Presentation by Dr Eva McRae-Williams to Project Reference Group, in Darwin, 22 October 2014.

1. CRC-REP Program 3 – Investing in People
Pathways to Employment Project
Dr Eva McRae-Williams

2. Pathways to Employment
Project Structure
5 Year Duration
Project initiation 2012
Completion December 2016
• Principal Research Leader (@ 0.5 FTE)
• One Honours Student, University of South Australia
• (completed 2013 - 1st Class)
• 1 x Vacation Student
• 1 x Vocational Scholarship
• Collaboration with the CRC-REP Education Systems Project

3. Research Questions
• How do Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people
who reside in (very) remote communities navigate their
way into meaningful livelihoods?
• What kinds of work might help to support sustainable
livelihood outcomes?
• What kinds of learning could support meaningful
livelihood agendas, aspirations and pathways?

4. Overview of Presentation
• Challenging assumptions through census analysis
• Are there no ‘real’ jobs in very remote Australia?
• Is education/training the ticket into employment?
• Case Study 1 – Microenterprise pathways
• Case Study 2 – Educator perceptions of pathways in the APY Lands
• Case Study 3 – Inmate learning and aspirations for employment
• Key themes emerging from cross case analyses
• Raising questions and possible future research directions

6. No ‘Real’ Jobs in Very Remote Australia?
Total number of jobs (place of enumeration): 106, 437
Indigenous
non-Indigenous
not stated

7. Industry of employment for non-Indigenous and Aboriginal workers, Very
Remote Australia, 2011. Source: (ABS, 2012) based on place of enumeration

8. Engagement in the Economy = Good
GO TO SCHOOL EVERYDAY
GET CERTIFICATE III OR ABOVE
EMPLOYMENT

9. Very Remote Employees
Without Qualification
Up to Cert II
Cert III & IV
Diploma +
Source ABS (2011) see Guenther and McRae-Williams (2014) for
breakdowns per industry

10. Key Questions
Are people choosing certain kinds of jobs for reasons
associated with cultural alignment and the local
legitimacy of certain professions?
What pathways into economic engagement foster rather
than fragment local identity and belonging?

11. Case Study 1
Microenterprise development as a
pathway to livelihood
Key Stakeholder: ENTERPRISE LEARNING PROJECTS
Duration: 2012 – continuing
Methodology: Participatory action research using a range
of ethnographic methods of inquiry

12. Case Study 1
Microenterprise development - a poverty alleviation strategy?
TRADITIONAL APPROACH
• Micro Finance programs
• Return on investment
• Feasibility and Business Plans
• Standardised Training (Cert
III/IV)
ALTERNATIVE APPROACH
• Tailored support
• Assessment of individual
needs
• Engagement with local markets
and contexts
• Recognition and development
of social and identity capital

13. ENTERPRISE LEARNING PROJECTS

14. Facilitation rather than ‘delivery’
[the] facilitator should not behave as an expert to whom the
[contributors] in the project look up to for advice. His or her role is
to ask action-oriented questions, encourage the group to explore
options and support them to explore all aspects of the project
(ELP Facilitator Manual)
…so it’s not about coming in with a top down – we’ve got this
great business idea for you. It’s like what do you want to do, how
do you want to do it, what are your ideas and drawing those out
slowly over time… (Facilitator Transcript 2, 2013)

15. Case Study 1
Explore
Enterprise Project Facilitation
Develop
Business incubation
Grow
Marketing support services
How do you support the development of enterprising
cultures not just enterprising Individuals?
How do you overcome the many infrastructure and
access limitations experienced by very remote
entrepreneurs?

16. Case Study 2
Economic participation pathways for
Anangu youth
Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands, South Australia
Key Stakeholder: Umuwa Trade Training Centre
Duration: 2012- continuing
Methodology: to date - 16 semi-structured interviews
(2013)

17. Case Study 2
“change the whole thinking of communities,
which is what has to happen”
“we want to change that worldview, which
is what we’re trying to do with this idea of
come to school, work hard, and you’ll get a
job”

18. Case Study 2
“Anangu can help Anangu …empowering them
to become good citizens within their
community…to be proud … who we are as a
person and who we stand for and who we speak
up for. Not for ourselves but for our people…”
“We can’t go work in another community…this is
our responsibility here, ours, our community, we
belong”

19. Case Study 2
Burton & Osborne (2014: pg) have asked,
Is it possible that an optimistic and hopeful
“imagined future” for Anangu youth looks
different to the “externally imagined” linear menu
on offer in the Piranpa [non-Indigenous]
education, training and transition to employment
context?

20. Case Study 3
Prison learning experiences and
employment aspirations of inmates
Key Stakeholder: Northern Territory Department of
Correctional Services
Duration: 2013- 2014 (completed)
Methodology: 10 semi-structured interviews

21. Case Study 3
Reflection as Learning
“Clear thinking”
Interactive Learning to navigate prison Culture
“…learning the ropes”
Values Derived from Work
“more easy to pass the time”
Prison as a vehicle for employment
“…it will make it better for me”

22. Case Study 3
Aspiring beyond Reality
“Make you want to leave grog when you get out”
“The pain keep bouncing back. The old people gone now.
We have to drink to cover that sorrow, to hide it. Abusing
our body the only way – and then you think nobody loves
us anymore and you can’t get out”

23. How do Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people
who reside in (very) remote communities navigate their
way into meaningful livelihoods?
Guenther et al. (2011: 9);
…creating opportunities for
employment requires more than
successful completion of a Certificate…
it requires a shift in identity so that the
trainees values become more closely
aligned to the workplace… We may at
first cringe at the thought of training as
a vehicle for identity change but that is
what we are indeed doing in training.

24. Investment in Belonging
Family, Community, Country
Learning Experiences
Voluntary & Negotiated
Honesty in unpacking the magic of
mainstream
Building positive cultural sense of self
Building decision making capabilities
Recognising interdependence
Fostering not fragmenting local identity
Economic Participation
Identity investment in work and the economy
Family and community investment in the legitimacy of employment or economic activity
Re-imaging beyond large industries and (old) industrial models of work activity
Systemic Barriers?
The Indigenous Pathways Industry
Dominated by non-Indigenous beneficiaries
Possessive investment in ignorance (Gilbey 2014)
Burden of ‘paper work’ - no time to hear (Osborne 2014)