Education and Employment Issues for Indigenous Australians in Remote Regions

Abstract

Despite government policy and initiatives for remote areas, indigenous people are amongst the most disadvantaged and do exhibit higher levels of unemployment in the Australian community. A number of commentators have suggested that better educational opportunities for this minority group will considerably improve their socio-economic status and employment opportunities. This myth is exposed in this article, which reports evidence from an educational–vocational programme for Yolngu who are the indigenous people of East Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia. The Arnhem Learning Education and Regional Training (ALERT) programme is conducted, mainly at Nhunlunbuy, in partnership with Rio Tinto Alcan and the Charles Darwin University, with the primary objective of preparing indigenous people for mainstream sustainable jobs. The presented content suggests that while higher educational status is important, this sole strategy is unlikely to comprehensively address outstanding issues that are confronting indigenous people and their labour market concerns.

Demographic and economic impact of mining on remote communities in Australia

“…Contrary to predictions, non-mining SLAs did not lose populations to mining SLAs. The small Indigenous populations in mining SLAs confirm their displacement , despite efforts by some mining companies to accommodate them (Pearson and Daff, 2010). With respect to industry structure, the results showed a bigger and growing construction sector, a smaller and contracting social services sector and a smaller but stable primary sector for mining SLAs compared to non-mining SLAs.…”

Cultural Values, Deep Mining Operations and the Use of Surplus Groundwater for Towns, Landscapes and Jobs

“…Jackson and Barber (2015) also find that Aboriginal Australians may be excluded from mining-related growth due to rapid population growth coupled with low educational outcomes. Other research has shown the insufficiency of only providing training for Indigenous populations (Pearson and Daff, 2010;Jackson and Barber, 2015).…”

Global Review of Indigenous Education: Issues of Identity, Culture, and Language

“…Australians have a long history of suffering discrimination, including in the formal education system (Reynolds 1989;Pearson 1994;Orr 1999;Wenitong et al 2007;Gray and Beresford 2008;Pearson and Daff 2010). After being granted citizenship by the government in 1967, indigenous Australians participated in multiple government education integration programs (Biermann 2008;Orr 1999).…”