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Analysis of Report

Statewide Analysis

The Report indicates that there are a large number of Koories who are participating in the TAFE sector. This is clearly becoming the favoured option, within the Koorie community, for the attainment of education on the one hand as the preferred pathway to employment.

Of a total working age population in Victoria of 12,430 Koories the following is a breakdown of participation in education by type in 1996:

• 294 students enrolled in VCE;
• 476 enrolled in Years 9 and 10;
• 25 enrolled in Catholic Education Commission Years 9 and 10;
• 3405 participated in TAFE;
• 529 participated in Higher Education.

The Employment Profile in 1996 was as follows:

• 12,430 are of working age;
• 5439 participated in the workforce, excluding those on the Community Development Employment Program (CDEP);
• 1057 Koories worked within the Koorie community services sector and 571 of these were attached to Government Departments;
• 355 CDEP places in Victoria;
• the overall employment rate with the Koorie community was 44%.

In 1996-1997, the Commonwealth Government announced a 10% budget cut across all program areas within the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission. The effect of this was that a number of Victorian Aboriginal organisations were closed and many hundreds of Aboriginal people who worked within those organisations are now unemployed. Therefore, the figures relating to the employment rate of Aboriginal people within Victoria have decreased markedly post the data collection contained in this report.

Regional Analysis

The employment profile is as follows:

• The employment rates of Koories in VAEAI's East and Central Gippsland and Murray Valley and Loddon Campaspe regions are the lowest in the State, representing a rate of 25% and 33% participation in the workforce respectively.
• The regions, Goulburn Valley, South Western and Wimmera have an employment rate of 41% on average.
• The Melbourne Metropolitan region has 51% of Koories participating in the workforce.

The following is a breakdown of the participation rates in education at the regional level:

• VAEAI's Murray Valley and Loddon Campaspe region has the highest participation of Koories in TAFE, at 48%.
• East and Central Gippsland, Wimmera and South Western have a TAFE participation rate of 29%.
• Goulburn Valley is slightly lower at 24.3%.
• Melbourne Metropolitan is the lowest of all at 21.7%.

There are a number of key points to be made on the basis of the information contained in this report. The first being, that the Regions experiencing the highest unemployment rates are those where the participation rate across education and training sectors is the highest.

While this report demonstrates that there is a significant number of Koories who are undertaking further education and participating in the education sector, this study indicates that there is much to learn by looking critically and analysing carefully, the nature of this participation and the resulting outcomes in terms of employment.

As at 1996 there were 795 Koorie students in Years 9 through to VCE, as against 3405 who were participating in TAFE and 529 in higher education. Over a number of years concern has been expressed, within VAEAI at the low numbers of Koories attending Years 9 through to VCE. However, the introduction of Koorie Open Door Education and other significant strategies, which have been negotiated with Government, have resulted in this issue being addressed. It is clear that the rate of Koories who are attending primary and secondary school is increasing.

It is clear that Victoria follows the national pattern in relation to Aboriginal participation in the education sector, being that Aboriginal people are choosing, in large numbers, TAFE as a preferred pathway to education and to employment.

It would appear, on the basis of this study, that is a mismatch between large and growing numbers of program participation in education and low employment gain. Indeed there is a marked lag in Aboriginal employment.

Of the on average 44% Koories in Victoria who participate in the workforce, 20% are working within Koorie organisations and half of these (10%) are attached to Government Departments.

As previously stated the ATSIC Budget cuts were introduced after the data for this report was collected and hence there will be a significant impact on the employment figures referred to in this study.

Given the above, there is a very real and urgent need to focus on the employment outcomes and potential employment outcomes of the education and training courses which are being undertaken.

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