The Community Development Employment Projects (CDEP) was an initiative by the Australian Government for the employment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people It provided a flexible basic income support. On 23 July 2007, during the Northern Territory National Emergency Response ("the Intervention"), the Howard government announced the abolition of the CDEP scheme in the Northern Territory. The scheme had an estimated 7,500 participants. The Government planned to progressively abolish projects in urban areas of Australia by July 2009, and in remote areas by July 2011.