This Reconciliation Week is more important than ever, ahead of the referendum on the Indigenous Voice to Parliament.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
This year's theme "be a voice for generations", is something we should also aspire to embody every day.
We need to amplify calls to keep the momentum for change everyday to better the lives of First Nations people who are the most marginalised in the country.
We all need to commit to real action to help people reach their full potential. Sadly, First Nations struggle the most and as a society we must do better.
We are still seeing an unconscious and cultural bias and it ultimately affects the decisions we make and how we impact the people and the world around us.
It starts with our young people. Too often they are only seen fighting with law enforcement, as little hustlers who are born into a country that doesn't see them and their potential, where their fate has already been decided by society.
We are not seeing the portrayal of successful Indigenous men in beautiful family settings; proud fathers who take their children to school who run successful businesses.
Indigenous Australians remain disproportionately locked out of today's economic opportunities and workforce and creating jobs is key to improving lives.
School attendance is tricky in Indigenous communities. School is not often seen as something that has served their parents and grandparents well, so there's no real drive to go and then there's the lack of food security in some communities and you can't learn if your tummy hurts because you are hungry.
Latest data on Closing the Gap shows targets are not on track with just 50 per cent attendance for First Nations students in some areas between years 1 and 10.
Western Australia's Indigenous attendance rates are the lowest in the country bar the Northern Territory's, with figures showing by year 10, Indigenous attendance rates are at about 54 per cent, 30 per cent lower than their non-Indigenous peers.
The figures are even worse in very remote areas, showing Indigenous student attendance dropped to just 51.3 per cent compared to 85.9 per cent for non-Indigenous students.
In other Australian capital cities, attendance for years 1 to 10 combined hover at around 88 per cent attendance, compared to 72.3 per cent for Indigenous students.
There's a long way to go in closing the gap and culturally appropriate programs with modern relevance to young people need to be created and funded.
We need to help youth not only in their schooling, but finding the pathway from education to employment.
It's about building the student to employment pathway through opportunities which connect country and culture.
With access to transferable skills and introductions to highly skilled and high-profile professionals, we are able to seed the minds of a long-term, reliable workforce, future-proofing the community.
Boosting First Nations employment is also vital.
While latest data shows more Indigenous Australians are in work than ever before, the unemployment rate of Indigenous Australians is still three times higher than for non- Indigenous Australians.
The Indigenous employment rate is currently around 49 per cent compared to around 75 per cent for non-Indigenous Australians.
The National Agreement on Closing the Gap has set a target of 62 per cent employment among Indigenous Australians aged 25 to 64 by 2031.
READ MORE:
We know that for every dollar invested in an Indigenous business, the social return is four fold, partly because Indigenous businesses are up to a 100 times more likely to employ Indigenous Australians.
First Nations people have been conditioned not to think of themselves as entrepreneurs, when in actual fact we are the original entrepreneurs having traded across nations since time immemorial. We want to help people reignite the flame within First Nations peoples who don't have access to resources and even everyday basic necessities for business like the internet.
By also supporting the success and sustainability of First Nations businesses we can increase employment and economic growth. As the old saying goes, "you can't be what you don't see".
- Cara Peek is a Yawuru/Bunuba woman and founder of Saltwater Country, helping Indigenous youth find a pathway from education to employment.