ECONOMIC AND FINANCE COMMITTEE: WORKFORCE AND EDUCATION PARTICIPATION

The Hon. L.R. BREUER (Giles) (11:32): I move:

That the 80^th report of the committee, entitled Workforce and Education Participation, be noted.

On 15 November 2011, the Economic and Finance Committee resolved to inquire into matters relating to barriers to employment, training and education. The inquiry arose from a motion put forward by a former member of the committee, the member for Reynell.

The terms of reference for this inquiry for the committee to investigate and report on were: barriers to full participation and education training and employment; ways to enhance access to and participation in education, training and employment, including through improved collaboration between government, health, community, education, training, employment and other services; and strategies to improve the capacity of individuals, families, community members, co-workers and employers to respond to the needs of people with limited experience of participation in education and/or the workforce.

Underpinning the inquiry terms of reference was the importance of South Australia striving to grow its workforce participation rate. South Australia has a wealth of resources, vibrant communities, quality training systems and a healthy business community. To achieve continued growth, the committee noted throughout this inquiry that more South Australians need to participate in education, training and, ultimately, the workforce. A key theme that emerged throughout the evidence received by the committee during this inquiry was that, by increasing people's participation, multiple benefits for individuals, families, business and society as a whole ensue.

Before proceeding any further, I would like to acknowledge and thank the other members of the committee, including former members, for their contribution to the inquiry. I would like to note that I was elected and appointed to the presiding member role in February 2013, in the latter stages of the inquiry. Therefore, in particular, I would like to acknowledge the former members of the Economic and Finance Committee who contributed to this inquiry, including the former presiding member, the now Deputy Speaker. I also thank all current members—the members for Colton, Davenport, Torrens, Ramsay, Goyder and Flinders.

On behalf of the committee I also acknowledge and thank the many organisations and individuals who presented evidence to the inquiry, both in writing and by attending hearings. I also thank the committee staff for their ongoing support; they do a wonderful job. I pass on our best wishes to the executive officer of our committee for her forthcoming baby due very shortly.

The inquiry received 24 written submissions from a variety of interested stakeholders, including individuals, a range of community based organisations, peak interest and industry bodies, business groups, education and training providers, the South Australian Training and Skills Commission, and the Department of Further Education, Employment, Science and Technology (DFEEST).

Throughout the inquiry the committee invited 17 witnesses to attend hearings and present evidence. We heard from a range of groups, directly representing people in the South Australian community, who are experiencing challenges to participating in education, training or the workforce, and that included carers, youth, mature age workers, people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, and people experiencing unstable living conditions. A number of industry and business groups also presented oral evidence to the committee. In addition, the committee heard directly from a range of service deliverers and administrators of relevant government programs. The committee noted throughout the inquiry that the current Skills for All program, administered by DFEEST, is responding to many of the issues raised in the inquiry. However, there is room to undertake further activity to support more people into education, training and work.

As to the inquiry evidence, while evidence was received from a broad range of stakeholders, a range of consistent themes and messages emerged throughout the committee inquiry. In summary, based on the evidence received, the most common barriers identified to participating in education, training or the workforce related particularly to low literacy/numeracy skills and low educational attainment; training costs; lack of suitable work experience; caring responsibilities; disability, poor health and mental illness; generational unemployment; poor English as a second language; employer perceptions or discrimination regarding age, race, work history, carer status; geographic barriers, including a lack of access to nearby employment and training activities; homelessness or unstable living arrangements; and gender issues.

I will endeavour to highlight some of the main themes raised throughout the inquiry. The committee consistently heard from a broad cross-section of the community that poorly developed literacy and numeracy skills were the most common and fundamental barriers to employment and education participation. It was also noted by the committee that people who did not complete secondary school and who lacked general employability, including digital literacy, were at a further disadvantage. The committee heard that people who face multiple challenges, such as having English as a second language or caring responsibilities, find it even harder to address the barriers to participation.

Another theme heard throughout the inquiry was that of isolation and marginalisation as a result of not being engaged in education, training or employment. It was evident to the committee that the adult and community education (ACE) sector, and particularly the community and neighbourhood centres, have a pivotal role to play in engaging and connecting with people who are marginalised and disconnected from the community at large. Such centres offer foundation skills and vocational courses that assist in building people's confidence and in finding their way back to or into employment and training. The way in which these centres are resourced and administered was of particular interest to the committee.

