Municipal Association of Victoria Koories in Council

MAV Aboriginal Employment Project Communication & engagement activities Providing a ‘go to’ resource 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 Pilot projects  The MAV Aboriginal Employment Adviser is a ‘go to’ person for councils and Aboriginal community members  Connecting people!  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  Pilot project investigations in specific topic areas, such as the HACC, HAYS, MCH, DOH

Framework Reconciliation Australia RAP key elements; Respect Relationships Opportunities

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

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

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

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; 1.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 2.Consider partnering with local Aboriginal communities on social and economic development activities to provide opportunities for Aboriginal people to gain experience about council activities 3.Formally document, and include in the Council Plan, that the council welcomes engagement with the Aboriginal community

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