Bold Plan for Jobs, Opportunity
and Prosperity
18,000 jobs over next 10 years
The first comprehensive training and employment strategy
for the Redfern-Waterloo area has been publicly released by the
Redfern-Waterloo Authority. The draft Employment and Enterprise Plan will support the creation of
18,000 jobs over the next decade.
The RWA’s
employment and enterprise development strategy aims to directly challenge the
area’s social and economic
disadvantage by fostering jobs, educational and life opportunities and a higher
standard of living. Wealth creation is seen as an antidote to welfare
dependency.
The draft Plan proposes a range of innovative strategies to
stimulate much-needed jobs growth. Most of the new jobs will be facilitated by
future commercial development on strategic sites identified by the RWA under
the first stage of its Built Environment Plan.
This will involve revitalising the Redfern retail precinct
by facilitating the redevelopment of Redfern Railway Station and the
surrounding area including Gibbons
Street, Regent
Street, Redfern
Street, North Eveleigh and the Australian Technology
Park.
“The redevelopment of Redfern Railway Station and the
surrounding area will help revitalise its rundown commercial and retail
precinct,” said Minister for Redfern-Waterloo Frank Sartor.
“These urban renewal strategies are expected to create
more than 400,000 square metres of employment space.”
“This will help create 18,000 new jobs to tackle the
area’s high unemployment and welfare
dependency” he said.
The draft Plan is on exhibition for public comment until 28
February 2006 on the RWA’s website
at www.redfernwaterloo.com.au
. A copy can also be posted to residents who call the RWA’s
office on 9202 9100 or who send an email request with postal details to redfernwaterloo@rwa.nsw.gov.au
.
Photo: The Redfern
retail precinct will be revitalised through the redevelopment of Redfern
Station and the surrounding areas including Gibbons, Regent and Redfern
Streets, North Eveleigh and the ATP
The Redfern-Waterloo Employment and Enterprise Plan – Delivering Jobs and
Training
The draft Employment and Enterprise Plan forms one part of the
Redfern-Waterloo Plan, which also includes plans for Human Services and the
Built Environment.
There are currently around 20,000 jobs in the Redfern
Waterloo area – more than double the resident workforce. Driving down local
unemployment therefore requires better training for job seekers.
The draft Employment and Enterprise Plan is the first
comprehensive training and employment strategy for the area, and aims to
deliver skilled job seekers to meet the specific employment needs of the market
and to build on future growth potential.
Young people and the Indigenous community in
Redfern-Waterloo face high levels of unemployment and non-involvement in the
labour force, and will be a priority.
The RWA’s
employment and enterprise strategy will initially focus on:
- Increasing
the supply of employment opportunities, particularly through commercial
and residential development; - Capitalising
on the Research/Biomedical Innovation Zone; - Improving
education and training including a dedicated vocational training centre at
North Eveleigh; - Strengthening
partnerships with local employers; - Industry
based employment strategies; - Employment
and enterprise strategies for Aboriginal people and youth; and - Supporting
local business.
The RWA’s ongoing
employment and enterprise strategy will:
- Build
on earlier strategies, such as the implementation of the Aboriginal
Participation Guidelines in Construction and the development of a
hospitality and training centre at North Eveleigh; - Target
the employment opportunities emerging in the information technology and
biotechnology sectors moving to ATP; - Develop
strategies for employment opportunities in the service industries; - Work
with the local community to ensure that the opportunities for Aboriginal people
in the area are maximised through university based cadetships; - Expand
cultural enterprises through means such as design production, and
realising export potential; - Strengthen
connections to universities to encourage local children to move into
tertiary education; and - Facilitate
the running of enterprise summer schools.
Photo: George Duncan
and Alana Varga at the North Eveleigh
Contemporary Performing Arts project, where they got their opportunity through
the RWA’s Jobs Compact. Alana is the
first female carpentry apprentice with the construction company St Hilliers.
Tell us what you think
Please remember that the deadline for community comment on
the draft Employment and Enterprise Plan is 5pm, 28 February 2006. Send your
comments to:
Redfern-Waterloo Authority,
Level 11, Tower 2, 1
Lawson Square,
Redfern NSW 2016
Mail: PO Box
3332 Redfern 2016
Email: redfernwaterloo@rwa.nsw.gov.au Website: www.redfernwaterloo.com.au Phone: 9202 9100
Fax: 9202 9111
North Eveleigh Training Centre to Double as Leader in
Indigenous Australian Cuisine
Under the draft Employment and Enterprise
Plan, the RWA has committed $350,000 in 2005-2006 for capital works to establish
a new dedicated vocational training centre at North
Eveleigh.
