing a resume, or filling

out a standard application form’ were lacking.

However, the Tiplady and Barclay (2007) study does not explain the low levels of

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participation in the mining industry where

there are fewer obstacles, better numeracy and literacy skills and where mining

is the predominant source of income, such as the Hunter Valley of New South

Wales and the Bowen Basin in Queensland. In these areas there is high

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander unemployment. According to Brereton et al.

(2010), Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are statistically under-

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represented in the Bowen Basin regional coal industry. One explanation for the

low levels of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment in these regions

is the fact that most coal mines are on ‘freehold lands and have not been subject

to Native Title, hence, there has been no imperative for companies to negotiate

agreements with traditional owners’ for employment and training outcomes

(Brereton & Parmenter, 2008, p. 72).

According to Brereton and Parmenter (2008), Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander employment in the mining industry tends to be fragmented, with some

practices at some operations well documented. However, this is the exception

rather than the norm. The mines that are good performers seem to have more

documentation of their processes than the industry in general. These sites have

tailored systems and processes in place to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander employment, with more hands-on approaches to recruitment, including

selection centre workshops, work ready programs, compulsory cultural

awareness and mentoring programs.

Tiplady and Barclay’s (2007) study covered 12 mining sites. They found that

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders had employment representation rates

ranging from less than 1% up to 22% (see Table 8.1). The study found that five

mine sites with above 15% representation were covered by ILUAs and had

comprehensive employment and training targets in the agreements. These sites

also had systems in place to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

employees, such as formal and informal mentoring, and enhanced recruitment

services that include selection centres (face-to-face as opposed to written), work

ready programs and extensive cultural awareness programs for managers and

other employees. The study also found that, in the majority of mining operations

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in the study, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment was dealt with on

an ad hoc basis and there was no systematic approach. Another thing that varied

from site to site was the level of corporate commitment to increasing Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islander employment (Tiplady & Barclay, 2007).

Table 8.1: Indigenous Representation in the Workforces of Participating

Operations—Extracted from Tiplady and Barclay.

Operation # Indigenous Employees

% Indigenous Employees

A 46 21.7

E 175 21.6

J 154 17.8

D 83 16.6

H 116 15.7

C 68 7.4

B 54 6.6

I * 176 5.4

G * 71 4.0

F * 18 0.7

* Denotes a multi-site operation.

8.10 Mines Leading the Way in Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander Employment

From the literature on Aboriginal and Torres Strait employment in the mining

industry, two mining operations seem to stand out as leading the way: the Argyle

Diamond Mine and the Century Zinc, Lead and Silver Mine. The Argyle Diamond

Mine has been in operation since 1985 and is an open-cut operation located in

the Kimberley region of Western Australia. Most employment is fly-in fly-out

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(FIFO). However, as part of its localisation policy and the Argyle Participation

Agreement (APA), the mine gives employment preference to local Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islanders that reside in the East Kimberley. The mine is on the

traditional lands of the Gija and Mirriwung people (Rio Tinto Limited, 2015a).

Figure 8.3: Argyle Mine Location (Mining Technology, 2015).

The Argyle Diamond Mine ILUA has, according to Langton (2015, p. 33), ‘set new

standards in formalising relationships between resource companies and local

Indigenous groups in Australia’. Harvey and Nish (2005, p. 506) state that ‘the

APA is the most advanced mining company/Aboriginal community agreement in

Australia to date’ and covers Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander training and

employment programmes for the mine and cultural competency training for all

mine employees and contractors. In conjunction with the APA, Argyle Mine has

implemented a tailored recruitment and training process, including setting up a

selection centre that runs workshops for prospective employees. The selection

centre assists applicants to complete the application process, includes medical,

security and drug and alcohol checks, runs mine tours and outlines what

employment at the mine involves (Tiplady & Barclay, 2007). The recruitment and

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training processes at Argyle Mine have attracted substantial funding from the

Federal Government through the IEP program (Brereton & Parmenter, 2008).

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment in Argyle Mine is around 24%

of the workforce. However, the work is focused on jobs that are entry-level or

semi-skilled, with only limited career progression opportunities, with the majority

occupying truck or plant operator positions (Barker & Brereton, 2004; Brereton &

Parmenter, 2008).

The Century Mine is a large open-cut zinc, lead and silver mine located in the

Gulf of Carpentaria region in the north-west of Queensland. The mine is a

completely FIFO operation: the majority of the workforce flies in from two regional

Queensland towns (Mount Isa and Townsville) and three Gulf communities

(Doomadgee, Mornington Island and Normanton). The mine is on the traditional

lands of the Waanyi, Mingginda and Gkuthaarn/Kukatj peoples and is covered by

the Gulf Communities Agreement (GCA), which provides for employment and

training opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples from the

communities in the lower Gulf of Carpentaria.

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Figure 8.4: Century Mine and Communities on the Gulf of Carpentaria.

Since commencing operation, Century Mine has employed a higher proportion of

local Aboriginal people than most other remote area mines, with the percentage

of the total workforce around 20%, of whom 30% are Aboriginal or Torres Strait

Islander women (Brereton & Parmenter, 2008). Century Mine has implemented

a tailored recruitment and training process, where company personnel visited the

local CDEP to recruit Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The mine has

a partnership with Doomadgee CDEP, where participants undergo induction

training and health checks, then go into a labour pool that provides maintenance

and cleaning for the mine, while waiting for a full-time position to become

available (Tiplady & Barclay, 2007). The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

employment initiatives have received a substantial amount of funding from the

Federal Government under the IEP program (Brereton & Parmenter, 2008).

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment in Century Mine is focused on

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basic entry-level or semi-skilled jobs, with only limited career progression

opportunities, with the majority occupying truck or plant operator positions

(Barker & Brereton, 2004; Brereton & Parmenter, 2008).

In Australia, the Argyle and Century Mines lead the way in Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander employment. By looking at what these two mines have

implemented in relation to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment, it

provides insights into what can be implemented in mining operations. Both mines

have ILUAs with traditional owner groups that provide for sophisticated tailored

recruitment, training and organisational support systems that are culturally

appropriate and attractive to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Both

mining operations have put considerable effort into recruiting and training

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who have little or no exposure to

the mainstream workforce, with substantial financial support from the

Government. These two mines show what can be achieved when good systems

and processes are in place for recruiting, retaining and developing Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander employees (Brereton & Parmenter, 2008).

8.11 Criticisms About Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

Employment in the Mining Industry

According to Brereton and Parmenter (2008, p. 80), one of the criticisms levelled

at the mining industry is that most Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

employees in mines are in ‘unskilled or semi-skilled roles’, such as truck driving,

with few prospects for up-skilling. These roles are likely to disappear, since the

industry has started to become more automated, with driverless trucks and trains.

In addition, there is a strong focus on only employing those who are job ready,

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and a trend towards recruiting those already in the workforce (i.e., poaching),

‘rather than drawing new people into the labour pool’ (Brereton & Parmenter,

2008, p. 79). Another criticism is that mines do not have ‘legal requirements’ to

employ Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. However, considering the

severe labour shortage experienced in the sector, it makes sense that a long-

term strategy should be to source labour from these communities and ‘invest in

building a regionally based workforce’ (Brereton & Parmenter, 2008, p. 69).

The most common reasons cited for leaving mining employment were ‘personnel

management issues’ and ‘family reasons’ (Tiplady & Barclay, 2007). Arbeláez-

Ruiz (2010) states that mining supervisors lacked experience working with

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and they had a limited knowledge

of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and did not comprehend the

systematic disadvantaged experienced, even though they had received cultural

awareness training. Brereton and Parmenter (2008, p. 85) state that the downside

of working at mine sites for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples was the

length of time away from home and family. Shifts often involve working 12 hours

straight, ‘rotating rosters and for those in FIFO operations, absences from home

for two or more weeks at a time’. Extended absences from family impact the ability

of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees to maintain kinship relations

(Lawrence, 2005). Being away from home also infringes on cultural obligations

and cultural practices (Barker & Brereton, 2004; Tiplady & Barclay, 2007).

Respondents to a survey at Century Mine suggested adopting culturally

appropriate employment practices such as to ‘get out bush more, so they can

keep their cultural ways (fishing, camping, attending ceremony) … go out for 4

hours or so and go fishing and live off the land is important to keep the harmony.

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All cooped up in one area, that’s the hardest part’ (Barker & Brereton, 2004, p.

20). Certainly the work hours and the roster patterns inhibit Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander people’s ability to maintain cultural practices.

Arbeláez-Ruiz (2010, p. 9) found that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

employees faced barriers to promotion. Her study found that ‘difference and

historic dispossession create obvious difficulties … in seeking and obtaining

promotion, where the qualities and skills expected are the same as those

commonly required by White employees’, effectively creating a ‘glass ceiling’. The

study found disparity between management assessing readiness for promotion

and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees demonstrating their

readiness for promotion, as often the behaviours that managers perceive to be

essential for promotion were absent in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

employees. Conversely, poor communication between those ‘aspiring to

promotion and those who make decisions contributes to the difficulties in the

assessment of readiness’.

8.12 Is Employment in the Mining Industry ‘Culturally

Appropriate’?

Since the earliest times of European invasion there were two industries that led

to the greatest dispossession of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples

from their land: mining and pastoralism. Mining has wreaked devastation to

Indigenous communities worldwide (Downing, Moles, McIntosh & Garcia-

Downing, 2002; Holden, Nadeau & Jacobson, 2011), both in economic terms and

through continued dispossession and destruction of land. Land is fundamental to

the well-being of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, as the land is not

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just soil or rocks or minerals, the land is the core of all spirituality. The spiritual

significance, kinship and connection to country is central to the issue of why some

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people not only oppose mining, but refrain

from working in the industry for legitimate cultural reasons (Banerjee, 1999;

Barker, 2006; Rose, 1996; Trigger, 2002).

Large-scale mineral extraction has caused irreparable damage to land and has

been viewed by some authors as an insult to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

cultural values and worldviews (Banerjee, 1999; Trebeck, 2009). ‘Protests by

several Aboriginal people have centred on the incompatibility between mining

and Indigenous worldviews’ (Barker, 2006, p. 10). However, it is difficult to

ascertain to what extent and under what circumstances Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander peoples oppose or support the extraction of minerals and what

cultural dilemmas are faced by mine workers. Barker (2006, p. 10) suggests that

‘dire socio-economic circumstances and lack of alternative mainstream

employment opportunities in many Aboriginal communities lead some people to

advocate and opt for mine work, despite possible cultural consequences’. A clear

theme that emerged from my interviews with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

employees in the mining industry was that they were torn about working in the

industry due to their cultural beliefs. In several instances, the conflict caused by

working in a mine tore apart families.

8.13 Requirements for Working in the Mining Industry

The mining industry is an important source of employment in Western Australia,

Queensland and New South Wales. There are certain requirements for working

in the mining industry that will be outlined below. Some of these requirements

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can exclude Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples from employment.

Mine site requirements can include numeracy and literacy requirements, vehicle

licences, security clearances and medicals.

Most mine sites require you to hold a current Australian manual driver’s licence.

This is one area that may exclude Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples

from gaining employment (Gray et al., 2012; Tiplady & Barclay, 2007). In some

instances, a Heavy Rigid Licence is required, however, this licence can be

obtained by most contracting companies. Most mine sites require a police

security screen to check on the applicant’s criminal record. This can pose an

issue for gaining employment, because Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders

experience contact with the criminal justice system at a much higher rate than the

general population (Australian Institute of Criminology, 2015). All mine sites

require applicants to do a General Safety Induction program, which has been

developed to provide standardised accreditation for employees and contractors

that reflects the changing standards and regulations in the industry. All mine sites

require a pre-employment medical for successful applicants to determine their

fitness to undertake duties within the mining industry. All mine sites require

applicants to pass a drug and alcohol screen test at the commencement of

training or employment, as well as pass ongoing random drug and alcohol tests.

According to Vidler (2007), drug and alcohol issues prohibit many Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islanders from working in mines, with significant numbers in rural

and remote Australia failing tests. Conversely, Tiplady and Barclay (2007)

suggest that mining companies are willing to assist prospective employees to

gain assistance with drug and alcohol addiction, to gain employment in the future.

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8.14 Case Studies into Two Mining Companies in Australia.

How Effective Are These Strategies?

As seen above, the mining industry in Australia represents itself as possessing

strategies aimed at improving the disadvantage of Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander people. Statements by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander about

employment initiatives of the MCA, the International Council of Mining and Metals

and the mining industry in Australia were discussed, providing valuable insights

into claims about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment in the

industry.

In what follows, the findings of two case studies into CoalCo and IronOreCo are

presented. As with the banking and retail industries, it was important to identify

the source of the commitment of both mining companies to Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander employment. Was this developed from a commitment to CSR?

Was it linked to the mining company’s vision and mission? Was it an integral part

of the mining company’s culture, or was it an afterthought? Were they employing

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples because it was written into the

ILUA? Was it just ‘ticking a box’? What were the retention strategies used, and

was there evidence of career progression? To what extent were these activities

tied to government-funded labour market programs of the type discussed in

Chapter 4?

Unlike the other industries in this study, the two mining companies had completely

different strategies for recruitment and selection of prospective Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander employees (internal and external). In addition, the

supporting mechanisms were completely different. However, they both utilised

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labour market programs (discussed in Chapter 4) and were funded under the

Federal Government’s IEP program.

8.15 CoalCo

Within the coal mining industry in Australia, there are three major players: Rio

Tinto Coal Australia, Glencore and BHP Billiton. The majority of coal mining in

Australia takes places in the eastern states. Figure 8.5 shows that most coal

mines are located in the eastern states of Australia.

Figure 8.5: Coal Mines in Australia (Minerals Council of Australia, 2015b).

