Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-p9bg8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T07:03:58.040Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Indigenous Job Search Behaviour

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

Matthew Gray  and
Boyd Hunter
Matthew Gray
Affiliation:
Australian Institute of Family Studies
Boyd Hunter
Affiliation:
Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research, The Australian National University
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

There have been a number of labour market programs that have attempted to increase rates of employment of Indigenous Australians by influencing job search behaviour. This paper provides the first ever baseline of data on the job search behaviour of Indigenous job seekers and how it compares to the job search of non-Indigenous job seekers. Clear differences between the job search behaviours of Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians are apparent. Indigenous Australians rely disproportionately on friends and relatives as a source of information about jobs, although their networks tend to have less employed members, and therefore are less effective than non-Indigenous networks in securing employment. Non-Indigenous job seekers are also more likely to use more proactive search methods than are Indigenous job seekers.

Type
Current Issues
Information
The Economic and Labour Relations Review , Volume 16 , Issue 1 , July 2005 , pp. 71 - 94
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2005

Footnotes

**

The origin of this paper dates back to a report presented to Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR) in 2000. We would like to thank Jon Altman, Tony Eardley, Kim Grey, Eric Hubbard, John Taylor and two anonymous referees for their constructive criticism. The views are those of the authors and cannot be taken in any way to reflect those of DEWR.

References

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) (1994,) National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Survey, 1994: Detailed Findings, cat. no. 4190.0, ABS, Canberra.Google Scholar
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) (2000), Successful and Unsuccessful Job Search Experience, Australia, cat. no. 6245.0, ABS, Canberra.Google Scholar
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) (2003), Job Search Experience, Australia, cat. no. 6222.0, ABS, Canberra.Google Scholar
Addison, J. T. and Portugal, P. (2002), ‘Job search methods and outcomes’, Oxford Economic Papers, 54 (3), pp. 505–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blau, D. M. and Robins, P. K. (1990), ‘Job search outcomes for the employed and unemployed’, The Journal of Political Economy, 98 (3), pp. 637–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Böheim, R. and Taylor, M. P. (2002), ‘Job search methods, intensity and success in Britain in the 1990s’, Economics Working Paper 2002–06, Department of Economics, Johannes Kepler University, Linz, Austria.Google Scholar
Daly, A. E. and Hunter, B. H. (1999), ‘Incentives to work: replacement ratios and the cost of job loss among unemployed Indigenous Australians’, Australian Economic Review, 32 (3), pp. 219–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Department of Employment Education and Training (DEET) (1993), The Skillshare Network: An Evaluation, EMB Report 5/93, Evaluation and Monitoring Branch, DEET, Canberra.Google Scholar
DEWR (2001) Job Network Evaluation Stage Two: Progress Report, EPPB Report 2/2001, Evaluation and Programme Performance Branch, Labour Market Policy Group, DEWR, Canberra.Google Scholar
Granovetter, M. (1973), ‘The strength of weak ties’, American Journal of Sociology, 78 (6), pp. 1360–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Granovetter, M. (1995), Getting a Job: A Study of Contacts and Careers, 2nd ed, Chicago University Press, Chicago.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gray, M. C. (2005), ‘Evaluating Bungala CDEP scheme’, Forthcoming CAEPR Discussion Paper, CAEPR, Canberra.Google Scholar
Gray, M. C. and Hunter, B. H. (2000), An Analysis of Data from the Longitudinal Survey of ATSI Job Seekers: Job Search Behaviour, Report to the Department of Employment, Workplace Relations and Small Business, CAEPR, ANU, Canberra.Google Scholar
Gray, M. C., Heath, A. and Hunter, B. H. 2002. ‘An exploration of marginal attachment to the Australian labour market’, Reserve Bank Research Discussion Paper No. 2002/7, RBA, Sydney Google Scholar
Holzer, H. J. (1987), ‘Informal Job Search and Black Youth Unemployment’, American Economic Review, 77 (3), pp. 446–52.Google Scholar
Holzer, H. J. (1988), ‘Search Method Use by Unemployed Youth’, Journal of Labor Economics, 6 (1), pp. 1–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hunter, B. H. (2004), Indigenous Australians in the Contemporary Labour Market, ABS Catalogue No. 2052.0, ABS, Canberra.Google Scholar
Hunter, B. H., Gray, M. C. and Jones, R. (2000), An Analysis of Data from the Longitudinal Survey of ATSI Job Seekers: Labour Market Participation Patterns and Pathways to Employment, Report prepared for DEWR, CAEPR, ANU, Canberra.Google Scholar
Jarvie, W. and McKay, R. (1993), Perspectives on DEET Labour Market Programs, EMB Report 1/93, Evaluation and Monitoring Branch, DEET, Canberra.Google Scholar
Jones, S. R. G. (1989), ‘Job search methods, intensity and effects’, Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, 51 (3), pp. 277–96.Google Scholar
Lin, N. (1999), ‘Social networks and status attainment’, Annual Review of Sociology, 25, pp. 467–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martin, J. P. (1998), ‘What works among active labour market policies: evidence from OECD countries’ experiences’, Labour Market and Social Policy Occasional Papers No. 35, OECD, Paris.Google Scholar
McGregor, A. (1983), ‘Neighbourhood influence on job search and job finding methods’, British Journal of industrial Relations, 21 (1), pp. 91–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Montgomery, J. (1991), ‘Social networks and labour market outcomes: towards an economic analysis’, American Economic Review, 81 (5), pp. 1407–18.Google Scholar
Norris, K. (1996), The Economics of Australian Labour Markets, Longman, Melbourne.Google Scholar
Roy Morgan Research (1998), Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Longitudinal Survey: Methodological Report, Waves 1–3, Roy Morgan Research, Melbourne.Google Scholar
Sanders, W. (1999), Unemployment Payments, the Activity Test and Indigenous Australians: Understanding Breach Rates, CAEPR Research Monograph No. 15, CAEPR, ANU, Canberra.Google Scholar
Taylor, J. and Hunter, B. H. (1996), ‘Indigenous participation in labour market and training programs’, CAEPR Discussion Paper No. 108, CAEPRANU, Canberra.Google Scholar
Woolcock, M. and Narayan, D. (2000), ‘Social capital: Implications for development theory, research, and policy’, The World Bank Research Observer, 15 (2), pp. 225–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar