Aboriginal contractor the Indigenous Construction Resource Group has made the largest pledge by an indigenous company to the Australian Employment Covenant - promising to deliver 150 jobs for indigenous Australians.
The Australian Employment Covenant is an initiative of Andrew Forrest’s GenerationOne organisation, which is focused on ending the disparity between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians.
The organisation now has 343 employers committing to deliver more than 60,000 jobs to indigenous Australians across the country, with 17,300 of those already filled.
The ICRG has committed to filling its goal of 150 positions for indigenous workers within two years and indicated it would broaden that goal over time.
Chairman Clinton Wolf said the aspirations of the Australian Employment Covenant aligned with the contractor’s own goals.
“ICRG is committed to maximising the participation of Indigenous people on all its projects,” he said.
“We started up ICRG a number of years ago and we really struggled to get work, as we know Andrew (Forrest)’s been the champion for indigenous employment and basically until he came along no-one really cared.”
Nicola Forrest attended a signing ceremony on her husband’s behalf this morning and commended ICRG for the attention it paid to fostering education.
The contractor runs a ‘Little Stars’ scholarship program, which sponsors 20 indigenous school children in Port Hedland.
