ROBERT G HAEBICH 6/20-22 O'Connell Ave. Matraville 2036
B.A. L.L.B. (Syd). M.A.I.D.C. Ph: 0403 735 156
ABN: 64288048694 Email:
12 August 2014
The Manager,
Exposure Draft for Employment Services 2015 2020
Department of Employment
GPO Box 9880
Canberra ACT. 2601
Dear Manager,
Re: Exposure Draft for Employment Services 2015-0202 observations
Background
I am a director and the secretary of Indigenous Directions and Development Limited (IDD) previously named South East Queensland CDEP Limited which was incorporated in 2003/2004. I have been a director for almost all of the period since incorporation and was originally invited on to the Board by the then DEWR which established the company via a departmental initiative. The company has served the large Aboriginal population in SE-Queensland and to a lesser extent those residing across the state. IDD has provided a variety of recruitment, mentoring, capacity building services and is a registered training organisation. IDD conducts a driving school and has assisted in the establishment and hosting of new Aboriginal businesses. The company is Aboriginal owned , its board has a majority of Aboriginal directors, has Aboriginal management and staff and has never had a qualified audit. Because of mainstreaming of assistance to unemployed Aboriginal people, IDD has not received any government contract recently. However the company has continued to assist free of fees those persons who have difficulty engaging or managing the mainstreamed Job Service Australia Providers (JSA) system and lack of suitable mentoring and dispute resolution post employment.
All directors whether academic, experienced in management ,training and capacity building are well known and respected persons in the Aboriginal community and who are known to have been committed long term to the rights and improvement of the quality of life of Aboriginal people. They are
persons who have particular experience of the problems facing the Aboriginal unemployed ,under employed and of the very low glass ceiling limiting many of them.
IDD has co-operated with the department where it has sought to address deficiencies in the current programs and has met with and made submissions with a view to improving the number and quality of outcomes and a fairer financial relationship with JSA organisations.
Samples of just some of the submissions made over time are:
- IDD's recent submission to the Prime Minister's Indigenous Advisory Council,
- IDD submission 18/04/13 to the Indigenous Employment Team at DEEWR
- IDD submission 28/05/09 to the Senate Standing Committee.
As for myself, I am a lawyer who has practiced Native Title , Human Rights and Heritage Law among other areas of experience. I conducted the very first Native Title matter before the tribunal and represented the complainants to HREOC in the Palm Is unequal wages case and in the Townsville Park people case. I have been a senior lawyer with the Aboriginal Legal Service of Western Australia Inc . I have also held the the following positions in the Indigenous Land Corporation: acting -General manager, Director of Capacity Building, Director of Policy and Strategic Development, Director of Ethics, Director Practice and Procedure and earlier Divisional Manager for Queensland, NSW, ACT and the Torres Strait and for Western Australia.
From this experience I have strongly concluded that the cumulative effect of colonisation, racial discrimination both intended and unintended, the consequential poverty over generations together with aspects of Aboriginal culture and priorities, necessitates specialised Aboriginal driven programs.
Response to Exposure Draft
The draft effectively retains the pivotal role of the JSA as a mainstream solution to recruitment of the unemployed. The change as outlined in the draft is that the intention is that the program will be outcome driven. To date the JSA system has been substantially process driven and primarily by way of matching. Consequently there is a n unfortunate degree of churning which is both expensive and is more rewarding for the JSA organisations. Than the more desirable outcome of long term employment whether with the same or other employers.
Commendably,the draft recognises the need for special measures to address the problems facing the Aboriginal unemployed. However , the program retains the fundamental flaw that these special measures are not part of the mainstreamed services, will be provided through a separatist program delivered in many if not most instances by non-Aboriginal people who , despite their best endeavors, will be very challenged. It is unclear why the Department is committed to what must at best be processing Aboriginal clients through the special measures program, when there ate experienced established organisations able and willing to produce the best outcomes from specialist programs.
In the instance of SE Queensland, there is a large Aboriginal population which justifies an Aboriginal Employment Provider in its own right . Certainly, the program offers the opportunity to partner with a non- Aboriginal organisation, but with the numbers and the existence of an established and experienced organisation such as IDD, it is surely better to establish a specialist organisation in its own right.
The work for the dole providers is a commendable innovation. It has the very substantial prospect of delivering outcomes far more that the previous process driven JSA approach. It is here that the IDD could well make a really vital contribution as it is at the work for the dole level that many of the problems for both non-Indigenous and Indigenous unemployed will need to be addressed , in particular with category c clients. There is at this level in particular a very real need for sensitivity in identifying issues, developing trust , cultural awareness, support networks, direction, and post employment, mentoring , mediation, facilitation, feed back, and career objectives. The department has recognised this but not understood the need for that encouragement, support and understanding that only an Aboriginal focused organisation can give.
Why isolate Aboriginal clients to special treatment foreign to the mainstream environment? Even a partnership structure does not overcome the problem that the mainstreamed treatment of Aboriginal people causes them to be perceived differently whereas the fact is that the issues need a specialist approach.
To date Aboriginal organisations have propped up the current JSA focused system. It has been inappropriate that organisations such as IDD have done so without recompense for the good of unemployed persons who could not handle the process.
That the new program is determinedly outcome driven is commendable. However I strongly submit that best practice and optimal outcomes would be achieved by adjusting the draft to permit specialist Aboriginal Employment Providers and Work for the Dole Co-ordinators where there are significant Aboriginal populations such as SE-Queensland and especially where there are stable, established organisations with the necessary expertise and commitment. After all IDD was established by DEWR some ten (10) years ago for the very purpose of addressing recruitment and unemployment issues.
I am happy to address any issues you may wish to raise with me.
Yours faithfully
R G Haebich
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