The Community Development Programme (CDP) is an Australian Government employment and community development program serving more than 1,000 remote communities across Australia. These are typically small communities (more than three-quarters of which had a population of less than 50 people in 2011) and are often characterised by limited labour market opportunities and limited access to services.

Commencing on 1 July 2015, the CDP was designed to improve employment outcomes in remote communities by increasing participation in work-like activities, improving employability and increasing sustainable work transitions among program participants. 

This report draws on administrative data to assess the effectiveness of the CDP in increasing participation in work-like activities and improving employment outcomes over its first two years of operation. To better understand the broader views and possible contributing circumstances, fieldwork was also undertaken in eight remote communities. The fieldwork was undertaken by Winangali in partnership with Ipsos.

This evaluation also comprises two associated resources:

• The many pathways of the Community Development Programme: a community fieldwork report presenting community views on the CDP.
• An evaluation of the first two years of the Community Development Programme - Summary: a brief summary of the community fieldwork and administrative data evaluation reports.