As of February 2014, the Australian coal mining industry employed 54 900 people

full-time in direct employment. In addition, 145 000 people were in mine related

employment (Minerals Council of Australia, 2015c). Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander employment equates to approximately 3% of employment in the industry.

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CoalCo is one of Australia’s leading mining organisations and part of a global

company with mining interests worldwide. CoalCo’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander employment strategy was launched as part of their RAP program. Prior

to this time, CoalCo only offered ad hoc employment opportunities to Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islanders. CoalCo is a signatory to the AEC (discussed in

Chapter 4) and utilises labour market programs funded by the Government

(discussed in Chapter 4). Some of the CoalCo’s mines are covered by ILUAs,

which have specific clauses that cover employment and training for local


CoalCo does not necessarily characterise its operations as being in areas where

there are high Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations. The Hunter

Valley in NSW and the Bowen Basin in QLD have an Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander population of 2.2% and 4.4%, respectively, with 4.4% being above the

national average (Brereton & Parmenter, 2008). However, as part of their ongoing

commitment to supporting local communities and to maintain mutually beneficial

relationships with their Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, CoalCo

developed an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment strategy to

encourage Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to gain employment with

the organisation. Its employment target for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders

is to be consistent with the local demographic. The strategy aims to assist

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander applicants through the application process

and to provide culturally appropriate recruitment practices (CoalCo, 2009–2014).

As with most companies, the standard recruitment process for a position with

CoalCo is online. However, CoalCo recognises the systemic barriers to Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islander employment, and so has modified its processes

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accordingly. CoalCo has no uniform recruitment processes across the whole of

the organisation—they differ from site to site. One part of CoalCo produces a

booklet describing the pathways for employment. In addition, employment

vacancies are posted on the company’s website; they also have a hotline where

the applicants can speak to a community relations person who outlines the

processes for applying for work with the company. CoalCo state that they actively

engage with the local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to

promote employment with the company (CoalCo, 2009–2014; CoalCo Manager

1, 2012; CoalCo Manager 2, 2012).

CoalCo offers different types of employment to Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander peoples, including grounds maintenance, entry-level operator roles,

traineeships, apprenticeships and graduate programs. The majority of Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islander employees work in operator-level positions. There are

two ways to gain employment with CoalCo: through direct employment or through

third party contractors/labour suppliers (CoalCo Manager 2, 2012). CoalCo could

not supply actual figures on how many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

people were employed with the organisation.

Entry-level positions. To gain an entry-level position with CoalCo,

prospective Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees need to undertake

a 1-week Mine Training Program that specifically targets ‘inexperienced’

individuals and trainees who want to work in the mining industry. The course

is run by contract or labour hire companies that CoalCo utilises to provide work

ready employees. The training includes practical training on haul trucks and

other simulated learning tools. The course is designed to up-skill applicants to

meet the specific industry needs (CoalCo, 2009–2014). Once training is

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complete, the applicants go into a contractor pool, ready for casual

employment on mine sites. ‘We go to the contractor pool where there are

people who know us and our systems, particularly our safety systems, and

who have proven their reliability and fitness for work’ (CoalCo Manager 2,

2012). Information gained from interviewing Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander employees revealed that it was extremely hard for ‘our mob’ to find

work in the mines, because ‘the contract companies don’t care about

Indigenous employment … you can’t get through the contactor’s door’ (CoalCo

Employee 7, 2012). ‘I was a contractor for 2 years before I got permanent in

this pit’ (CoalCo Employee 2, 2012).

Malcolm’s Story It’s pretty hard to get full-time roles. I spent four and a half years with a contracting company trying to get permanent at one pit. I eventually gave up and went elsewhere … then I did some FIFO work out of the Queensland mines, funny I had to leave the state to get a permanent job, but my partner got sick, so I had to come back and stay at home, it was only then I got permanent here, but since then I’m acting 2IC.

Traineeships. CoalCo also offers haul truck traineeships through local

labour suppliers. The Certificate II in Surface Coal Operations can be

completed over 12 months and gives trainees valuable experience at CoalCo

sites (CoalCo Manager 2, 2012). In addition, CoalCo offer a 12-month

Indigenous Traineeship in Business Administration, open to any Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander person who wants to gain experience in reception and

secretarial support (CoalCo, 2009–2014).

Jennetta’s Story I saw the job in the local newspaper and I applied for it … I had an interview … it all happened really quickly … they are all really friendly and helpful and supportive of me here and my work … so now I’m at the conclusion of my 12-month Business Admin traineeship, it finishes next week, at which point

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I’ll be staying on, I got a contract position here in admin … I really enjoy working here.

Ryan’s Story I did a Cert II Coal Operations, you’re taught the basics, procedures, dumps, environment, safety and that sort of stuff. I did it with the labour hire company, I was casual for a couple of months and then I got a full-time job here.

Jamie’s Story I got a 12-month traineeship with the labour hire company, then I was casual for around 16 months before gaining permanent here. I didn’t have to do any pre-employment like some others, I had my green card and driver’s licence. Driver’s licence is really the most important.

Apprenticeships. CoalCo, through their registered GTO and RTOs

offer electrical and mechanical apprenticeships each year. The selection

process begins in July and is advertised in all local newspapers, online,

through recruitment services and through career fairs. At least one electrical

or mechanical apprenticeship each year is designated for an Aboriginal and/or

Torres Strait Islander applicant (CoalCo, 2009–2014). Applicants must have a

current driver’s licence to be eligible for an apprenticeship, due to each mine

being geographically dispersed.

National Indigenous Cadetship Program. CoalCo supports the

Australian’s Government’s National Cadetship program by offering Aboriginal

and/or Torres Strait Islander university students paid vacation work during the

summer holidays, to help facilitate industry experience. In addition to paid

vacation leave, other benefits include study and textbook allowances.

Cadetships are available in the fields of engineering, anthropology,

archaeology, finance, HR, environmental science and IT (CoalCo, 2009–

2014).

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Graduate program. CoalCo has a 2-year dedicated graduate

development program designed to provide graduates with long-term career

opportunities in organisation. Graduate programs are available in engineering,

finance, anthropology, archaeology, HR, environmental science and IT.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders who are part of the NICP are encouraged

to continue with the organisation in the graduate program (CoalCo, 2009–

2014).

Employee support at CoalCo. CoalCo does not have a formal

mentoring system in place for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees;

instead, they have general support lines, such as line managers, and at the

commencement of employment there is a ‘buddy’ type system to assist new

employees with the transition to the workplace. Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander trainees and apprentices are supported with a mentor through The

Way Ahead for Aboriginal People program (TWAAP). TWAAP is a program

run by NSW Department of Education and Communities and is designed to

increase commencements and improve retention of Aboriginal trainees and

apprentices through information, mentoring and other support services

(Department of Education and Training NSW, 2009, 2012). The aim of TWAAP

is to achieve the best possible employment and training outcomes for an

organisation and to assist Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander learners to

complete their formal training while supporting them in the workplace.

Culturally sensitive formal mentoring is considered a major component to

ensuring positive employment outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander peoples. Research has indicated that effective mentoring can keep

disadvantaged groups such as Indigenous Australians in jobs longer and

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progress their careers faster than other forms of support or intervention (Stead,

1997). Through TWAAP, an Aboriginal mentor is provided to the trainee and

the organisation free of charge. The Aboriginal mentor assists not only new

Aboriginal learners, but also their supervisor and other team members,

particularly in the early stages of their employment and training (Department

of Education and Communities NSW, 2014c). In addition, some CoalCo mines

have long-term Aboriginal employees who seem to be the ‘go to’ person, acting

as informal mentors for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff (CoalCo

Manager 1, 2012; CoalCo Manager 2, 2012).

Jennetta’s Story Well I got a pretty awesome mentor, which I probably wouldn’t have got elsewhere, she is really great, comes to visit me every month and is available whenever I have an issue or just want to talk … the state Government provide her free to the workplace. So I feel very supported … and I feel my team is always there to support me.

Carl’s Story I’m an operator/trainer, I have worked here for 23 years. As we got new Aboriginal employees I was kind of mentoring them, then I said to the company, I’ve had no formal training in mentoring people, it’s just that people trust me and come to speak to me, so I asked for some formal training and they jumped on it straight away, so I’ve just come back Darwin from doing an Aboriginal mentors course with the Australian Indigenous Learning Centre. Fully accredited Certificate IV.

Peter’s Story I’ve worked here at the mine for over 21 years. So a lot of people just come to me for guidance, and if they have any personal issues, I can go with them to their supervisor and assist to overcome hurdles. I want all our mob to be able to stand strong and sometime, they need a little help.

Cultural awareness training. All CoalCo employees and managers

are required to participate in mandatory Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

cultural awareness training. This ensures that people in the workplace are

more aware of the systemic barriers faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait

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Islander people, and to enlighten people about Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander cultural differences (CoalCo Manager 1, 2012; CoalCo Manager 2,

2012). However, from speaking to several employees and contractors, it

seems that cultural awareness training does not occur if the employee comes

through a labour hire company. ‘Cultural awareness helps break down those

stereotypes in the workplace, particularly for Aboriginal people, you know, we

have been victims of it for a long time’ (CoalCo Employee 3, 2012). Cultural

awareness training was not delivered at all mine sites, but CoalCo was in the

process of ‘rectifying this’ (CoalCo Manager 1, 2012).

Jason’s Story Yeah they are big on cultural awareness here, which I was quite happy to see. I actually sat through on of the classes down here in the plant. They talk to you about the local tribe and how it has affected them quite severely. The past, present and where we’re going for the future. It was quite an open forum, which was quite good. I was actually very pleased to see it … the non- Indigenous workers talk about it for a few days after the training, but then it’s forgotten, and it’s back to normal, which is bad.

Malcolm’s Story They really need to get someone in to start doing cultural awareness here, preferably an Aboriginal person not a non-Indigenous person. There are plenty of traditional owners that can do it. It’s really needed.

Peter’s Story It’s something for our new employees, I mean it was never heard of when I started in the industry, but there are a lot of traditional values here … I believe that it is delivered by a white person … its wrong, we should be getting somebody who is a traditional owner in this area, someone with good knowledge and connection to the land.

One of the interesting problems to emerge from interviews with Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander mineworkers was the lack of sensitivity in dealing with

cultural awareness training. For example, consider Peter’s story, above: at some

of its mine sites CoalCo has their cultural awareness training delivered by a non-

Indigenous person. It is not culturally appropriate for non-Aboriginal people to

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deliver cultural awareness training. Only Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

peoples should deliver cultural awareness training, as the teaching is from a ‘lived

experience’, and preferably from a traditional custodian of the country where the

mine is located. Appropriate cultural awareness training is a critical component

of eliminating racism in the workplace.

Racism in the mines. CoalCo has a zero tolerance policy when it

comes to racism in the workplace, which is well documented in the anti-

discrimination policies of the organisation (CoalCo, 2009–2014). However,

policies do not always stop racism in the workplace. A number of interviewees

reported various levels of racist behaviour. ‘There was a little bit of racism

when I first started, but the company jumped, came down heavy and hard and

that stopped’ (CoalCo Employee 3, 2012). ‘I got told I only got the job because

I’m black … or where did you steal that from, so you get stuff like that, which

is just shit’ (CoalCo Employee 2, 2012). ‘I haven’t seen it directed to a person,

just a general, make a joke stuff, still not okay’ (CoalCo Employee 11, 2012).

‘There is what I call sneaky type of racism, something left out for you to see,

no one knows who does it, but no open discrimination that I have seen’

(CoalCo Employee 3, 2012).

Racism Story A young lad come up to me and said, I find it very offensive and racist when one of the blokes talks on the two-way they do this monkey stuff after he’s finished talking. The next day I spoke to the whole crew and practically laid it all the line that I find it offensive that this is happening. I told them that when this is happening you are offending not only the person that you’re aiming this at but all the other Indigenous brothers and sisters that are sitting in the room. If you want to keep going down that path that’s fine but be ready to be taken down to the bottom office and cop the full brunt of what comes with it if you’re going to keep going down this path because I know the company doesn’t stand by it. There are guidelines and that in place

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for it. If you want to keep going down that path—go down that path and see where it finds you. It’s stopped.

Carl’s Story I haven’t been treated any differently to anyone else, not by the workers or by anyone, the bosses or anything like that. It’s just been straight down the line. There are obligations on the company to respect my culture and my beliefs and to respect my people and that’s fine and they do that and our policy states that everyone must do that … but on the same token, I have a responsibility too—to maintain—to come to work sober and free of drugs, on time, work safely, be productive … follow the boss’s culture while I am here, he throws bucket loads of money at me, so I think it’s a win-win.

Career progression. There are, according to CoalCo, endless

opportunities for training and career progression within the company (CoalCo,

2009–2014). For the most part, such training has to be consistent with

improving company capacity: ‘Provided you’re doing a course that benefits the

mining industry and the career you are working in, CoalCo will support it’

(CoalCo Manager 2, 2012). Even so, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

employees of CoalCo reported mixed results when it came to training and

development opportunities and career progression. ‘I’m training on the dozer

now, I’d like to do heaps more training if it is available’ (CoalCo Employee 2,

2012). Most reported that they did not have annual performance reviews that

incorporated training or career progression opportunities. Most only received

training when it was specifically requested. Some employees were denied

training opportunities completely.

Anthony’s Story There was no box to tick when I came to work here 35 years ago this Christmas, I did an apprenticeship as a fitter/machinist, but it’s a lot harder these days … I had a workplace injury and asked to be retrained as an electrician, but they flatly refused … I’ve had the door shut in my face three times.

Jennetta’s Story

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I feel pretty lucky, I’ve done heaps of training, all paid for by the company. I’ve got my first aid certificate, I got to do an Indigenous leadership program, now they are supporting me to get a Certificate IV in Training and Assessment.

Malcolm’s Story No not really any sort of plan, but since I missed out on the team leader position, I’ve requested and asked for a plan to be put in place, pen to paper, not verbal. So I’ve got a commitment there where I know where I’m heading and what I will achieve in the next 12 months.

