Indigenous Workforce Participation at a Mining Operation in Northern Australia

The potential of the Australian minerals industry to generate considerable national revenue can be jeopardised in periods of economic growth by fostering a shortage of relevant educated and skilled personnel. Legal reforms of the 1990s, public pressure, and benefits by employing local Aboriginal peo...

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Main Authors: Pearson, Cecil, Daff, S.
Format: Journal Article
Published: National Institute of Labour Studies 2013
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/18685
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author Pearson, Cecil
Daff, S.
author_facet Pearson, Cecil
Daff, S.
author_sort Pearson, Cecil
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description The potential of the Australian minerals industry to generate considerable national revenue can be jeopardised in periods of economic growth by fostering a shortage of relevant educated and skilled personnel. Legal reforms of the 1990s, public pressure, and benefits by employing local Aboriginal people has driven the installation of work-integrated learning programs designed to reduce the skill shortage by increasing the employment rate of Indigenous people in the mining industry. This article reports five years of primary data to detail nationally accredited attainments and relevant job outcomes of an Indigenous education-vocation program that has delivered sustainable jobs in a substantive remote mining operation in Northern Australia. Identified barriers for applicants and vocational career choices that are framed by values and priorities held by regional Indigenous people are discussed to focus on a conclusion challenging the mining industry and the government to disclose how Indigenous training schemes are ameliorating the skills gap in the Australian mining industry.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-186852017-03-08T13:31:43Z Indigenous Workforce Participation at a Mining Operation in Northern Australia Pearson, Cecil Daff, S. Skill shortage Work based learning Remote Career choice Labour force participation Regional Attainment Skill development Barrier The potential of the Australian minerals industry to generate considerable national revenue can be jeopardised in periods of economic growth by fostering a shortage of relevant educated and skilled personnel. Legal reforms of the 1990s, public pressure, and benefits by employing local Aboriginal people has driven the installation of work-integrated learning programs designed to reduce the skill shortage by increasing the employment rate of Indigenous people in the mining industry. This article reports five years of primary data to detail nationally accredited attainments and relevant job outcomes of an Indigenous education-vocation program that has delivered sustainable jobs in a substantive remote mining operation in Northern Australia. Identified barriers for applicants and vocational career choices that are framed by values and priorities held by regional Indigenous people are discussed to focus on a conclusion challenging the mining industry and the government to disclose how Indigenous training schemes are ameliorating the skills gap in the Australian mining industry. 2013 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/18685 National Institute of Labour Studies fulltext
spellingShingle Skill shortage
Work based learning
Remote
Career choice
Labour force participation
Regional
Attainment
Skill development
Barrier
Pearson, Cecil
Daff, S.
Indigenous Workforce Participation at a Mining Operation in Northern Australia
title Indigenous Workforce Participation at a Mining Operation in Northern Australia
title_full Indigenous Workforce Participation at a Mining Operation in Northern Australia
title_fullStr Indigenous Workforce Participation at a Mining Operation in Northern Australia
title_full_unstemmed Indigenous Workforce Participation at a Mining Operation in Northern Australia
title_short Indigenous Workforce Participation at a Mining Operation in Northern Australia
title_sort indigenous workforce participation at a mining operation in northern australia
topic Skill shortage
Work based learning
Remote
Career choice
Labour force participation
Regional
Attainment
Skill development
Barrier
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/18685