Photo Credit: Merr Watson / Women Who Drone.

Creating
employment parity with and for Indigenous Australians

Our mission is to create employment parity with and for Indigenous Australians, within one generation

True success will be achieved when Indigenous economic and social disparity ends; when Indigenous Australians are present and included in Australian workforces at all levels; when employers recognise and value Indigenous ways of doing, being and knowing; and when Indigenous Australians lead organisations and influence major business decisions. Until then, both Indigenous Australians and Australian workplaces are missing out.

Just 52 per cent of working age Indigenous Australians were in work in 2021, compared to 47 per cent in 2016. At this pace it will take many generations to achieve Indigenous employment parity.

WHY EMPLOYMENT IS KEY TO CREATING PARITY

We believe all Australians deserve to reach their potential through education, learning and training, and securing meaningful employment. Indigenous Australians have one of the longest records of workforce participation in the world, but they are disproportionately locked out of today’s workforce.

Indigenous economic empowerment delivers reciprocal benefits to Australia’s overall economy with Indigenous employees, customers and the local communities. For this to occur, Indigenous perspectives and voices must be genuinely embedded into decision making, employment program design and development.

Our work

We work to create employment parity by partnering with businesses, not-for-profit organisations, government, Indigenous communities, Indigenous entrepreneurs and angel investors. Each of our projects is measured by its impact towards achieving parity in a generation.

We do this by;

Building the capability of Indigenous Australians to secure sustainable careers.
Using the Indigenous Employment Index to guide non-Indigenous employers on best practice.
Empowering individuals by building a network of Indigenous entrepreneurs and investors.
Partnering with governments, industry and Indigenous leaders to drive change in employment policy.
Helping to reshape the Australian Indigenous employment system.
Building employer capability through the Indigenous Employment Network.
Supporting targeted grassroots partnerships.
Undertake timely and effective critique of the Australian Indigenous employment system, review international good practice and prepare a final Indigenous Employment Report with key recommendations for change

Dream Venture Masterclasses

The Dream Venture Masterclasses is a first of its kind program that is dedicated to equipping Indigenous Australians with the connections, capabilities and access to capital to become investor-ready.

Learn more