Indigenous Employment Issues - Index
- About the Directorate of Indigenous Affairs
- Defence Reconciliation Action Plan 2010-2014
- Community Engagement
- Indigenous Youth Connections Programs
- ADF Recruitment
- APS Recruitment
- Indigenous Retention Initiatives
- Self-Identification
- Policy/ Reference Materials
- Useful links
- Contact us
The Directorate of Indigenous Affairs (IA) was established in July 2008 to provide a single point of contact for Defence Indigenous matters, with the responsibility for the provision of advice internally and externally, and oversight of the implementation of the Defence Reconciliation Action Plan across Defence. IA is located within the Fairness Resolution (FR) Branch and will:
- Develop and manage Defence Indigenous Policy in line with the Commonwealth’s Indigenous agenda;
- Manage and report on the DRAP implementation;
- Influence internal and external stakeholders to assist in DRAP implementation;
- Engage with indigenous communities, to establish Defence as trusted employer of Indigenous Australians;
- Ensure that Indigenous ADF and APS members have effective strong support mechanisms in place;
- Keep Ministerial staff suitably engaged in Defence Indigenous affairs; and
- Provide advice to the Defence Senior Leadership Group on Indigenous matters.
Defence Reconciliation Action Plan 2010-2014
The Directorate of Indigenous Affairs responds to the actions in the Defence Reconciliation Action Plan (DRAP) under the themes: Changing Perceptions, Specialised Pathways to Employment and On-going Support.
Aligned to the Government’s Closing the Gap initiative, the DRAP is implemented under five programs:
- Community Engagement
- Indigenous Youth Connections Program
- ADF Indigenous Recruitment Program
- APS Indigenous Recruitment Program
- Indigenous Retention Program
The Community Engagement Program works with Indigenous communities and organisations, attending careers events and providing briefings to elders and families with an aim to encouraging Indigenous Australians to consider Defence as a trusted employer and a positive career choice.
Navy, Army and Air Force Community Engagement Officer positions have been established to shape Indigenous stakeholders to create an improved environment for the conduct of future recruiting and retention activities. Shaping is achieved through establishing meaningful relationships, developing opportunities and changing or reinforcing perceptions.
- Apology Anniversary, 13 February
- ANZAC Day, 25 April
- Sorry Day, 26 May
- Reconciliation Week, 27 May - 3 June 2010
- NAIDOC Week, 4 -11 July 2010
- Remembrance Day, 11 November
The Indigenous Youth Connections Program aims to engage school-aged Indigenous youth early enough to positively influence their consideration of Defence as a real career option. It aims to disassemble barriers to recruitment caused in the main by cultural and geographical issues.
This program;
- Aligns Defence with existing programs within the community (public and private sector) that already engage Indigenous youth in activities that promote self esteem, develop useful skills and break the cycle of youth unemployment. Such programs include but are not limited to:
- Dare to Lead
- Clontarf Foundation
- Yalari
- Boystown
- PASS Australia
- Careers Expos such as the Future Origin Greats (FOGS)
- Promotes existing Defence programs applicable to youth within the Indigenous community such as the Defence Trades Scholarship and the Work Experience Program.
- Develops Defence-specific programs for Indigenous youth. This includes
- A school-links programme which aims to provide a regular and familiar Indigenous serving presence as the link between Defence and schools that have a high Indigenous population; and
- ADF Indigenous Scholarships for identified young Indigenous students in Years 10, 11 and 12 at a selected boarding college, public school, or technical college that aims to cover any gaps in the existing suite of Australian scholarships. It includes assistance to complete school; encouragement to join the ADF Cadets while studying; ongoing mentoring by local ADF members; ADF work experience opportunities during semester breaks; and access to Defence Preparation Programs.
- Conducts events with a Defence focus for Indigenous youth. This has included base visits and a national Indigenous Trades Tour and Officer Careers Tour.
- Provides a mentoring program for Indigenous students expressing an interest in a Defence career.
The ADF Indigenous Recruitment Program creates the pathways to employment through:
- The Indigenous Pre Recruitment Course (IPRC), an eight week course that prepares the participants to successfully complete the Defence recruiting process and recruit school through the provision of numeracy and literacy training, fitness, nutrition, physical fitness and military knowledge and skills.
