New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council

Aboriginal Employment and Training Enterprise Community Engagement Project

The NSW Aboriginal Land Council is the representative body for Aboriginal people in New South Wales. NSWALC is committed to supporting economic independence for Aboriginal communities through improved access to training and employment opportunities.

In late 2019, NSWALC established a new Employment and Training Enterprise for Aboriginal people in NSW as an initiative to strengthen employment and economic development opportunities.

Cox Inall Ridgeway supported the NSWALC to undertake research and consultations with community and the Local Aboriginal Land Council (LALC) network regarding the proposed model for the Enterprise. Specifically, the project assessed the extent of support from community stakeholders, the willingness of the LALC network tosupport the Enterprise, and other barriers and perspectives on the proposed approach.

As a part of this process, Cox Inall Ridgeway conducted a thorough community engagement process involving face to face and phone interviews with 34 LALCs and 5 other Aboriginal organisations, forums in 5 regions and an online survey. The project captured a vast diversity of views on current barriers to employment across urban, regional and remote Aboriginal communities.