The contract – the largest ever signing by one company for Indigenous employment opportunities – was announced by Programmed managing director Chris Sutherland, Australia’s Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and GenerationOne founder Andrew Forrest in Canberra last week.

The 5000 jobs will be available through an Australian Employment Covenant initiative supported by government funded Vocational Training and Employment Centres, the Employment Parity Initiative,  jobactive and other government initiatives.

The VTEC network in 24 locations around the country has so far placed about 5000 indigenous people into jobs, and the program is based on the GenerationOne employment model.

GenerationOne was started by Forrest’s Minderoo Foundation with the aim of ending disparity between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians in one generation through employment.

Forrest has previously said education, jobs and job-ready training could be the catalysts to drive all other initiatives.

Sutherland said Programmed was delighted that both the Prime Minister and Andrew Forrest supported its new First Australians employment commitment, as it was important the workforce reflected the communities it operated in.

Forrest said Programmed’s 5000 jobs for Indigenous people set a benchmark for the private sector.

He also called on the government and the business community to continue to reflect on its own capacity. 

“Employment is a fundamental part of closing the gap and every opportunity counts, so we thank the government for their continued support of Indigenous job seekers and employers through the VTEC program and the Employment Parity Initiative,” he said.

“Parity can be achieved in our generation if we do this together.”