Employment Figures

The Hon. A.L. McLACHLAN (16:15): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Employment, Higher Education and Skills a question about employment in South Australia.

Leave granted.

The Hon. A.L. McLACHLAN: I note that the South Australian Strategic Plan target 48 seeks to increase the proportion of older South Australians who are engaged in the workforce by 10 percentage points by 2020. It was reported in the Department of Further Education, Employment, Science and Technology Annual Report 2013-14 that in 2010 there was a proportion of 40.3 per cent of older South Australians engaged in the workforce. The report has also revealed that by 2014 this figure has only increased to 40.5 per cent with progress in this area therefore rated as negative movement. My question is: can the minister advise the chamber why any substantial progress in this area has not been achieved?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Employment, Higher Education and Skills, Minister for Science and Information Economy, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Business Services and Consumers) (16:16): That target is to increase the proportion of older South Australians engaging in the workforce by 10 per cent by 2020. In January 2010 (which provides the baseline figure for this target), 39.9 per cent of South Australians aged 60 to 69 were participating in the labour force, and in December 2014 this had increased to 40.2 per cent. On the basis of these figures the progress has been pretty steady.

The target aims to increase the labour force of older South Australians. Despite the lack of progress to date, the achievement is still within reach, we believe, given that there are a number of years yet to reach that target. The sorts of actions that have been taken to help improve this result include a number of initiatives such as: bringing forward local council infrastructure projects; partnering with local employers to identify job opportunities and skill gaps, particularly to target disadvantaged jobseekers with a particular focus on regions; and intensive case managed support for 350 families in the Playford region.

That is particularly focused on intergenerational joblessness. There is Skills for All and there is support for workers in areas of transition to help retain and find new work quickly. That often involves older workers. Obviously, boosting productivity and information also would impact on this group. They are the general employment drivers, some of which appeal to older workers.

However, we also have South Australia's ageing plan 2014-19, which has working and volunteering as one of its key priority areas, and the Equal Opportunity Commissioner will partner with the DSD and the Office for Ageing to help tackle age discrimination and help promote recruitment and employment for older workers, particularly in the private sector.

The Council for Ageing and the business community will work together in providing more flexible workplaces and to help change workplace culture that often does not value the contribution of older workers. Often, it carries a sense that it's time—'Your time's up, move over; move out for younger blood,' so to speak. We need to change that culture and value the experience of older workers.

Also during 2012-13, DSD-related employment programs have engaged, I am advised, 4,000 people aged 45 and over, with over 1,100 employment outcomes achieved. Obviously, the government is also committed to expanding the Skills for Jobs in Regions program to support an additional 1,000 mature-age people to find jobs in their local communities, and they are supporting Don't Overlook Mature Expertise (DOME) to help 1,200 mature-age workers return to work. There was some additional funding made available fairly recently for that group. Those are some of the program areas that we have in place or intend to put in place to help stimulate employment of older people, and will hopefully help us deliver our target.