Subjects: Remote Australia Employment Service (RAES)
HARRISON PEDERSEN, HOST: So, Senator, what can you tell me about this Remote Australia Employment Service?
MALARNDIRRI McCARTHY, MINISTER FOR INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS: This is a wonderful opportunity to see a new program roll out across Australia in the remote regions. The failed CDP program was a real problem in terms of just having dignity in the process and people feeling like they had a future. What I hope we can replace here is to give hope back to communities, that they do have a future through the Remote Australia Employment Service and this will enable people to get job ready in a way that can be exciting, use new initiatives and go on to real jobs.
HARRISON PEDERSEN: So, with this new service, how will it differ from the CDP program and what are some of the issues it’s looking to address?
MALARNDIRRI McCARTHY: RAES will differ very much from the previous CDP program because it starts with a strengths-based approach. It's also about co-design, working with communities, working with people, working with providers so that it is collaborative and that's really important when you want to improve people's skills and their ability to get into the job market. We know that there has to be that respect and that dignity in the workplace, in the environment of what they're trying to do. So RAES differs very much from the CDP and providers who have been successful in winning the tenders to provide these opportunities know that.
HARRISON PEDERSEN: For the 49 providers that have been selected for this RAES program, what would the assessment process like for them?
MALARNDIRRI McCARTHY: Well, as you can imagine, there were quite a lot of applicants, in fact, almost 200 applications for the 60 regions that we have across Australia and there will be some happy people and there will be some unhappy people, but what was important here was to find the right providers who could be able to support communities in terms of what they would like to do going forward. So, obviously they had to go through different kinds of grant obligations, as per the grant guidelines and that was up to the agency, the National Indigenous Australians Agency, to work through those guidelines and find the most appropriate providers and award them the contracts.
HARRISON PEDERSEN: And with the RAES program starting this week, what's your vision for its future? How would you like to see it expand?
MALARNDIRRI McCARTHY: Oh, my vision for First Nations people across Australia is to live long and fulfilling lives, to have dignity in work, to receive good pay with superannuation, long service leave, holiday pay, sick pay, and be able to look after their families, to rise above the poverty that we see with so many families across Australia. That's my vision.
HARRISON PEDERSEN: In what ways will RAES work with the Remote Jobs and Economic Development program?
MALARNDIRRI McCARTHY: Well, let's look at the need for inspiring people to believe that they have a good future, they have a strong future, and that they actually have the knowledge of what is necessary on the ground. Every community knows what they need and they differ from one community to the next. For example, at Galiwin’ku, they've set up a kitchen, the Miyalk Kitchen where Yolngu are able to cook for the contractors who come to build houses. That's done so well that they're not only just cooking lunches now, they're cooking dinners because it works for them. The same with other communities. They know what they need. They know what works and this is part of encouraging communities across Australia to do this and to work with those providers in a way that's respectful, but also collaborative.
HARRISON PEDERSEN: I’m wondering if you could speak more to your vision for these 40,000 people across 60 regions. How will this program benefit them day to day?
MALARNDIRRI McCARTHY: Well, for starters, it's about feeling good, about getting up in the morning and going to the local project that you may be working on, to be able to move on to a job that is coming up in that area. This RAES program, it complements the remote jobs strategy that I've also got out in our communities, where we're employing up to 3,000 people. We are still rolling that program out. So, it will complement the RAES program, because the RAES program is about getting people job ready, Harrison, so that if you need more support to be able to move into the workforce, this is what RAES is about and the remote jobs program is actually about creating the jobs.
HARRISON PEDERSEN: Was there anything you felt like adding?
MALARNDIRRI McCARTHY: I suppose if I could just say that the community projects, the concept of the community projects, Harrison, is just designed to be broad enough to allow local workforce development and social enterprise development. So, it can be a local project that has the potential for opportunities with job placements, workplace skills, and also development or enterprise development. So, I just want to encourage that in each of these 60 regions, it's up to the people to work with the providers and come up with those concepts that you know works for your community and for the people who live there.
HARRISON PEDERSEN: Thank you so much for your time Malarndirri.
MALARNDIRRI McCARTHY: And keep in touch, Harrison, thank you, you do a great job.
HARRISON PEDERSEN: Thank you.