Australian Indigenous People
The Wingara Indigenous Employment and Professional Development Strategy 2003-2006 is UTS' major Indigenous employment initiative.
Indigenous Australians remain the most disadvantaged group in Australia across every social indicator and their unemployment rate in NSW is 23% compared to 7% of the total NSW population.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people make up approximately 1.4% of staff at UTS. To achieve proportionate employment, the number of Indigenous Australian staff would need to almost double. The NSW Government has set a target of 2% employment for Indigenous people in the NSW public sector.
Indigenous Australian staff are not evenly represented across UTS. They are concentrated in areas that provide Indigenous services or programs, such as Jumbunna, Indigenous House of Learning and the Faculty of Education which together employ over half of all Indigenous staff.
In recognition of the past exclusion and current disadvantage Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people experience in accessing higher education and employment opportunities, UTS has set priorities to:
- increase the number of Indigenous staff
- provide professional development and career progression opportunities for Indigenous staff
- broaden the range of areas and the range of occupations in which Indigenous staff are employed
- improve retention by providing ongoing support and cross cultural professional development
Other UTS initiatives that aim to support an inclusive environment for Indigenous people include:
- UTS Reconciliation Statement
- UTS Reconciliation Working Group
- The adoption of the UTS Cultural Leave policy
