Rapid Review of the Indigenous Land Corporation’s Training to Employment Program
From October to December 2013, Sustineo undertook a rapid review of the Indigenous Land Corporation’s Training to Employment Program (T2EP). The program has been operational since 2008, providing training and employment to Indigenous Australians in rural and remote locations. The program is based on an overarching model, which offers employment to graduates upon successful completion of the program. The two industries of focus are agricultural, pastoral, tourism and hospitality.
Sustineo carried out 103 interviews in four sites throughout the country, which included two tourism and two agricultural properties. Further to this, database analysis was done to identify the flow of trainees and graduates from the period January 2011 to October 2013.
Based on Sustineo’s review, the key features of the ILC’s T2E program are:
A) the delivery of enterprise-based training and employment with a job guarantee to graduate trainees who successfully complete their traineeship and are job ready
B) trainees receive life skills training and holistic support, increasingly from Indigenous supervisors and mentors, which helps with trainee retention
C) trainees are paid while they receive industry relevant, nationally accredited Certificate qualifications and skills that are in demand in the agricultural and tourism/hospitality industries, while also gaining skills that are readily transferrable to other industries
D) training is residential and accommodation for trainees is provided
E) trainees secure a Certificate II or II in tourism, hospitality or agriculture
the program has the flexibility to accommodate trainees in the agriculture industry who are required to work seasonally
F) partnerships are forged with industry stakeholders to develop approaches to training and placement of graduates of the T2E program
the ILC and Voyages Indigenous Tourism Australia (Voyages) have
G) demonstrated strong and innovative leadership in the support and implementation of the T2E program on national basis, and
H) the program benefits individual participants, the wider Indigenous communities and industry.
Impact of Sustineo’s work
The rapid review has provided the ILC with high quality, independent overview of the benefits, risks and challenges of the T2EP. Sustineo has been able to identify areas where the ILC could strategically intervene to further improve the quality of the program being delivered. Further to this, the Sustineo team identified that despite some trainees not fully completing the training program, they attained life skills and supervision which all found highly valuable. We believe Sustineo’s work will make a meaningful contribution to the ILC’s submissions to the Forrest Review at the end of 2013, providing independent evidence of the benefits of the T2EP program.