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| Mike Elliott Leader Australian Democrats Member of the Legislative Council |
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Legislative
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| Mike Elliott Leader Australian Democrats Member of the Legislative Council |
Parliament Index |
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The Hon. M.J. ELLIOTT: I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Attorney- General, presumably today representing the Minister for Employment and Training, questions in relation to outsourcing and skilled labour shortages.
Leave granted.
The Hon. M.J. ELLIOTT: I have expressed my concern previously in this place over the outsourcing of government resources to the private sector. Not only have I noted that it centralises employment from the country to the city, or interstate, but also it puts at risk the adequate provision of skilled workers for the South Australian economy. Particularly, I have noted how the outsourcing of the public sector Youth Traineeship Program risks some employers re-classifying existing employees as trainees to obtain funding without providing additional training.
In response, the state government assured me that it had taken steps to prevent this sort of abuse of the system. However, this is not the only example of the problems caused by the outsourcing of government responsibilities and services to the private sector. I draw the minister's attention to the Vocational, Education, Employment and Training Board's report of an industry visit conducted on 5 May this year. The report notes that major South Australian industry players, including, for instance, the RAAF, are concerned by the decline in skills development and training that has coincided with the outsourcing of federal defence work. Labour hire companies drawing on existing pools of employees rather than providing training for new or existing tradespeople have caused this decline. The report explains that the companies have been forced into this position because the additional training costs would make tenders uncompetitive. In response, the VEET Board agreed, first, to urge the Minister to bring this decline to the attention of his Cabinet colleagues; and, secondly, to urge the minister to ensure that tendered documentation specifies training requirements to prevent shortages in skilled labour that will prove highly detrimental to the economic and social progress of the state. My questions are:
1. Has the minister been approached by the VEET Board, and has he taken the concerns of our leading defence industry to cabinet?
2. Does the minister agree that this is another example of the way in which federal and state government outsourcing is resulting in a decline in skilled labour in a range of areas?
3. If so, what does the minister propose to do to stem the detrimental decline in skilled labour within the state due to government outsourcing?
The Hon. K.T. GRIFFIN (Attorney-General): I will refer the honourable member's questions to my colleague in another place and bring back a reply.
