A scheme to provide indigenous Australians with work skills and employment, the Community Development Employment Projects (CDEP) Scheme, has proved to be a valuable resource for many Councils. Under the Scheme, unemployed, indigenous Australians forego their entitlements to Social Security payments and instead are assisted to develop programs which provide skills for ongoing, unsubsidised employment.
Developing skills in housing construction, landscaping and road maintenance means participants can provide a trained workforce for a wide range of Council activities. In Brewarrina NSW the local Northern Star CDEP employs 104 people who undertake a number of services for Council. These include overseeing the collection and disposal of the township’s rubbish and the running of the Brewarrina Aged and Homeless Hostel.
Elsewhere in Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory, numerous awards have been won by the Julalikari Aboriginal Corporation which provides recycling and other services for the Town. The Northern Territory Keep Australia Beautiful Recycle Reuse Award for 1996 and the Australia Day Community Event Award for 1996 are just some of the Awards.
Community support activities undertaken by the Group include the Tennant Creek Town Council landscaping project, the Tennant Creek annual town clean up and Tennant Creek Expo.
The CDEP Scheme is administered by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission and has over 30,000 participants working in 268 projects across Australia. Apart from providing direct and contract services for Councils and other Government bodies, they operate other enterprises ranging from poultry farms through to brick making.
For further information contact Craig Dukes, telephone (02) 6289 4607.
