Glebe key to Indigenous employment campaign

From its office on the corner of Parramatta and Glebe Point roads, the Aboriginal Employment Strategy (AES) is using Glebe as the hub of its strategy to increase Indigenous employment in a variety of industries. The organisation is focusing on increasing Indigenous participation in five key areas – hospitality, building and construction, retail, community services, and logistics.

General Manager of Operations, Tamara Murray, said the AES continued to go from strength to strength. “The five sectors we have identified…all offer significant opportunities for Indigenous people and I am confident we can deliver a strong and vibrant workforce,” she said. “This financial year we got 1350 job placements [across the country], which is absolutely fantastic in this economic environment.”

AES Chief Executive Officer Danny Lester said the key sectors of employment identified by the organisation offered excellent opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. “Employment is the largest part of public life and as such, is a powerful vehicle for social change,” he said. “Increasing Indigenous employment in Glebe can contribute directly to the Government’s agenda of closing the disadvantage gap as well as maintain a sustainable and productive economy.”

Ms Murray said the AES was currently working with 240 school-based job trainees, with a further 200 to be added come December. “They got to school four days a week, and work with a host partner – [it’s] career path thinking that we try to promote,” she said.

Ms Murray and Mr Lester met last week with a number of businesses in Glebe to discuss various strategies to increase Indigenous employment in the area, as part of a tour across regional and metropolitan Australia. According to Ms Murray, over the past twelve months the Glebe office has formed partnerships with businesses including Qantas, MG-My Gateway, EnergyAustralia and RailCorp.

Created in Moree in 1997, the AES has since expanded to nine offices across the country, plus four ‘satellite’ offices in Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Townsville.