Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-05-31 Daily Xml

Contents

SAFEWORK SA LIBRARY AND BOOKSHOP

The Hon. G.A. KANDELAARS (14:50): My question is to the Minister for Industrial Relations: will the minister provide details about the relocation of SafeWork SA's library and bookshop?

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY (Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for State/Local Government Relations) (14:50): I would like to thank the member for his question and also acknowledge his long-held interest in the trade union movement and occupational health and safety. For almost 17 years the SafeWork SA library and bookshop has been an important institution providing valuable resources and information to the community on health and safety, workers compensation and rehabilitation, and industrial relations.

I can advise the council that from 28 May 2012 the SafeWork SA library and bookshop has relocated from Waymouth Street to the ground floor of the State Administration Centre at 200 Victoria Square, Adelaide. The new location in the heart of the central business district and close to tram and bus stops means that SafeWork SA's library and bookshop will be even more accessible to a wide range of clients, including health and safety representatives, high schools, TAFE and university students as well as industrial relations, workers compensation, occupational health and safety practitioners and other professionals.

The library provides a free service to the business community and the general public. The library offers numerous free publications on work health and safety, industrial relations, workers rehabilitation and compensation, and return-to-work topics. These publications include guidelines, brochures and posters. Dedicated SafeWork SA librarians are happy to help the public get the most out of the range of books, codes of practice, DVDs and conference proceedings that are available for loan, or journals, legislation, annual reports and databases that are available for use in the library.

The importance of the SafeWork SA library and bookshop to the community is demonstrated by recent figures which reveal that there are currently more than 6,500 registered borrowers. Over the past three years the library has processed almost 15,000 loans and more than 2,100 new borrowers, while the bookshop has distributed over 600,000 printed publications on work health and safety, industrial relations and workers rehabilitation and compensation. The library collection encompasses some 7,500 books, journals and electronic resources.

For those who live in South Australian regional areas, the SafeWork SA library and bookshop operates a special outreach service whereby country borrowers can request items to be sent out to them to ensure they can access this impressive range of resources. As well as traditional resources, the library also catalogues electronic resources including documents, video clips and podcasts. In this financial year alone, almost 4,000 electronic resources have been accessed to date.

The library and bookshop provides a one-stop shop for authoritative information on work health and safety. It is open from 8.30am to 5pm Monday to Friday. I encourage everyone in this chamber to head down to the new Victoria Square location to have a look at the many resources available.