House of Assembly Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2) 52 2 Parliament of South Australia House of Assembly published Question Time Skills for All SKILLS FOR ALL Mrs VLAHOS House of Assembly Taylor SKILLS FOR ALL Mrs VLAHOS (Taylor) (14:52): My question is to the Minister for Employment, Higher Education and Skills. Can the minister inform the house about how the government is delivering education and training opportunities to people in our community, particularly in the northern region of Adelaide that I represent. The Hon. G. PORTOLESI House of Assembly Hartley Minister for Employment, Higher Education and Skills Minister for Science and Information Economy SKILLS FOR ALL The Hon. G. PORTOLESI (Hartley—Minister for Employment, Higher Education and Skills, Minister for Science and Information Economy) (14:52): Thank you, Mr Speaker, and can I acknowledge the member for Taylor. She certainly does represent her constituents very well and with fierce advocacy, I have to say. Can I thank her for her work on their behalf. As the member for Taylor well knows, as do I, those of us in our community who invest in upskilling are much better equipped, obviously, to access improved employment opportunities. Training does much more than just improve the outcomes for individuals. A better qualified, more skilled workforce plays a very significant role in improving local productivity. This is especially critical now because, as we all know, local businesses and industry are working in a very competitive global marketplace. Our Skills for All education and training initiative has enabled thousands more people in our northern suburbs to take up training courses that will support their skills and this region's productivity. In fact, just this weekend I attended the Tertiary Studies and Careers Expo, where I launched the 2013 Career Choices booklet, which provides— Ms Thompson House of Assembly Ms Thompson: An excellent booklet. The Hon. G. PORTOLESI House of Assembly The Hon. G. PORTOLESI: —students—yes, an excellent booklet, says the member for Reynell—and jobseekers information about training options and job prospects across 32 industries. I should also take this opportunity to mention that the economic statement, released by the Premier recently, highlights the importance of supporting key sectors, including advanced manufacturing and mining-related innovation, all of which are very relevant to this region of Adelaide. As part of our support for training in these sectors, I was delighted to recently join in marking the start of work on building our new $38.3 million Mining and Engineering Centre, which is located in the northern area of Adelaide. It is a fantastic facility and is shaping up beautifully. This will provide our state with a centre of training excellence in the mining, engineering, advanced manufacturing, defence and transport industries. These, and other industries and businesses in the north, all require people with high level skills and qualifications. The latest available data for Skills for All shows we have had a statewide 43 per cent increase in enrolments for training since 1 July last year when we introduced Skills for All. That means that nearly 23,000 extra students have undertaken a course or qualification. In the northern suburbs, there were more than 12,800 enrolments for the second semester last year. That means there are an extra 3,847 publicly funded qualification course enrolments, which are also a 43 per cent increase on the previous period for this region. This increase in training under Skills for All is not only restricted to Adelaide's north. We have seen increases in training right across the state—in the Mid North and Yorke Peninsula, southern Adelaide and the Limestone Coast, and every local region. I am absolutely delighted that students in the northern suburbs are gaining nationally recognised qualifications (of course, I acknowledge the minister sitting beside me, who has a strong interest in this area) and they are obtaining qualifications in a wide range of areas, including children's services, driving operations, accounting, education and skills development, construction and warehousing operations that are among the most popular courses in the northern suburbs. I take this opportunity to congratulate local businesses and industries and, of course, local families.