Page 3334 - Week 11 - Thursday, 22 September 1994
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(v) review the mix and delivery of ACT Government labour market programs with a view to ensuring that they continue to meet the needs of unemployed young people in the ACT, particularly given the changes taking place in Commonwealth labour market programs.
Madam Speaker, I have asked the Social Justice Committee to work to a timetable which will, in the first instance, maximise the extent to which we can respond positively to the needs of 1994 school leavers who are about to enter the work force. The Government has a fine record of providing a broad range of initiatives to assist the unemployed in the ACT. In relation to teenagers who are unemployed, the Government has a well-developed understanding of the size and nature of the issue. We understand what is needed to make a successful transition to the work force. We have targeted programs in place to enable this to occur. With the initiatives that I have outlined today, we are moving decisively to maximise the extent to which the Territory can benefit from the Commonwealth's recent initiatives and to ensure that our own efforts are as effective and well focused as possible. I move:
That the Assembly takes note of the paper.
MS SZUTY (3.55): Madam Speaker, I welcome the Chief Minister's statement on teenage unemployment. This is an issue on which I recently made representations to the Chief Minister, and I am pleased to see that she has responded to those representations today. The Chief Minister's statement sets out in broad terms what the current unemployment situation is among the ACT's 15- to 19-year-olds and, in particular, notes that 7 per cent of that age group was seeking work in July of this year. Of interest to all members, I am sure, is the Chief Minister's comment on the nature of the labour market; namely, that there has been a major change in the shape of the labour market over the last few years, with teenagers comprising 0.4 per cent of the public sector work force in 1992 compared with 3.8 per cent in 1985.
The Chief Minister has also given the Assembly a summary of ACT programs which are of relevance to the issue of teenage unemployment. These include the employment and training grants program, the trades and technical women on the move program, the venture and development assistance program, the workers compensation rebate scheme and the Youth Joblink program. The Chief Minister has also outlined a number of other initiatives within the vocational education and training sector and pilot programs under the Australian vocational certificate training system. The information on these programs and initiatives, in conjunction with that on Commonwealth programs, and in particular those resulting from the Working Nation statement, give members a good understanding of what is being done about teenage unemployment today.
Having set the scene, the Chief Minister has identified additional actions which she has taken in the areas of teenage unemployment. I welcome these initiatives, which include the examination by the Department of Public Administration of means by which the ACT Government Service can provide employment opportunities to teenagers;
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