Indigenous employment data still relies on the 2021 census
Indigenous employment for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 25 to 64 rose to 55.7% in 2021, up from 51% in 2016, but researchers say the five-year-old figures do not show what is happening now.
The latest Closing the Gap data projects Australia is on track to meet the National Agreement on Closing the Gap target of 62% by 2031. The Centre for Indigenous People and Work said that projection is based on the 2021 census and does not account for changes since then.
CIPW Director Professor Nareen Young said, “Any increase in employment numbers for our people is a good one, but this data is only captured every 5 years, and the most recent set is about to turn 5 years old. The projection does not account for the multitude of factors impacting employment for Indigenous people since 2021.”
Young said those factors included rising levels of racism towards Indigenous people, the unsuccessful Voice referendum, questions over the value of Reconciliation Action Plans, and a shift from Coalition-era work-for-the-dole programmes to Labor schemes that pay wages and superannuation.
Workplace racism and retention
Young also said the figures miss another measure: how long people stay in jobs. “Without tracking retention, they’re not tracking the quality of employment, which has huge implications for the trajectory of participation over time,” she said.
CIPW’s Gari Yala 2 survey of more than 1,100 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workers found nearly 60% experienced racism in the workplace. It also found 25% said their workplace was culturally unsafe, while 35% said it was only moderately safe.
Workers in culturally unsafe workplaces were three times more likely to be looking for a new job within the next year than those in culturally safe workplaces, at 35% compared with 11%. Just 21% of workplaces had both anti-racism training and a complaints procedure in place.
The data also points to weaker progress for younger people. Nationally, 58% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 15 to 24 were fully engaged in employment, education or training in 2021, up from 57.2% in 2016, but still short of the 67% target for 2031 and not projected to be met.
CIPW Assistant Director Josh Gilbert said, “Most mainstream intake programmes are built around creating identified positions for Indigenous workers, but our research suggests this isn’t what every young person wants.”
Related Articles
Related: Teen super gap leaves 530,000
