Municipal Association of Victoria Koories in Council

MAV Aboriginal Employment Project Leadership MAV Board endorsed MAV developing its own Reconciliation Action Plan Developed a Victorian Local Government Aboriginal Employment Framework Signing up to the Australian Human Rights Commission’s “Racism. It Stops with Me” campaign Providing a ‘go to’ resource The MAV Aboriginal Employment Adviser is a ‘go to’ person for councils and Aboriginal community members Connecting people! Communication & engagement activities Regular E-news bulletins Updating MAV website Raising the profile of Aboriginal employment and importance of engagement with Aboriginal communities at MAV conferences & local government forums Attending Aboriginal community events & meetings Inviting Aboriginal people into the MAV informally Also mention Smoking ceremony & Welcome to Country at MAV Annual Conference Forum for human resource and community development managers coming up on Friday 6 December at Bunjilaka Pilot projects Pilot project investigations in specific topic areas, such as the HACC, HAYS, MCH, DOH

Framework Reconciliation Australia RAP key elements; Respect Relationships Opportunities Reconciliation Australia's RAP areas are based on these 3 key elements, therefore those councils who have RAPS or are establishing one are familiar with this framework. The MAV Aboriginal employment framework and the MAV RAP are have aligned with this these key elements.

Respect Acknowledging Aboriginal people as the traditional owners of this land who have a continued connection of over 40,000 years Aboriginal people part of your community Aboriginal people as part of your economy Over 47,000 Aboriginal people live in Victoria, with government projections expecting to rise to over 80,000 people by 2021 Only 79 Aboriginal people are known to be employed in a Victorian council workforce of 40,000 employees Councils understanding and acknowledging the unique place of Aboriginal people in their local community is often the first step in councils becoming an employer of choice for Aboriginal people. Having an informed stance about the Aboriginal community will better enable councils to take the actions that will result in Aboriginal people wanting to work in local government.

Relationships Invitations to Aboriginal people for council events, not just those you may think are more relevant to Aboriginal people. Over half (42 out of 79) of councils have specific Indigenous commitments or initiatives as part of their organisational plans Having Aboriginal people working for council will attract Aboriginal people to your council 61 councils celebrate Aboriginal culture through events such as NAIDOC Week and Reconciliation Week Organisations which have recruited and retained Aboriginal employees all say that having meaningful relationships with the Aboriginal community is vital to success.

Opportunities The unemployment rate for Aboriginal people of 18.9%, three times the general rate of 6.5% Employment opportunities targeting Aboriginal people for existing vacancies In 2008, COAG committed to halving the gap in employment outcomes between Indigenous and other Australians by 2018 Sustained employment is key to the economic and social well-being of all Australians. For Aboriginal people to enjoy the benefits that flow from employment, we need to have jobs to do. There is a Victorian Aboriginal workforce ready and willing to work, but currently very few are employed in Victoria's 79 councils.

Opportunities for Partnerships Real Engagement Traditional Owner groups Aboriginal Community Controlled organisations Local Indigenous Networks Peak body organisations Other local Aboriginal groups Top 3 actions for councils; Be open and willing to engage with your local Aboriginal community - get to know who they are - ring up the local Aboriginal organisations and visit their offices Consider partnering with local Aboriginal communities on social and economic development activities to provide opportunities for Aboriginal people to gain experience about council activities Formally document, and include in the Council Plan, that the council welcomes engagement with the Aboriginal community Real engagment is not about engaging with one group Don’t assume Aboriginal people belong to one group Many Aboriginal people are not engaged with Aboriginal organisations Create opportunities for Aboriginal people to

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