Page 2622 - Week 07 - Thursday, 1 August 2019
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
to 23 of the recommendations, agreed in principle to a further five recommendations and noted three. The ACT Public Service Strategic Board Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs Subcommittee and the ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs Inter-directorate Committee will monitor the implementation of the report’s recommendations.
The 2018 hearing was the last hearing under the ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Agreement 2015-2018. The report and recommendations from the hearings highlighted the need to ensure that cultural competence, self-determination and economic impact were focus areas in the subsequent agreement. I am pleased that this is reflected in the ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander agreement 2019-2028 that was signed in February this year. The action plans under the new agreement capture many of the recommendations in the hearing report and, accordingly, the actions set out in the government response.
I highlight several of the initiatives that are being progressed under the agreement which respond to the elected body’s recommendations. The elected body’s fifth whole-of-government recommendation calls on all directorates and agencies to take opportunities to support the emergence of new Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-controlled service providers in the territory. This recommendation is reflected in the agreement in the significant focus area of economic participation that aims to provide equal access to employment and growth in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander businesses and community services organisations which drive economic development actions within their communities. The government response outlines several of the initiatives that seek to deliver on this aim.
The ACT government recently launched an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander procurement policy which initiates a cultural change for ACT government agencies to reduce some of the barriers to government procurement encountered by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander enterprises. The ATSIPP commenced on 1 July 2019 and it aims to make it easier for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander enterprises in the Canberra region to compete for work with the ACT government. Directorates will be required to identify and act upon opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander enterprises in their procurement activities. In recognition of the important role of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-controlled organisations in delivering positive outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, funding totalling $100,000 over four years provides seed funding grants for new and emerging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-controlled organisations.
The second recommendation, to the Chief Minister, Treasury and Economic Development Directorate, calls on the ACT government to provide additional resources to support the recruitment, retention and development of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the ACT public service. In line with the ACT government’s commitment to maximising opportunities for employment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people under the agreement’s economic participation action plan we have funded the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander career development and retention program and instigated the new ACTPS Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leadership program to develop leadership capability and
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video