The Wire

Remote Indigenous communities have had control of the Community Development Employment Project, CDEP, taken from them and placed in the hands of outside operators. In a move by the Federal Government, the decision effectively takes all control of CDEP participants’ day-to-day job placements and payments away from local Council and places it into the hands of privately-run job placement agencies with no initial ties with the community. The Mayor of the Mapoon community, located west approximately 200km from the tip of Cape York, Peter Guevera says it was wrong for them to lose control of CDEP as they were one of the best performers in Australia.