The Employment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in Local Government: Issues, Benefits, and Ways Forward

Abstract

In Australia today, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people experience significant ongoing disadvantage around employment, education, health, housing, and social inclusion. Local government agencies and others often now have roles for Aboriginal people to work and deal with relevant issues. Ten people working, or formerly working, in Aboriginal-related roles in local government were interviewed about the issues and benefits of such roles. Themes to emerge included the importance of properly resourcing the positions, having wide-ranging Aboriginal employment policies, providing mentoring and support for Aboriginal workers, and continuing to build cultural awareness in councils. Many of those interviewed described cultural awareness training as valuable for councils, but also questioned the efficacy of the way they are commonly run. Implications for local government include the need to ensure that what is already known about the effective implementation of policies in organisations is being applied; for example, by making Aboriginal employment policies the responsibility of each work area.

Promoting perceived insider status of indigenous employees

“…Considering the importance given to trust and relationships, active recruitment is more efficient, as it involves local organizations, community liaison officers (sometimes called brokers) and benefits from word-of-mouth Facilitating work-life balance Organize family and community events valuing the bonds of indigenous employees with their extended family and larger social network Daly and Gebremedhin (2015), Haar and Brougham (2011), Haar et al (2012), Hunter and Hawke (2001), McRae-Williams and Gerritsen (2010) and Thiessen (2016) Accommodate indigenous employees in their practice of cultural activities Brereton and Parmenter (2008), Brougham and Haar (2012), Gibson and Klinck (2005), Haley and Fisher (2014), Haar and Brougham (2013) 2013, Rodon and Lévesque (2015) and Young and McDermott (1988) Establish a cultural center providing information on indigenous cultures and a culturally safe work environment Brereton and Parmenter (2008) and Russell (2013) Providing employment security Offer permanent jobs, as short-term contracts can generate stress and ungratefulness in Indigenous employees; respect the preference of some Indigenous employees to work sporadically to more easily pursue traditional activities on the land Table II. 620 CCSM 26,4 within the community, as was shown in Canada, USA, New Zealand and Australia (Day et al, 2004;Ewing et al, 2017;Haley and Fisher, 2014;Hunter and Gray, 2006;Jain et al, 2000;Maru and Davies, 2011;Rerden and Guerin, 2015;Russell, 2013;Thiessen, 2016). Local media, such as community radio stations, are also efficient (Haley and Fisher, 2014;Jain et al, 2000), and so are social media…”

“…Have a critical mass of Indigenous employees allows them to refer to fellow colleagues sharing a history and culture and to benefit from mutual support; it favors a feeling of pride for hired friends and family members improving their living conditions 2013Focus on hands-on rather than theoretical training, to better correspond to indigenous ways of learning Barnhardt (2005) Daly and Gebremedhin (2015), Rerden and Guerin (2015) and Thiessen (2016) Involve indigenous mentors or supervisors in dispute settlement Burgess and Dyer (2009) and Rerden and Guerin (2015) (continued ) Rerden and Guerin, 2015). Indigenous employees in Australia have stated they were proud when friends or family members became work colleagues and had jobs allowing them to improve their living conditions (Ewing et al, 2017).…”

“…Indigenous employees in Australia have stated they were proud when friends or family members became work colleagues and had jobs allowing them to improve their living conditions (Ewing et al, 2017). If a critical mass is not reached, the few indigenous employees can feel isolated (Rerden and Guerin, 2015). One reason that a critical mass of indigenous employees is seldom reached is that this workforce is disadvantaged by conventional recruitment processes requiring submission of a resume and passing job interviews (Ewing et al, 2017;Gray et al, 2012;Pearson and Daff, 2011).…”

“…To the contrary, attribution of repetitive or trivial tasks decreases interest toward work, and increases the risk of resigning (Mills and Clarke, 2009;Pearson and Daff, 2013;Rerden and Guerin, 2015). Task variety is also appreciated by indigenous employees in Australia (Ewing et al, 2017;Loxton et al, 2012;Rerden and Guerin, 2015). However, it is important 622 CCSM 26,4 not to overcharge employees so that they can have free time to engage in innovative behavior (Wang et al, 2017) and to achieve objectives (Guillaume et al, 2014).…”

“…Awareness programs about cultural diversity can increase respect, support and appreciation of the values held by employees from minority groups, therefore favoring well-being, satisfaction, commitment and work efficiency and reducing the risks of discriminatory situations (Chesley, 2016;Ferdman, 2014;Mor Barak, 1999Rynes and Rosen, 1995). Cultural awareness programs were shown to yield the same positive results in many indigenous contexts in Australia, USA and Canada (Brereton and Parmenter, 2008;Burgess and Dyer, 2009;Day et al, 2004;Ferdinand et al, 2014;Haley and Fisher, 2014;Mills and Clarke, 2009;Rerden and Guerin, 2015;Russell, 2013). However, to really be effective, awareness programs should allow for bidirectional learning where indigenous and nonindigenous employees learn about each other's reality (Crawley and Sinclair, 2003).…”