SOUTH AUSTRALIAN MULTICULTURAL AND ETHNIC AFFAIRS COMMISSION WOMEN'S LEADERSHIP COURSE

The Hon. CARMEL ZOLLO (15:20): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for the Status of Women a question about the South Australian Multicultural and Ethnic Affairs Commission Women's Leadership Course 2011-12.

Leave granted.

The Hon. CARMEL ZOLLO: The eighth SAMEAC Women's Leadership Course started on 3 November 2011 and will be completed by June 2012. At this halfway point for the 2012 course will the minister outline what is involved in the course?

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) (15:21): I thank the honourable member for her important question; I know her own keen personal interest and commitment to multicultural affairs. The leadership course is now in its eighth year, as the member noted, and has been a very successful initiative. The course is free to participants and is jointly funded by TAFE SA, Multicultural SA and the Office for Women.

The 2012 course is now about halfway through, as the honourable member mentioned, and I have to say that the feedback has been very positive to date. Training is being delivered by TAFE SA's Workplace Education Services at the Adelaide city campus, and successful completion will result in attainment of a certificate IV in front-line management.

Culturally and linguistically diverse communities were invited to encourage women to apply for the 2011-12 Women's Leadership Course, and I am advised that 72 applications were received. Following interviews, 16 women were selected by TAFE SA in consultation with Multicultural SA. I am advised that these women came from many diverse backgrounds: Bangladesh, Greece, India, Macedonia, China, Iran, Rwanda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Japan, the Philippines, Nigeria. Participants in the 2011-12 course were selected against a range of criteria, including:

whether they were willing to play an active leadership role in their communities and pass on their skills and knowledge to other women as well as display a capacity to work with other communities;

having an excellent understanding their own culture and of the implications of cultural diversity in the broader community;

being interested in further developing their leadership skills and interested in participating on boards and committees and leadership forums such as that;

being proficient at both oral and written English, and bilingual or bicultural; and

being committed to completing the course, which involves approximately three hours of class attendance per week, plus assignments. I am advised that is over a number of months.

I was delighted to be advised that the 2011-12 course has had a 100 per cent attendance record, with 16 participants attending five sessions in 2011 and a further eight to date this year. Obviously the participants are finding it to be a very worthwhile course.

The first session was an induction session covering course information and expectations as well as a TAFE campus orientation. The other four sessions covered content required for things like implementing effective workplace relations, working effectively with diversity, and an introduction to making a presentation.

There have been numerous opportunities for participant contributions and the sharing of ideas and experiences. For example, a successful end-of-year shared lunch was held, which provided opportunities for interaction, which a number of participants asked to be repeated. I understand that there will be further shared lunches this year to provide additional opportunities for networking and the sharing of ideas.

The course resumed in February this year, and participants have already made one of two required presentations to the rest of the group—Multicultural SA and the Office for Women. Officers were guest observers at this presentation session, and the rest of the course will be presented by key guest speakers. The South Australian government has been running a women's leadership Program since 2002, and I am very proud that more than 200 women have now graduated from various courses in that time.