Today I am pleased to announce additional funding of $6.4 million to improve employment opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in the Australian Public Service (APS).
We are in the early stages of a major reform in the management of indigenous affairs. This requires as many indigenous people as possible skilled in doing whole-of-government business. It is vital that indigenous Australians are among the highly skilled public servants who implement this important agenda.
As well as boosting employment opportunities for indigenous people at all levels of the public service, this strategy will invest in skills development and retention and better support the Australian Government's reforms to indigenous policies and programmes.
The numbers of indigenous staff at senior levels of the public service have almost doubled over the last decade. However, I believe more can be done to ensure that the APS is an attractive employment option for indigenous people into the future.