Abstract

The Community Development Employment Projects (CDEP) scheme is an Indigenous 'workfare' program which has existed since 1977. In 2004, with the abolition of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC), CDEP became a responsibility of the Commonwealth Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR). Since early 2005, DEWR has been engaged in a reform process which has led to some significant changes to CDEP. This article looks at those changes under two headings; policy substance and the new contractualism. It begins with a little more history. (First published in Impact: News Quarterly of the Australian Council of Social Services. Revised Draft, March 2007.)

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