Peter’s Story I’m a site chief inspector, heavily involved in safety management systems and accident investigations, so I have a lot of interaction with senior management at this mine site. I’ve worked my way up over the last 20 or so years. Nothing is handed to you on a silver platter, you have to work and work hard.

Jason’s Story I’ve been trying to get into some sort of management role for some time, and I’ve just gone back to uni to do my master’s in business, but I’m not part of anyone’s social circle here, therefore, it’s quite difficult for me to network or get ahead. I’d like to see Aboriginal employment driven by an Aboriginal person, I would put up my hand for that.

Family friendly. Most Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees

reported that CoalCo was very family friendly, especially for FIFO employees.

If any problems or issues came up where employees had to return home, the

company went out of its way to facilitate this. ‘When it comes to family, they

are really strong … If anything happens or there’s any hassles they get you

back home to your family as soon as they can, the next flight out’ (CoalCo

Employee 7, 2012).

Retention of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees.

Throughout the company’s policy documents, there was no mention of

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employee retention strategies.

Participants that were FIFO stated that CoalCo was family friendly, which

helped in retention. One issue that came to light in the interviews was that if

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an employee received a driving infringement they could lose their job: ‘the

benchmark for instance—if they get a traffic infringement notice, and don’t pay

the fine because they’ve got no money, then they’re losing points and the

CoalCo do a [RTA] check; red line through because you no longer meet the

criteria’ (CoalCo Employee 10, 2012).

In the next section the A&TSIEP of CoalCo will be measured against the


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Table 8.2: CoalCo A&TSIEP Strategy Evaluative framework.





Yes




No

Developed A&TSIEP


No Ad hoc strategy, nothing written except RAP. Target in

RAP

Culturally appropriate workplace Yes Cultural awareness with induction


Recruitment strategies No Recruitment mostly through labour hire

Face-to-face recruitment practices No

Information sessions No

Work ready/pre-employment programs No

Assessment centres No



Formal mentoring No

Career development and training No


Flexible working hours and conditions No



No


Is rural and remote employment offered Yes Urban, rural and remote

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Summary and evaluation of CoalCo. Utilising the data in Table 8.2,

it is clear that CoalCo does not meet all the requirements of the evaluative

framework. In the planning and pre-employment stage, CoalCo has good

commitment of senior management to employ more Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander peoples. Some of CoalCo’s mines are covered by ILUAs in

which there is a commitment to employ local Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander peoples. Despite this, each mine has its own management and

sometimes the commitment does not filter down. CoalCo have partnerships

with local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. However, this is

only for community programs. In addition, they have advisory groups but again

that is only for community programs and community grants, which are not

associated with the A&TSIEP. CoalCo do not employ an A&TSEM—the

‘Aboriginal specialists’ who are in charge of employment and community

programs are non-Indigenous. Some Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

employees who participated in this study noted that an ‘Aboriginal specialist’

should be Aboriginal. CoalCo acknowledges they do have an A&TSIEP,

although not formally written, or other formal written policies around Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islander employment. There is no uniform policy for the whole

of the organisation; each CoalCo mine site has ‘their own way’ of implementing


CoalCo primarily use labour hire/contracting companies for entry-level positions,

such as operators. These labour hire companies do not have A&TSIEPs and,

according to interview analysis (CoalCo Employee 2, 2012; CoalCo Employee 3,

2012; CoalCo Employee 7, 2012; CoalCo Employee 8, 2012; CoalCo Employee

10, 2012; CoalCo Employee 11, 2012; CoalCo Employee 12, 2012), openly

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discriminated against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the

application process, despite CoalCo’s proactive approach. All interviewed

employees stated that the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment

strategy should extend to the labour hire/contracting companies. CoalCo has a

RAP that clearly outlines a percentage target for Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander employment within CoalCo’s mining operations. According to CoalCo’s

2014 annual report, they have not met the target set for Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander employment. Traineeships with the labour hire/contracting

companies were virtually the only way to gain employment with CoalCo, unless

an experienced operator from another mine applied directly to CoalCo.

Administration traineeships were offered yearly, but only one administration

trainee was offered ongoing employment at the end of the traineeship.

Cultural awareness training was offered at some mine sites and was included in

the mine induction process, but not all mines offered cultural awareness training.

Cultural awareness training did not extend to those employees who came in

through labour hire companies. At one mine site it was revealed that the cultural

awareness training was being delivered by a non-Indigenous person. Apart from

being culturally inappropriate, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff

expressed disgust that the organisation did not organise for local traditional

owners to facilitate the training. Despite CoalCo having a zero-tolerance policy,

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees reported various levels of racism,

from overt to covert. When this racism was brought to the attention of CoalCo,

they acted swiftly to eradicate it.

In the employing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders stage, CoalCo does not

rate well in any of the evaluation framework areas. They use a variety of

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strategies to inform Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders about working with

CoalCo, such as producing booklets describing the pathways to employment and

actively engaging local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to

promote employment with the company. As with most companies, the majority of

recruitment is online, or through labour hire companies. CoalCo does not run pre-

employment programs—this is all performed by labour hire companies or

Aboriginal organisations. In addition, there are no employment assessment

centres. The interview process that CoalCo uses is not culturally appropriate as

there are no Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people on interview panels;

instead, the ‘Aboriginal specialist’ (non-Indigenous person) sits on interview

panels.

When it comes to retention strategies, CoalCo performs extremely poorly for all

criteria in this area. There was limited workplace support for Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander employees working at CoalCo. There is no formal mentoring for

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees. At the commencement of

employment, all employees are given a ‘buddy’ to assist with the transition to the

workplace. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander trainees and apprentices in NSW

operations receive mentoring through TWAAP. However, several mines had

‘unofficial mentors’ that employees went to due to their experience and standing

with the organisation. Career progression and training at CoalCo is very ad hoc,

and also depended on the mine site. The majority of Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander employees stated in the interviews that they did not receive annual

performance reviews that incorporated training or career progression

opportunities. Training opportunities varied between mine sites. Several

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in this study reported that they had

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asked for training and it had been denied. In addition, external study was

declined, despite it being directly relevant to current employment. Within CoalCo

there were only a handful of Aboriginal employees who had progressed beyond

operator level. CoalCo have no cultural leave provisions; employees can access

other leave when it comes to funerals. CoalCo offers some flexibility in

employment rosters, as shift patterns vary between sites, but there is no flexibility

around hours. Every mine site runs 12-hour shifts. 12-hour shifts and prolonged

absences from family, especially in FIFO operations, according to Tiplady and

Barclay (2007), are major issues for many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

employees in the mining industry.

With no formal written A&TSIEP, CoalCo really has nothing to evaluate, therefore

there are no monitoring tools. CoalCo has not undertaken any internal or external

evaluations of its A&TSIEP.

The majority of CoalCo employment is in rural and remote regions of NSW and

QLD. CoalCo does not utilise government funding for its A&TSIEP, as it does not

offer pre-employment or mentoring programs—which are normally funded under

the IEP program. According to CoalCo’s 2014 annual report, they have not met

the target set for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment. CoalCo’s

A&TSIEP does not meet all the requirements of the evaluative framework, and

they have a substantial amount of work to do if to make their A&TSIEP a success.

8.16 IronOreCo

Within the iron ore mining industry in Australia, there are three major companies:

Rio Tinto Iron Ore Australia, BHP Billiton Iron Ore and Fortescue Metals Group

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Ltd. The majority of iron ore mines are located in the Pilbara region of Western

Australia, as shown in figure 8.6.

Figure 8.6: Iron Ore Mines in the Pilbara Region (Calistemon, 2010).

In 2014, the metal ore mining sector employed 80 800 people (or 32.6% of

industry employment). Within the metal ore mining sector, iron ore mining

accounts for the largest share, at 37.4% (Department of Education, 2014).

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment equates to 10% of this.

IronOreCo is one of Australia’s leading mining organisations and is part of a

global company that holds worldwide mining interests. IronOreCo operates

extensive mining, port and railway operations in the Pilbara region of Western

Australia. IronOreCo established an Aboriginal training and liaison unit in the

early 1990s as a way of increasing the number of employment opportunities for

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples living in the region. However, it was

not until the introduction of native title law that IronOreCo overhauled their

approach and developed a dedicated Indigenous employment strategy team

responsible for increasing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment with

IronOreCo (IronOreCo, 2009–2014). IronOreCo is a signatory to the AEC

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(discussed in Chapter 4) and utilises labour market programs funded by the

Government (discussed in Chapter 4). IronOreCo has a RAP and uses it as part

of their Aboriginal employment strategy, in conjunction with ILUAs with traditional

owners in the Pilbara, covering some but not all of their mining interests. These

ILUAs incorporate community development, employment and training for local


IronOreCo operates in areas where there is a high Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander population. In 2010, the Aboriginal population of the Pilbara was 16%,

with 64% classified as living in remote areas and 36% in very remote areas

(Western Australian Country Health Service, 2012). The company has an

ongoing commitment to maintain mutually beneficial relationships with their

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. Underpinning this commitment

is their Reconciliation Statement, developed in the 1990s (IronOreCo

Employment Manager 1, 2012). IronOreCo is one of the largest private-sector

employers of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples; they state that they

employ Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples for multiple reasons. As one

respondent stated: ‘Firstly it’s the right thing to do and secondly because there is

a business driver’ (IronOreCo Advisor 2, 2012). Another respondent stated:

It’s in part through reconciliation, we acknowledge the traditional owners

of the country on which we operate … and it’s prudent to have that

cooperation, and with the ILUA, we require a level of goodwill … the other

aspect is that traditional owners tend to stay on country, so if we put time

and effort into training an employee, on the balance of probability, they are

going to be around in 10, 15, 20 years’ time whereas non-Indigenous mine

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employees tend to be transitory … so there is a strong economic reason

for employing people when it’s their land. (IronOreCo Specialist 1, 2012)

Community engagement on all levels is important to IronOreCo (IronOreCo

Specialist 1, 2012). As with most companies, the standard recruitment process

for a position with IronOreCo is online. However, IronOreCo recognises the

systemic barriers to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment, so

modifies its recruitment processes. They have a dedicated Aboriginal

employment team (who are all Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islanders) that can

assist in applications, both in person and online, and employment commitments

are managed through direct negotiation with traditional owners (IronOreCo,

2009–2014). One recruitment process that sets IronOreCo apart from some of its

competitors is that they no longer use psychometric testing when recruiting

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, as they found it was ‘culturally

biased’ (IronOreCo Specialist 1, 2012).

IronOreCo say they are committed to developing programmes that build capacity

and provide Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with valuable skills for

the workforce. They work closely with local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

peoples to achieve employment outcomes, offering employment in regional

towns, in its FIFO operations, at their head office and with their contractors.

IronOreCo offer different types of employment to Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander peoples, such as grounds maintenance, entry-level operator roles,

traineeships, apprenticeships and graduate programs. IronOreCo has developed

a comprehensive model for recruitment and development of Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander employment. They do not wait for prospective employees

to come to them—they go out into the communities to find them. The competition

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among mining, oil and gas companies for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

employees in the Pilbara region is fierce, and poaching of employees is not

uncommon. With this in mind, IronOreCo say they have come up with some

innovative ways to attract potential Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

employees. These include: utilising community noticeboards in remote

communities where they have a presence, advertising on the local Koori radio

stations, visiting youth centres, advertising in local shopping centres, running

community events and holding mining roadshows that include simulator

demonstrations (IronOreCo, 2009–2014; IronOreCo Specialist 1, 2012).

Pre-employment programs. IronOreCo has a pre-employment

program specifically designed to make Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

peoples work ready, and has been specifically created for people who have

not been able to obtain work due to limited training and experience. The

program provides unemployed local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

peoples ‘with the basic skills needed to gain and stay in full-time meaningful

employment’ (IronOreCo, 2009–2014). The program is a combination of ‘life’

and workplace coping and vocational skills, and runs for 16 weeks.

The life and workplace coping skills component covers driving skills, resume

preparation, numeracy and literacy development, personal financial management

and budgeting, personal health, teamwork and communication, self-esteem,

timekeeping, planning, workplace expectations and work ethics. The vocational

components are run in collaboration with Pilbara TAFE, and participants receive

nationally recognised qualifications, which may include a Certificate I in Resource

and Infrastructure Operations, Certificate I in Industrial Skills (Entry-level

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Training), Certificate II in Resource and Infrastructure Operations, and Certificate

II in Metalliferous Mining (Open Cut) (IronOreCo, 2009–2014).

IronOreCo also tailors the program, when required, so that if a participant has

drug and alcohol issues they can be referred to Pilbara drug and alcohol

counselling services to ‘stop failure before it happens’ (IronOreCo Advisor 1,

2012). A big component of the program is designed to address the ‘lack of driver’s

licence issue’, as it is essential to have a valid driver’s licence to work with

IronOreCo. This entails providing driving lessons, and in some cases ‘tackling

hurdles associated with getting suspensions lifted or fines paid’ (IronOreCo

Advisor 5, 2012).

The program is funded by the Federal Government IEP remote jobs program

(discussed in Chapter 4), and runs for 20 weeks twice a year. During the program,

participants have access to mentors to assist them in the course and with the

transition to the workplace (IronOreCo Advisor 5, 2012). The course includes site

visits so that participants develop a feel for working at a mine site. Once the

course is completed, successful participants are offered a traineeship with

IronOreCo, and they start working 8-hour shifts, progress to 10-hours, then 12-

hour shifts. IronOreCo believes that this assists participants to adjust gradually to

working in the mine (IronOreCo Advisor 3, 2012). IronOreCo state that they have

an 80% success rate in placing graduates of the program into traineeships

(IronOreCo, 2009–2014).

