Briefing for Stakeholders

1. Indigenous Advancement Strategy Briefing for Stakeholders 12 August 2014

2. Getting the basics right The Government is committed to working more closely with Indigenous Australians on the priority areas of • getting children to school, • adults to work and • making communities safer.

3. School Attendance • Regular school attendance is vital to educational achievement. • One-third of the gap in educational attainment is attributed to poorer school attendance. • A child’s education is considered at risk if they frequently miss more than half a day of school a week (less than 90 per cent attendance). • Indigenous students are estimated to be behind non-Indigenous students by the equivalent of approximately two and a half years of schooling in the tested areas of literacy, science and mathematics.

4. Indigenous Employment • The employment gap is widening. • More Indigenous people are dependent on welfare than in work. • Indigenous unemployment is worse in remote areas and very remote areas. • We need to do things differently. No more ‘training for training’s sake’. • The Government is investing $45 million in GenerationOne’s Vocational Training and Employment Centre (VTEC) model. Up to 5,000 Indigenous Australians – training with a guaranteed job at the end. • Forrest Review of Indigenous Training and Employment Programmes: The Government has received the Report and is holding public consultations before considering its response.

5. Community Safety • Indigenous people are more likely to be victims of violent crime. • Indigenous people should be able to live without violence and fear. • The ordinary law of the land should apply in Indigenous communities as it does in all Australian communities. • Indigenous people should be able to enjoy levels of physical, emotional and social wellbeing enjoyed by other Australians. • Safe and stable communities will help to drive improvements in other areas of government investment like education and employment.

7. A New Engagement An opportunity for: • practical engagement with Indigenous Australians, service providers, business and government. • solutions to be tailored to local needs, and targeted to the Government’s priority areas. • joint development and implementation of solutions to improve long-term outcomes. • Regional and/or place-based solutions. • Redirecting funding when something doesn’t work.

8. Indigenous Advancement Strategy Programmes The five new Indigenous Advancement Strategy programmes are: • Jobs, Land and Economy; • Children and Schooling; • Safety and Wellbeing; • Culture and Capability; and • Remote Australia Strategies.

9. Priorities Funding will be allocated to projects that focus on: • Getting Indigenous Australians into work, fostering Indigenous business and ensuring Indigenous people receive economic and social benefits from the effective management of their land and native title rights; • Ensuring Indigenous children regularly go to school, improving literacy and numeracy and supporting families to give children a good start in life; • Increasing Indigenous Year 12 attainment and pathways to further education and training; • Making communities safer so that Indigenous people enjoy similar levels of physical, emotional and social wellbeing as that enjoyed by other Australians; • Increasing participation and acceptance of Indigenous Australians in the economic and social life of the nation; and • Addressing the disproportionate disadvantage in remote Australia and the need for strategic grant funding for local solutions.

10. IAS Funding arrangements • Most IAS funding will only be available through an annual, open grant funding round. The first grant funding round opens in September. • Applications to seize time-limited opportunities, such as the creation of an Indigenous job, may be received at any time. • Funded organisations will need to demonstrate that they can work closely with Indigenous communities to develop successful solutions for those communities. • Opt-in partnering arrangements to strengthen delivery capability will be encouraged. • Organisations will be funded to improve outcomes, and will need to refocus efforts if projects aren’t delivering the benefits they intended.

11. Indigenous leadership and responsibility • Solutions need to be driven by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, in partnership with Governments, service providers, employers etc. • Government wants to support positive social norms and functioning communities, and increased participation and responsibility of individuals. • Need for strong leadership voices within communities. • Must be prepared to take risks, and not be afraid of failure.

12. Transitional funding in 2014-15 Contract extensions • Most organisations who's contracts were due to finish on 30 June 2014 received an extension of 6 or 12 months. • Current contracts will not be affected by the new IAS arrangements. • New arrangements entered into from 1 July 2014 will fall under the new IAS arrangements.

13. National Competitive Funding Round • Opens 8 September 2014. Will be open for 4 weeks. • Organisations will be able to apply for IAS funding from: • 1 January 2015 (for organisations funded on a calendar year basis) • 1 July 2015 (for organisations funded on a financial year basis) • Organisations or individuals can apply for funding from one or more of the IAS programmes through a single application form, and have a single agreement with the Department. • All financial year funding proposals will be assessed in a two stage process: • Stage 1: identify capability and capacity of organisations to deliver outcomes; • Stage 2: Fine tuning of strategies to ensure they will meet regional need. • Education offers expected to be made in late November. Others in March 2015.

14. Strengthening governance arrangements • All organisations receiving grant funding of $500,000 (GST exclusive) or more in any single financial year through the Government’s Indigenous Affairs portfolio now need to be incorporated under Commonwealth legislation. • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations will need to incorporate under the Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ) Act 2006; • Other organisations will need to incorporate under the Corporations Act 2001. • Some exemptions and transition arrangement apply. • This new requirement has been written into in the IAS Guidelines.

15. New PM&C Indigenous Affairs Network • Over the next 12 months, the PM&C Network will move to a regional model. • Senior decision makers placed closer to the communities they work with. • The role of the Network will be to work in partnership with communities to tailor action and long-term strategies to achieve solutions in the Government’s priority areas.

16. More information? IAS Programme Guidelines are at www.dpmc.gov.au/indigenous_affairs. Questions relating to the Incorporation Requirements should be directed to SOG@pmc.gov.au. Questions about the Indigenous Advancement Strategy should be directed to your local PM&C office in the first instance. Alternatively, you may also send questions to IAS@pmc.gov.au or call PM&C on 1800 088 323.

17. Thank You and Discussion