The announcement today that the Howard Government will
abolish Indigenous-specific employment services in urban areas is a backwards
step.
It also defies assurances by the Government that it was not
seeking to repeat history by simply cutting Indigenous services under the guise
of ‘mainstreaming’.
Everyone recognises the disadvantage faced by Indigenous
Australians, living in both rural and urban areas, particularly when it comes
to economic participation. The services to be cut recognise and attempt to
address the many causes that contribute to these problems.
Labor acknowledges that CDEP can be improved, but to simply
take away those services will deny vital social support for some of the most
marginalised and disadvantaged people in urban areas.
The Indigenous employment Centres, also on the chopping
board, enabled CDEPs to tap into Job Network incentive payment scheme while
still supporting culturally-appropriate service.
These cuts to services come despite growing rates of
unemployment amongst Indigenous Australians in urban areas.
Despite claims from the Howard Government that it is
“committed to maintaining the funding for indigenous-specific
programs”, we are again seeing indigenous services being abolished.
This policy-making approach embodies everything Labor wants
to avoid: it’s unilateral, ad hoc, ideological, and lacking a transparent
evidence-base.