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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 12 Hansard (21 November) . . Page.. 4007 ..

Debate resumed.

MR DE DOMENICO: It is this Government that has now achieved consensus in the industry for the introduction of an alternative source of funding for industry training, and it is for this reason that the Government has included a sunset clause in this Bill. We are confident that an alternative source of funding to meet the industry's long-term training needs will be in place next year.

Mr Berry: Yes - "trust us".

MR DE DOMENICO: No, we will get you to vote for it, Mr Berry, if you agree with it. The Government will shortly be considering a detailed proposal which will form the basis for development of a Bill to establish a training levy. I expect that such a Bill will be introduced into the Assembly in the first half of the calendar year 1997.

Some people have characterised this Bill as a means of subsidising the Master Builders Association Group Training company. This is simply not true. The accountability and auditing requirements which will be put in place for administration of the skills centre grant will ensure that all interest groups can be satisfied that the money is being used for the purposes for which it is granted. This Bill will increase the amount of funding available for industry training in the construction industry training fund from around $90,000 per annum to around $360,000 per annum over two years - an increase of $270,000 in a full year. The on-site skills centre proposal requires some $300,000, which leaves a considerable amount - some $400,000 - in the fund to support other training, employment and infrastructure initiatives over the remainder of this year and next year. The construction industry training fund will be in a position to support those initiatives that the Government outlined in Jobs for Canberra during the budget. This is critical if the ACT industry is not to face skill shortages in the foreseeable future as a result of the demand for skills now emerging as the Olympics construction program commences in earnest and as the price being paid for labour in the Sydney region drains the ACT of skilled labour.

It is also important to note that the Government requires that the on-site skills centre be managed under a tripartite management arrangement so that all stakeholders in the industry are given the opportunity to ensure its success and that it delivers training to those most in need and in the skill areas most required. As a result of Government negotiations, I am able to inform the Assembly that the ACT Regional Building and Construction Industry Training Council is proposing the establishment of a tripartite strategic committee which will oversee training delivery in the construction industry, including the skills centre.

The on-site skills centre concept has considerable merit. It will employ and train some 80 to 90 new apprentices and across a variety of programs, including pre-apprenticeship training, pre-vocational training, mature age training, out-of-trade apprentices and down-no-job apprentices. Let me guarantee that these will be new or currently unemployed apprentices, not young people currently training in other schemes.

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