Employment services

How RAES will work

The RAES will provide opportunities for job seekers who live and work across more than 2,600 communities in remote Australia. It will support around 40,000 job seekers in remote Australia to build their skills and address barriers to employment.

The service will:

• Help job seekers prepare for work, move into a job when available and stay employed with greater access to mentoring and tailored support.
• Support job seekers where work is not available through engagement in community projects that build their skills and help them become job ready. These projects give communities more flexibility to design solutions locally, tailored for individual needs.
• Change the way providers are funded, supporting improved service delivery in critical areas, such as employment placement support (currently known as post placement support).
• In a small number of regions, trial local approaches to build language, literacy and numeracy as these are foundational skills for getting a job.
• Trial how existing job seeker assessment processes could be improved so that job seekers feel supported and comfortable, with providers working with job seekers to identify their strengths, skills and aspirations.
• Invest in building provider capability  to deliver higher quality, culturally safe services tailored to remote job seekers.

What RAES means for job seekers

Job seekers will still be required to agree to a job plan, attend regular appointments, undertake job search requirements (if appropriate), accept paid work and not leave suitable paid work.

Participation in activities to meet mutual obligations for RAES participants will remain voluntary.

How RAES is different to CDP

What we know is that the current CDP is not working for everyone.

The RAES will:

• be more flexible
• enhance provider engagement with community to ensure community projects are co-designed to align with local priorities and aspirations
• link participants with suitable employment opportunities, including those created through the Remote Jobs and Economic Development (RJED) program.

How RAES has been designed 

To help design the service, we have used feedback from previous consultations, existing evidence and learning and successes of CDP job trials. 

The feedback we received on the draft Grant Opportunity Guidelines (GOGs), that were open for consultation between 27 March to 21 April 2025, has also informed the final design of the grant opportunity. A report summarising this feedback and how it was implemented in the final GOGs is now available.

Some of the feedback we’ve heard from previous consultations is that:

• There is a need for more local job creation – moving people off income support and into real jobs (jobs stimulated through the RJED program or other).
• It should be planned and led by communities.
• Communities want some form of compulsory activity attendance to be introduced under the new model.
• Compulsory activities should be culturally appropriate and help participants move closer to paid employment.
• Activities should be flexible to allow for cultural obligations and personal circumstances.
• Training should be tailored to the individual and relevant to participants needs.
• The new service should support opportunities for full-time, part-time, seasonal and casual work.
• The new service should encourage engagement with a strengths-based approach.
• It should be participant-centred with case management to reflect job readiness pathway.