TAFE Individual Support (Disability) Certificate

Mr BOYER (Wright) (14:47): My question is to the Minister for Innovation and Skills. Was the decision to cancel the Certificate III in Individual Support (Disability) course, previously run at metropolitan TAFE campuses, made for any reasons involving the quality of that course?

The Hon. D.G. PISONI (Unley—Minister for Innovation and Skills) (14:48): As I was explaining earlier, we are rebuilding the skills system here in South Australia. TAFE are not the only people who deliver vocational education and support apprenticeships and traineeships. As a matter of fact—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. D.G. PISONI: —there are many industry-based organisations.

The Hon. A. Piccolo interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Light!

The Hon. D.G. PISONI: What we are seeing is that there are many providers of childcare training, cert III diploma, cert IV in other areas—

Mr Szakacs interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Cheltenham is called to order.

The Hon. D.G. PISONI: —who operate independently of the TAFE sector. It is what we describe as a thick market. There are plenty of providers in that space.

Mr Szakacs interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Cheltenham is warned.

The Hon. D.G. PISONI: Where we need support for apprentices and trainees is in regional South Australia because regional South Australia was smashed by those opposite. So this is about a realignment of resources—

Mr BOYER: Point of order.

The SPEAKER: The member for Wright rises on a point of order. The minister will resume his seat.

Mr BOYER: Point of order, Speaker, standing order 98: the minister is debating the question again.

The SPEAKER: I have the point of order. The minister is responsive to the question and I am listening carefully. The minister has the call.

The Hon. D.G. PISONI: Answering a question is not debating the question. You have asked the question—

The SPEAKER: The minister will direct his remarks through the Chair.

The Hon. D.G. PISONI: I am giving you an explanation as to—

The SPEAKER: The minister will direct his remarks through the Chair.

The Hon. D.G. PISONI: —what we are doing to fix the mess that we inherited from those opposite, to make sure we can deliver skills that industry values and return skills training back into regional South Australia, and TAFE will be playing a strong role in doing that in apprenticeships and traineeships.

When I was up in Whyalla on Friday, I had a round table with a number of businesspeople, and they want to have a facility for delivering skills back into regional South Australia. They are seeing a growth in apprenticeships and traineeships up there. It's a burden to send apprentices down to Adelaide, which was the choice that was left to them by the other side. There are magnificent facilities up there predominantly empty, so we are working with industry to utilise those facilities with either additional TAFE staff or non-government providers.

There are about a dozen or more welding bays at the Whyalla TAFE that have not been used for years because of the cuts that were made to TAFE by the previous government and the fact that they defunded the non-government sector, which was providing 50 per cent of the funding here in South Australia for the delivery of vocational education and training, apprenticeships predominantly. We have a significant structural problem that we need to correct. There were five million hours of training by TAFE last year—$231 million. Six million hours of training by the independent sector—$52 million. You don't need to be a rocket scientist to work that out. What we have seen from those opposite—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Cheltenham is warned for a second time.

The Hon. D.G. PISONI: —is an attempt to discredit the non-government sector here in South Australia, who are accredited by the same people who accredit TAFE, the same people who failed 16 TAFE courses that were run under the previous government. They abide by the same rules and the same conditions. They deliver the same curriculum. They deliver the same quality as TAFE deliver, and some would argue they deliver better quality because they are industry connected. They are driven by industry. Paul Caica, the chairperson of PEER, will tell you of the good work the non-government sector is doing in the industry.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The time for responding to the question has expired. Before I call the member for Waite, I call to order the member for Light, I call to order and warn the member for Hurtle Vale, and I warn for a second time the member for Playford.