In the final analysis, employment is a means to personal income generation, while the amount generated is determined largely by occupational status. In turn, the availability of particular occupations within a region is partly related to the industry mix of economic activities. Thus, the relative distribution of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal employment by industry and occupational category is a vital feature of participation in the regional labour market and this is shown in Figures 3.2 and 3.3 for male and female workers respectively.

Key:1.Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing. 2. Mining. 3. Manufacturing. 4. Electricity, Gas and Water Supply. 5. Construction. 6. Wholesale Trade. 7. Retail Trade. 8. Transport and Storage. 9. Communication Services. 10. Finance and Insurance. 11. Property and Business Services. 12. Government Administration and Defence. 13. Health and Community Services. 14. Cultural and Recreational Services. 15. Personal and Other Services.

Key:1.Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing. 2. Mining. 3. Manufacturing. 4. Electricity, Gas and Water Supply. 5. Construction. 6. Wholesale Trade. 7. Retail Trade. 8. Transport and Storage. 9. Communication Services. 10. Finance and Insurance. 11. Property and Business Services. 12. Government Administration and Defence. 13. Health and Community Services. 14. Cultural and Recreational Services. 15. Personal and Other Services.

Clearly, the distribution of Aboriginal employment by industry division for both males and females is quite different from that of their respective non-Aboriginal counterparts. Aboriginal employment is heavily concentrated in government administration, which in effect reflects the census classification of much CDEP employment. Another focus for both Aboriginal males and females is in health and community services and personal service industries, while agriculture (the pastoral industry) also appears as a relatively prominent employer of Aboriginal male labour. Overall, though, there is little difference in industry distribution between Aboriginal males and females, as indicated by an index of dissimilarity of only 17.8 (see endnote for explanation).^[4]

However, the same cannot be said for the comparison of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal industry distribution. Clearly, the non-Aboriginal workforce is more widely spread across a range of industry categories with some emphasis on agriculture, construction, retailing, and transport among males, and on agriculture, retailing, government administration and health and community services among females. Of interest is the fact that mining represents a relatively small employer of the locally resident non-Aboriginal workforce. If non-resident workers were included as part of the make up of the regional labour market then the mining sector would dominate the overall profile with a total of 573 full-time equivalent workers on site at Argyle alone in 2001.

The actual scale of difference between the percentage representation of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal workers in each industry division is shown in Table 3.4 with negative signs indicating those industries where Aboriginal workers are under-represented compared to non-Aboriginal workers. Clearly, the retail industry stands out in this regard for both males and females, followed by agriculture, construction and transport and storage industries. The overwhelming representation of Aboriginal workers in government administration, and to a lesser extent in health and community services, is also highlighted. These variations contribute to relatively high indices of dissimilarity, especially for males. In short, if the Aboriginal workforce were to participate in the industry mix of the regional labour market in the same fashion as non-Aboriginal workers, then according to the index of dissimilarity more than half of them (53.3%) would need to change their industry of employment. Obviously, this would represent a substantial restructure.

A similar scale of difference in workforce participation is evident in respect of occupational distributions (Figures 3.4 and 3.5). Much of this arises from the ABS tendency to code CDEP scheme workers as labourers and related workers. As a consequence, more than 60% of Aboriginal male workers, and almost 40% of female workers are classified in this way. By contrast, non-Aboriginal workers are more evenly distributed across occupational groups, especially in the more skilled occupations in categories 1-4. There is evidence, however, that Aboriginal female workers gravitate to similar occupations as their non-Aboriginal counterparts, especially as intermediate clerical, sales and service workers. This is reflected in a lower index of dissimilarity between female workers compared to male, while the index between Aboriginal male and female workers (35.6) is also considerably higher than recorded for industry divisions (Table 3.5). Overall, though, Aboriginal workers are substantially under-represented in the more skilled occupations, especially males, and more than 40% would need to shift their occupational group if they were to match the skill set of the regional non-Aboriginal workforce.

Key:1.Managers and Administrators. 2. Professionals. 3. Associate Professionals. 4. Tradespersons and Related Workers. 5. Advanced Clerical and Service Workers. 6. Intermediate Clerical, Sales and Service Workers. 7. Intermediate Production and Transport Workers. 8. Elementary Clerical, Sales and Service Workers. 9. Labourers and Related Workers.

Key:1.Managers and Administrators. 2. Professionals. 3. Associate Professionals. 4. Tradespersons and Related Workers. 5. Advanced Clerical and Service Workers. 6. Intermediate Clerical, Sales and Service Workers. 7. Intermediate Production and Transport Workers. 8. Elementary Clerical, Sales and Service Workers. 9. Labourers and Related Workers.