Another theme raised throughout the inquiry was that of the need for workplace flexibility. The committee heard throughout the inquiry that for many reasons a range of people in the community, including carers, older workers, youth and people experiencing homelessness, all needed access to more flexible workplaces.

With an ageing population and a need for people to find work later in life, it was evident from a number of witnesses that workplace flexibility would become increasingly important in maintaining participation. It was evident to the committee that if workplaces were to offer more flexible working arrangements, more workers, and particularly carers, would be able to maintain a career, income and superannuation and be less reliant upon pensions and welfare systems.

Towards the end of the inquiry the committee became aware of, and were supportive of, changes being made to the federal Fair Work Act, enabling more people to request flexible working arrangements. The committee received evidence during the inquiry of the often complex and long-term challenges faced by carers. However, the committee was particularly concerned by the set of unique challenges faced by young carers when they try to enter or remain in education or the workforce. The committee heard how important it was for young carers to have access to understanding, flexible and supportive educators and employers to ensure their continued participation.

The committee also acknowledges the important role older workers have to play in the workforce. In particular, the committee heard that many older workers want to continue working because they enjoy their role, while others may need to continue working for financial reasons. A need to raise awareness amongst some employers about options for older staff to transition to part-time employment was also recommended to the committee.

The committee received evidence in relation to a number of concerns from the Aboriginal community about barriers to participation in education, training and employment. It is evident that more funding and resources are being directed towards Aboriginal education and labour market programs than ever before. However, the evidence presented to the committee also suggests that there is still much to be done to reach parity between Aboriginal and other South Australians with regard to education, training and workforce participation. These areas include literacy and numeracy skills again, school completion rates, and entry into further education.

The committee received evidence from the Aboriginal community that suggested greater scrutiny and tracking of funding is necessary to help highlight where outcomes are being achieved and where systems can be improved to ensure funding further elicits the outcomes intended. The committee also heard a variety of evidence regarding the impact of providing intensive case management approaches to people who are experiencing multiple barriers to participation.

The committee consistently heard references to the success of investing in intensive 'wraparound' services, which in particular were achieving good results for service providers working with homeless clientele or people experiencing generational unemployment and other long-term challenging situations.

Another important theme throughout the inquiry related to the importance of having access to relevant, timely and accurate career information and, where necessary, career guidance in an individual's pathway planning. Evidence was received on a number of occasions about the importance of access to such information, not only in schools but for people at all ages who are seeking a career change or wishing to re-enter the workforce.

Related to this was the important role played by community centres in connecting people back into training and employment. It was also recommended to the committee to resource community centres with suitably qualified community education officers to help guide people's choices towards sustainable career pathways.

The committee has made 14 recommendations as a result of the inquiry. The recommendations seek to aid in increasing South Australia's participation rate on a number of platforms, by promoting better engagement with particular segments of the community. This includes: assisting more long-term unemployed into employment; assisting carers to remain in work and balance caring responsibilities; enabling older workers to continue working, but with more flexible pathways to retirement; and enabling underemployed workers to increase their hours via more flexible working arrangements.

The committee has recommended that a range of measures be introduced or expanded upon to increase participation amongst different cohorts within the community. The committee also recommends that some of these measures need to be tailored and intensive for the most disadvantaged in the community.

In conclusion, the committee recognises the importance of increasing participation in South Australia's workforce and in education. The committee has identified a range of opportunities to support the participation of more people into work and training, while also recognising the current work of DFEEST in the Skills for All initiative. The committee is optimistic that if the recommendations are accepted there will be an improvement in participation and a reduction in the number of barriers experienced by members of the South Australian community to accessing education, training and entering the workforce.

Mr GRIFFITHS (Goyder) (11:45): I congratulate the member for Giles on her presentation of the report from the committee. I think it was about 15 minutes, but it was very detailed about all the work done by not just the current membership but, indeed, by those who have served since 2011, when the committee first heard evidence. I was on the committee at the start, off it for a lengthy period of time and then and back on, and I know the fact that changes have occurred on both sides of the membership group has allowed a greater number of members to understand the importance of the issues that were raised in the committee's investigation and the key that it is going to be for the state's future.

I think I should recognise also the member for Reynell. In every meeting I have attended with the member for Reynell she pushes workforce participation issues, and I acknowledge her long-term interest in this as a previous committee member. I congratulate her.

