Employers

The helpdesk is open on 9am-5pm AEDT Monday to Friday for the duration of the application period of each grant round, except for: 

• The last 3 working days before the application period ends, 
• The period from 5pm AEDT on 20 December 2024 to 9am AEDT on 2 January 2025, and
• National public holidays.

Please note, the helpdesk opening hours may be different in your local time zone: 

• 9am-5pm AEDT
• 6am- 2pm AWST
• 7:30am-3:30pm ACST
• 8am- 4pm AEST

The helpdesk will respond to emails and phone calls from grant applicants while the grant is open and up to 3 working days before the grant round closes. The helpdesk will: 

• Provide a follow-up service for more complex enquires to ensure correct information is provided
• Direct applicants to information that is outside of scope for the helpdesk for example fair work for awards and minimum wage information such as calculators or websites. 
• Provide clarifying advice on the Grant Opportunity Guidelines.

The helpdesk will not:

• Review applications
• Calculate budgets
• Advise applicants on what specifically they should write

Assist with grant writing.

The NIAA is collecting the following personal information from you. 

• If you call our Helpdesk – your phone number if you are requesting a callback or follow-up phone call and an audio recording of the conversation 
• If you email REAS@niaa.gov.au – your email address (this may also include your name, phone number and employer if you use your work email)

The NIAA is collecting this information:

• to assist with your query on the Remote Jobs and Economic Development (RJED) program grant opportunity;
• to maintain call logs that will be used for internal reporting purposes; 
• to manage and respond to complaints in relation to the RJED grant opportunity; and
• for record-keeping and auditing purposes.

We do not need your personal information (such as your name) to assist with your query. We also do not need your phone number (unless you are requesting a callback or follow-up phone call) and you may call using a private number. If you choose to provide your personal information, then the NIAA will collect this information from you.

The NIAA may disclose your personal information to the Commonwealth Ombudsman to manage a complaint. The NIAA may also disclose deidentified information to the Australian National Audit Office, the Australian parliament or a parliamentary committee. 

If you do not provide:

• your phone number to receive a callback or follow-up phone call; or 
• a valid email

the NIAA will be unable to contact you about your query. 

All phone calls are recorded for record-keeping and auditing purposes. We are required to retain them (as Commonwealth records) for 7 years to meet our record-keeping obligations. 

The NIAA’s Privacy Policy at www.niaa.gov.au/privacy-policy explains how the NIAA handles your personal information, how you can request access to or correct the personal information the NIAA holds about you, who to contact if you have a privacy complaint and how the NIAA handles such complaints. 

To find out more about how we manage personal information you can contact:

Post:
The Privacy Officer
National Indigenous Australians Agency
PO Box 2191
CANBERRA ACT 2600

Phone: 02 6152 3080
Email: privacy@niaa.gov.au 

A grant is funding awarded by the Australian Government to an organisation or individual for a specific purpose. 

The RJED program is creating 3000 jobs gradually over 3 years. There will be multiple grant rounds advertised on GrantConnect throughout the three-year period of the program for eligible employers to apply for funding to create new jobs.

Eligible employers can apply for two streams of funding under the RJED program to create new full-time, part-time or casual jobs in remote employment services regions.

1. Jobs Creation – which can pay for an employee’s wages up to the relevant award or minimum wage rate (whichever is applicable) plus superannuation, and leave entitlements.
2. Community Jobs and Business Fund – which can pay for equipment, infrastructure and capacity building to help employee’s do their jobs (like uniforms, a shed, on-job-training). This funding can also pay for oncosts and overheads such as insurance and operating expenses. Please note: This funding can only be applied for in combination with the Jobs Creation stream, not on its own.

This program is about creating new jobs that communities want and need.

Feedback from consultations in remote communities show people want local jobs that could be part-time, full-time or casual and be flexible around personal, family and community obligations.

Jobs could be to care for the environment, work in a shop, care for others, grow a small business or they may have other ideas.

As an employer, you need to talk to your local community to find out what jobs and projects they want before you start the grant application process.

Then when you apply for a grant to pay for wages and equipment, you will need to demonstrate how you know these jobs are what your community wants and needs.

For the purposes of the RJED program, a new job is:

• a job which does not already exist within an organisation and does not displace an existing employee or 
• a job created under the New Jobs Program Trials or CDP Trials.

Grants will be assessed against the selection criteria outlined in the Grant Opportunity Guidelines. It is important for applicants to ensure they understand and fully respond to all questions and provide any additional information as requested. If applicants are unsure or have any questions, please contact the helpdesk on 1800 939 500 or REAS@niaa.gov.au

Assessment of the first round of grant applications under the RJED program will begin as soon as the grant round closes on 3 February 2025. Timeframes will be strongly impacted by the number of applications that are received. This is because the grant round is a competitive process which means applications will be assessed on their merits and will be compared to other applications. There are several stages to the assessment process leading up to approval by the delegate before applicants can be notified of outcomes. 

Yes, everyone including unsuccessful applicants will be notified on the outcome of their application.

The draft Grant Opportunity Guidelines (GOGs) for the RJED program were released for public consultation in July 2024 and set out proposed elements of the new program like eligibility criteria, assessment and the overall grant selection process.

Feedback from the First Nations Reference Group (FNRG), community consultations and findings from existing evidence on remote employment, including job trials, also informed elements of the draft GOGs. 

Yes, the second stage of this remote employment reform is the design and delivery of a new remote employment service.

This will support people who are currently looking for work or may need help to become job-ready, with the skills and resources they need.

CDP services will continue until 30 June 2025 to support remote job seekers before a new remote employment service begins.