Susan’s Story I came through the pre-employment program, and went to TAFE, the program was good, it gave me an idea of what to expect when I got a full- time job.

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Arthur’s Story I did the program with Pilbara TAFE and now I’m doing mechanical training, maintaining and repairing light vehicles. I hope to go onto a full apprenticeship soon.

Mark’s Story I came through the work ready program they ran at TAFE, now I’m in the rotation program. I hope to get full-time work at the end.

Rotation program. IronOreCo offer a rotation program for those who

have completed the work-readiness program. Participants in the program are

trainees (non-accredited), on a fixed term 12-month contract. The program

‘provides the opportunity to experience a variety of roles and departments

within the organisation’ (IronOreCo, 2009–2014). Initially, trainees ‘spend 3

months with a leader, to assist them to understand the mining game’

(IronOreCo HR Manager 2, 2012). Trainees are then rotated through four

different job disciplines of their choice ‘so they get a feel for where they may

wish to be placed permanently’ (IronOreCo Advisor 3, 2012). Examples

include locomotive maintenance trades assistant, fixed plant trainee,

laboratory trainee, warehouse trainees and administration traineeships

(IronOreCo, 2009–2014). During the program, participants are introduced to

shift work. IronOreCo states that the rotation program has assisted in the

retention of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees (IronOreCo

Advisor 5, 2012). At the end of the rotation program, participants are offered a

12-month traineeship, ‘with a view to giving them a permanent job at the end’

(IronOreCo HR Manager 2, 2012).

Interviewees who had completed the rotation program painted a different picture

of the program to that of IronOreCo. The rotation program was supposed to be

for 1 year, then people would be moved into traineeships. However, some people

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had been on the rotation program for over 2 years. ‘Eleanor’s been on rotation

for 2 years … with no end in sight’ (IronOreCo Focus Group 5, 2012). Another

criticism of the rotation program from several participants was that when

participants found the area of employment they wanted to work in, they were still

rotated, which caused substantial amounts of participants to leave the

organisation (IronOreCo Focus Group 5, 2012).

Kelsey’s Story That’s the other thing. I thought this rotation program was meant to get a little bit of insight on what we think and we feel. I came forward and said, I hate admin, so they put me in admin.

Mark’s Story I’m on the rotation program, but there are a few issues with where I’m working. That’s the other thing. Ever since I’ve been on this crew, you know, like there’s been a couple of jobs that we’ve had to do, like change stackers. They asked me to do some stuff. I was like, yeah, no worries. Then they went, where’s your tools? I went, I never really knew I needed tools. Nobody said to me Mark, for the job you’re going to be going into, you might want to think about getting yourself a tool bag and get yourself some wrenches, and spanners and screwdrivers, stuff like that, just a basic set. Nobody mentioned it, it would be nice if they had tools for people on the rotation program.

Susan’s Story Just without the rotation crew, like, you know, you’re not talking about the rotation crew but just about mainstream now, like, my background is in finance and HR. Now, I’ve actually done my Bachelor of Business. I’m qualified in that area, done all the necessary qualifications in that area, but the only way I could get a job here is to come onto the rotation program. I think they are intimidated by strong black women.

Prison program. IronOreCo have a program where they work with

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prisoners in Pilbara prison, to assist them

to be work ready and access employment opportunities upon release. The

inmates in the program are normally in prison for minor offences, such as

driving offences. Three months prior to their release, inmates participate in a

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paid work release program and ‘if they’re suitable employees, we then offer

them employment when they’re released’ (IronOreCo Advisor 3, 2012).

School-based traineeships. IronOreCo offer SBTs for year 11 and 12

students. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander trainees spend 2 days a

week in the workplace, and gain a relevant nationally recognised certificate

qualification. In addition, the student completes their HSC. Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander community leaders have praised this program, as it not

only gives students relevant work experience, but encourages them to stay at

school (IronOreCo Specialist 1, 2012).

Traineeships. IronOreCo has its own accredited traineeship program

for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. Traineeships are available in

business administration, civil earth works, warehousing and transport,

metalliferous mining, haul truck and fixed plant operators (IronOreCo, 2009–

2014). Traineeships are for between 1 and 2 years and, according to

IronOreCo, are an excellent way for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

peoples to enter the mining industry (IronOreCo Advisor 2, 2012). However,

according to several IronOreCo employees, traineeships are very inconsistent

in terms of content, training and duration, with no set time frames. ‘Really it’s

up to supervisor discretion’ (IronOreCo Focus Group 2, 2012). ‘In some

instances, supervisors overlook their Aboriginal employees, they don’t think

they are worth considering, so they leave them on traineeships indefinitely …

because also its part wages’ (IronOreCo Supervisor 2, 2012).

Male Trainee I think for anyone like myself, I was here for 6 years and I had no previous experience. The traineeship was a great thing for me because it gets people

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… get in the mining industry. The problem is now these traineeships, rather than giving them the actual hand in the door, or recognise them for their skills … it’s just using people now … and giving them heaps less wages.

Apprenticeships. IronOreCo has apprenticeships in heavy equipment,

metals and engineering and electrical apprenticeships (IronOreCo, 2009–

2014). Several people interviewed who had finished the pre-employment and

the rotation program were interested in apprenticeships with IronOreCo, but

stated it was extremely hard to be chosen for one, as there seemed to be a

bias against them. One participant stated: ‘I want to be a sparky, but I have

been overlooked four times now. My work ethic is good, my attendance is

good, yet still they chose “white fellas” over me every time. I’m told I’m not

good enough’ (Participant, IronOreCo Focus Group 5, 2012).

National Indigenous Cadetship Program. IronOreCo was one of the

first private-sector organisations to support Aboriginal cadets through the

NICP. Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander university students are given

paid vacation work during the summer holidays, to facilitate industry

experience. Cadetships are available in the fields of engineering,

communication, information technology, commerce, law, science and HR.

Cadets receive mentoring from senior managers and are assisted with career

development (IronOreCo, 2009–2014).

David’s Story I’m doing a Bachelor of Engineering at UWA, I took the opportunity to doing the NICP program with IronOreCo. It gives me practical work experience whilst I’m still studying my degree. I hope to stay with the company when I finish and be accepted into the graduate program.

Graduate program. IronOreCo has a dedicated graduate development

program designed to provide Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who

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have graduated from university with long-term career opportunities in

organisation. Graduate programs are available in such fields as engineering,

communications, information technology, commerce, law, science and HR.

IronOreCo states that 5% of all graduates are Aboriginal (IronOreCo, 2009–

2014).

Mentoring. IronOreCo recognises that for some Aboriginal employees

there is a need for additional support to sustain employment, and they believe

that mentoring is an important aspect of employee support ‘to help Aboriginal

employees adjust to working in a Westernised modern mining operation’

(IronOreCo HR 7, 2012). Mentors are employed by IronOreCo to provide

support and mentoring to Aboriginal people within IronOreCo’s workforce, refer

Aboriginal employees to appropriate support services when required and

provide advice to potential employees, line managers, HR professionals and

others throughout the recruitment process (IronOreCo, 2009–2014). However,

in reality, the role of the mentor varies depending on the needs of the

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees they support. ‘To be honest,

there is a vast difference between what our role description is and what we

actually do’ (IronOreCo Mentor 1, 2012). ‘Mentors at each of the mine sites

work closely with Aboriginal employees people, with a view for early

intervention of issues as they arise being employed with us … mostly their role

is reactive’ (IronOreCo Specialist 1, 2012). Mentors were described as ‘a

mouth piece between employees and superintendents, to be an advocate for

employees, helps supervisors and superintendents understand cultural

differences’ (IronOreCo Advisor 2, 2012). Mentors receive no training, ‘I was

really vocal about the fact that we need to have more training for our mentors

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to up-skill them, because some of the issues that they deal with are really

crunchy ones, you need to be a trained counsellor’ (IronOreCo Specialist 2,

2012). However, mentors do have a yearly workshop ‘where they get to

network with other mentors, share experiences, share common issues’

(IronOreCo HR 6, 2012).

Brian’s Story We’re more of a support person for all the Aboriginal employees here onsite. When I say support, in terms of any issues they may have, whether it be personal, whether it be work related, or any assistance they may need with their work. Also, we’re liaison officers as well, so we do a lot of liaison work with the local communities, with any issues, including the local traditional owner groups.

When Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees and supervisors were

asked if the mentoring assisted them in the workplace, there were mixed

responses. ‘When you talk to him, you get the feeling he’s more for them than he

is for us’ (Participant, IronOreCo Focus Group 3, 2012). ‘I’ve tried to get

assistance from the mentor on a few occasions, but they don’t seem to have any

influence to do anything’ (Participant, IronOreCo Focus Group 2, 2012).

Barbie’s Story No they don’t influence. They’re there to bounce things off, and at the end of the day, they’re employed by the company to look after the company but at the same time to try and bridge a bit of a gap. But I think they’re toothless tigers, I know my mentor really tries and she has helped me, but they have no power to influence or change anything.

One of the biggest issues was that mentors at all mine sites work from nine to

five, so ‘I slowly rotate through the three crews, but I may only get to see some

employees every 6 to 8 weeks’ (IronOreCo Mentor 5, 2012). Therefore, mentors

are not usually available when Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees

need them. ‘I think too we need another mentor, we only have one-on-one team,

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we have so many people and it’s like where’s … he’s not here when we need

him’ (Participant, IronOreCo Focus Group 3, 2012). Another issue was that most

mine sites had either a male or a female mentor, which can create issues,

‘because a lot of males won’t talk to a female and females won’t talk to males

because some stuff it’s culturally inappropriate to do so’ (IronOreCo Supervisor

2, 2012). One of the biggest criticisms of the mentor program was the high ratio

of employees to mentors. This was sometimes as high as 100:1, when it should

be around 30:1 (IronOreCo Advisor 5, 2012; IronOreCo Specialist 5, 2012).

Another criticism was that the mentors, apart from getting together once a year,

received no support. One advisor commented: ‘who’s mentoring the mentors?

There’s no support for them’ (IronOreCo Advisor 1, 2012). Another mentor stated

that there is ‘no one to debrief with, you just have to find your own way to cope’

(IronOreCo Mentor 2, 2012). Several mentors reported needing to take leave to

alleviate burnout (IronOreCo Mentor 1, 2012; IronOreCo Mentor 3, 2012;

IronOreCo Mentor 5, 2012; IronOreCo Mentor 6, 2012).

Supervisor FIFO If they do need a bit of counselling or if they’re not turning up to work the mentor will take them into the office and will have a meeting with them. The mentor helps them out in a tremendous amount of ways.

Career development. Career development at IronOreCo is

performed through annual performance reviews where supervisors and

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff discuss any skill gaps and training

needs. From this, a development plan is implemented. ‘We ask, so where do

you see yourself going? Is there anything you want to learn?’ (IronOreCo

Supervisor 3, 2012). However, the current performance review system is

dependent on the supervisors implementing the development plans, and there

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is a strong perception that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees

were commonly overlooked for training. There was also a perception that non-

Indigenous people were fast-tracked through training, often leaving Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islander employees feeling resentful and disrespected. In

addition, in some instances, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees

reported that the performance reviews were performed without any

involvement on the part of the employee. ‘I’ve been here 2 years and I have

never sat down with my supervisor for an appraisal, when I asked he said he

had already done the paperwork … I mean how is that going to get me training

or anything’ (Participant, IronOreCo Focus Group 3, 2012).

Certainly some senior management expressed frustration that Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander peoples were not progressing through the organisation, or

not given the training to ‘keep them in the organisation’ (IronOreCo Advisor 1,

2012).

Advisor’s Story I think that as well as can we up-skill them enough to get into employment, I think we also have an obligation to up-skill to them to what their actual career aspirations are, beyond operator. Not everyone wants to be an operator or not everyone wants to stay on the tools their whole life. There needs to be capacity-building through leadership and management and we need more professional Aboriginal employees and I see that’s where the real gap is.

Aboriginal Supervisor’s Story The biggest thing that Aboriginal people see is with the training side of it, they get up the pit, and they’re just put on trucks. I think some of the supervisors think that Aboriginal people are there just for the numbers. Instead of trying to train them up and put them on other machines, and that’s where a lot of them get frustrated. When they get frustrated that’s why they snatched up because they’ll get offered a better job, alright you come and work for us. Other places will offer them good training-up on this.

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The interviewed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees overwhelmingly

stated that there was a total lack of career paths, and that their supervisors

always rejected requests for training. ‘In some instances, you have to do a

minimum of 18 months driving trucks before you start being considered for

training in other areas’ (IronOreCo Mentor 3, 2012).

Casey’s Story We have development plans, where we sit down with our supervisor and say what our goals are for the next 6 months, they preach that, they say that they are willing to develop you and you can do this and that, but the execution is not consistent with what they say. You keep telling them what you want to be trained in but 18 months later nothing happened.

Family support programs. IronOreCo has developed family support

programs to assist Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees and their

families to adjust to working in the mining industry. Support can involve family

mentoring, family budgeting, coping with long work hours and support for

families of FIFO workers. This assists with the retention of Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander employees (IronOreCo, 2009–2014).

Cultural awareness. Cultural awareness training is vitally important

for the whole organisation, according to IronOreCo. They have a five-pronged

approach consisting of the following components:

a cultural tour

a community visit

a 4-hour cultural awareness training session

a workshop on working with Aboriginal peoples

a workshop on cultural intelligence.

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This approach assists the participants to understand the differences between

Western society and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander society, and ‘also it

helps to educate everyone as to why we employ so many Aboriginal people, most

don’t understand the agreements with traditional owners, so this definitely helps

put it into perspective’ (IronOreCo Specialist 1, 2012). Cultural awareness ‘also

allows Aboriginal people to feel more welcome and comfortable at our workplace’

(IronOreCo Specialist 1, 2012). Cultural awareness is also designed to assist line

supervisors and superintendents to be able to deal with issues that their

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees face. ‘I’ve come to learn that

family is not just immediate family, it’s the whole mob, the whole community

basically’ (IronOreCo Supervisor 3, 2012).

