Eight ways we can improve Indigenous employment

The latest ABS report on Indigenous people in the workforce confirms an ongoing trend of low participation. Our research shows that non-standard recruitment agencies, more education and ongoing mentoring and support are key to improving these disappointing statistics. While there was a narrowing of the employment gap between 1994 and 2008, since 2008 this appears to have stalled. The ABS report shows that 58% of Indigenous Australians were participating in the labour force (that is, they were employed or unemployed). Males were more likely than females to be participating in the labour force (65% compared with 52%), as were people in non-remote areas, compared with those in remote areas (61% and 49%, respectively). The report also found that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 15 years and over were significantly less likely than non-Indigenous people to be employed