This paper reports the results of a case study of an Affirmative Action program developed by the National Australia Bank (NAB) to promote employment opportunities for Indigenous Australians. The program is part of a Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) launched by NAB in 2008 to strengthen the bank’s commitment to promoting a greater understanding between Indigenous and non Indigenous Australians. The RAP program developed by Reconciliation Australia is an example in the Australian tradition of interventions to actively promote the employment position of groups who have been disadvantaged in the labour market. The program is voluntary and broadly focussed, without any of the prescriptive measures included in some other countries’ schemes. The results presented here, while not reflecting a fully controlled evaluation, suggest that the NAB program has been beneficial for participants. Professor

Anne Daly is Director, Dr Tesfaye Gebremedhin is Assistant Professor Economics, and Muhammad Sayem a doctoral student at the Faculty of Business, Government and Law, University of Canberra.

The report can be downloaded from the link below:

Daly, A., Gebremedhin, T. & Preece, C., (2011), Longitudinal study of outcomes for participants involved in NAB's Indigenous Employment Program

Seminar presentation is by Tesfaye Gebremedhin and Anne Daley.