Page 3337 - Week 11 - Thursday, 22 September 1994
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There remains an at-risk group that has difficulty in making the transition from school to work. Typically, the at-risk group includes young people with a poor school background; those from a low socioeconomic background or with little family support; those from certain ethnic groups, particularly from an Aboriginal background; and those living in certain rural areas. These groups tend to experience not only high rates of unemployment but also protracted periods of unemployment.
While average unemployment duration in this age group has historically been lower than in other age groups in the ACT, it seems to be increasing and converging with the average unemployment duration for the 20- to 24-year-old cohort. In the period, May 1990 to May 1993, there was a decrease of 2,200 full-time jobs for teenagers in the ACT, from 5,000 to 2,800, with females accounting for 56 per cent of this decrease. The number of teenagers employed part time in the ACT as at May 1994 was 7,800 - a decrease of 1,100 since May 1993. In the 1990s and beyond, the type of work being undertaken by APS staff will shift towards value added analytical work. Different skills will be required, as the need to undertake routine clerical tasks will largely disappear. Teenagers are likely to remain a small proportion of the intake. Base-grade entry will become increasingly less important as a means of recruitment to the APS. As this is a traditional entry point for young people, the APS's willingness to employ teenagers will diminish, in the absence of special programs.
While the Department of Employment, Education and Training report, "Australia's Workforce in the Year 2001", highlights an increased participation rate in education as one solution to teenage unemployment, this has largely already occurred in the ACT. According to a paper on teenage unemployment in the ACT - "Paper 1, ACT Teenage Labour Market" - at paragraph 45:
The recent rise in full-time unemployment may be a reflection due to the educational participation rate reaching saturation point in the ACT, given its historically high levels.
It is important to ensure that the increase in the skill base represents a genuine improvement in the productivity of the work force and is not simply feeding growing credentialism. An increase in the skill base in response to the latter would result in costly overinvestment of public resources in education and training systems. In the period May 1990 to May 1993, there was an increase of 1,200 part-time jobs for teenagers in the ACT - with females gaining 1,500, to 8,900, and males losing 330, to 7,700, as at May 1993.
In the light of these factors, I have been redrafting my notice of motion on the notice paper. When I held discussions with the Chief Minister I had amended the motion to read as follows:
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