Community Activities

In addition to helping Indigenous people increase their skills and find jobs, Jobfind works with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to build services. Some of our community activities include:

Community Development Employment Projects (CDEP)

The Australian Government re-launched its Community Development Employment Projects (CDEP) program in 2009 as part of an overhaul of national employment services. So what does CDEP do? Well, it assists Indigenous individuals and communities improve their economic and social well-being through the development of employment and community development programs.

Jobfind currently delivers CDEP in 6 remote communities across Queensland and the Northern Territory: Lockhart River, Hope Vale, Pormpuraaw, Wadeye, Groote Eylandt and Coen.

Recent successful projects include landscaping, construction, farming and a market garden.

Through the CDEP program, Jobfind has assisted hundreds of Indigenous job seekers to increase their employment prospects through training opportunities and mentoring, while simultaneously building the economies of remote communities.

A CDEP Case Study – Jobfind in Wadeye

When Jobfind took over the management of CDEP in Wadeye, NT we had no office and for the first 7 months we were based in the lounge room of the Manager’s rented house. We finally moved into our new office in March 2010 - a converted 40 foot container that is surprisingly comfortable!

A CDEP project was soon organised and a group of participants began to build an access ramp under the supervision of a qualified builder with a Cert IV in Training & Assessment. All the timber used was recycled from the local tip.

At the same time, a different group of CDEP participants began landscaping the office entrance. All the plants had come from an area nearby that was about to be bulldozed for road widening.

The 2 projects have been a great success story for the young participants. For most of them this was the first training and/or work activity they had ever taken part in.

The 2 groups are now involved in landscaping the community Childcare Centre and the Safe House in Wadeye. These activities will provide the skills and experience for some of these young men to be employed in Parks and Gardens Maintenance or in the local nursery.