Senator Wong: The Minister for Indigenous Employment and Economic Development has provided the following answer to the honourable senator's question: The Indigenous Opportunities Policy (the Policy) aims to increase the number of Indigenous Australians trained and employed as a result of awarding large Australian Government contracts, as well as increasing the level of involvement of Indigenous businesses in the delivery of goods and services under those contracts. The Policy applies to all Commonwealth Agencies covered by the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997 (FMA Agencies). The original Policy was introduced in 2003 and the revised Policy was implemented on 1 July 2011. No data was collected on the operation of the original Policy from 2003-2011. A major change to the Policy was making it mandatory for FMA Agencies to apply the Policy to Approaches to Market run by FMA Agencies: which result in a contract or contracts each valued at over $5 million ($6 million in construction) (GST inclusive), and for which the resulting activities or services take place in a region or regions with a significant Indigenous population. The Policy requires organisations awarded contracts for Australian Government business affected by the Policy to have an Indigenous Australian Training, Employment and Supplier Plan (Plan) in place, approved by the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. It is each FMA Agency's responsibility to apply the Policy appropriately within its procurement processes and Agencies are asked to report annually on their implementation of the Policy via the FMA Agency Report. Each organisation with an approved Plan is also asked to report annually on implementation of its Plan via the Implementation and Outcomes Report. Although it is not possible to report on the impact of the revised Policy to the level of detail requested, the Policy is having a positive an impact on the approach of many organisations to training and employing Indigenous Australians and using Indigenous suppliers. This can been seen in the 88 Indigenous Australian Training, Employment and Supplier Plans approved since the revised Policy commenced on 1 July 2011. As at 31 August 2012, references to the Policy have been identified in eighteen (18) approaches to market: six (6) with the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) o education and training services o project management o building construction and support and maintenance and repair services o community and social services o software six (6) with the Department of Defence o personnel recruitment o community and social services o building construction and support and maintenance and repair services o health services two (2) with the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy o project administration or planning o information technology/broadcasting and telecommunications two (2) with the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA) o research programs. o infrastructure project one (1) with the Defence Materiel Organisation o uniforms one (1) with the Australian Taxation Office o communication contact centre. Of the eighty-eight (88) Plans approved as at 31 August 2012: thirty-five (35) are based in New South Wales ten (10) are based in Victoria eighteen (18) are based in Queensland eight (8) are based in South Australia, ten (10) are based in Western Australia three (3) are based in Tasmania, and four (4) are based in the Northern Territory. The industry groups listed below are represented among the organisations that have approved Plans: architecture/engineering and design (1) community support services (2) construction (20) electrical / electronic manufacturing (1) employment services (51) engineering and design (3) facilities management and cleaning (1) information technology and services (2) manufacturing (1) project management (4) retail (1), and telecommunications (1). As at 31 August 2012, six (6) organisations had submitted their implementation and outcomes Report. all six (6) organisations have had their Report approved five were not awarded any contracts to which the Policy applies, and one (1) organisation currently has a contract in place to which the Policy applies. The Policy will be reviewed once there is sufficient data about the operation of the Policy to enable a robust review; this is expected to be in the next financial year.