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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-06-14 Daily Xml
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Grievance Debate

BEDFORD INDUSTRIES

Ms BETTISON (Ramsay) (15:32): On Monday 4 June, I had the pleasure of attending the graduation ceremony for students who participated in the Bedford Abilities for All program from July 2010 to August 2011. I would like to note that several of my colleagues were also there, including the members for Taylor, Waite, Morialta and Unley. The ceremony, which took place at the Adelaide Convention Centre, celebrated not only the completion of the Abilities for All accredited training program but also the huge personal development of more than 200 South Australians. His Excellency Rear Admiral Kevin Scarce presented the awards to the well-deserving participants.

Bedford delivers this vocational education initiative thanks to funding from the Department of Further Education, Employment, Science and Technology through the South Australia Works initiative and in collaboration with partner organisations, such as Community Centres SA. The program provides learning pathways for South Australian jobseekers with disability or disadvantage who face significant barriers to learning, training and work.

A key strength the program is that individual needs are addressed through customised employment and training plans. Life skills, coupled with language, literacy and numeracy, are delivered in a supportive environment in community centres so that people with disability or disadvantage can realise their full potential. In the past year, the program has been taken into open community centres and boasts a minimum 90 per cent completion rate across three accredited certificate II courses in either business or community services. Employment assistance is also offered to provide participants with opportunities to enter the workforce or go on to further study.

Each student has overcome huge barriers to take part in Abilities for All, and in fact 75 of the 203 people who completed their training have already found jobs. The graduation ceremony symbolised that the students involved have taken an important step towards further training, work experience or employment. Every one of the program participants graduated with not only a nationally recognised qualification but transformed their confidence, skills and knowledge.

Abilities for All supports South Australia's Strategic Plan target to increase by 10 per cent the number of people with a disability employed by 2020. The state government is dedicated to improving the lives of South Australians with a disability, and the 2012-13 state budget has delivered record spending on disability services. This injection of funds is indicative of the state government's support of a fundamental change towards community engagement, individualised funding, and a more rights-based system. The demand for disability services is increasing, and the state government is reforming the way support is provided. The latest report on government services shows that the South Australian government provided more services per capita for people with a disability than any other state or territory government in Australia.

The 2012-13 state budget builds on what the government has already done in the 2011-12 state budget to assist people requiring a range of accommodation support, community support and community access, as well as respite services for carers. The $212.5 million funding boost to the disability sector will contribute to a 33 per cent increase in spending on disability services from 2011-12 to 2015-16.

The Bedford Abilities for All program exemplifies the ethos of the state government by empowering and simultaneously supporting South Australians with a disability or disadvantage. The graduation ceremony was a wonderful culmination of the hard work and dedication of all those involved, who can now look forward to a bright and fulfilling future, where choice and control are theirs.

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