New Indigenous Skills and Employment Program Tailored to Community Needs

Media release - Minister Wyatt

Employment providers are invited to apply for the first competitive round under the newly developed Indigenous Skills and Employment Program (ISEP).

ISEP is an innovative, community-informed employment program that will deliver place based investments, and replaces three existing Indigenous-specific employment programs; Vocational Training and Employment Centres (VTEC), Tailored Assistance Employment Grants (TAEG) and the Employment Parity Initiative (EPI) from 1 July 2022.

Minister for Indigenous Australians, the Hon Ken Wyatt AM, MP, said the program will build on the most successful elements of the current Indigenous-specific employment programs and focus on upskilling Indigenous Australians for in-demand jobs.

“ISEP has gone through extensive community consultation to ensure it meets the current needs of Indigenous jobseekers and this new approach will now gauge which projects communities want to see come to fruition.

“The Indigenous Skills and Employment Program was a 2021-22 Federal Budget commitment, and I’m pleased to see the program moving from design to implementation.

“Organisations across the country are invited to submit an expression of interest for this $42.8 million annual fund and tell us how their proposed project meets the specific employment needs in their region.”

In the spirit of co-design, the grant application process will have two stages of assessment.

The applications received in stage one will be shortlisted and selected applicants will codesign their specific project with key stakeholders before submitting a second stage comprehensive grant application.

“This model will ensure organisations are closely connected with the community they are servicing and that they have the buy-in from local industry stakeholders,” Minister Wyatt said.

“It will foster deeper partnerships between jobseekers, employment service providers and employers to develop initiatives together – this reflects the essence of ISEP, which is to work in local-level partnerships from the get go to create community-led employment pathways for Indigenous Australians.

“We want to give organisations applying for this grant the greatest opportunity to run successful projects that sustainably and practically contribute to closing the Indigenous employment gap.”

For more information on the application process and to submit an expression of interest by 25 April 2022, visit GrantConnect.