A Case Study of Affirmative Action Australian-style for Indigenous People

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 may have suffered discrimination in the past. The program is voluntary and broadly focussed, without any of the prescriptive measures included in some other countries’ schemes. The results presented here suggest that the NAB program has been beneficial for participants, both Indigenous and other NAB employees.