Page 1319 - Week 05 - Thursday, 26 April 1990
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Both employee and employer organisations in the industry agreed that some form of training was essential to the industry's long-term viability and, after considered consultations, it was agreed that, rather than reduce the levy paid by employers - as recommended by the Australian Government Actuary in 1988 - the equivalent of funds should be set aside for the purposes of training.
The levy is collected by the Building and Construction Industry Long Service Leave Board. It was agreed that the board would be the most appropriate body to administer the collection and investment of the moneys for the industry training fund. As to the administration of the fund itself, I believe that the Vocational Training Authority is the most appropriate body to carry out this function. The Vocational Training Authority is engaged in the daily assessment and monitoring of training needs for the ACT, and I believe it is best placed to develop guidelines and provide advice on applications for financial assistance from the fund. It has had much experience in coordinating and implementing various training programs and, as such, I believe it is the appropriate body to be carrying out the administration of this fund.
In consultation with relevant bodies, I will consider appropriate processes to ensure that adequate accountability mechanisms are in place regarding the disbursement and utilisation of the training funds released by the board. I think that is an important issue too.
The remainder of the Bill provides for better administration procedures for the board and addresses areas which have been subject to audit criticism in the past. Those matters have been gone into at length by both Mr Collaery and Mr Kaine and I feel it does not behove me to go once again through the details. However, there were matters which had been raised in the past by the Audit Office in connection with various practices which were, of course, done in the best interests of the workers and their funds but which apparently were technically in breach of audit regulations. The provisions in this Act will correct that anomaly so that the funds of the workers will be able to be invested in an appropriate fashion, taking into account the time frames required in the modern money market.
In summary, Mr Speaker, the Bill allows for long service leave payments to be calculated more equitably than they have been in the past. It provides for the establishment of an industry training fund. It allows the board to make investments without ministerial approval in certain circumstances and it provides for the appointment of an actuary by the ACT Government.
Given these factors, I think it has been said that this is a long overdue and very welcome addition to the provision of experienced and skilled tradespersons in the ACT. I commend the Bill to the house.
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