Advisor 4 We went out bush, all the learning was done around the campfire and they got a real good ... so many of those guys I still see today and will come up— that was fantastic I learnt so much and it really opened my eyes up.

Mentor 5 I’ve been running a Roebourne cultural awareness day tours, so that’s just to help educate the line leaders and management on the community. So we take them out into Roebourne for the day and they watch a movie, ‘Exile and the Kingdom,’ which is a 2-hour movie about the local Pilbara Aboriginal people and how they come to live in Roebourne, some of the issues they face. Then we go out for a tour through the town and see some of the living conditions, etcetera, of some of the employees. Then we go out to Five Mile community and do a bush tucker cook-up and speak to a few of the elders and look at some artefacts and bits and pieces. And then we visit one of the local art centres where a lot of the ladies want to work on a very casual basis. They come and go and do their paintings, and all of the paintings are up in our buildings and colours of our country.

When Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees were asked whether they

felt that cultural awareness training made a difference in the workplace, the

results were mixed. It seems there is quite a big disparity between mine sites in

the cultural awareness training. Most felt that it was a start, but did not adequately

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inform supervisors about the issues faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

peoples, especially when it came to the importance of family and sorry business.

Aboriginal Supervisor The cultural awareness that we do here doesn’t teach the leaders how to communicate with an Indigenous person. It doesn’t teach them or give them an awareness about cultural sensitivities, all the things that they need to operate as a leader with an Indigenous employee. I’ve had leaders ring me and say, ‘I’ve got this problem with this employee, quick deal with it because they’re blackfella.’ I can’t deal with it, I don’t have the confidence.

Cultural leave/funeral leave. IronOreCo has 5 days of cultural leave

per year available for each Aboriginal employee. However, the policy can be

interpreted in different ways. In all instances it comes down to the discretion of

the superintendent whether cultural leave is granted and what is or is not

considered cultural leave. For instance, one Aboriginal employee wanted to

attend their child’s NAIDOC celebrations at the school, but the superintendent

did not allow cultural leave to be used. In another instance, a Torres Strait

Islander employee put in for cultural leave and was promptly told that the leave

was only for Aboriginal employees. The employee questioned why Torres

Strait Islanders were excluded, but could not obtain an answer (IronOreCo

Focus Group 1, 2012). In most cases cultural leave was taken for initiation and

lore purposes, as a large portion of IronOreCo employees come from areas of

Western Australia where traditional lore is still practiced. However, traditional

business or attending or participating in ceremonies may take more than the 5

days of cultural leave available, and once involved in ceremony it is

compulsory to stay until the end, which can take several weeks or even

months.

Mentor’s Story

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Yeah that’s the other thing. We’ll give you a week off and it’s a 3-month process. It takes about 3 months, the process, where they come out from the bush and bring them back to the community. That process needs to take place … 5 day’s leave challenges their commitment to their culture, but IronOreCo don’t understand. If they chose to stay at work, they are challenged by their family and community, it’s a no-win situation. It’s like we have to live in two cultures, live in two worlds.

One of the biggest issues that came out of all of the focus groups, whether the

employees were FIFO or lived near the mine, was the lack of understanding

regarding sorry business, and the recognition that sorry business was mandatory

for people to attend. For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, family is

not the same as in Western society—family is extended family and can mean the

whole community. ‘Sorry business is not just attending a funeral, it is a process

of mourning that involves nurturing family relationships and upholding family

responsibilities’ (Participant, IronOreCo Focus Group 4, 2012). ‘They don’t

understand that it’s a lack of respect if you don’t turn up to someone’s funeral,

they need to be more understanding, as you have to battle tooth and nail to get

leave’ (Participant, IronOreCo Focus Group 1, 2012).

A big issue that arose for FIFO workers was that if there was sorry business

sometimes there were no flights available to return to family and community, as

some mine sites only had flights in or out once or twice a week.

FIFO Participant We only fly out on Wednesdays and Thursdays, so if I have to go home for sorry business, they can only fly me out on those days, then I have to take a whole week off because there are not flights back.

FIFO Participant Its ok for some people but we only get one flight a week, my aunty died, and I couldn’t get home in time for her funeral let alone to grieve with my family. Had to sit around here for a week, I was no good to anybody and I was a danger to myself and my workmates, but I couldn’t get home. It was a bad time for me.

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FIFO Participant My grandma passed away and I was allowed that shift off because I had some phone calls to make. There was important things to discuss with people because all the family are over east. I didn’t know when the funeral was on, but when I found out, I couldn’t fly out because there was a shutdown. I told my supervisor I needed to go home, but they said no, the shutdown was more important. Just no respect.

Racism in the workplace. IronOreCo, like most organisations, has a

zero tolerance policy when it comes to racism in the workplace, but this does

not stop racism from happening. All Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

participants in this study had been exposed to racism within the workplace,

albeit to varying levels. Many participants stated that some supervisors,

superintendents and non-Indigenous employees discriminated against them.

‘Maybe they have had a bad experience in the past, but we are all labelled, as

drunk, don’t want to work etcetera.’ (Participant, IronOreCo Focus Group 5,

2012).

The biggest thing with Aboriginal people is they come into the workplace,

they’ve got to prove themselves. They get classed as bludgers so they’ve

got to prove that they can do the job to get respect, but it’s wrong. They

should be given respect from the start … So they come in and they’re

already labelled. Then they have to work twice as hard … twice as hard to

get up. (IronOreCo Supervisor 5, 2012)

Some participants thought that that racism in their workplace was not overt, but

covert racism thrived: secret whispers, being overlooked for training or

preferences given to non-Indigenous people. Others told of how they were made

to feel like they were just there to make up numbers—‘I was told I only got the job

here because I’m Aboriginal’ (Participant, IronOreCo Focus Group 6, 2012)—or

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too stupid to be trained past entry-level positions. ‘I actually switched teams

because the first team, I was … there was a bit of racism and stuff like that … I

didn’t want to put up with it … so I made the choice, there’s a lot more respect

within this group’ (Participant, IronOreCo Focus Group 2, 2012).

Supervisors/leadership. The senior management at IronOreCo say

they are passionate about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment.

There has been a strong push from the CEO, but according to:

Most occasions that hasn’t filtered down to the superintendents, the

supervisors, in the main. I say that without fear or favour because there’s

obviously some people within our business that are passionate about this

and some people who don’t know enough about it to be passionate.

(IronOreCo Specialist 2, 2012)

Some participants thought that supervisors had too much power, and a significant

number of participants in this study reported that they found their supervisors and

superintendents unapproachable. Nearly all of the supervisors that were

interviewed said that despite having attended the company’s cultural awareness

training they were ill-equipped to supervise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

staff. ‘No training on how to deal with people at all, it was just try and see … but

more in-depth training would be good, especially on what is culturally appropriate’

(IronOreCo Supervisor 4, 2012).

FIFO Participant I need a supervisor who is approachable, who understands the issues that I face, but I feel like it’s the business that always comes first, instead of the person. I just find it hard—not approachable to talk about personal or family or something like that. So I just don’t. I deal with it in my own way.

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Mentor Story One of my main roles is attendance, and if people don’t turn up for work I need to follow up, mostly they don’t ring the supervisor, but in saying that, I talk to people and they would go, no I didn’t want to ring him or I can’t talk to that person. Some of the supervisors are just not approachable.

Supervisor FIFO I asked one bloke if he would lead, because he had been there the longest, but I didn’t know that wasn’t the way, no one’s an actual leader unless you’re an elder, then the others took offence.

Barbie’s Story At the time I was under a superintendent that hated women and hated Aboriginals. I put in a complaint about him harassing and bullying me in the workplace. I was branded a trouble-maker basically, and nothing was ever done about the superintendent … after that I was overlooked for all the jobs I applied for.

The characteristics of a good supervisor, according to interviewees, was

someone who is very approachable and is proactive in promoting training

opportunities. However, the supervisors who fit into this category tended to be

the Aboriginal ones, who had an excellent working relationship with their crew,

and all of whom said they really look forward to coming to work, as they were

treated with respect.

FIFO Female Participant They didn’t get their position out of a textbook; they didn’t go to uni and get their degree or whatever bullshit it is that they need, in order to be in supervisor’s position. They come from where we come from and have done the hard yard. Yet, at the end of the day, they’ll still sit with you at the pub and have a beer. From my perspective, that goes a pretty long way for me.

Retention of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees.

Retention of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees is a significant

issue for IronOreCo. From an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

perspective, the retention problems were perceived as being due to a lack of

career development opportunities, exclusion and racism in the workplace, lack

of support mechanisms and mentors, family reasons, cultural reasons and

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supervisory issues. The author asked interviewees whether the IronOreCo

management was doing enough to retain their Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander employees.

HR Manager Retaining and developing Aboriginal people, probably not; no, I don’t think so. We obviously have retention issues and we need to think about that, and I don’t think, unfortunately, despite the mentoring, despite cultural awareness training—in spite of those things, we still cannot retain Aboriginal people. So we need to look at the problem differently or look at different options and solutions to that.

Specialist We need strong leaders from the very top all the way down. It’s not just saying there’s only a few people within the business that really support it and embrace it and what we’re saying is that these leaders, these are the ones that want to do it, 90% of the leaders feel that they have to do it and there’s a need and it fucking pisses me off.

Supervisor FIFO I believe it’s the lack of training opportunities and the long hours of shifts. Also we have lost 100 people this year and it’s easy to say because of the situation, the competition up here, they’re all just pulling people off of us.

HR Manager FIFO I think social pressure for one thing, and I think what we offer as a company—while it’s good for non-Aboriginal people, is it good for Aboriginal people? So I think there’s social pressures not to work. And when I say social pressures not to work, what that leads to is absenteeism and alcohol and drug issues and things like that. That leads us to having to take the inevitable action. My philosophy is that we do everything we can to give an Aboriginal person a job but, once they’re in the workplace, they have got certain standards they need to meet, and we do flex around certain standards, work around cultural leave and things like that.

Specialist FIFO We’ve got to be more flexible with rosters and a bit with safety, not to too much of an extent, but going from a community to boom, you’re on week a night shifts and week a day shifts, 12-hour shifts. It’s got to be a transition period or, do we need to realise that not everyone can work shift work.

HR Coastal

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Other things that could be done? I would like to see more flexibility with our employment so you don’t necessarily have to work full-time continuous permanent employment. You can work maybe for 3 months and then have a month or a couple of months off. People can step out of the workplace if they need to and step back in in a flexible way when they’re able to.

One strategy advocated by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees was

that employing other family members in the same pit or crew made a huge

difference to the way the employees went about their work. Several mentioned

that it was good to have family around, ‘when you come from being very family-

oriented and that to having familiar faces working with you, that’s really good’

(Participant, IronOreCo Focus Group 1, 2012).

Contractor requirements. IronOreCo has an Aboriginal engagement

strategy that requires all their contractors to develop their own Aboriginal

participation plans and strategies. During the tender process contractors are

required to demonstrate how they engage with and employ Aboriginal people.

‘One way to demonstrate this, is if they have a history of employing Aboriginal

people, and how they perform in this area … if they don’t they are not

considered, so it has enormous weighting on the contracts’ (IronOreCo

Specialist 7, 2012). Under the contractor tender agreements, IronOreCo can

make specific provisions to allow for mentoring, training and development of

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, which assists contractors to up-skill

people as necessary, potentially ensuring contracts in the future (IronOreCo

Specialist 7, 2012).

Aboriginal enterprise development. One way that IronOreCo

assists Aboriginal enterprise development is around the tendering of contracts.

IronOreCo has a well-established long-term commitment to maximising

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Aboriginal business engagement and participation. They provide business

development and contracting opportunities across all areas of IronOreCo, and

constantly analyse how they can best support Aboriginal businesses in the

Pilbara. ‘It’s not our responsibility to up-skill Aboriginal businesses, but if we

know of an Aboriginal business that has the capacity to deliver, they don’t have

to go through the competitive tendering process, we will gladly just give them

the contract’ (IronOreCo Specialist 7, 2012). IronOreCo run yearly Aboriginal

contractor forums, which outline the pre-qualification requirements that an

Aboriginal business needs to meet to obtain contracts with IronOreCo,

including a capacity statement, business profile, recruitment and engagement

strategy to meet the key performance indicators under the contract agreement

(IronOreCo Specialist 7, 2012).

In the next section, the A&TSIEP of IronOreCo will be measured against the


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Table 8.3: IronOreCo A&TSIEP Strategy Evaluative Framework.





Yes

Establish partnerships Yes Strong partnerships with local communities



No Indigenous employment strategy team

Developed A&TSIEP


No Ad hoc strategy, bits and pieces written. Target in

RAP

Culturally appropriate workplace Yes Cultural awareness for all employees







Culturally appropriate interviews Yes


Formal mentoring Yes Aboriginal mentors at all mine sites

Career development and training No

Cultural leave provisions Yes

Flexible working hours and conditions No

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No


Is rural and remote employment offered? Yes Urban, rural and remote

Summary and evaluation of IronOreCo. Utilising the data in Table

8.3, it is clear that IronOreCo does not meet all the requirements of the

evaluative framework. In the planning and pre-employment stage, IronOreCo

has good commitment of senior management to employ more Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander peoples. The majority of IronOreCo mines are covered

by ILUAs. Contained in the ILUAs are commitments by IronOreCo to employ

local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. IronOreCo has extensive

partnerships with local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities that

are close to the mining operations. The communities have representatives and

traditional owners who work with IronOreCo to implement parts of their

A&TSIEP, including sitting on advisory groups and facilitating cultural

awareness training. IronOreCo has a dedicated Aboriginal employment team

(who are all Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islanders) headed by an Aboriginal

Employment Strategy Advisor (who is Aboriginal and a traditional owner from

the Pilbara region). IronOreCo has no uniform A&TSIEP that covers the whole

of the organisation, but they do have an Aboriginal employment team. ‘Each

mine site does something different, it’s all ad hoc, like bits and pieces … there

is no holistic approach to anything … there is nothing written on paper that

resembles any sort of strategy’ (IronOreCo Specialist 1, 2012).

