More than 1100 First Australians will be employed across the country through a partnership between the Australian Government and facility services company, ISS.

Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Nigel Scullion, said the partnership was part of the Employment Parity Initiative (EPI) under which major Australian employers work with the Government to build their Indigenous workforce.

“The jobs with ISS will be located in at least 12 communities across Australia, in a range of industry sectors, from resources to aviation, health, catering and cleaning,” Minister Scullion said.

“Getting First Australians into work is one of the Government’s highest priorities in Indigenous Affairs.

“The EPI encourages Australia’s largest employers to increase their Indigenous workforce to 3 per cent – employment parity – to get 20,000 more First Australians into private sector jobs by 2020.

“Under this initiative, the Government tailors supports that are available to employers to assist with any additional costs of employing and retaining Indigenous Australians, including people with extreme barriers to employment.

“Employment Parity contracts already signed with two other companies have secured an additional 1,700 jobs for Indigenous Australians and talks are continuing with other major employers.

“All payments are linked to 26-week outcomes and net increases in the number of Indigenous employees.  This is the key to ending the endless cycle of training for training’s sake.”

ISS Australia and New Zealand chief executive officer, Dane Hudson, said his company was extremely proud to have been invited to take part in this important initiative, which will improve employment opportunities for First Australians.

“We have finalised our first ever Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) which demonstrates our achievements over the past six years and recognises that we are now in a strong position to further our commitments.

“The EPI, and our RAP, will enable us to continue to build and foster stronger relationships with these peoples and communities,” Mr Hudson said.