A partnership between Conneq and recently launched recruiter First People is one of the latest examples of the trend towards business involvement in the indigenous community in WA.
FIRST People, a joint venture between Indigenous Work Ready and national staffing group AWX, specialises in helping unemployed indigenous people join the workforce through training and mentoring.
Starting this month, six recruits will begin work as qualified scaffolders with engineering and construction contractor Conneq.
Conneq state manager Daryl Smith said the employment program benefited both businesses and individuals, and tapped into a large source of local labour.
“At the moment there are companies going out to get employees on visas,” he said. “We’re saying there’s a resource that’s right at your doorstep, and they’re willing, they just need some training to get work-ready.”
Mr Smith said while the work programs addressed staffing needs, they also drove to much larger social concerns.
“It still makes good business sense, but lack of manpower is not a driver for Conneq,” Mr Smith said.
“It’s a corporate responsibility and a social responsibility to have greater indigenous numbers among our employees.”
He said while employment programs had significant benefits for all parties, on-site safety was one of the greatest challenges in using new workers with little experience.
“That’s one of our risks at the moment,” Mr Smith said.
“Ensuring safety on-site is paramount to the success of indigenous involvement.”
Australian Employment Covenant national director Matthew O’Sullivan said skills shortages had been part of the driving force behind recent indigenous employment programs, but the initiatives had much broader goals.
Earlier this month the AEC announced it had succeeded in securing 30,000 job commitments for indigenous workers, and that it was on track to achieve its goal of 50,000 commitments by the end of June.
“In my opinion [skills shortages] are certainly a big driver, but companies need to have a longer-term view of it,” Mr O’Sullivan said.
“What the programs are about is developing a pathway for people to actually develop a career. That might take four or five years.”
Outside of staffing concerns, he said, indigenous work programs helped companies win government contracts.
Under the federal government’s Indigenous Opportunities Policy, from July 1 tenders for government contracts over $5 million ($6 million for construction projects) in regions with significant indigenous populations will need approved plans for using indigenous suppliers and for employing and training local indigenous people.
“It’s becoming part of that business imperative,” Mr O’Sullivan said.
“Companies are having to prove an indigenous employment record in being able to be awarded tenders through government.”
He said work programs also helped smaller community businesses by injecting money into local economies.
“The feedback we’ve been having is that local shops, and the economic activity within communities has been boosted,” Mr O’Sullivan said.
Perth-based Georgiou Group has stepped up its engagement with indigenous Australians, recently becoming the first construction company in the country to develop a reconciliation action plan (RAP).
General manager corporate services John Galvin, who drew up the RAP, said it involved a broad range of indigenous involvement initiatives that went beyond employment plans, including staff cultural awareness, training and sponsorship opportunities.
He said the indigenous initiatives were still relatively unknown in the industry.
“I think it’s a relatively new approach and a new process, a lot of companies aren’t even aware of it,” Mr Galvin said.
He said engagement with the indigenous community was something people were genuinely interested in, and the ability of the initiatives to draw employees together for a common cause was good for the company.
“It’s been really interesting to see how enthusiastic our staff and employees have got about this. From a company cohesion point of view, it really is quite important,” he said.
Mr Galvin also agreed engaging the indigenous community was beneficial for doing larger business deals.
“Without a doubt, in dealing with some of the more sophisticated clients, these are the sort of things they’d like to see,” Mr Galvin said. About 30 Australian businesses, as well as numerous government and community agencies, have established RAPs, according to data on the website www.reconciliation.org.au.
The businesses include corporate titans such as BHP Billiton, Wesfarmers and Woodside, which will soon be joined by Rio Tinto, law firms including Allens Arthur Robinson, Clayton Utz and Lavan Legal, the four major banks, accounting firms KPMG and PwC, and consulting groups such as Parsons Brinckerhoff and SKM.
The nearest peer to Georgiou is contractor and project manager Transfield Services, which recently announced the employment of 19 indigenous workers in South Australia and NSW.
“These new positions are real jobs, rather than forecasts or aims,” Transfield Services chief executive Australia Bruce James said.
“They are a further illustration that our reconciliation action plan is providing measurable outcomes for indigenous Australians, rather than just statements of intention.”
Transfield aims to have indigenous Australians represent 4 per cent of its Australian workforce by 2013.
