House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2013-03-19 Daily Xml

Contents

TAFE SA

Mr PISONI (Unley) (15:50): My question is again to the Minister for Employment, Higher Education and Skills. If TAFE is an independent statutory corporation, why is her department—DFEEST, that is—handling the TAFE tender process for the first aid training for TAFE SA students and staff? A government press release dated 4 October last year stated:

The establishment of TAFE SA as a statutory corporation will separate the roles of TAFE as the provider of training from the Department of Further Education, Employment, Science and Technology (DFEEST) as the funder and purchaser of training from both TAFE SA and private training providers.

The Hon. G. PORTOLESI (Hartley—Minister for Employment, Higher Education and Skills, Minister for Science and Information Economy) (15:51): That is correct. You are assuming that those two activities are mutually exclusive; they are not. TAFE became a statutory corporation on 1 November last year. There may well be agreements around particular courses, but I am happy to take those details and give you a report back.