Narungga Electorate

Mr ELLIS (Narungga) (15:19): I rise today to highlight the importance of new skills, training opportunities and incentives for young people within the Narungga electorate. Last Friday, I was honoured to cut the ribbon on a new automotive centre at Harvest Christian College in Kadina. This Friday, they are celebrating the opening of the new STEM works development at the Kadina Memorial School. These are two really great initiatives shown by local schools to help train young people for the jobs of the future.

Much has been made of the vital need to ensure South Australian school students are equipped and skilled, ready to capitalise on the projected king's ransom of jobs anticipated to hit our shores in the very near future. The decision by the federal government to award South Australia the national Space Agency and the extensive shipbuilding contract means that there is a wide range of jobs that the next generation of South Australians will have access to.

In order to capitalise on those opportunities, South Australian students need to have the requisite skills to make the most of their chances, and that is where facilities like the new automotive centre at Harvest Christian College and the STEM facility at Kadina Memorial School—which is now the largest school outside metropolitan Adelaide—will be so beneficial.

It was a delight to be a part of the opening of the automotive centre last Friday. Restored vintage Valiants were on display and even the school's percussion group entertained us using various car parts as instruments. It was quite a show indeed. A tour of the well-equipped workshop followed, complete with a hoist in action, and the enthusiasm and pride for the project from principal Peter Ayboub, staff, students, parents and friends were clear.

Learning facilities like this one enable students to get a taste for what specific trades entail, inspire them onto future career paths, provide an early chance to learn those skills and to get an opportunity to make a more informed decision about what they want to do in the future. There is no disadvantage in choosing to pursue an apprenticeship. In fact, the Minister for Industry and Skills told a business round table recently that it has been reported that those who start an apprenticeship are earning, on average, $2,000 per year more than their uni counterparts after five years—all that without a HECS debt.

As I said, that statistic was highlighted by the Minister for Industry and Skills when he visited Kadina and Wallaroo last week, where we met with training providers and employers specifically to discuss future workforce needs. I thank him very much for that visit. It was wonderful to have him down there, and I would contend that there was quite an impressive turnout to that business round table by local businesses and training providers, which highlights the impact that the minister's policy for apprenticeships is having on local industry.

The minister also talked about the government's Skilling South Australia program, the 780 qualifications that are now subsidised and the $203 million partnership with the federal government to rebuild our training system to create an additional 20,800 apprenticeships and traineeships across the state. We were pleased to meet with students and staff from Kadina Memorial School, tour Kadina TAFE, meet with training providers and talk with local employers and providers at the business round table I referred to earlier. Skills gaps, potential areas for improved services and support, available grant programs and direct experiences from the employer and apprentice point of view were shared openly and honestly.

Hurdles being faced by local business include attracting, training and retaining their workforce. There are no easy points; it all needs work, but hopefully the policy that the minister has put together so wonderfully will help that pipeline of future apprentices. Across the state, apprenticeship numbers are down 55 per cent in the last five years alone, which will inevitably mean that we will face a shortage of skilled tradespeople sometime in the relatively near future.

For instance, we know that we are facing a projected shortage of 1,100 specialist welders that we will need when the shipbuilding commences, so it is important the state government foresees the gaps and provides the required training opportunities to ensure students are equipped to be ready for future industry needs. This government places a high premium on ensuring that involvement in apprenticeships increases and that we arrest the decline trend and reverse it.

Under Skilling South Australia, the Marshall Liberal government has more than doubled the accommodation allowance and has increased the travel rate to ease the cost of accessing training for employers of regional apprentices and trainees. Late last year, we announced an additional 383 courses will receive subsidy funding from January 2019. It is very exciting for local employers to be able to access that increased subsidy, as well; I know it makes their job easier because inevitably that cost is transferred over to them.

There are projected future workforce and skills gaps in the health and disability services area, too, and last week's announcement by minister Pisoni that a new aged-care traineeship, a certificate III course, is now being offered is further good news. It means there are now more than 30 Skilling South Australia projects creating apprenticeship and trainee opportunities in our state, and I congratulate the minister on the wonderful work he is doing in this space.