It is a 117-page report and there is some level of repetition in it. However, the recommendations, while we would all like them to be a bit stronger, I suppose, are quite sound about opportunities to improve the workforce and education participation opportunity for South Australia. It was interesting, Mr Speaker, that you recognised the attendance of the University of the Third Age from Victor Harbor before because that group in my own area has told me that, indeed, for them, learning is a lifelong experience; and I think for all of us learning has to be a lifelong experience. Particularly to ensure that the future economy of the state is good, we need to be continually upskilling ourselves, and that requires a level of education and a level of workforce opportunity and participation.

The report is a very good one. I also commend the staff who have been involved in this. Susie Barber, the research officer, has done some excellent work. Lisa Baxter, the young lady who is about to leave soon to have a baby, is our secretary and also did some good work. I am sad that I was not there for the full time to hear a lot of the submissions and have an opportunity to ask questions on them but, in reviewing all the information presented, I think the report is a very sound one that provides some good recommendations for both side of politics to consider in future years because, as much as the parliament can put the policies in place to ensure this happens, it still is the responsibility of society to challenge itself, accept those responsibilities and ensure it does all it can to be part of what we need to do to increase our workforce and participation rate because it will be an absolute driver of our state. I commend the report.

The Hon. R.B. SUCH (Fisher) (11:47): I commend the Economic and Finance Committee for the report and also the member for Reynell for initiating the inquiry. I am very passionate about education and opportunity for people because I think one of our goals and objectives here should be to maximise opportunity for people to realise their potential and ability to contribute. I say that as someone who left school at age 14. I did not even have one year 10 subject to my name. Anyway, over time, I have addressed that a little bit. You need to give people opportunity. I do not think we do maximise that opportunity for everyone or allow people to use their abilities to the fullest possible extent.

We hear the cliché of lifelong learning. You learn one way or another throughout life, but I think we could do more to assist people to participate in the workforce. One category I think that really needs attention is people who may have reached a midpoint in their work experience but cannot easily upskill because of commitments to family, mortgage and so on. There are a lot of people who have ability and would like to do something different from what they are currently doing in the workforce but cannot get away from the requirements to sustain their family, and that needs to be addressed. That would have to be a commonwealth initiative.

I believe there are thousands of people in South Australia alone who, at a midpoint in their working life, could be upskilled to do activities other than their current employment. That is not to be critical of what they are currently doing, but I think they need the opportunity. With a mortgage around your neck and a family to support, it is pretty hard to do that. I know how hard it is to study part-time when you have young children literally at your feet.

We do not make full use of the potential of the elderly in our community, either. If you think about it, it is not logical that a person retires at, say, age 55, 60 or 65 and the next day they are unproductive. That is just nonsense. In fact, in some societies, like Japan, they have people working right through to their 80s. I do not issue that as a threat on my own behalf, but that is what happens in Japan and places like that.

We have—and I have in my electorate—a lot of people who have been in charge of government agencies or running major companies, and suddenly on retirement they are often considered to be unable to contribute further to the community in any workforce type situation. That is silly and ridiculous. In fact, there are some disincentives in relation to WorkCover and other arrangements that operate to deter people in that age group from continuing in the workforce.

In terms of young people, particularly but not exclusively, for those who have come here for example on humanitarian visas, or for some of the people in the Aboriginal community and some people who have grown up in a disadvantaged background of whatever nature, there need to be special traineeships or cadetships, because I have found in my own office that the traineeship is a wonderful stepping stone for young people.

I have had a lass from Iran who has gone into the Attorney-General's Department. All they need is a step up the ladder and to be given an opportunity. One of the ways of doing that is in a supervised workplace—it does not matter whether it is private sector or public sector—where they are paid something, they learn the skills, improve their language and become more readily employable. We need to pursue that vigorously.

There needs to be flexibility in the workforce and I do not think it is fair to expect business always to pick up the cost of that. I think the wider community should support those arrangements because the community benefits ultimately, as it does through having a more highly educated and more highly skilled workforce.

One of the things that has concerned me for a long time—and I know it is a federal issue—is the current HECS scheme. I had never been a fan of that. I was one of those who benefited from tertiary study when we did not have to pay back anything towards the cost of that education. People will—and they should—pay back through the taxation system, and the more you earn through your income as a result of your higher education, the more you should be paying back. I think that is the way to do it.

If you look at stats, there are billions owing on unpaid HECS debt which shows that the scheme is not working all that well anyhow, but I believe in making education and training accessible to everyone, irrespective of their financial status. I am a great believer in giving people a go; let them have an opportunity, let them have a chance. I think our society would be better off with a better system rather than the current commonwealth HECS scheme.

