Community Development Program participation (CDPP)

This variable indicates whether a person participated in the Community Development Program (CDP). 

In the Census, the question on whether the person participated in the CDP is only included on the Interviewer household form. Interviewer household forms are designed specifically for use in discrete Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

The CDP is a government initiative that aims to improve the economic and social well-being of remote communities. It assists job seekers in remote areas to gain skills, training, and capabilities to find:

• sustainable employment
• contribute to their communities through a range of flexible activities

CDP participants receive income support payments and are not considered to be in an employer/employee relationship with their provider. People who are only participating in this program are not considered to be employed unless they also have a non-CDP job. CDP participants who are not employed are classified as either unemployed or not in the labour force, depending on their job search activities.

A similar program, Community Development Employment Projects (CDEP) was present in 2011, which was then reformed into the Remote Jobs and Communities Program (RJCP). From 1 July 2015, RJCP was replaced by the CDP.

All persons aged 15 years and over who responded on an Interviewer household form

Community Development Program (CDP) participation is derived from mark boxes to indicate the responses to this question on the Interviewer household form.

It is a multi-mark question, and the following multi-mark rules apply:

• If a respondent answered they had a CDP job as well as a non-CDP job, the non-CDP job has precedence over the CDP job and they are classified as 'Not a participant in the Community Development Program' (note that this does not relate to CDP participation rules).
• If there is not enough information to determine whether the respondent was a CDP participant or not, they are classified as 'Not stated'. For example, if 'No, did not have a job' was the only response marked.
• The derivation rules for classifying an applicable person (15 years and over who responded using Interviewer household form) are summarised in the table below.

This variable was first introduced in 2016. It replaced the following programs:

• 2015 – Remote Jobs and Communities Program (RJCP)
• 2011 – Community Development Employment Projects (CDEP)

No changes have been made for 2021.          

Care should be taken in the use of this variable. The Community Development Program (CDP) involves a broader range of activities than would be captured from the question on the Interviewer household form. The question asked is aimed at identifying participation in a CDP job rather than measuring all CDP participation. This is for the purpose of deriving Labour force status (LFSP).

Participation in the CDP is only captured on the Interviewer household form and not across all form types used in the Census. People counted on forms other than the Interviewer household form will not have the option to indicate if they participated in the CDP.

If comparing 2016 Community Development Program participation (CDPP) data with 2011 Community Development Employment Projects (CDEP) data, users should be aware that these are two different programs even though to some extent they cover the same applicable population. Payment arrangements for participants changed, which changed the nature of their labour force status.

• In 2011, people who participated in CDEP received wages from their community. They were considered as having an employer/employee relationship and were classified as employed in the 2011 Census.
• In 2016 and 2021, people who participated in CDP received income support payments directly from the government and were not considered to be in an employer/employee relationship with their provider. They were classified as not employed unless they had a non-CDP job.

This difference in the classification of people participating in these different programs since 2011 may contribute to changes in comparisons over time of labour force (employment and unemployment) numbers in discrete Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

As part of the 2021-22 Budget, the Australian government announced a new remote jobs program commencing in 2023 which will replace the CDP. Pilot programs will begin by the end of 2021. Since May 2021, job seekers are able to participate in some CDP activities on a voluntary basis but will continue to have compulsory requirements like attending appointments with service providers or looking for work.

This variable does not have a non-response rate as it is created during Census processing by using responses from more than one question on the Census form.

• Labour force status (LFSP)
• Interviewer Household Form

• Labour
• Earnings and work hours
• Employment and unemployment
• Income and work: Census