Although unemployment rates have fallen across the country, finding a job in Moree still remains an issue, particularly for Aboriginal people.
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In May, Australia’s unemployment rate dropped to 5.5 per cent, down from 5.7 per cent in April, thanks to an increase in 42,000 jobs, according to figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) last week.
While the unemployment rate is the lowest in four years, Aboriginal Employment Strategy manager Cathy Duncan said those figures are not reflective in Moree, particularly for Aboriginal people.
“ABS stats from 2015 show that only three in 10 Aboriginal people were employed and I think that’s more consistent in Moree,” she said.
“I would say around 30 to 40 per cent of the indigenous community is employed and the majority of those would be employed in Aboriginal organisations, specific businesses that work with indigenous people, or council.
“While the unemployment rate is going down, it’s not closing significantly for Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people.”
There’s the will to work but not the skill to work.
- Cathy Duncan, Aboriginal Employment Strategy manager
Ms Duncan said skills gaps and a lack of training and development opportunities in rural and regional Australia are two of the biggest factors for high unemployment rates for both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people.
“There’s the will to work but not the skill to work,” she said.
“There’s a lack of opportunities through apprenticeships and traineeships specifically for indigenous young people – that’s where they can get the skills to find work.”
The Aboriginal Employment Strategy has a number of programs in place to help Aboriginal people find work, including transitioning young people straight from school to work, and encouraging employers to take on school-based and full-time trainees.
The AES also has plans to help transition people who have never had a job into full-time employment by building their work ethics and providing mentoring and support.
Ms Duncan said the creation of jobs has to come from our local business community and while there are some employers in town who do offer traineeships and apprenticeships to indigenous people, there are many more who can step up and take the initiative to close the gap.
“We have major industries and organisations here that need to look at succession planning and training and development,” she said.
“If you take the time out to train and develop someone and build them into your organisation, that’s the way of creating sustainability. Someone you grow locally will become a vital part of the organisation into the future, rather than someone who walks straight into a job from out of town who is likely to stay for just a couple of years.”
Ms Duncan strongly believes that employment is the key to overcoming disadvantage and many of the social issues in the Moree community.
“We are caught up in the negative aspects of the indigenous community and don’t look at a positive way to make change, which is providing employment opportunities,” she said.
“We have high unemployment rates and high rates of people living below the poverty line, so if we create more opportunities in employment, we’d have a happy, healthy community and have people willing to take charge of their own destiny.”