Page 1027 - Week 04 - Thursday, 18 June 1992
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some 7,000 jobs in Canberra, and these are predominantly filled by younger people. I believe that it is possible for the tourism industry to grow by up to 10 per cent during 1992. If this can be achieved, then the industry will provide a substantial increase in job opportunities for our youth.
On behalf of the Chief Minister, Madam Speaker, I would also like to take this opportunity while addressing the issue of youth employment to inform the Assembly of outcomes from the Youth Ministers Council which was attended by the Chief Minister in Adelaide on 22 May 1992. The meeting, involving Youth Ministers from around Australia and New Zealand, discussed a range of matters, including youth employment. A large part of the Chief Minister's report on ACT youth affairs to the conference addressed the Government's initiatives in the area of youth employment which I have just outlined on behalf of Ms Follett. Ms Follett presented a paper which brought together information from around the States and Territories on youth employment development programs. These are not "make work" programs. They are programs which develop or maintain employment opportunities. They are an important part of a continuum of labour market programs.
The ACT's emerging and innovative venture and development assistance program is one of two programs sponsored by governments around Australia which specifically target young people. The other is the Victorian Government's youth enterprise program. Further research will be commissioned through the national youth affairs research scheme to examine and measure the outcomes of employment development programs on young people, particularly those young people considered disadvantaged or at risk.
On the issue of income security for young people under 21, Ms Follett was pleased to join other State and Territory Youth Ministers to urge the Commonwealth Government to examine the adequacy of payments for different activities. Reforms in income support arrangements are an essential part of ensuring that young people are able to fully participate in post-compulsory education or training or in the work force. Simpler administrative arrangements, for example, will ensure that younger people are able to move from unemployment to further study or training without facing any income security disadvantage. The Youth Ministers Council also agreed that special measures would be needed to ensure the participation of disadvantaged young people in education and training. Territory, State and Commonwealth governments have supported targets for 95 per cent of 19-year-olds to have completed year 12 or an initial post-compulsory school qualification, or be participating in education as training, by the year 2001.
From a social justice point of view, it is essential that young people in most need, facing homelessness, isolation or family breakdown, are able to get the necessary support in order to obtain the skills required for participation in the work force. These measures will require careful consideration by governments, particularly in view of the major changes facing TAFE in the near future. At the May and June Premiers Conferences the future of vocational education and training was the subject of particular consideration. As a result, heads of government have agreed to the development, as a matter of urgency, of a proposal for a national vocational education and training system based around the concept of a national training authority. The attraction of a national system is that it has the potential to bring about an expansion of overall training opportunities, especially for young people, improved balance in the provision of post-school education and training and greater quality, diversity and efficiency of the national training system.
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