Page 2618 - Week 10 - Wednesday, 14 October 1992
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Mr De Domenico: Why ask your Federal mates for help?
MS FOLLETT: Madam Speaker, I think you were courteous enough to protect Mr De Domenico.
MADAM SPEAKER: I was ready to intervene right at that point, Ms Follett.
MS FOLLETT: Madam Speaker, we have to recognise that we are not able to reverse the effects of a national recession by ourselves in one small Territory. Our approach has been both to equip unemployed people with the skills and experience necessary to compete for jobs and to stimulate the development of specific projects which will have beneficial employment effects. In the 1992-93 budget the Government, as I am sure members have heard me say before, has given job generation and training the highest priority. In formulating new policy initiatives the Government has maximised the contribution to employment and to training. In particular, a strong emphasis has been placed on those who are disadvantaged in the labour market, namely, youth, long-term unemployed people and women.
There is a total of over 1,200 easily identifiable new jobs or work experience and training positions provided for by the budget. That is made up as follows: There are 220 new places in government work experience and training. There is an increase in capital works expenditure of $32.8m, which will support in the order of 300 jobs in the building and construction industry, and a flow-on of around 220 jobs in other industries such as wholesale, retail and finance, property and business services. There is funding for more than 500 additional student places as a result of a significant increase in Commonwealth funding under the Australian National Training Authority agreement and other Commonwealth and ACT Government training initiatives.
Madam Speaker, government training and work experience initiatives comprise a range of complementary programs. These include funding for 100 places in an ACT Jobskills program to provide paid work experience and training for the long-term unemployed people over 21 years. Secondly, there is the provision of additional employment and development opportunities for youth in the 15 to 19 years age group through a work force development scheme providing employment for 30 young people, including 10 part-time, 10 additional places under the Australian traineeship scheme, and nine additional apprentices. There is also the establishment of the ACT Youth Conservation Corps, providing 40 places in 1992-93 and 80 places in subsequent years for young unemployed people to gain workplace training and experience. It also includes the establishment of the mature age women's traineeship scheme to provide women who are over the age of 30 and who have been out of the work force for two years with work experience and training to assist in gaining employment. There will be 20 places offered in 1992-93.
There is additional funding for the new enterprise incentive scheme to enable the establishment of an additional 12 self-employment ventures by unemployed persons, and increased funding under the employment and training grants program to provide additional support to community organisations that provide employment and training opportunities to the disadvantaged people in the labour market. Madam Speaker, this program is particularly effective in providing training opportunities. While the actual number of placements is difficult to estimate, it is additional to the 220 places that I identified earlier.
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