The Albanese Labor Government is establishing a new remote employment service, to help job seekers in remote areas learn new skills, find pathways into work and strengthen communities.
More than 42,000 job seekers are expected to access the service, including people who are actively looking for work and those who require support to develop skills and become job ready.
Key features of the new remote employment service include:
- Increased investment in training and resources for providers to deliver higher quality, culturally safe services, tailored to remote job seekers.
- Pilots to test how existing job seeker assessment processes can be better supported, more accessible and culturally appropriate for remote job seekers.
- Supporting local and innovative approaches to building language, literacy and numeracy skills for job seekers in a small number of regions.
- Recognition of the value and importance of quality and tailored support for job seekers placed in employment.
The Albanese Government will invest $1.5 billion over four years into the new remote employment service to help improve employment outcomes, including Closing the Gap for First Nations people.
Up to 25 per cent of funding allocated to providers can be directed towards community projects, ensuring alignment with local aspirations and feedback.
The Albanese Government is committed to replacing the Community Development Program with real jobs, proper wages and decent conditions.
This includes the $707 million Remote Jobs and Economic Development Program (RJED) and the $1.5 billion for the new remote employment service.
The employment service will differ from the CDP by supporting providers to work collaboratively with job seekers and communities to understand their needs.
The design of the remote employment service has been informed by community consultation and government trials, which have been testing job creation approaches that support local priorities and enterprise development in CDP regions.
During two years of trials, community projects have seen almost 17,500 CDP participants and their communities benefit from opportunities such as paid work experience, mentoring, training incentives and the establishment of new community enterprises.
The new service design is flexible, to respond to further community and provider feedback during implementation.
A competitive grants process will open in early 2025 for interested organisations to apply for funding to deliver services within remote employment service regions (currently known as CDP regions).
For more information visit: www.niaa.gov.au/remote-services
Quotes attributable to Minister for Indigenous Australians, Senator Malarndirri McCarthy:
“The Albanese Government’s new remote employment service will help job seekers get job ready with the skills and training they need and connect them with the jobs that remote communities want.
“Time and time again, we’ve heard from remote communities that job seekers want better access to skills development, and employment service providers want opportunities for capacity building.
“Replacing the Community Development Program has always been about creating jobs that communities want, with proper wages and decent conditions, supported by quality skills, training and employment services.
“We know the old CDP program left First Nations people stuck in cycles of poverty and failed remote communities.
“The new remote employment service is about self-determination through economic and community development.”