TAFE SA

The Hon. S.G. WADE (14:56): I seek leave to make an explanation before asking a question of the Minister for Employment, Higher Education and Skills relating to TAFE.

Leave granted.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: In addition to the 150 per cent higher subsidy paid to TAFE SA under Skills for All, over the last three years TAFE has also received structural adjustment moneys in order to become more competitive. However, analysis of TAFE accounts show that TAFE has not achieved any productivity or commercial improvements since Skills for All began in 2012.

In fact, despite this funding and having paid out almost $60 million in separation packages, overall costs have increased and staff numbers have basically remained the same. Under the new WorkReady funding arrangements, TAFE will get 90 per cent of all new training subsidies, again to help make them more competitive.

Has the minister required TAFE to provide her with its strategy to achieve competitiveness in the next three years, given that they have not achieved it in the last three years; if not, how can the minister guarantee the successful transition of TAFE to equal competitiveness and full contestability in three or four years' time if no progress has been made in the last three years?

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) (14:57): I thank the honourable member for his most important question. I have spoken in this place on several occasions about the higher rate of subsidisation for TAFE in the past and currently, and our plan to ensure that reforms are put in place to bring about an outcome that involves TAFE being on a dollar-for-dollar parity with relation to subsidisation rates by 2018—that is for its commercial training activity.

Again, I have spoken at length in this place about the need for TAFE to make the changes necessary for it to become increasingly more efficient and competitive. However, the honourable member is incorrect when he says that there have been no efficiencies or improvements in productivity—that is just not so; we have seen an enormous amount of really hard work that has been done by TAFE in the past. We have seen it go from three separate corporate structures to one.

We have seen its workforce considerably contract, particularly in relation to administrative functions, because we have seen that, rather than it being three IT departments, three HR departments and suchlike, these have all been streamlined into one corporate entity. Those administrative functions are shared across the whole corporation, so there have been, as I said, considerable changes that have taken place.

I was just trying to see the figures here, but I can't put my finger on them. I was just looking for the number of TAFE-subsidised places; the training outcomes that they've agreed to produce for this financial year compared to next year. I can't put my finger on the figure, but I can assure honourable members that they have committed to a significantly higher number of training places for this year than last year, which is a very good outcome.

As I have put on the record in this place before, for TAFE to be able to deliver dollar-for-dollar parity with the private sector in relation to their commercial training outcomes or activities by 2018, TAFE indicated that they needed a level of activity, particularly this financial year and next, which is the reason why they were given the lion's share of the subsidised training places.

The Hon. R.L. Brokenshire interjecting:

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: Yes, compared with the private sector, that's right, and I've made that very clear in this place. I was very pleased, I think it was yesterday, that we were able to announce an increase of just under an additional $8 million worth of training funding that will go into providing subsidised training, and all of those funds will be directed to the private sector. That increases the training activity that they can be subsidised for and further competitive rounds for accessing those additional funds will be made shortly.

That does help provide some relief for the private RTOs, and I indicated in this place before that I would work extremely hard to assist them, and that when and if additional funds were available they would be directed wholly to the privates to assist them, acknowledging that particularly this financial year and next will be fairly challenging. So, I was fairly pleased that this additional almost $8 million will go to assist in subsidised training for the private RTOs.