WORK HEALTH AND SAFETY INNOVATIVE PRACTICE GRANTS

The Hon. G.A. KANDELAARS (15:58): My question is to the Minister for Industrial Relations. Can the minister advise the house about workplace health and safety grant programs that are currently available?

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY (Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for State/Local Government Relations) (15:58): I would like to thank the member for his very important question and also acknowledge the many years that the honourable member spent representing workers in the industrial relations sphere. I am pleased to advise the house that the Work Health and Safety Innovative Practice Grants are currently open.

The SafeWork Advisory Committee, which is a tripartite body established under the Occupational Health, Safety and Welfare Act 1986, manages the Work Health and Safety Innovative Practice Grants program, which funds projects that develop and disseminate innovative safety practices to help reduce work-related injuries, diseases and fatalities.

The aim of the innovative practice project is to support South Australia's Strategic Plan Target 21, which is to achieve a 40 per cent reduction in workplace injury from 2002 to 2012 and a further 50 per cent reduction in injury between 2012 and 2022. Projects must be in line with the priorities of the Occupational Health and Safety Strategic Framework for South Australia, and as such they must have a broader element that takes their benefits beyond the interests of just the applicants.

The Work Health and Safety Innovative Practice Grants provide an excellent opportunity for organisations to think outside the square and they contribute to reducing workplace harm in South Australia. A total of $130,000 is available for distribution each year, and organisers can apply for up to a maximum of $50,000 for any individual project.

Projects funded in 2011 covered several innovative topics, including protecting hairdressers by providing them with the skills necessary to reduce workplace stress and burnout from listening to clients' personal problems and helping them provide appropriate responses and referral information; understanding and managing the occupational health risk from fungal contamination in indoor environments; and access to work health and safety services by sex industry workers.

The closing date for lodging an application to SafeWork SA is Friday 24 February 2012. I urge anyone interested in improving health and safety outcomes through an innovative practice project to apply to SafeWork SA by this date. Further information on the grants and the application process can be found on SafeWork SA's website, www.safework.sa.gov.au. The SafeWork SA Advisory Committee will review all applications received and determine the successful applicants in June 2012. I look forward to updating the house on the details of the successful projects at this time.