Labour Hire Workers

The Hon. G.A. KANDELAARS (16:02): My question is to the Minister for Manufacturing and Innovation. Can the minister inform the chamber about how the government is supporting automotive supply chain labour hire workers that may be affected by the closure of Holden?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Manufacturing and Innovation, Minister for Automotive Transformation, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation) (16:02): I would like to thank the honourable member for his important question and keen interest in matters affecting workers in South Australia.

The state government has established a $7.3 million program that assists displaced workers employed in the automotive supply chain in South Australia. The Automotive Workers in Transition Program was launched in December 2014 to support the workforce of automotive supply chain companies with significant revenue exposure to the automotive manufacturing sector.

This is a comprehensive support package that provides: information sessions to affected workers; career advice and transition services, which involves individualised, professional career development assistance to each worker; skills recognition, which enables workers to have their current skill competencies recognised and mapped against national standards; and importantly, quality training delivery. Through the career advice and transition service and skills recognition process, workers will be able to identify the essential training needed to increase their employability.

Training can be accessed through 15 pre-approved registered training organisations that have been identified through a comprehensive selection process. The package also provides business start-up support, which is being provided to workers who have chosen to start up their own business. Workers are assisted in identifying their proposed business strengths and weaknesses and are offered business information and support.

Today I can announce that the government is extending the program so that assistance will be available to eligible labour hire staff working as contractors at car industry companies. I understand that labour hire personnel can account for a high percentage of the workforce at many vehicle industry companies—on average around 25 per cent, with around half of those working on site for two years or longer. This is not a small, anonymous group of workers: they make up a significant part of the component workforce.

The extension of the Automotive Workers in Transition program to eligible labour-hire workers is a result of some concern that, as the closure of Australia's car-making industry draws closer, the labour-hire employees may be retrenched rather than redeployed. It is imperative that if this occurs support is available to assist those workers to transition into new employment.

Assistance is now available to labour hire staff who have been continuously employed for two years by an eligible car component manufacturer, having commenced their employment before General Motors announced the Holden closure in December 2013. The South Australian government is committed to continuing to work towards assisting automotive workers and their families to transition to new employment opportunities in response to the closure of Holden and the automotive supply chain companies.