'Living in the colony, racism is everywhere': First Nations workers overlooked as skills shortage continues

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'Living in the colony, racism is everywhere': First Nations workers overlooked as skills shortage continues
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Racism, exclusion, and identity strain are all factors that contribute to high levels of Indigenous unemployment, and ahead of the jobs and skills summit advocates want the government to look at a national overhaul.

abc.net.au/news/first-nations-workers-overlooked-despite-nationwide-shortage/101376652At Clothing the Gaps in Melbourne's inner north, Bundjalung woman Ebony Popple is excited to come to work in an environment where she can be her authentic self.Community-run employment providers say there is more demand for their services than ever

Not all of her workplaces have been so welcoming and, like most Indigenous workers, she's experienced her fair share of racism. Racism, exclusion, and identity strain are all factors that contribute to high levels of Indigenous unemployment and, ahead of the jobs and skills summit, advocates want the government to look at a national overhaul.The reasons behind high rates of Indigenous unemployment are complex but often come back to access to education, opportunity, trauma and ultimately racism.showing more than a quarter of respondents work in culturally unsafe spaces, and nearly half heard racial slurs at work.

"There is a lot of overt racism, that kind of, 'you only got this job because you're Indigenous' type stuff, or 'you don't look Indigenous'."Our survey, Gari Yala, reports lots and lots of different forms of racism, cultural load, identity strain, and we know that Indigenous people experience that in the workplace.

"It's a necessary and intractable thing for government to deal with because it is a policy issue," she said. "There's a lot of 'just get a job', there's not 'what's your career path' or 'what do you really want to do' or 'what gets you out of bed in the morning'," she said. Workplaces are also vetted to ensure employees are going to culturally safe, responsible places where Indigenous employees can thrive.

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