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Article

1 Sep 2018

Author:
Zoe Staines, The Conversation

Australia: Program to close employment gap between indigenous & non-indigenous Australians requires robust evaluation

"The Indigenous employment gap is widening and we don't know how to fix it", 29 August 2018

The Closing the Gap framework sought to halve the employment gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians...

But the employment target expired unmet this year.

In remote parts of Australia, the gap has actually widened since 2011.

...Before the new program starts in 2019...need more evidence of what does and doesn’t work.

There has been no robust evaluation of the last two employment programs.

...A new program is planned to replace the Community Development Programme.... Ideally, the evaluation findings would have been available to inform ongoing consultation.

...Rigorous, well designed evaluation is important in informing future policy-making, and developing a stronger evidence base for strategies that hold true potential for closing the remote employment gap. Monitoring and evaluation are also important for ensuring programs intended to reduce disadvantage do not, instead, exacerbate it.