Indigenous employment

Energy Resources of Australia Ltd (ERA) is proud to be one of the leaders in Indigenous employment in Australia.

A key part of ERA's five year employment strategy is to continually build upon and develop an Indigenous workforce that is skilled and locally-based.

Indigenous employee numbers dropped slightly in 2010, and additional resources have been added to the business to provide support in this area.

At 31 December 2010, ERA had 81 Indigenous employees (2009: 91) and nine Indigenous permanent contractors. Indigenous employees represent 15.5 per cent of ERA's direct workforce.

ERA has expanded its Indigenous Employment Liaison Team to three people, comprising a Superintendent and two Support Officers. The team has introduced a new mentoring system which pairs new Indigenous employees with experienced employees who provide a guidance and support role.

During 2010, ERA worked with the Minerals Council of Australia (Northern Territory Division) and the Northern Territory Government to support the new pilot pre-employment programme for Indigenous employees in the mining industry, with three programme participants working at ERA.

ERA also supports the Job Ready Programme, which helps local people who have left school but are not yet in the workforce to acquire job ready skills, such as drivers' licence, basic health and safety skills, and training in use of power tools or machinery.