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Legislative Council - Fifty-First Parliament, Second Session (51-2)
2007-10-24 Daily Xml
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WORK FOR THE DOLE

The Hon. J.S.L. DAWKINS (15:47): I rise to speak about the Australian government's Work for the Dole program, in particular the winner of the Prime Minister's Award for Best Work for the Dole Supervisor, Mr David Garrard. UnitingCare Wesley Port Adelaide (UCWPA) has been running Work for the Dole activities since the initial pilot program in 1997 and is the major provider of the Community Work Coordinator (CWC) service in the South Australian metropolitan area. Mr Garrard was nominated by the Marketing Manager of Work for the Dole—Community Work, Nunzio Giurastante, with the approval of the Employment Services Manager, Tony Collins. Both are employees of UCWPA. One of the projects that Work for the Dole runs is where unemployed job seekers are placed with small not-for-profit organisations that act as hosts and provide work experience for one or two job seekers.

In 2004, Work for the Dole approached DKArtz2Muzic Centre in Salisbury East to see whether it was able to act as a host site. The centre agreed and in a short time it became clear that there was potential for it to support more than one or two job seekers. In discussion with David Garrard at DKArtz2Muzic, Work for the Dole outlined the benefits it could provide as a sponsor, especially in the production of videos and digital photography, which would provide a variety of skills for those taking part. David was enthusiastic about the project and Work for the Dole suggested that the centre produce a video on the various projects being run by Work for the Dole providers.

The resultant video, which was such a success and which was made so professionally, was distributed to CWCs throughout the country, as well as the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations. David went on to make videos on the City of Salisbury and Port Adelaide, which were widely distributed to schools and community organisations. Later projects in which David was involved included a video record of the charity walks undertaken by Vietnam veterans. David was also involved in digital photography.

Work for the Dole arranged for David and his team of job seekers to visit the aged care centres of UCWPA and take photographs of those residents wishing to take part. These were then digitally enhanced at DKArtz2Muzic, framed and presented to the residents. This was a great source of interest and joy to the residents, who were able to present the photographs to members of their family. David was always looking for ways to improve the work experience opportunities for job seekers and each project (which normally runs for six months) was an improvement on the one before.

The variety of work experiences included hospitality, catering, computer refurbishment, upholstery, lighting and stage, carpentry, music and recording. As David has both building and electrical trades qualifications, he recognised that there was an opportunity for employment with the introduction of the safety tagging and testing requirements for electrical appliances. The level of skills and knowledge required is not high, but it offers an introduction into the industry and may encourage job seekers to take up further training opportunities and improve their employment potential.

David sponsored another project covering the refurbishment of computers and trained the job seekers on that activity, as well as the electrical safety tagging and testing. In order to provide the job seekers with work experience in the tagging and testing, Work for the Dole arranged with another sponsor, St Vincent de Paul, to undertake the tagging and testing of all their retail outlets. This was a significant cost saving to St Vincent de Paul and provided the valuable work experience needed. To ensure that he was providing first-class training to his job seekers, David and his supervisors, including his wife Deborah, obtained the certificate IV in training and assessing. This is now opening up the potential for additional training activities to be carried out by David and his team to further improve the skill levels of those job seekers who work with him.

The valuable contribution that David has made to the Work for the Dole program and his enthusiasm, personal efforts and passion to help others less fortunate was recognised by the presentation of the Prime Minister's award for best Work for the Dole supervisor at Parliament House earlier this year. The benefits of the Work for the Dole community activity are endless as it prepares young people for the workforce and gives them the skills and knowledge to excel in their chosen career path. As well as David, UnitingCare Wesley Port Adelaide had two other nominees in the awards: Jillian Wallis, who received a highly commended award under the most outstanding participant category; and the Community Gifts to Children program received a highly commended award under the best community activity category.

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