Urban transitions—Aboriginal men, education and work in Redfern Waterloo

Abstract

Chronic unemployment amongst indigenous Australians, men in particular, is central to this group's social marginalization. The challenge of finding paid work is much more formidable for those in regional and rural areas (other than in places affected by the mining boom) than for those in cities, where jobs are more plentiful. However, even in cities most Aboriginal people typically have low levels of formal education and few credentials and are often uncompetitive in urban labour markets. The article reports on biographical research among young Aboriginal men in Sydney's Redfern Waterloo district. It examines the way in which subcultural influences shape their early attitudes to education and work. It looks at how young Aboriginal men cope with the experience of growing up without fathers, a predominant social trend in the area. The research indicates that it is partly their ability to rise above the resistant cultures of their youthful peer groups that is crucial to young men's ability to find and retain paid employment. Each of the interview subjects discussed here demonstrates an awareness that, in order to exercise some control over their future, they need to transcend (or at least transform) the values and influence of a particular kind of indigenous subcultural community which has shaped their early life.