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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2022-11-03 Daily Xml
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Skills Shortages

Mrs PEARCE (King) (15:08): It would be news to very few that there is intense competition for workers, with skills shortages experienced across Australia and across a variety of industries. It is something I hear about everyday in my community, and I am sure that you are all hearing it as well.

Whether it is frustration from employers about their employees being poached from one workplace to another, or not being able to secure a worker with the right skills, or feeling that perceptions about a particular industry and the pathways available to a person are not being adequately portrayed, I have heard it loud and clear that strategies need to be employed to address the shortages we are experiencing.

I am proud that this government is doing what it can to support the cultivation of a skilled workforce in several ways, which includes the establishment of five new technical colleges. The first of these is to be built at Findon High School and will be operational by 2024; the remaining will open by 2026, something I am very excited about because it does include one in the north-east. I am pleased to report that this has been well received by residents from my community, as they recognise that these colleges will be beacons of excellence across our state and that they will create pathways for students towards further study and employment.

I am also pleased to be hearing from my community their desire to see our industries diversify to meet the shortages we are experiencing. I want to focus today on how we ensure that we get more women into the jobs that our state is going to depend on as we look to get our state ready for jobs of the future. A big component involved with jobs of the future is STEM.

Mr Speaker, did you know that the participation of women and girls is one of the biggest STEM workforce social challenges? Nationally, as of 2020 only 13 per cent of Australians working in STEM fields were women. Worryingly, this figure has risen only slightly, by two percentage points, in the last decade. It takes role models like our very own Chief Scientist for South Australia, Professor Caroline McMillen, to engage young women in science and demonstrate the career paths available to them.

It takes organisations like Science Alive that are committed to playing a role in changing this and making sure they keep young people interested in STEM and, importantly, keep them interested to follow it through. That is why this government was proud to sponsor this year's event—because it aims to lift science out of the realm of universities and labs and makes it accessible and exciting to the general Australian public through a series of events and interactive experiences.

I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to listen to the many stories of women platformed by Science Alive earlier this year who shared their interests and their journeys with many young women from schools across the state. Their stories were inspirational and really displayed the unlimited potential there is to be had in the world of STEM, not only sharing their careers but, as importantly, the journeys they took to get there.

One story that made a particular impact on me was Tiahni Adamson's. A proud Torres Strait Islander woman with a passion for conservation, Tiahni has been working with the CSIRO on Indigenous education programs, such as the Aboriginal Summer School for Excellence in Technology and Science. A role she has shared did not exist when she was in high school and considering her pathways, but she stuck to her passions and interests and has been blown away by where that has led her.

Tiahni is conveying her special connection with our land to educate, advocate and nurture sustainable living practices on country, with the ultimate goal of fighting climate change with Indigenous knowledge. Her message was clear: do not be dismayed by perceptions about the direction a student should take towards entering the workforce because we are living in a really exciting time, when there is an immense development of what is going to be available to you. Just look at the opportunities that are arising as a result of the development in the hydrogen space.

But the truth is that, without more of this sort of thing, young women are not going to turn to fields they cannot see themselves in. Highlighting what is out there and combating rigid gender stereotypes is one way we can encourage more girls to get excited about the prospects of a career in STEM. That is what Science Alive does well—getting thousands of young people out to their event and providing both children and their parents opportunity to engage directly with people in STEM occupations, showcasing the wide variety of career options available.

Science Alive help to address the perceptions of what people are capable of and they highlight the path towards achieving dream career goals, whether it be fixing complex machines, caring for the environment using space technologies, or working on the next big video game. So, to the girls of this state, I want to tell you that there is a future for you in a STEM career right here in South Australia, and I am glad that there are organisations like Science Alive that are actively working to show you how you can get there.

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