Legislative Council Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1) 55 1 Parliament of South Australia Legislative Council published Question Time Regional Unemployment Regional Unemployment The Hon. H.M. GIROLAMO Legislative Council Regional Unemployment The Hon. H.M. GIROLAMO (15:42): I seek leave to provide a brief explanation before asking a question of the Minister for Regional Development regarding regional unemployment. Leave granted. The Hon. H.M. GIROLAMO Legislative Council The Hon. H.M. GIROLAMO: It has been recently reported by the Australian Bureau of Statistics that the unemployment rate has increased from 2.6 per cent to 3.4 per cent for regional SA between August and October this year. This comes at a time when unemployment for under 30s and the employment for women is dropping significantly as well, resulting in the unemployment rate for females under 30 in regional SA increasing from 3.5 per cent to a concerningly high 7.7 per cent in the month of October. My questions to the minister are: 1.	Has the minister familiarised herself with these statistics? 2.	What conclusion has the minister drawn from the increases in unemployment? 3.	Has the minister met with any recently unemployed cohorts from the regions and, if so, what has the minister learnt from these discussions, and what actions has the minister considered to address these concerns? The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN Legislative Council Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development Minister for Forest Industries The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries) (15:43): I thank the honourable member for her question. In terms of unemployment overall, of course South Australia has been doing very well. We have seen recent statistics saying that over a good part of this year we have had either the lowest or the second lowest of mainland states in various indicators, so that particularly refers, I think, to the strength of South Australia as a state and the excellent plans that this government has for the state going forward. Of course, there is a fair bit to do in terms of the different factors that feed into an unemployment rate. The participation rate is also an important factor, and the honourable member didn't mention what the participation rates have been and whether there have been changes. I think it is reasonable to reflect on one of the biggest barriers to workforce participation in regional areas, which is child care. This is something that we have spoken about on a number of occasions. A lot of the aspects of child care are a matter for the federal government, but where there are opportunities for the state government to have an impact then we certainly do so as well. Separate to child care, our initiatives around three-year-old preschool will also have, indirectly, the benefit of potentially freeing up parents who are currently at home caring for children to be able to have more availability in terms of the hours that they may be able to participate in paid work. Through my own regional fund, the Thriving Regions Fund, there have been a number of successful applicants to extend childcare facilities. I remember visiting the Naracoorte site back at the time that we made an announcement in regard to the establishment of a childcare facility there, which will potentially have a significant impact on the ability of local people to participate in the workforce. We know that we have had real staff shortages and labour shortages across the state. That includes in the agricultural sectors but also in many other sectors as well. This government has taken a number of initiatives to try to assist with this, for example, the Key Worker Housing Scheme. That is something that is devoted to ensuring there is housing for key workers, whether they be in the health sector, in the teaching sector, in education, police, etc., which will then enable some of those professionals who are going to regions to be able to find accommodation. I have talked before in this place about various anecdotal evidence of a region being able to attract a particularly important specialty, only for that person to not take up the role because they have been unable to find appropriate accommodation. That is yet another way that our government is looking holistically at the various barriers that there are in terms of employment and in terms of training in our regional areas. I think it is something that we continue to work with, because this is a government that is dedicated to representing the entire state and providing opportunities and initiatives across all of our regional areas, as well as in Adelaide.