Automotive Workers in Transition Program

The Hon. T.T. NGO (15:18): My question is to the Minister for Manufacturing and Innovation. Can the minister provide an update on how the Warradale Career and Workforce Development Centre is assisting automotive supply chain workers?

The Hon. D.W. Ridgway: Oh, did Marty do this too?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Manufacturing and Innovation, Minister for Automotive Transformation, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation) (15:19): I thank the honourable member for his very important question and his interest in this matter. In answer to the Hon. David Ridgway, no, I am not sure that Mr Hamilton-Smith directly was responsible for this, but I am sure that he is very supportive of manufacturing in this state, as we clearly established earlier today.

The South Australian government is serious about assisting workers currently employed in the automotive supply chain companies who will lose their jobs when automotive manufacturing exits Australia in 2017. Automotive workers in southern Adelaide are now able to access the same level of support that their fellow workers have access to in northern Adelaide.

As many members are aware, the state government has established a Career and Workforce Development Centre at Warradale to deliver elements of the Automotive Workers in Transition Program to automotive workers living and working in southern Adelaide, and I was pleased to officially open the centre in March this year. The address and other details of the centre, as well as the Holden Transition Centre, were recently added to the DSD website, and can be found at www.statedevelopment.sa.gov.au.

The Warradale centre is going very well, and I know that the Hon. David Ridgway is aware of how well it is going and where it is; I seem to recall him bragging earlier this year about skulking around in the late hours of the night with his camera, taking candid pictures of that centre. I am advised that the staff working at the centre are existing Automotive Transformation Task Force staff and that there are two staff there at any given time.

As of 9 April 2015 the establishment cost for the centre, including the rent and fit-out, was $144,941. This consisted of establishment and signage of $108,308 and rent of $36,633. The ongoing rental is $135,450 per annum. The annual budget for the centre is approximately $200,000 a year, with staffing costs met from within the existing Automotive Transformation Task Force budget. The term of the lease for the Career and Workforce Development Centre at Warradale is two years from 12 January 2015 to 11 January 2017, with an option to extend for another two years. I am advised that the task force has sourced as much furniture and IT equipment as possible from within the Department of State Development.

The centre complements the Holden Transition Centre at Elizabeth which, like Warradale, is also available to GM Holden employees and car component manufacturing workers, including eligible labour hire personnel. I am informed that 64 individuals are receiving career and transition services through the Warradale centre, resulting in 148 appointments to date.

I am very pleased that South Australian workers, whether they work in the south or the north of Adelaide, now have access to a centre to assist in their transition from the automotive sector to alternative employment. I am advised that Automotive Transformation Task Force research has identified that more than 90 companies located in Adelaide's southern suburbs, with up to 2,000 employees in the region, may be affected by the closure of the automotive sector.

Southern Adelaide has a proud history of automotive manufacturing and is currently home to some of the largest automotive component manufacturers in this state, including companies like SMR and Tenneco. The state government centre at Warradale, like the GM Holden centre, provides a range of services including information sessions, professional career advice and transition services, skills recognition, computer and ICT training, and forums and workshops that provide opportunities for automotive workers.

The Automotive Transformation Task Force is coordinating, with GM Holden, information workforce sessions for presentations both to the Warradale centre and the Holden Transition Centre at Elizabeth. I am informed there have been four information sessions held at the Warradale centre so far, and am advised that there will be more information sessions and expos expanded over the next two years. I am encouraged that the Automotive Transformation Task Force is providing services in both the north and south of Adelaide to workers who will be transitioning to other industries.