Mark Arbib (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Social Housing and Homelessness) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Siewert for the question and also for her interest. I know it is an area of deep interest and she has worked very hard on it. SIHIP is the largest ever investment in Indigenous employment, and I have spoken about it before in question time and also before many Senate estimates hearings. It employs a large number of Indigenous Australians. There are currently 323 Indigenous employees making up over 30 per cent of the SIHIP workforce. That exceeds our Indigenous employment target by 10 per cent. These people are doing real work for real wages. Whether they are on CDEP doing work experience or receiving income support, all people working on SIHIP are paid at least award wages. I am aware of the articles that Senator Siewert is referring to. I am advised that the government will investigate any claim made that a CDEP participant is not being paid appropriately and take action as necessary. Our investigations to date indicate that CDEP participants undertaking work experience placements in SIHIP are being paid appropriately.

It is important to talk about the link between SIHIP and CDEP, because there is a great deal of work there and CDEP providers are encouraged to work with Aboriginal people to ensure that they have all the necessary skills to place people in employment with SIHIP contractors. As a supplementary measure some CDEP participants undertake work experience placements with SIHIP providers to gain valuable training and on-the-job skills. I want to make this point clear: all work performed on SIHIP is paid at least the award rate. This includes CDEP participants on work placements whether they are on CDEP wages or income support. (Time expired)