Riverland Education and Employment

The Hon. T.T. NGO (14:44): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Employment, Higher Education and Skills a question about regional South Australia.

Leave granted.

The Hon. T.T. NGO: The Riverland is a region of South Australia, the total area of which comprises approximately 30,000 people. Training and employment in the region supports a number of targets in South Australia's strategic plan, including those relating to economic growth, employment, labour productivity and non-school qualifications. Can the minister tell the house about her recent trip to the Riverland?

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) (14:45): I thank the honourable member for his most important question. I had an incredibly worthwhile trip to the Riverland recently, meeting with groups and various other community members. It was great to be able to visit Calperum Station to talk about their Aboriginal Learning on Country (ALOC) program, which has been a very successful initiative that engages Aboriginal people in traineeships with the NRM board.

NRM, through the ALOC program, has a history of employing participants as trainees to work at the station. The ALOC also provides traineeship opportunities at sites like Monarto, Glossop and Raukkan. Since the program began in 2008, ALOC has provided employment opportunities to almost 50 Aboriginal people across South Australia. Participants in the ALOC routinely progress to other employment opportunities, including starting their own business or further study, including university study. Whilst there are currently no trainees at the station, it was beneficial to engage in discussions with staff about how best to move forward to reinstate this very successful and popular program.

Following this, I met with the Riverland Industry Leaders Group (ILG). It is always great to meet with very passionate local business leaders who are really committed to productive discussions about how best to address issues which they face. This is one of the 15 ILGs which have been established by DSD to help government understand and respond to the workforce challenges experienced by industry and employers in each of the different regions. We know that each of the different regions has a different experience, so it is important that we are closely linked in with local knowledge.

In 2014-15, DSD has invested more than $700,000 in employment projects across the Murraylands and Riverland regions that are placing more than 700 people in employment and training. The Riverland Industry Leaders Group is involved in many initiatives that help to connect DSD programs with employment. We are very interested in obviously discussing how this could be strengthened through the government's recently announced policy WorkReady. Working with the Riverland Industry Leaders Group, subsidised training through WorkReady can be made relevant to local industries, skills and employment needs. Through WorkReady, Jobs First projects can be tailored to provide training to meet industry need and local job opportunities.

I was also able to meet with Anglican Community Care in Waikerie, which runs a significant Adult Community Education (ACE) Foundation Skills program. ACE programs are a community learning gateway for people to improve their foundation skills—literacy, numeracy, digital literacy and employability skills. This then engages people to start a pathway to help transition into training, further qualifications, further education and work. Funding has recently been used for the centre to run short courses. They told me that it involved around 90 participants across a range of different topics, including:

'Staying Connected with Technology in Today's World', for learners seeking employment, education or volunteering pathways to develop particularly digital skills, using applications that are common in everyday life and the workplace.

'Getting back on track', a financial literacy course.

'Safe Food Practices', which provides basic life skills in food safe practices, preparation techniques, cooking, budgeting, refrigeration, food purchasing and such like.

In 2014-15 DSD has invested approximately $130,000 into foundation skills projects across the Murraylands and Riverland regions to more than 300 people, and it was great to meet with the people at Anglican Community Care to discuss their programs and how well they have been received. It was great travelling through the Riverland, and I am very thankful to those residents for their warm reception and great hospitality. I look forward to continuing productive collaborations which will help improve the vibrancy of the region.