State Transition Program

Ms HILDYARD (Reynell) (18:09): I rise today to speak about an incredibly effective education program supported by our state government—the State Transition Program. Late last year it was my great pleasure to attend their 2014 graduation ceremony on behalf of the then minister for education and child development.

The program is funded by our state government and is delivered by community organisation and disability employment service, Barkuma. The program assists students with a disability or learning difficulty to make a successful transition from secondary school to work or further study. It gives students a head start through employment skills training, accredited industry training, structured work placement and assistance with job seeking with the support of an employment service. The program plays an important role in assisting our government to deliver on a number of objectives set out in our State Strategic Plan, in particular the goal to double the number of people with disabilities employed.

The graduation function recognised the achievements of 51 students. It was emceed by the highly dedicated manager of personnel employment at Barkuma, David Coles, and attended by dedicated chairman, Chas Allen, and hundreds of family members and friends. Students were joined by an ambassador of the program, Kate Collins and, excitingly, by MC Suffa, frontman for internationally acclaimed rap artists, Hilltop Hoods, who were born and bred in our beautiful southern suburbs.

I was very happy to hear Kristen from Christies Beach High School give the student address and was inspired by her recount of her journey and the journey of her fellow students including Dylan, star player of the mighty O'Sullivan Beach-Lonsdale or 'Lonnie Lions' footy club and was happy to congratulate them both on their graduation.

During the evening I had the opportunity to speak and pay tribute to those who were graduating whose work, effort and commitment we celebrated. In doing so, I acknowledged Barkuma for their incredible work towards the transition program and for their vision, leadership and commitment to coordinating the program and bringing stakeholders together to achieve outcomes with and for young people.

There are many programs for young people but to successfully bring a program to life, a strong vision and wise and collaborative leadership is always needed. I thank Barkuma for this and their management partners, Catholic Education SA, Association of Independent Schools of SA and the Department of Education and Child Development who have similarly focused on ensuring this program is one that understands and meets the needs of our young people.

I also acknowledge parents and caregivers for their support of their children throughout their lives. There are many people who help children flourish but parents and caregivers, as children's first teachers, are the ones who are there for the big moments like graduation but also, for all of the highs and lows and every moment in between, year in, year out.

I thank all of the trainers, teachers and support workers who have worked alongside these wonderful young people and have shown their commitment to developing their skills and to supporting them. Great teachers and trainers make such a difference in a young person's life and I am sure that the support received during this program will be remembered well and will continue to guide these young people.

In successfully participating in this transition program, the young people demonstrated skills and values that will serve them well now and into the future, and will no doubt be well valued by future employers—resilience, persistence, time management, communication skills as well as technical skills.

The young people benefited from individual and group careers sessions and developed their skills to be able to make informed decisions about their future pathways. The courses undertaken by students developed skills in the industry areas of animal studies, hospitality, horticulture, creative industries and multimedia, information technology and retail. Teachers, parents and caregivers also had the opportunity to have input into career direction so that all the strengths interests and capabilities of the young person were identified and sound decisions about possible pathways could be made.

The program offers a comprehensive preparation for life after school with career development and employability skills, credit towards the SACE as well as a national qualification, a semester of vocational education and training, work placement supported by the student's chosen disability employment service, and registration with the Disability Employment Service that will provide them with ongoing support after the transition from school.

I wish these young people well for their future, whether in further education and training or employment. I am very happy that our government has committed to provide a further $80,000 per annum over 2015-16 to support future students.