Indigenous employment—it works

It is predicted that by 2020 the Northern Territory’s Aboriginal population will rise from 33% to 50% of the total population base. Parallel to this, business and government agencies will need to source thousands of new employees in anticipation of northern Australia’s economic growth forecast. In a wider context, if we struck an arc from Geraldton in Western Australia to Gladstone in Queensland, we know the resources sector is investing billions of dollars in new projects. In this same area of Australia we find thousands of Indigenous candidates seeking employment opportunities who are both willing and capable of operating and maintaining the assets. This paper will outline how Universal Engineering—a small fabrication and engineering contractor in the oil and gas industry—has approached its skill shortage problems. By encouraging non-traditional recruitment and retention strategies, various solutions and achievements are highlighted, showing how Universal Engineering has succeeded with recruiting, training and retaining Indigenous apprentices as part of its overall employment growth strategy. By engaging Indigenous employees over the past 10 years, Universal Engineering has refined its Indigenous training strategies and would like to share its knowledge with other employers in the oil and gas sectors. Our key success factors include the development of human resources systems, ensuring that parents—Mum, Auntie or Grandma—are willing to mentor their children through the initial training and employment phases and by adopting school based apprenticeships (taking place in years 11 and 12). These greatly assist with literacy and numeracy improvements and help the transition into the workplace. In the longer term, Universal is establishing role models and strong career planning to let our employees know they have stability and a future in the company, and indeed in the industry as a whole.