Closing the Gap Clearinghouse offers new evidence for policy makers

New information on how to overcome Indigenous disadvantage continues to be released on the Closing the Gap Clearinghouse website.

The Closing the Gap Clearinghouse is a clearinghouse for research and evaluation evidence on what works to overcome Indigenous disadvantage. The focus is on publications that synthesise the evidence for policy-makers, the agencies and services they fund, and the wider community.

Dr Fadwa Al-Yaman of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare said the Clearinghouse was a valuable information tool for people working on Closing the Gap programs and policies.

“The evidence provided on the Clearinghouse is aimed at policy makers, to inform their decision making around a topic,” said Fadwa.

The Clearinghouse recently published a paper titled Increasing Indigenous employment rates, looking at measures shown to improve Indigenous employment prospects.

A number of measures, including increased formal education and training, pre-employment assessment and training programs, and non-standard, Indigenous-specific recruitment strategies were cited as being effective.

The problem of low Indigenous employment rates is magnified by the over-representation of Indigenous Australians in correctional systems—an issue examined in a second paper titled: Strategies to enhance employment of Indigenous ex-offenders after release from correctional institutions.

A free Clearinghouse seminar on what works to increase Indigenous employment will be held on Friday 6 July 2012 9.15–11.15am at the Mercure Brisbane, 85–87 North Quay, Brisbane.