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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Second Session (51-2)
2008-07-22 Daily Xml
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SOUTH AUSTRALIA WORKS IN THE REGIONS

Mr PICCOLO (Light) (14:47): Can the Minister for Employment, Training and Further Education advise the house what the government is doing to help link South Australians to skills and jobs within their local regions?

The Hon. P. CAICA (Colton—Minister for Employment, Training and Further Education, Minister for Science and Information Economy, Minister for Youth, Minister for Gambling) (14:47): I thank the member for Light for his question. I am sure he would be fully aware (as would other members in the house) of South Australia Works in the Regions and that it is a remarkably successful state government employment initiative.

Since 2004, South Australia Works in the Regions has been bringing together education, training and employment services to ensure that all South Australians have the opportunity to develop work skills and gain employment. It is estimated that to date more than 33,300 people have participated in learning and work programs through South Australia Works in the Regions, with around 13,700 gaining employment.

In addition to the employment outcomes, all the participants who have been involved with these programs have enhanced their job skills and self-confidence, improved their level of literacy and numeracy, and have often moved on to pursue further education and training opportunities.

In 2007, the South Australia Works in the Regions program won the inaugural Premier's Award for Building Communities in recognition of the significant contribution it makes to local communities and the innovative nature of its delivery of employment programs, which are flexibly managed to suit local needs.

I am very pleased to inform members that $14.6 million will be invested, through South Australia Works in the Regions, to link thousands of South Australians with skills and jobs that match regional industry needs. This total includes a $7.7 million contribution from the state government, with an additional $6.9 million being leveraged through industry, community organisations and the commonwealth government. The program operates through 17 local employment and skills formation networks right across the state. These networks consist of people from the local community, business, regional economic bodies and commonwealth, state and local governments.

Recently, I was very fortunate to be able to speak with some of the participants of the SA Works in the Regions programs in the eastern Adelaide, northern Adelaide and Barossa and Light regions—and I acknowledge many of my colleagues in this house who attended those particular events. The range of assistance provided to participants through these programs is vast—assistance such as accredited and non-accredited training, mentoring, life skills and even work experience in various industries. Many participants have gained employment in industry areas such as aged care, health and community services, engineering, multitrades, manufacturing, hospitality, retail, warehousing and customer service.

We have set targets for 2008-09 to assist over 6,400 people to participate in work, training and learning programs, which we believe will result in more than 3,400 job outcomes. In addition, a further 5,000 people will participate in a range of career information and pathways activities.

I would just like to inform members of a couple of skills programs planned for the 2008-09 year, including the Riverland Region Drought Response Program, which will look at four key strategies, including one which targets under employment due to the financial downturn as a result of the drought. Also, the highly successful Goal 100 model, developed in Whyalla through South Australia Works in the Regions and OneSteel, will be applied across a range of regions, including Northern Adelaide, Eyre, Flinders Ranges and Outback, to assist industry to identify suitably skilled local labour for their requirements.

The South Australia Works in the Regions is only one of many target areas under the South Australia Works umbrella, which this year is expected to direct over $32 million to eight priority areas, including young people, Aboriginal people, mature aged South Australians, the public sector, industry, regions, communities, and skills recognition. It is a range of programs about which this parliament should be suitably proud.

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