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I think it’s an exaggeration to call it a strategy in as much that there’s a lot

of opportunism that goes within the program that we operate. As we

identify employment opportunities, people who we probably haven’t

recognised or met before as wanting employment, as we engage with

them we give them employment opportunities. Sometimes we have to give

them pre-employment training. So our strategy, if you like, is to recruit and,

where necessary, train Pilbara Aboriginal people. (IronOreCo Specialist 4,

2012)

IronOreCo have a RAP that clearly outlines a percentage target for Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islander employment within IronOreCo mining operations.

According to IronOreCo’s annual report, they have not met the target set in its

RAP and under their ILUA’s for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment.

IronOreCo provides cultural awareness training for all employees across all mine

sites and the training is designed to assist managers, supervisors and other staff

to deal with issues that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees face.

Cultural awareness training is facilitated by traditional owners and includes

community visits. This study found that the delivery of cultural awareness was

inconsistent across the organisation and did not provide supervisors and

superintendents with the information they needed to adequately supervise

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees. Despite IronOreCo having a

zero tolerance racism policy, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees

reported various levels of racism, from overt to covert. In some cases, the racism

was reported and IronOreCo acted to stop the racism.

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In the employing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees’ stage,

IronOreCo ticks all the boxes. As with most companies, IronOreCo utilise online

recruitment. In addition, IronOreCo have developed a comprehensive model for

recruitment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment. They do not wait

for prospective employees to come to them—they go out into the communities to

find them. IronOreCo has a comprehensive pre-employment program,

specifically aimed at Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders who have either not

been in the workforce due to living in remote locations where there is a lack of

work, or who have limited work experience. The pre-employment programs are

run at most mine sites. Programs run twice a year and are funded under the

Federal Government IEP program. IronOreCo has a best practice system for

when an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander applies for a role within the

company. The applicant is referred to the recruitment team within the Aboriginal

employment team. IronOreCo has a policy that if an Aboriginal person meets the

minimum criteria they are guaranteed an interview and an invitation to an

assessment centre. Once the applicant has been assessed and it is deemed that

they can perform the role, they are offered the role; if they are deemed not quite

ready they are referred to the pre-employment program. This process is culturally

appropriate, as all workers in the Aboriginal employment team and at assessment

centres are Aboriginal.

When it comes to retention strategies, IronOreCo does not perform well.

Retention of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees is a significant issue

for IronOreCo. IronOreCo employs Aboriginal mentors at all mine sites to assist

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees to adjust to working in a mining

company and to assist supervisors and superintendents to understand cultural

404

differences. In some instances, the mentoring was considered culturally

inappropriate, as there was only one mentor at each mine, either a man or a

woman, which created issues, as in traditional society, men and women have

specific roles and it is culturally inappropriate to cross those roles. Another issue

is that the mentors worked 9–5, whereas the majority of Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander employees worked shift work, so they rarely had a chance to see

a mentor when needed. In addition, it was identified that the ratio of mentors to

employees was unworkable.

Career progression and training at IronOreCo was one of the biggest issues

reported in interviews and focus groups. The performance review system at

IronOreCo is dependent on the supervisors implementing development plans,

and there is a strong perception that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

employees were commonly overlooked for training. It was also perceived that

non-Indigenous people were fast-tracked through training, leaving Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander employees feeling resentful. Certainly senior managers

who were interviewed felt frustrated about the lack of career progression of

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees, while simultaneously feeling

powerless to change things. IronOreCo had very few Aboriginal people at

management levels; there were only a few ‘specialists’, supervisors and

superintendents, despite the fact some were highly qualified. Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander employees that participated in this study stated that they

would like to see a clear career path for developing Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander leaders in the organisation. They believed that this would assist in

retention of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees.

405

IronOreCo has 5 days of cultural leave per year available for each Aboriginal

employee. The leave was not available to Torres Strait Islander employees.

Cultural leave can be used for initiation and lore purposes. Some employees

found it hard to access cultural leave, as it was up to superintendents to approve

the leave and there were no formal guidelines to assist in determining what was

‘cultural’ and what was not. IronOreCo offers some flexibility in employment

rosters because shift patterns vary between sites, but there is no flexibility around

hours. Every mine site runs 12-hour shifts. Tiplady and Barclay (2007) state that

mining companies need to look into more flexible work hours for Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander employees, including more flexible shift patterns. Long

absences away from family are one of the reasons given for most Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islanders leaving the mining industry. One retention strategy that

seemed to work for IronOreCo was employing other family members in the same

mine.

IronOreCo has no monitoring tools for its A&TSIEP, and the mining company has

not undertaken any internal or external evaluations of the program. IronOreCo

did commission a study into Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander retention, which

found very similar issues to the ones identified in this study.

The majority of IronOreCo employment is in remote regions of Western Australia.

According to IronOreCo’s 2014 annual report, they have not met the target set in

their RAP for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment. I was given

access to all available data on IronOreCo’s A&TSIEP, including statistics on

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment. IronOreCo’s A&TSIEP had no

real key performance indicators attached to it, no departmental targets and no

one to continually drive it. As one specialist stated, ‘employing Aboriginal people

406

doesn’t put rocks on boats, they will still be making millions so to them it doesn’t

really matter’ (IronOreCo Specialist 7, 2012). IronOreCo’s A&TSIEP does not

meet all the requirements of the evaluative framework, and a substantial amount

of work remains to be done if they are to make their A&TSIEP a success.

8.17 Conclusion

Throughout this chapter Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander engagement with

the mining industry has been examined, including native title, ILUAs, the

perceived and actual benefits of mining for Aboriginal communities and mines

that are leading the way on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment in

the industry. Also presented in this chapter was a discussion on why mining has

been able to achieve quantitatively better employment outcomes than other

sectors, through factors such as Native Title, ILUA’s and the geographical

locations where mines are located.

The chapter also presented two case studies from organisations within the mining

industry, which collected and analysed internal documents, publicly available

information on websites, annual reports, RAPs, interviews with Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander employees, managers, external recruiters and GTOs to

assess the cultural appropriateness of their A&TSIEP in accordance with the

evaluative framework developed in Chapter 5. This chapter concludes by

answering the following key research questions: What was the rationale for the

introduction of A&TSIEPs by the organisation? To what extent is government

support necessary or accessed? What supporting mechanisms are in place to

support A&TSIEPs? By what criteria, and how often, are A&TSIEPs evaluated?

407

What was the experience of participants in A&TSIEPs? What in the A&TSIEPs is

helping to retain Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees?


organisation? CoalCo stated that the reason they introduced A&TSIEPs into

the organisation was that there was a compelling business case to do so. The

notion of a business case for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders (discussed

in Chapter 5) is becoming more predominant, as there are clearly identified

financial benefits for doing so. IronOreCo state that they introduced an

A&TSIEP for multiple reasons: it was the right thing to do, it made sound

business sense and their ILUA obligations provide a strong economic reason

to employ Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.


CoalCo indicated that they did not utilise government support to fund their

A&TSIEP, which is justified on the basis that CoalCo do not run pre-

employment programs, nor do they employ mentors. Conversely, IronOreCo

utilised government support for their pre-programs under the IEP. IEP funding

does not cover the entire costs of IronOreCo’s pre-employment program.

IronOreCo indicated that without the IEP and government funding, they would

not be in a position to run the pre-employment program. With IronOreCo

having annual profits in the tens of millions, mostly gained from mining on

Aboriginal land, I believe they should fund the strategy themselves. My opinion

then poses the question of where do the boundaries of responsibility lie. It is

widely accept that education of people and preparing them for work is primarily

a state responsibility as seen in chapter 4, rather than an obligation of

businesses. What makes this area different? The fact that mining is taking

408

place on Aboriginal land, the mining companies are making huge profits, with

only small percentages of those profits if any going back to Aboriginal people,

there should be an obligation on the mining company to train Aboriginal people

for work, not the state.


CoalCo do not have supporting mechanisms in place to support Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander employees within the A&TSIEP. They have no formal

mentoring, and no clear career development strategy for its Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander employees. IronOreCo has formal mentoring available

to support their Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees at every mine

site, but they do not have any career development strategies. Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander employees complained that they were constantly

overlooked for training.


CoalCo nor IronOreCo have had their A&TSIEPs evaluated in the whole time

they have been operational. Therefore, I cannot determine by what criteria

their A&TSIEPs are evaluated. IronOreCo commissioned a study to ascertain

why retention of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees was an issue,

and that study reported on the exact same issues found in this study.


experiences of participants of both mining companies’ A&TSIEP have been

documented in the case studies presented in this chapter. I was unable to gain

access to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees who had left both

409

organisations. Therefore, the experience of participants was incomplete and

possibly did not provide a complete picture of the organisations’ A&TSIEPs.


Strait Islander employees? Neither mining company appears to be doing

enough to retain its Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees. Neither

company has career paths for their Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

employees. IronOreCo does have mentoring, but for the most part it is

culturally inappropriate as only a single male or a female mentor is employed

at a mine site.

It is clear from applying the evaluative framework to both mining company case

studies that they both have a substantial amount of work to do on their A&TSIEPs

if they want their strategies to be successful.

410

Chapter 9: Conclusion

9.1 Introduction

The aim of this research was to determine what policies and strategies private-

sector organisations adopt to redress labour market disadvantage for Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islander Australians, and assess their effectiveness. There is

no quick fix or single approach that will reduce labour market disadvantage for

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, because the disadvantage is not

limited to the labour market: it is multidimensional and intergenerational, as

discussed in Chapter 1. While the public-sector programs are relatively well

researched, there is little research of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

employment programs in the private sector. This thesis addressed employment

in the private sector, focusing on the workplace and the activities of large

organisations across three sectors: mining, retail and banking.

The second aim of this thesis was to develop an evaluative framework for private-

sector Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workplace programs. The evaluative

framework was developed by analysing models of Aboriginal employment

previously developed in the public sector, then analysing the programs of

participating organisations to ascertain what elements of the programs are

successful and what elements are not successful. The evaluative framework was

developed and discussed in Chapter 5. It is applicable to all organisations and

provides categories covering pre-employment, employment and post-

employment strategies to assist organisations to develop, implement and

evaluate their Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment strategies.

411

The third aim of the research was to identify the supporting mechanisms and

processes required for the effective implementation of these programs. Again, an

analysis of programs from the participating organisations formed the basis of this

identification. Supporting mechanisms such as cultural competency training, the

availability of mentoring and career development were identified as effective

mechanisms for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participants.

The last aim of the research was to analyse and disseminate the experiences of

those who have participated in such programs through a series of detailed case

studies. This dissemination formed the basis of answering the overarching

research question: what policies and strategies adopted by private-sector

organisations redress labour market disadvantage for Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander Australians, and how effective are these strategies (what works

and what doesn’t)? This assisted in ascertaining what should be included or

avoided when formulating an A&TSIEP.

The following research questions have been answered in Chapters 5, 6, 7 and 8.

By answering these questions, this research was able to identify the successful

features of A&TSIEPs in terms of labour market and broader community criteria.

To what extent can A&TSIEPS be found across Australia’s largest

100 corporations? In Chapter 5, mapping of the top 100 organisations

revealed that 33 have A&TSIEPs. Nineteen have RAPs and 49 have Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islander community programs.

412

What was the rationale for the introduction of A&TSIEPS by the

organisation? Chapters 6, 7 and 8 demonstrated that the majority of

organisations in the case studies stated that they introduced an A&TSIEP

because there was a business case to do so. Others noted that part of their

diversity strategy was to reflect their customer base in their employees.

To what extent is government support necessary or accessed? The

evidence presented in Chapters 6, 7 and 8 indicated that all but one

organisation in the case studies utilised government support in the form of

funding of their labour market programs. In all those cases, IEP funds were

utilised to fund pre-employment programs and those organisations who offered

SBTs were also funded. The one organisation that did not access funding did

not run any programs to assist in the employment of Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander peoples. Whether the funding was necessary or not is entirely

a different question. Each organisation to utilise the funding was a multimillion-

dollar organisation that should have been able to fund their own programs and

initiatives. However, this was not the case, and all organisations offered

justifications as to why the funding was necessary.

What supporting mechanisms are in place to support A&TSIEPS?

Evidence from Chapters 6, 7 and 8 indicate that all but one organisation had

some supporting mechanisms for their Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

employees, but the extent of these mechanisms varied. All but one

organisation had mentoring available to employees who came through the

various programs offered. When it came to career development strategies,

only one organisation had formal strategies in place and, in most situations,

413

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees felt neglected by the

organisations they worked for.

