Abstract The end of the very long-standing Community Development Employment Projects (CDEP) scheme in 2015 marked a critical juncture in Australian Indigenous policy history. For more than 30 years, CDEP had been among the biggest and most influential programs in the Indigenous affairs portfolio, employing many thousands of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. More...

This Topical Issue critically analyses the use of statistics on Indigenous jobs by Andrew (Twiggy) Forrest and the Australian Government. Mining magnate Andrew Forrest’s May 2 address to the National Press Club signalled another war of words with the Gillard Government, this time over his plan for Indigenous jobs. Forrest used the occasion to criticise...

This report presents the results of a first stage assessment of the impacts of recent changes to the Community Development Employment Projects (CDEP) scheme on the Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands. It draws on interviews and discussions with 15 Aṉangu (Aboriginal) people from the APY Lands as well as staff from Bungala Aboriginal Corporation and...

The Australian Employment Covenant (AEC) was launched on 30 October 2008 with the bold goal of creating 50,000 new jobs for Indigenous Australians within two years. At the end of this ambitious timeframe, the scheme has succeeded in securing more than 20,000 job pledges from employers. This is a commendable achievement, but estimates put the...

This paper focuses on proposed changes to the Social Security Act 1991 that would facilitate changes to the Community Development Employment Projects (CDEP) scheme, and examines the serious potential consequences of abolishing CDEP as currently formulated in non-remote areas by July 2009 and remote areas by July 2011. This paper was prepared as a submission...