WOMEN'S EDUCATION

The Hon. J.S. LEE (14:52): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for the Status of Women questions about the status of women portfolio.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.S. LEE: In The Adelaide Review October 2011, it was reported that the TAFE women's education program is under threat due to significant cuts made from the state budget. It highlighted that increasing female labour force participation is fundamental to boosting the South Australian labour force participation rate over the next decade. Programs like TAFE's women's education help to achieve that but, with specialist teaching hours to be cut, it will be difficult or impossible for women to complete the courses on offer.

The Australian Education Union (SA Branch) on their website stated that the Office for Women is the:

...only agency in government which focuses on women, who make up over 50% of the population, it is becoming severely limited in its ability to support women and promote awareness of the key women's issues.

The AEU also mentioned that these are all cuts that directly impact on the lives of women in South Australia. It appears that this government sees women and women's issues as unimportant and an easy target for saving money. My questions are:

1. With the combination of funding cuts and restructuring of the office, the message women are receiving is that the state government does not take women's issues seriously. How does the minister intend to reverse this message?

2. With significant funding cuts to the women's portfolio, women are losing support for education and employment opportunities. How does the government intend to preserve these very valuable resources for women across the community?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, Minister for Forests, Minister for Regional Development, Minister for Tourism, Minister for the Status of Women) (14:54): I thank the honourable member for her questions and her interest in this particularly important policy area. In relation to matters pertaining to TAFE, it is obviously minister Kenyon's responsibility. However, I am advised that TAFE SA delivers about 800 qualifications over its 50-odd sites and continually reviews the courses that it runs each term. Courses are reviewed according to both student and industry demand, I am advised. TAFE SA currently offers Women in Education in 10 campuses in South Australia: metro Adelaide, Noarlunga, Port Adelaide, Elizabeth and a number of country areas as well. A computing module is also offered at Salisbury for students enrolled at Elizabeth.

I am advised that the changes to which the honourable member is referring currently affect the Port Adelaide campus. The five subjects that are no longer being offered at the Port Adelaide campus are part of Certificates III and IV in Women's Education. Women's education courses and subjects affected are generally those with low demand and also those that tend to employ casual staff. Certificate IV in Women's Education is no longer available at Port Adelaide campus, due I am advised to low demands. They did not have the numbers that enabled them to make the course available. In some ways it is a positive thing to see that women are able to mainstream other courses. So in some ways it is indicative of a fairly positive trend, but I know that members of the community are concerned to see these changes.

There were approximately, I am advised, 10 part-time students enrolled in that particular course. I support the retention of the women's education program at TAFE SA—I am a very strong supporter of that. I also accept that clearly there needs to be a demand for these courses to continue. It would be unreasonable and irresponsible of the government to be running courses where people did not want them. I also encourage women who have completed the women's education courses to continue their studies to gain the sorts of skills and confidence they need to be able to fulfil their own personal and professional developments.

TAFE SA in Adelaide North has received confirmation from DFEEST that the 2011-12 allocation for women's education will again be 58,900 hours, which is the same hours, I have been informed, as for 2010-11, so there is not any change there. Staff of the women's education program provide high levels of pastoral care support and an innovative teaching program to ensure that student cohorts achieve their individual personal goals that are designed in a way that is flexible to meet their individual needs and also accommodate their learning needs.

TAFE SA Adelaide North is continuing to review the qualifications offered based on student demand and the achievement of efficient and appropriate delivery that is consistent with the requirements of implementing skills for all funding models. For the honourable member to suggest that somehow there have been significant cuts in the women's portfolio that is indicative of our lack of commitment is a complete nonsense.

Our Office for Women pretty much received a similar proportion of cuts through the savings strategy this government put in place to build a long-term, sustainable and viable budget and to ensure prosperity into our future in South Australia. We delivered cuts right across the board. Our women's office received its share of those cuts. They have accommodated those extremely well through streamlining their services and developing stronger reliance and a better scope of product available online—that has been very popular—and reducing duplication and replication wherever they can.

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Ms Franks has a supplementary.