The Department of Education and Training will also provide
funding of $520,000 in the first year for the provision of training packages.
The Centre will initially provide on-site training in the
construction, hospitality, transport and information technology industries.
The hospitality section of the Centre will be a project in
culinary and cultural education. Leading Sydney
restaurateurs will team up with Aboriginal elders to set up a world-class
cross-cultural training and employment program in Indigenous Australian
cuisine. Raymond and Jennice Kersh, formerly of Edna’s
Table, will spearhead this program along with Aboriginal elder and caterer
Beryl Van-Oploo.
The hospitality training enterprise will be known as Yaama
Dhinawan (Welcome Emu in Aunty Beryl’s
Yuwaalaraay language).
The principals of Yaama Dhinawan have started meeting with
local organisations to make contact with people interested in training for a
career in the hospitality industry as well as briefing organisations about the
initiative.
Yaama Dhinawan can be contacted through the RWA office on
9202 9100.
Photo: Cooking up a
storm: Aboriginal elder and caterer Beryl Van-Oploo, Jennice and Raymond Kersh
formerly of Edna’s Table, Anita
Alphonsus, and Emmanuel Daniels.
Built Environment Plan for February Release
To coincide with the first anniversary of its
establishment, the RWA has completed drafting the Built Environment Plan (Stage
One), which is the third and final component of the Redfern-Waterloo Plan.
The draft Built Environment Plan is expected to be
considered by Cabinet shortly and should be placed on public exhibition in
February, for a community consultation period of two months.
It will propose a strategic planning framework to facilitate
revitalisation of Redfern-Waterloo and guide future development on a number of
strategic sites identified by the RWA under the first stage of urban renewal.
The underlying concept revolves around the creation of a Redfern town centre.
The intention is to provide a holistic response to
redevelopment opportunities, deliver sustainable outcomes and to support a
planning instrument which will provide a consolidated, coherent and consistent
planning approach to the strategic sites identified in the Redfern-Waterloo
area.
Cabinet Approves Human Services Plan
The RWA’s
Human Services Plan was given the green light by the NSW State
Cabinet on 13 December 2005 following the outcomes of the community
consultation process.
This is the first Plan of its type for the Redfern-Waterloo
area.
Phase One of the ten-year plan will focus on improving the
delivery of human services to children and families, young people and
Aboriginal people and includes:
- Providing
100 new childcare places; - Setting
up three youth services hubs; - Lifting
literacy and numeracy levels among local children; - Lifting
school attendance and retention rates; - Providing
job training opportunities for local young people; - Working
towards reducing the incidence of family violence; and - Bringing
back the Redfern Street Festival.
Implementation of the Human Services Plan has started. The
RWA is working with federal, state and local government to ensure the
priorities outlined in the Plan are implemented as quickly as possible.
A Youth Taskforce has been established to reform and improve
the delivery of services to young people. The reform process will be expanded
to other services operating in the area.
Examples of the Plan in action include:
- The
Midnight Basketball competition, sponsored by the RWA, involving local
young people aged 12 to 18 playing matches on Saturday nights between
7.30pm and midnight. The competition will be launched on 8 February. Its
aim is to keep young people active in sport and away from crime and
anti-social activities. - A
Street Drinking Taskforce set up by the RWA to develop specific
initiatives to reduce street drinking in Redfern and Waterloo. The RWA’s
aim is to reduce anti-social behaviour on local streets, improve public
amenity and develop realistic programs to reduce the negative health
impacts of alcohol. The Taskforce next meets in early February to identify
actions for speedy implementation.
The Plan will also be evaluated over coming years to ensure
there are real improvements to services delivered to our community.
Phase TWO of the Human Services Plan will be developed this
year and focus on services for older people, people with disabilities, homeless
people and migrant communities.
In the months ahead consultation will be undertaken with
residents, service providers, government and experts in the field to ensure the
Plan’s objectives are achieved and
that it delivers real improvements to services for our community.
Photo: The Human
Services Plan includes the creation of a Youth Taskforce to ensure the delivery
of services to young people. Above PCYC in Redfern.
Visit the RWA Website
The RWA’s new
website is up and running at www.redfernwaterloo.com.au.
The site will keep you informed about our activities and provide an opportunity
for community feedback.
Need Assistance?
For more information or to send us your feedback please
contact the Redfern-Waterloo Authority, Level 11, Tower 2, 1 Lawson Square,
Redfern Tel: (02) 9202 9100 Fax: (02) 9202 9111 Mail: PO Box 3332, Redfern NSW
2016 Email: redfernwaterloo@rwa.nsw.gov.au