The Australian Government has committed to replacing the Community Development Program (CDP) with a new Remote Jobs and Economic Development Program (RJED), developed in partnership with First Nations people. 

The intention of the new RJED program is to provide people in remote communities with meaningful jobs with fair pay and conditions. The RJED program will be the first stage of replacing CDP. The second stage will be a new remote employment service that will commence on 1 July 2025. The RJED program and employment service will work together to help close the gap in unemployment in remote communities.

To develop the best approach to replacing the CDP, targeted consultations have been undertaken in remote communities in two phases. This report summarises findings and recommendations from the second round of community consultations, undertaken in mid 2024. The majority of the meetings held were within remote communities. 

Recommendations

• The design and implementation of the program needs to fit the diverse and unique cultural environments of each community to enhance program relevance and community buy-in. 
• There is also a need for the program to look beyond the scope of economic development and consider social and wellbeing growth as a key metric. 
• The program needs to consider how it can support traditional cultural education and ceremonies practically within some of the job roles. 
• The program should leverage existing community relationships and support networks.
• There is a need to address underlying social and financial disadvantages in order to be able to support youth, women and other vulnerable groups. 
• There is a need to change the perception of work in communities, especially among young people.