I notice that in the report there is a focus on farm training. As any member who takes an interest in agriculture would know, the agricultural workforce, including the farmers themselves, is ageing and we need to get young people involved in agriculture. Historically, we have had many schemes. My father was actually in one. He came out as a Barwell boy in 1922 as a 16 year old, and he worked at Huddleston and Harrogate and other places.

Many of those Barwell boys obviously stayed here and married local girls. Some of them continued in agriculture, but I think we need some system, whether you call it 'farm apprenticeships' or some other name. We need to get more young people into agriculture because the current average age indicates that some change is essential.

I conclude by commending the committee on this report and also the member for Reynell, who I know is passionate about educational opportunity. Once again, this demonstrates the value of the committee system in parliament that can look at issues in depth and come up with some sensible recommendations which, hopefully, will be implemented to make our state a better place.

Ms BETTISON (Ramsay) (11:55): I rise to support the report of the Economic and Finance Committee, entitled Workforce and Education Participation. Being a new member of parliament, this is the first inquiry that I have seen through to the final report stage. The terms of reference were broad and enabled the committee to seek a wide range of submissions from peak bodies in the private sector, such as the AHA, the MTA, the SA Farmers Federation, Business SA, the SA Wine Industry Association and the Australian Industry Group, and peak bodies representing the not-for-profit sector, such as Carers SA, the WEA, Community Centres SA, the Council on the Ageing and the Youth Affairs Council. Also represented were the SA Training and Skills Commission, DFEEST, the skills councils for primary industries and food, tourism and hospitality, the Hutt St Centre and Catherine House.

I have a personal interest in this inquiry and in particular I have an interest in the barriers to full participation in education, training and employment. This was one of my passions and a reason for putting myself forward to become involved in politics. My own family upskilled themselves: my mother, who had a diploma in teaching, went on to get a Bachelor of Teaching when I was about four or five years old, and my father (a fitter and turner by trade) furthered his technical abilities at technical college when I was about four years old. I remember my mother saying that she would not feed my father his dinner until he had done his homework—and that was the only way she was able to make him finish it.

One of the key aspects in regard to this topic is that South Australia does have a lower participation rate (62.9 per cent) than the national average of 65.5 per cent, so this is a key challenge for our state. Although our demographic profile is older and we have a lower proportion of the population with post-school qualifications, it is really important that we acknowledge this and look to address it.

Throughout the committee's time with witnesses we learnt that the key factors of disadvantage—and a central theme that we heard time and time again—were things like early school leaving, low literacy and numeracy skills and poor work history, and these barriers were compounded by language issues and homelessness. I am very pleased to say that this government's Skills for All program, enabling fee-free access to certificates I and II and FEE-HELP for certificates III and IV, goes to the heart of this challenge—and this was acknowledged by the chair.

I want to touch briefly on some of the successes of the Skills for All program. We have seen, as the Minister for Employment, Higher Education and Skills released this month, that South Australia has recorded a 15.5 per cent increase, compared with the national average of 3.3 per cent, for students in vocational education and training in 2012. We now have the highest growth rate in the nation. We feel very strongly that Skills for All is helping more people to access training and boost their skills in areas where there is a high demand for more workers both now and into the future.

I have a particular interest in the northern suburbs of the state, including the seat of Ramsay. There has been an increase in the northern Adelaide region—including Enfield, Salisbury, Modbury, Tea Tree Gully, Playford, Elizabeth, Munno Para and Paralowie—of 53 per cent; that is, people enrolled in Skills for All's training certificates in the second half of last year.

Some examples of increased enrolments include 722 enrolments in Certificate III in Children's Services, a rise of 400 compared with the previous year; and 314 enrolments in Certificate III in Aged Care, a rise of 149 enrolments compared with the previous year. These are things to be celebrated. This is a serious challenge for us in South Australia and this goes to the heart of the challenge but, of course, there is always more to be done. One of the key parts about our Skills For All is the support for foundation skills, focusing on literacy, numeracy and digital literacy courses.

As we have heard from other members of the committee, there are several recommendations in the report, but what I would really like to concentrate on today is the role of the community development sector or community centres. I have to say that during the course of this inquiry I changed my opinion about the role of community centres. I really did not know what they did. I thought they were nice touchy-feely things, but what we really see is the adult community education, and this community development sector is a first doorway for people. It is an incredibly important way to engage people. We have more than 100 community centres or Neighbourhood Houses in South Australia. I seek leave to continue my remarks.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.