By what criteria, and how often, are A&TSIEPS evaluated? The case

study chapters found that none of the organisations in the case studies had

evaluated their A&TSIEPs. Best practice would be to evaluate A&TSIEPs

against the goals set in the A&TSIEP, such as targets for Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander employment and whether recruitment and retention strategies

were effective. The strategy should be evaluated at least every 2 years.


experiences of participants within the case studies varied, and are

documented throughout Chapters 6, 7 and 8. Some of the positive experiences

of the participants in the banking industry included the sense that working in

the bank increased their self-esteem and helped them become role models to

their families and communities. In addition, career development opportunities

were good once permanent employment was secured. Some of the negative

experiences of participants in the banking industry related to the mentoring

received with SBTs, which was spasmodic and ineffective. It was extremely

hard to obtain full-time work once the SBT was finished, due to a lack of

positions available in the banks. In addition, participants experienced racism

in the workplace from workmates and customers. Within the retail industry,

some of the positive experiences reported by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander interviewees included the sense that working in the retail outlet was a

great opportunity, and some participants experienced rapid career progression

(for instance, progression to second in change within months of gaining

employment). Others reported that they enjoyed customer service and felt their

414

work was important. Some of the negative experiences involved racism in the

workplace from customers and managers, due to negative stereotyping that

still exists against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. In addition,

some participants would have liked more hours of work; most were employed

on a part-time or casual basis. Positive experiences reported by the

participants from the mining industry involved the wages: money was good—

but not for everyone. In some instances, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

employees had been on traineeships for more than the designated length of

time; while on a traineeship only half the normal wage is paid. Participants

stated that the company was keeping them on traineeships deliberately so they

could save money. The negative experiences reported by participants in the

mining industry related to the 12-hour shifts and inflexible rosters, lack of

career progression, lack of training, inconsistency in management decisions

and racism in the workplace.


Strait Islander employees? The case studies demonstrate that none of the

organisations that participated in this research is doing enough to retain their

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees. The majority are providing

cultural awareness for non-Aboriginal staff. Despite this, racism was a major

issue in most workplaces. Mentoring was provided by all but one organisation,

which assisted in retention, but at times this was spasmodic and culturally

inappropriate. More needs to be done by all organisations to retain their

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees.

415

9.2 Key Findings from Case Studies

In chapters 6, 7 and 8, six case studies were presented within 3 industries. The

case studies reveal (as explained in section 9.1) the following: that organisations

introduced an A&TSIEP because there was a business case to do so, all but one

organisation utilised government labour market programs to fund their A&TSIEP,

support and career development were lacking in organisations, participant’s

experiences varied, however the banking industry stood out for good experiences

and retention was an issue in all the organisations.

9.3 Contribution to Knowledge

This study’s findings presented in Chapters 6, 7 and 8 have many positive

implications for practitioners and policy-makers. To date, there has been an

absence of research on the employment programs offered by the private sector

for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. This study is ground-

breaking research in so far as it has evaluated the effectiveness of such programs

in redressing labour market disadvantage for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

Australians. In particular, it focused on how private organisations have

implemented an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment strategy and

the components that go into such a strategy. In addition, the research has

mapped the A&TSIEPs being developed by corporate Australia and classified the

various programs in operation.

As outlined in Chapters 6, 7 and 8, there were six organisations who took part in

this research. The key findings of the case studies were that none of the six

organisations met all the requirements of the evaluative framework, developed in

Chapter 5, and all organisations have a substantial amount of work to do if to

416

meet all the requirements of their A&TSIEPs and make them a success. Through

the case studies, this research was able to identify the policies and strategies

adopted by private-sector organisations to redress labour market disadvantage

for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, and assess the effectiveness

of these strategies. This research developed a snapshot of the programs and

strategies utilised by Australia’s largest listed corporations employing Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islanders, and classifying these programs was an important

contribution of this project.

By developing an evaluative framework, organisations throughout Australia will

be able to use this evaluative framework to develop, implement and evaluate their

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment strategies. This evaluative

framework is simple to use and is effective for any industry. All organisations of

any size have the potential to alleviate the labour market disadvantages faced by

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The evaluative framework will be

made available through AIATSIS.

Strategies for successful Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment need

the active involvement of organisations to ensure real progress is made towards

reducing labour market disadvantage (Pinkstone, 2011). In improving Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islander employment outcomes, organisations need to

incorporate diversity initiatives aimed at embracing reconciliation, recognising

and embracing cultural differences, and not trying to change Aboriginal people to

conform or assimilate to ‘white ways’. Organisations can do this through

developing and implementing a Reconciliation Action Plan and Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander Employment Strategy, and by having real and meaningful

engagement with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities (Dyer, 2010).

417

In researching and developing the evaluative framework, Indigenous research

methodologies and approaches to research were utilised, as outlined in Chapter

2. The primary interview techniques adopted were yarning (single participant) and

talking circles (multiple participants), which are culturally appropriate and allowed

for the findings to emerge from the extensive data analysis. In addition, Western

research methodologies were utilised, informed by Indigenous standpoint theory.

As the Indigenous standpoint is unique to the researcher, this is an important

contribution to knowledge and this research.

9.4 Limitations

One limitation of this study was the inability to access former Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander employees from the six organisations in the case studies.

In two organisations access was granted to interview former employees, which

provided a more holistic view of whether support strategies adopted by those

organisations were effective. In another organisation, access was available to

interview unsuccessful participants of pre-employment programs, to gauge the

effectiveness of the program. Greater insight would have been gained from

having access to former employees from all six organisations who participated in

the case study. A potential bias of the study was that there was a limited number

of participants in each case study. Another limitation of this study was that the

case studies were confined to selected organisations in selected industries.

Greater insight would be gained if the study was extended to cover more

industries and organisations. This could be an area for post-doctoral research.

418

9.5 Implications for policy and practice

There are huge implications for policy and practice culminating from this

research. Should there be reliance on private sector programs to address labour

market disadvantage? What policy support or direction do such programs

require? There is a need for aligning future research in the areas of Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islander employment to government policies that are endorsed

to reduce labour market disadvantage. According to Brereton et al. (2010), no

mining company appears to have experienced strong pressure to implement

vigorous A&TSIEPs. The approach to providing employment and training

opportunities is not holistic, and some services are duplicated. One way to

overcome this is by ensuring that all labour market programs, whether they are

government or private-sector, are regularly and comprehensively evaluated by

an independent researcher to ensure they meet the objectives of the program.

The granting of funding for Labour market programs could be linked to

organisations implementation of their A&TSIEP using the evaluative framework

developed in this thesis, giving organisations more stringent guidelines which

would increase their ability to employ and retain Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander employees and ensure that organisations use the funding more

effectively.

9.6 Areas for Further Research

As noted in the limitations section, this study should be extended to include other

organisations and industries. In this study a snapshot has been provided of the

actions taken by the three selected industries to ‘close the gap’ and reduce labour

market disadvantage for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Greater

insight would be gained by a large-scale study.

419

Another area for future research would be a comparative study with other

colonised nations. Countries such as the US, Canada and New Zealand also

struggle with labour market disadvantage experienced by their First Nation

peoples. However, some countries seem more advanced than others in

alleviating this disadvantage. A comparative study would provide further insight

into overseas works that could be applied in an Australian context.

420

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Appendices

481

Appendix A–Information Statement for the Research Project

Supervisors:

Professor John Burgess

Tel: 02 49216680

Fax: 02 49216911

Email: [email protected]

Professor Dennis Foley

Tel: 02 4927921


Researcher: Sharlene Dyer

Tel: 02 49854565

Tel: 0417239909


School of Business & Management

University Drive

Callaghan NSW 2308

Information Statement for the Research Project

What policies and strategies have private sector organizations adopted to redress

Labour market disadvantage for Indigenous Australians? How successful are

these strategies (what works and what doesn’t)?

Document Version 2; dated [dd/mm/yy]

You are invited to participate in the research project identified above which is

being conducted by Sharlene Dyer from the Newcastle Business School and the

Wollotuka Institute at the University of Newcastle. The research is part of

Sharlene’s studies at the University of Newcastle, supervised by Professor John

Burgess and Professor Dennis Foley.

Why is the research being done?

Indigenous people hold a unique position in Australian society, however, they are

also the most disadvantaged group within the Australian community as a result

of the effects of European invasion. Historically, Indigenous Australians have

mailto:[email protected]



482

been systematically excluded from many institutions of Australian society such

as social security systems, industrial relation systems and the education system.

This exclusion has led to Indigenous Australians being marginalised, leaving a

long historical legacy to overcome (Altman & Sanders 1991, Norris 2001). The

unemployment rate for Indigenous Australians is four times the national average

(ABS 2004). In fact, Indigenous Australians have the highest unemployment rates

of any group In the Australian labour market. Participation rates, skills,


population (Norris 1993, Norris 2001, Teicher & Spearitt 1996, Verrucci 1995).

As well as having the highest unemployment rate of any group, Indigenous

Australians have the lowest levels of education, housing and community services

(Norris 1993), which is due to misguided policies of past Governments. The

current disadvantage experienced by Indigenous Australians in employment,

health, housing and education is a consequence of the dispossession of most of

their land and waterways and their subsequent exclusion from mainstream

society (Sully 1997).

Recently, Governments have attempted to correct these past policies by being

proactive in promoting Indigenous education and employment, and by putting

policies into place to redress the disadvantage that Indigenous people have

faced. However, despite Government spending increasing amounts on

employment programs designed to improve Indigenous employment, the policies

have been of limited benefit, and have largely resulting in public sector jobs while

having minimal impact in private sector employment (Norris 2001). Altman and

Sanders (1991:24) state, ‘persistently poor mainstream employment

outcomes…reflect the historical legacy of entrenched structural disadvantage in

an increasingly competitive labour market’. Norris (2001:242) states that it can be

readily established that ‘employment disadvantage for Indigenous Australian is

significant and ongoing’.

Private sector programs for Indigenous minorities are available in other OECD

countries, notably Canada and North America. Studies in the USA & Canada

suggest that private sector organisations have developed employment programs

for Indigenous minorities based on the notion of corporate and social

responsibility, and in particular social responsiveness where they actively seek to

improve welfare and society.

483

In Australia, such programs are relatively few and there has been a substantial

lack of research undertaken.

The project has national benefit in four areas:

It identifies and classifies the Indigenous Employment Policies of

Australia’s largest corporations

It presents detailed case study findings on the development,

implementation, operation and participant experience in selected

corporate Indigenous Employment Policies

It develops an evaluative framework of corporate Indigenous Employment

Policies

It promotes self-determination for Indigenous Australians through

reconciliation and economic independence.

The project fills an information gap and as such it can contribute to the

development of workplace programs to support Indigenous employment.

The research is of national significance in that:

it can inform policy development in terms of programs and infrastructure

to support corporate Indigenous Employment Policies

it can provide a template of evaluating Indigenous Employment Policies to

inform corporations towards effective development and implementation of

workplace Indigenous Employment Policies

To date labour market support for Indigenous Australians has been largely

through public sector programs. This project offers insights towards the potential

development of a more extensive and potentially effective program response

from the private corporate sector.

This study seeks to analyse private sector organizations to explore what

strategies they have adopted to redress labour market disadvantage for

Indigenous Australians.

The purpose of the research is to:

map the workplace support programs provided by Australia’s largest 50 listed

companies for Indigenous Australians

to develop an evaluative framework for private sector Indigenous workplace

programs

484

to identify what supporting mechanisms and processes are required for the

effective implementation of these programs

to analyse and disseminate the experiences of those who have participated in

such programs through a series of detailed case studies

Who can participate in the research?

In order to fulfil the research requirements I am hoping to interview The

Indigenous Employment Coordinators, Human Resource Managers and staff,

who are involved in the design, administration and participation of the programs

and the implementation of subsequent actions.

What choice do you have?

Participation in this research is entirely your choice. Only those people who give

their informed consent will be included in the project. Whether or not you decide

to participate, your decision will not disadvantage you.

If you do decide to participate, you may withdraw from the project at any time

without giving a reason and have the option of withdrawing any data which

identifies you.

What would you be asked to do?

If you agree to participate, you will be asked to attend an interview with the

researcher on one occasion which will be conducted at your place of work. It is

expected that the interview will be approximately one hour in duration and will

consist of semi-structured questions developed in order to facilitate open

responses whilst addressing the research questions above.

How much time will it take?

It is expected the interview will take approximately one hour in duration.

What are the risks and benefits of participating?

There will be no benefit to you in participating in this research

How will your privacy be protected?

Any information collected by the researcher which might identify you will be stored

securely and only accessed by the researcher unless you consent otherwise,

except as required by law. There are limits on assurances of confidentiality as

research data/records may be subpoenaed by law.

Data will be retained for at least 5 years at the University of Newcastle.

485

If data is identifiable, names will be replaced with numerical codes. The identifiers

are permanently removed after the research is submitted for assessment.

How will the information collected be used?

The data will be presented in a thesis to be submitted for Sharlene Dyer’s PhD.

From the thesis, it is expected that papers will be published in scientific journals,

and that a copy of the thesis will be in the AIATSIS database in Canberra.

No individuals will be identified in the thesis or subsequent publications.

You will be able to review the recording to edit or erase your contribution. Where

audio tapes are to be transcribed, it should extend to recording and/or transcripts.

If you choose to participate you will be given the opportunity to review edit and/or

erase any tape recordings made during your interview. Additionally, you will be

provided the chance to examine and edit any transcribed material relating to your

interview.

What do you need to do to participate?

Please read this Information Statement and be sure you understand its contents

before you consent to participate. If there is anything you do not understand, or

you have questions, contact the researcher.

If you would like to participate, please complete and return the attached consent

form and return it in the reply paid envelope provided. I will then contact you to

arrange a time convenient to you for the interview.

If you are consenting on behalf of a child or young person under 18 years of age,

and they can understand what is being asked of them, please discuss the project

with them before making a decision. Where a parent/guardian consents to their

child or young person participating, the final decision will rest with the child / young

person.

Further information

If you would like further information please contact Professor John Burgess at the

address above. Thank you for considering this invitation.

Sharlene Dyer (B Bus Hons)

PhD Candidate / Researcher

Complaints about this research

This project has been approved by the University’s Human Research Ethics

Committee, Approval No. H-2008–0268.

486

Should you have concerns about your rights as a participant in this research, or

you have a complaint about the manner in which the research is conducted, it

may be given to the researcher, or, if an independent person is preferred, to the

Human Research Ethics Officer, Research Office, The Chancellery, The

University of Newcastle, University Drive, Callaghan NSW 2308, Australia,

telephone (02) 49216333, email [email protected].


