Training for Employment Outcomes in Indigenous Contexts: Straddling the Space between Cultures

This paper draws on the lessons learned from an evaluation of a program designed to support Indigenous people into employment. The program (TrainingPlus), managed by the Desert Peoples Centre (DPC) in Alice Springs, uses vocational training offered by the Centre for Appropriate Technology (CAT) and the Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education (BIITE) as a vehicle for achieving employment outcomes. What makes this program different from a plethora of others trying to do the same, is the intentional use of a case management approach where Indigenous cultural brokers support learners through a transition in their identity from being 'unemployable' through to becoming 'employable'. This requires a significant shift for trainees as they come to terms with different norms and values in training and workplace contexts. It also takes considerable time, understanding and effort on the part of the cultural brokers to effect a sustained change. While the evaluation highlighted a number of successes associated with the TrainingPlus approach, it also highlighted a number of tensions that arise for DPC as it attempts to straddle the space between mainstream and Indigenous cultural contexts. The implications that emerge from the findings are discussed in the broader policy context as it relates to Indigenous affairs, education, training and employment.