AEC passes milestone of 30,000 job commitments
The Australian Employment Covenant (AEC) has passed the key milestone of 30,000 employer job commitments for Indigenous workers with a number of signings in the lead up to end of the financial year.
AEC Chief Executive Rhonda Parker said the program was pleased with the achievement which put it on track to achieve its ambitious goal of 50,000 commitments by June 30, 2011.
“We are proud of the fact that we now have tens of thousands of jobs promised to be delivered into the system by hundreds of Australian employers,” Ms Parker said.
“That’s a great achievement but we’re determined to press on until the target of 50,000 by the end of June is reached. With the help of corporate Australia we will do that.”
Ms Parker said that a total of 221 businesses had signed up to the program so far with new partners recently including major mining and engineering company Downer EDI and labour hire company AWX Pty Ltd.
Other well known companies to sign covenants included Port Adelaide Football Club, Macmahons, KFC, ANZ and Linfox.
In partnership with the Australian Government, Australian employers and Indigenous people, the 50,000 jobs campaign represents a major commitment to the future of Indigenous Australians.
Offering opportunity rather than welfare, it now provides the potential for tens of thousands of Indigenous job seekers to embark on a clear pathway to employment and the ability for them to reach their full potential.
So far more than 4200 workers have found sustainable employment under the program..
Ms Parker said that because the AEC was not a job placement agency, companies who signed a covenant could not be required to report when they hired someone, so the number of people employed under the program could be considerably higher.
Ms Parker said every job commitment counted toward the great challenge to end Indigenous disadvantage through real, sustainable employment and she has encouraged companies big and small to join the program before the 30th June target date. The program will then concentrate on assisting AEC employers to roll out the jobs..
This latest raft of job commitments demonstrates that the AEC is achieving clear and encouraging outcomes for Indigenous Australians, with commitments spanning the full spectrum of industries including retail, manufacturing, mining, health and education.