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Supporting Indigenous Participation in Partnership with Australian Government

The Department for Infrastructure and Transport is committed to supporting Indigenous participation in our construction projects.

Indigenous employment and business participation rates are assessed for a range of projects undertaken in partnership with the Australian Government.

2022 results

Positive results achieved by construction contractors for our completed projects.

Metro Intersection Upgrades
Goodwood, Springbank and Daws Road Intersection Upgrade
  • 12.1% of total employment hours were worked by Indigenous people, which exceeded the target of 2.2%.
  • Spend on Indigenous businesses was 4.65% of total supplier spend on the project (target 1%).
Grand Junction, Hampstead and Briens Road Intersection Upgrade
  • Indigenous employment was 17.9% of total employment (target 2.2%).
  • 5.7% of total contract value was spent with Indigenous businesses (exceeded target of 0%)
Main North Road, Kings and McIntyre Roads Intersection Upgrade
  • Over 900 project hours were worked by Indigenous people.
  • 5% of the Total Project Cost was spent with Indigenous businesses (exceeded target of 0%).
Main North Road and Nottage Terrace Intersection Upgrade
  • 6 Indigenous people worked on the project, representing 2.8% of total employment (target 2.0%).
  • Information on spend with Indigenous businesses was not available and performance against the 1% target was not verified.
Dublin Saleyard Access Upgrade

Indigenous employment for the Port Wakefield to Port Augusta Alliance was 7.8% of total employment during the construction period for Dublin Saleyards Access (target 5%).

South Eastern Freeway Pavement Rehabilitation: Tollgate to Crafers

Indigenous employment was 3.7% of total employment (target 2%).

Targeted Road Safety Works (TRSW) Program

TRSW Program

Employment participation
(% of hours worked)

Business participation
(% of total project budget)

Shoulder Sealing 8.0% 7.7%
Activated Safety Signage 0.8% 0.0%
Road Lighting 1.8% 0.3%
Variable Speed Limit Signs 18.4% 4.0%
Long Valley Road Mass Action 0.0% 0.0%
Audio-Tactile Line Marking 4.5% 0.4%
Safety Barrier 50.0% 0.5%
Overall TRSW progress to date5.5%1.0%
Targets3.0%3.0%
Road Safety Program works: Tranche 2

Project name

Indigenous hours

Total hours

Indigenous participation (%)

Eyre Highway

3,634

25,601

14.2%

Horrocks Highway

3,528

76,893

4.6%

Barrier Highway

8,112

94,273

8.6%

Stuart Highway

1,092

29,647

3.7%

Riddoch Highway

Contractor provided percentage only

11.4%

Ngarkat Highway

672

49,727

1.4%

Tod Highway

6,476

51,912

12.5%

Birdseye Highway

1,627

15,354

10.6%

Minlaton Road

1,254

27,058

4.6%

Augusta Highway

320

20,784

1.54%

Karoonda Highway

Due to delays in commencing the contract, indigenous participation was not measured in Tranche 2

Playford Highway

Project is being delivered by Kangaroo Island Council, so indigenous participation was not measured

Pages Flat Road

Due to the level of work delivered in Tranche 2, indigenous participation was not measured

Average

26,715

391,249

6.8%

IPP Target



5.7%

Road Safety Program works: Tranche 3

Project name

Indigenous hours

Total hours

Indigenous participation (%)

Eyre Highway

3,640

25,601

14.22%

Horrocks Highway

1,626

18,864

8.62%

Stuart Highway

927

22,513

4.12%

Stuart Highway

1,441

23,077

6.24%

Upper Yorke Hwy

2,030

27,797

7.30%

Ngarkat Highway

672

51,835

1.30%

Minlaton Rd

1,230

37,713

3.26%

Karoonda Highway

884

22,069

4.01%

Spencer Highway

814

20,655

3.94%

Augusta Highway

297

20,965

1.42%

Upper Yorke Hwy

2,030

27,797

7.30%

Barrier Highway

5,877

49,212

11.94%

Total

21,468

348,098

6.17%

Target



5.70%

Regional North-South Freight Route

Our construction contractors achieved Indigenous participation of 6.6% on the completed Regional North-South Freight Route between Murray Bridge and the Sturt Highway.

  • Indigenous employment participation reached 5.9%, exceeding the target of 4%.
  • The project also achieved 0.7% Indigenous business participation by using an Indigenous labour hire company to source workers. While there wasn't a specific target set for this area, it's another positive outcome.

2021 results

Road Safety Program works: Tranche 1

Our results were very positive, with an overall result of 7.7% participation (surpassing the target of 5%).

Below is a breakdown of participation rates achieved on each of the roads under Tranche 1.

Project name Indigenous engagement (percentage of employment hours)
Eyre Highway 10.1%
Horrocks Highway* 5.7%
Barrier Highway 32.0%
Stuart Highway* 7.7%
Riddoch Highway 11.4%
Upper Yorke Road 7.7%
Ngarkat Highway 1.6%
Tod Highway 15.1%
Birdseye Highway 10.6%
Minlaton Road 1.7%
Karoonda Highway Not collected for Tranche 1
Playford Highway
Pages Flat Road
Average**7.7%
IPP Target5.7%

*Note multiple contracts.

**Average is average Indigenous employment hours across all contracts.