487

Appendix B–Organisational Consent form for the Research Project

Supervisors: Professor John Burgess

Tel: 02 49216680

Fax: 02 49216911



Tel: 02 49217921



Tel: 02 49854565

Tel: 0417239909


Consent Form for the Research Project: H-2008–0268




Dated :

Name of Organisation:

I agree, on behalf of the above organisation to participate in the above research project

and give my consent freely.

I understand that the project will be conducted as described in the Organisation’s

Information Statement, a copy of which I have retained.

I understand I can withdraw from the project at any time and do not have to give any

reason for withdrawing.

I consent to participating in an interview and having it recorded

I understand that my personal information will remain confidential to the researchers.

I have had the opportunity to have questions answered to my satisfaction.

Print Name:

Signature: Date:

Contact Phone No:




488

Appendix C–Individual Consent form for the Research Project

Supervisors: Professor John Burgess

Tel: 02 49216680

Fax: 02 49216911



Tel: 02 49217921



Tel: 02 49854565

Tel: 0417239909


Consent Form for the Research Project: H-2008–0268




Document Version [2]; dated [dd/mm/yy]

I agree to participate in the above research project and give my consent freely.

I understand that the project will be conducted as described in the Information

Statement, a copy of which I have retained.

I understand I can withdraw from the project at any time and do not have to give any

reason for withdrawing.

I consent to participating in an interview and having it recorded

I understand that my personal information will remain confidential to the researchers.

I have had the opportunity to have questions answered to my satisfaction.

Print Name:

Signature: Date:

Name of Organisation:

Contact Phone No:




489

Appendix D–Generic List of Questions to Organisations/external

recruiters/supervisors

Does your organisation have an Indigenous employment strategy?

Does your organisation have a Reconciliation Action Plan?

I understand your organisation is developing a RAP, can you tell me

about the Rap and the development process?

How does your organisation attract Indigenous employees?

Do you think that online applications are conducive to Aboriginal people

given the barriers they face?

How many Aboriginal employees does your organisation have?

What proportion of the workforce does that equate to?

Do you have statistical information about the levels of employment within

the organisation that Aboriginal people are employed at?

What support mechanisms does the organisation have to aide in the

retention of its Aboriginal employees?

What training and development programs are available to Aboriginal

employees?

Do the training and development programs differ from those offered to

non Aboriginal employees?

Does your organisation have land use agreements with Traditional

owners?

What / how do these agreements make a difference for Aboriginal

employment / Aboriginal employees?

Does your organisation provide cultural awareness / cultural competency

training for non Aboriginal employees?

What does this Cultural training consist of?

Do you feel that the organisation’s Indigenous Employment Strategy is

effective? If so why? If not why?

What career progression is available to Aboriginal employees?

Do Aboriginal employees know who to go to for advice on career

progression?

490

When it comes to Aboriginal employment strategies / policies and their

implementation, do you feel that the person doing the implementation

should be Aboriginal? If so why? If not why?

Can you tell me about the development of the organisations Indigenous

Employment Strategy?

Can you tell me about your recruitment process for Aboriginal people?

If you use an external recruitment agency, is that organisation an

Aboriginal organisation?

If you use an Aboriginal recruitment agency, can you explain why?

If you don’t use an Aboriginal recruitment agency, can you explain why?

Do you feel that recruitment of Aboriginal people is best done by an

Aboriginal organisation?

If you use a non Aboriginal recruitment agency, do you feel they have the

expertise and cultural knowledge to adequately recruit Aboriginal

people? Why?

What levels of employment are offered by your organisation? (Prompt…

entry... graduate... traineeships… etc)

What other types of indigenous programs does the organisation have?

Why is Indigenous participation in employment important to your

organisation?

Does the organisation utilise IEP funding or other labour market

programs to assist in the IES?

What is the exit procedure and how is it recorded?

What training do supervisors have to manage Aboriginal employees?

Is there a process for career development? ( what it is, how is it recorded

and monitored)

How is Cultural awareness training implemented and evaluated? (Who

undertakes the cultural awareness training, and what is the content

(workbooks, outline of course etc)?)

Do you have turnover data by Indigenous status and operational area?

What is the relationship between HR and the AES team? (what are each

of your responsibilities for Aboriginal employment, and what

communication do you have )

491

Does our organisation have mentors for Aboriginal employees?

Is that mentor and Aboriginal person? If so why? If not why?

What is the role of the mentors? How do they report issues back and who

to, is there any follow up?

How do you measure Indigenous employment performance? Is there a

process /system of evaluation?

Is there any recognition or reward for good performance?

Are there any sites that do better and why?

What are the main challenges faced by your Aboriginal employees?

Why do you think Aboriginal employees are leaving the organisation?

Can you tell me who(dept) is involved in the recruitment process?

Can you tell me about the education within the organisation around

Aboriginal issues?

What career progression strategies are in place?

How have store managers responded to the program? Have there been

any issues?

For external organisations:

Can you tell me about your role in Indigenous employment

strategy?

Can you tell me about your organisation?

How did your organisations come to be involved in

Indigenous employment process?

Can you explain your recruitment strategies?

What outcomes have your recruitment strategies achieved?

What type of ongoing support do you provide the employee?

What type of ongoing support do you provide the organisation?

For supervisors:

Can you tell me about our role as a supervisor, and how many Aboriginal

people you supervise?

What are the main issues faced by your Aboriginal employees?

Why do you think so many Aboriginal employees are leaving the

organisation?

492

What happens when someone doesn’t turn up for work etc? ( get case

study/example)

Is there a process for second chance? ( eg alcohol breach)

Is there any recognition or reward for good performance?


and monitored)

Do you have any prior experience supervising Aboriginal people? ( what

was it)

Did you receive any training from the organisation to supervise Aboriginal

people? ( what was it)

Do KPIs include Aboriginal retention/employment/career development?

493

Appendix E–Focus Group Questions

Aboriginal Focus Groups Demographics–Gender, age, marital status, and dependent children obtain from

CONSENT FORM

Introductions

1. Where are from? Your position/role/job at IronOreCo and how did you

get the job? – EACH PERSON

community of origin

position /role

how got the job

Working Conditions

2. What do you like about working at IRONORECO?

3. What do you dislike about working at IRONORECO?

How could these be improved?

4. What are your supervisors like?

Can you give examples of when you thought your supervisor was

doing a good job (What makes a good supervisor?)

Examples of negative supervision

5. If you are unhappy about something, what do you do? (who do you tell, is

there any follow up)

prompts-support from mentors, Community Relations and Work

Readiness department

6. Do men and women have different experiences working at

IRONORECO?

7. Are there any issues unique to Aboriginal employees?

8. What happens when there is an issue at home or in the community while

you’re at work?

9. IronOreCo provides Cultural leave, do you know about this and how is it

used?

10. Does cultural awareness training make a difference in the workplace?

Training and Career Development

11. What are your career prospects for the future? Do you think you will stay

with IRONORECO?

494

(Are you happy to keep doing what you are doing or are there

other jobs you would like to be doing?)

Are their training and development opportunities offered to help

you?

Retention

12. What reasons do you think Aboriginal people are leaving IRONORECO?

Different reasons between men and women?

Are issues at home contributing to people leaving?

13. What suggestions do you have for IRONORECO to help them retain

Aboriginal Employees?

495

Appendix F–Generic List of Questions to Aboriginal Employees

Can you tell me a bit about yourself? (Prompt… gender…age…marital

status…job type…tenure…community…children?

How did you come to work for the organisation?

Can you tell me about the pre-employment program you were a

participant in?

What were the elements of the program?

How long did the program go for?

What do you like about working for this organisation?

What do you dislike about working for this organisation? How could these

be improved?

What are your supervisors like? (What makes a good supervisor?)

Examples of negative supervision.

What kind of support is available to you as an Aboriginal employee?

(Prompt…mentoring…career development)?

If you are unhappy about something, what do you do? (who do you tell, is

there any follow up)

What is it like for an Aboriginal person working in this organisation?

Does the organisation provide cultural awareness/ cultural competency

training for non Aboriginal employees?

Does this cultural training make a difference in the workplace?

What training and development opportunities are offered to you as an

Aboriginal employee?

What career progression prospects are available to you?

Do you know who to speak to about training and development and career

progression in the organisation?

Do you think the organisations Indigenous employment strategy is

successful? Why?

When it comes to Aboriginal employment and its implementation, do you

feel that this is best done by an Aboriginal person? Why?

Extra List of Questions to Aboriginal employees with traineeships

Do you have or have you had a school-based traineeship?

Do you have or have you had a full time traineeship?

496

How far into the traineeship are you? Or have you finished the

traineeship?

What kind of support is/was available to you as an Aboriginal trainee?

(Prompt…mentoring…career development)?

Once you finish your traineeship / now that you have finished your

traineeship – what are your prospects for the future?

Do you know any other Aboriginal people that have a traineeship with the

organisation?

Would you recommend an Indigenous traineeship to others? Why?

Do you consider yourself a role model in your community?

How do you feel about what you have achieved?

What went wrong for you in the traineeship? If anything?

Extra List of Questions to employees that are Aboriginal mentors

Tell me about your role as an Aboriginal mentor?

As an Aboriginal mentor, are you involved in the recruitment process? If

so to what extent?

Do you believe the organisation utilises its Aboriginal mentor as well as

they can? Why?

Can you please tell me about your role as a mentor? [is there a difference

between position description and reality of day to day job] ?

Does it involve the families of workers? (If yes, how? if not, should it?)

What happens when someone has problems at home, doesn’t turn up for

work etc? ( get a case study/ an example if possible)

How often do you meet with individual employees?

Are you required to report on the progress of individuals? (how and who

do you report to?) ( are they required to report back to your team or HR,

and what mechanisms exist for them to report back? )

Do your KPIS include Aboriginal retention or recruitment? ( get copy of

KPIS)


and monitored)


497

Is the cultural awareness training given to managers effective? Is it

enough?


Are you involved in the exit procedure?

What suggestions do you have for the organisation to help retain more

Aboriginal employees?

What would make your job easier?

Do you get any training to be an Aboriginal mentor?

Extra List of Questions to employees that are non–Aboriginal mentors

Can you please tell me about your role as a mentor? [is there a difference

between position description and reality of day to day job] ?

Do you get any training to be a mentor to Aboriginal employees?

Do you think that non-Aboriginal people can effectively mentor Aboriginal

employees? Why? Why Not?

What training have you been given as a mentor to assist Aboriginal

employees?

Do Aboriginal employees come to you with cultural or family issues?

As a mentor, are you involved in the recruitment process? If so to what

extent?

Do you believe the organisation utilises its mentor as well as they can?

Why?

Does it involve the families of workers? (If yes, how? if not, should it?)

What happens when someone doesn’t turn up for work etc? ( get a case

study/ an example if possible)

How often do you meet with individual employees?

Are you required to report on the progress of individuals? (how and who



Do your KPIS include Aboriginal retention or recruitment? ( get copy of

KPIS)


and monitored)


498

Is the cultural awareness training given to managers effective? Is it

enough?


Are you involved in the exit procedure?

What suggestions do you have for the organisation to help retain more


What would make your job easier?

499

Appendix G–Questions for Individuals on site (Mentors/Supervisors/HR)

Mentors

1. Can you please tell me about your role as a mentor? [is there a

difference between position description and reality of day to day job]

2. Does it involve the families of workers? (If yes, how? if not, should it?)

3. What happens when someone has problems at home, doesn’t turn up for

work etc? ( get a case study/ an example if possible)

4. How often do you meet with individual employees?

5. Are you required to report on the progress of individuals? (how and who



6. Do your KPIS include Aboriginal retention or recruitment? ( get copy of

KPIS)

7. Is there a process for career development? ( what it is, how is it recorded

and monitored)

8. What are the main challenges faced by your Aboriginal employees?

9. Is the cultural awareness training given to managers effective? Is it

enough?

10. Why do you think Aboriginal employees are leaving the organisation?

11. Are you involved in the exit procedure?

12. What suggestions do you have for the organisation to help retain more


13. What would make your job easier?

14. Do you get any training to be an Aboriginal mentor?

Supervisors

1. Can you tell me about our role as a supervisor, and how many Aboriginal

people you supervise?

2. What are the main issues faced by your Aboriginal employees?

3. Why do you think so many Aboriginal employees are leaving the

organisation?

4. What happens when someone doesn’t turn up for work etc? ( get case

study/example)

5. Is there a process for second chance? ( eg alcohol breach)

6. Is there any recognition or reward for good performance?

501


and monitored)

8. Do you have any prior experience supervising Aboriginal people? ( what

was it)

9. Did you receive any training from the organisation to supervise Aboriginal

people? ( what was it)

10. Do KPIs include Aboriginal retention/employment/career development?

HR

1. What is the exit procedure and how is it recorded?

2. What training do supervisors have to manage Aboriginal employees?


and monitored)

4. How is Cultural awareness training implemented and evaluated? (Who

undertakes the cultural awareness training, and what is the content

(workbooks, outline of course etc)?)

5. What is the relationship between your team and the Aboriginal

employment strategy team? (what are each of your responsibilities for

Aboriginal employment, and what communication do you have )

6. Do you have turnover data by Indigenous status and operational area?

Specialist

1. Can you please tell me about your role with the organisation?

2. What is the relationship between HR and the AES team? (what are each

of your responsibilities for Aboriginal employment, and what

communication do you have )

3. What is the role of the mentors? How do they report issues back and

who to, is there any follow up?

4. How do you measure Indigenous employment performance? Is there a

process /system of evaluation?

5. Are there any sites that do better and why?

6. What are the main challenges faced by your Aboriginal employees?

7. Why do you think Aboriginal employees are leaving the organisation?

8. Can you tell me who (dept) is involved in the recruitment process?

9. Can you tell me about the education within the organisation around

Aboriginal issues?

500

10. What career progression strategies are in place?

502

Appendix H–Ethics Approval

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