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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1999 Week 3 Hansard (24 March) . . Page.. 720 ..

MR BERRY (continuing):

the industry has been especially depressed over the last couple of years. This environment does not lead to the situation where there is an adequate focus on the training of apprentices or the upgrading of the skills of existing workers.

The aim of this Bill, Mr Speaker, is to address the situation where the industry cannot support the cost of training on a voluntary basis and overcomes the problem of the cost of training being discounted because it is seen as part of the mix of competitive components pricing. This is a viable way of committing resources to training.

At the national level, investment in training in the building and construction industry fell from 1.8 per cent of gross payroll in 1993 to 1.3 per cent in 1996. This is the lowest of all industry classifications. In the five years from 1992-93 to 1997-98 the number of apprentices who commenced in the building and construction industry in the ACT fell from 212 to approximately 90, over half. At the same time, the work force in the industry is ageing.

This Bill proposes to apply a levy of 0.2 per cent on the cost of construction of all civil and private building and construction activity in the ACT in excess of $10,000. It is to be managed by the Building and Construction Industry Training Fund Board, under the auspices of the responsible Minister. The fund established under the Act will be managed by the board and will be directed at training needs as determined by the responsible Minister in accordance with the building and construction industry training plan. The plan will be prepared after consultation with the Building and Construction Industry Training Council and published by the Minister in the Gazette. The levy will be paid by the project owner before the commencement of construction, with provision in the Act for refunds in cases such as abandonment of the project and the conduct of exempt work, and adjustments for inadequate payments of the levy.

The introduction of the levy has so far received the support of the Master Builders Association, the National Electrical Contractors Association and the Civil Contractors Association. It is also supported, not surprisingly, by the trade unions - in particular, the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union and the Communications, Electrical and Plumbing Union.

Mr Speaker, the Bill will have no impact on the budget. The introduction of the levy will, however, go some way to filling the gap in training in the building and construction industry which occurred with the Government's moves to outsourcing and the consequent loss of training opportunities in government employment. The benefits of the levy include the following: The industry will take increasing responsibility for planning its labour market needs; alleviation of youth unemployment; and higher quality of product and improved productivity will result from the up-skilling of workers.

Initially, Mr Speaker, there will be a small cost to project owners which will be passed on totally or in part. It must be borne in mind, however, that there is wide recognition that additional training is required in the building and construction industry. It will cost around $200 for a $100,000 housing construction and $2,000 for a $1m project. To do

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