- The Defence Indigenous Development Program (DIDP), a seven month course that provides the opportunity for Indigenous Australians from remote communities in Northern Australia to acquire life skills that are transferable back to their own communities as well as providing opportunities for employment in Defence and the private sector. The program provides instruction in military skills, language, literacy and numeracy, personal financial management, nutrition, physical fitness and resilience.
- The Indigenous Employment Development Course (IEDC), a condensed course based on the Defence Indigenous Development Program, delivered to Indigenous youth from regional centres in Australia.
The APS Indigenous Recruitment Program is aligned to the Australian Public Service Commission’s Pathways Programs for Indigenous Australians. The Program includes traineeships, cadetships, graduate programs and commencing in 2010 Defence will participate in the Indigenous Australian Government Development Program which offers a placement in the Community Capacity stream, and the Student Internship Program.
- APSC Indigenous Traineeships – a Finance trainee in the Air Warfare Destroyer team in Adelaide in late October 2010 and a Warehousing and Storage traineeship at the Joint Logistics Unit in Darwin to commence in November 2010.
- Indigenous Australian Government Development Program (IAGDP) coordinated by DEEWR -Three IAGDP trainees have been employed at the APS 3 level while studying Community Capacity or Contract Management, and will be advanced to an APS 4 upon completion in 2011.
- Indigenous Cadets through the APSC Pathways Program has five Cadets currently progressing towards completing their University studies in a range of degrees. Four other Cadets completed their Cadetships with Defence in 2009 and 2010.
- The Defence Science Indigenous Cadetship (formerly the Defence Science Indigenous Scholarship - Undergraduate) is in its third year, with two Cadets studying Science at Macquarie University and recruitment for the third Cadet underway.
Resources
The Indigenous Retention Program provides ongoing support for Indigenous serving members of the ADF and employees of the APS in Defence. Defence has an active Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Network operating across Australia and this year will be working on a mentoring and advocacy capability to support Indigenous members and their supervisors in managing cultural issues that arise in the workplace. The highlight of this program is the annual ATSI Network Conference held in NAIDOC week.
The 2010 Defence ATSI Network Conferences was held at HMAS Cerberus, with 68 Indigenous attendees from all three Services and APS.
In order to meet the Federal Government's Closing the Gap Agenda and the CDF and Secretary’s commitment to achieve 2.7% Indigenous representation in Defence by 2015, we ask all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff in the Department of Defence to self-identify. Accurate self-identification will highlight the truly diverse nature of Defence and ensure the provision of the most effective policies, programs, strategies and initiatives for Indigenous Defence personnel.
If you choose to self-identify, you do not need to provide any evidence of your Indigenous heritage. All Defence needs to know is whether you identify as Indigenous. The exception is where you apply for a job or promotion into an Identified Position (which means that position is reserved for Indigenous Australians): in this case you will be required to provide proof that you meet the criteria of descent, self-identification, and recognition by an Indigenous community.
Declaring Indigenous heritage is entirely voluntary, however, doing so helps us to:
- collect accurate data for identifying trends—good and bad—in Indigenous recruitment and retention issues
- use the information as evidence for continuing a range of programs and initiatives (or developing new ones) that support Indigenous Defence personnel.
Self-identification can be made through Group HR, PMKeyS Self –Service or submitting the form AD 150 ADF Personal Data to the Orderly Room or Personnel Administration Centre.
Data held on PMKeyS is aggregated and transferred to the Human Resource Metric System (HRMeS). HRMeS reports do not identify individual employees. Remember: this is your personal information and will be treated confidentially according to the Privacy Act 1988.
- Defence Reconciliation Action Plan 2010-2014
- Defence Reconciliation Action Plan Report 2007-2009
- ADF Indigenous Employment Strategy 2007-2017
- Indigenous Jobs Overview – www.defencejobs.gov.au
- Army Indigenous Strategy Website
- Reconciliation Australia
Do you want to provide comment on Indigenous issues in Defence?
We welcome feedback on all aspects of Indigenous Affairs in Defence. All information is treated as in-confidence and will be considered when determining the future support programs and direction of the Directorate.
Please contact us at indigenous.affairs@defence.gov.au
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