Aboriginal Employment Study

The Illawarra consists of locations that have entrenched disadvantage and are particularly vulnerable to the current economic downturn.  Aboriginal people in the Illawarra live in many of these locations and experience high levels of social disadvantage, particularly in relation to employment, education and income.  For example, the gap between the Indigenous and non-Indigenous unemployment rate in the Illawarra is 14%.  Unemployment is consistently high across LGAs among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with 23.3% unemployed in Wollongong LGA, 18.7% in the Shellharbour LGA and 9.0% in the Kiama LGA.  Poor educational outcomes and inter-generational unemployment are major contributing barriers to improvements for Aboriginals.

However, the industry composition of the Illawarra workforce has changed significantly over the last decade and this presents opportunity for employment of Aboriginal people. For instance, the combined Health Care & Social Assistance Industry is one of the Illawarra’s largest employers at 11.5% of the resident workforce, and between 1996 and 2006 there were 3,383 additional workers in this Industry accounting for 25.5% of total jobs growth, well above the NSW average. This growth is expected to continue and may present viable future opportunities to strengthen Aboriginal employment in the Illawarra.

Research project

IRIS Research is conducting a study on behalf of the Illawarra Aboriginal Community Based Working Group to examine whether the health and community services sector has the potential to provide sustainable employment and education pathways for the Aboriginal community of the Illawarra.

The geographical area for the study includes the Local Government Areas of Wollongong, Shellharbour and Kiama, as well as the locality of Nowra as an employment hub.  It is due to be completed in April 2010.

Further information on this project can be obtained from

IRIS Research (Lois Besnard 4285 4446)