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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2002 Week 12 Hansard (13 November) . . Page.. 3581 ..

MS MacDONALD (continuing):

I might speak a little about what I did within young achievers. Our company was based in the city of Sydney and we named ourselves Insight Ya. This was of great amusement to a number of people who were not sure about what we were "insighting", especially as we produced tea caddies in which we placed three tins of Twinings tea. I don't know that a cup of tea would necessarily insight people, but there you have it.

I might say that the tea caddies had a dual purpose in that they doubled as audio tape holders. If our product was made correctly, you could fit about 10 audio tapes into it. If it was made in a bit of a bodgie fashion and the inside was slightly slanted, you usually could fit in only nine tapes.

I didn't have much to do with the actual production because, lucky me, I was the financial manager and as a result I learnt to balance an account sheet. I have to say that I also learnt that I never wanted to become an accountant, but the experience was very valuable to me. I have vivid recollections of one Saturday afternoon taking about an hour desperately trying to find five cents on the balance sheet. However, I learnt how to read a profit and loss statement.

Also, I was able to look at accounts and say, "There are problems with that."This is a very important skill to possess, especially in a business capacity or in a voluntary capacity where you might be sitting on a number of boards; you might be involved with community organisations or even with your local parents and citizens council when you get to the stage of having your own kids, who may then go on to be part of Young Achievement Australia.

I know that YAA has changed quite a bit since I participated in it back in 1986. At that time I understand that we were eight or nine years into the program, so the program has been running for over 25 years. Of course, it has changed considerably since then.

The mission of Young Achievement Australia is to develop business enterprise skills, capacities and understanding in all young Australians through partnerships with business, education and the community. These skills will help contribute to the prosperity of Australia and our region. Young Achievement Australia aims to provide young people with the opportunity to access vital business enterprise programs regardless of location, circumstances, curricula choice, career paths or academic strengths.

In 2002, 11 student companies were established in the ACT and southern New South Wales under the business skills program. This program explores business roles and responsibilities and promotes development of entrepreneurial skill through hands-on involvement in setting up and running a profit-driven business.

Students give up their after-school time to participate in the program to develop the skills and networks which will enable them to become the region's business leaders of the future. Participation in the program also helps students to make informed career choices and assists them in the transition from school to a career.

As the programs are often done across schools, you get to know people outside of your own school group. I can say that when I was participating in the program I got to know a number of people from both private and public sector schools from around the inner-city region. While I haven't necessarily remained in touch with the people that I met

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