Skilling Queenslanders For Work

_{03 June, 2009}

Ms JARRATT (Whitsunday—ALP) (11.40 am): The Bligh government’s Skilling Queenslanders for Work program has existed to support those with significant barriers to employment or who are at risk of long-term unemployment. While support for this cohort remains a central plank of the government’s policy, we are also focusing on a new generation of job seekers who will be impacted by the global economic downturn. All predictions point to a period of growing unemployment that will particularly impact the young and the unskilled.

Skilling Queenslanders for Work has assisted more than 21,000 job seekers during the first nine months of the 2008-09 financial year, but we believe that more needs to be done to counter the looming threat.

That is why the Bligh government has stepped up its efforts to engage with those already unemployed and those at risk of being unemployed through programs like Get Set for Work in which early school leavers or those at risk of leaving school early are mentored and assisted to identify their particular strengths, build on these skills and access an entry point into either the workforce or further training.

I was pleased to attend the graduation of a group of young people in Caloundra last week where enormous benefits have flowed from engagement with the Get Set for Work program. The government’s latest employment strategy, the Green Army, is shaping up to be extremely successful on two fronts.

Firstly, placements of up to six months in employment projects will benefit young people, long-term unemployed and recently retrenched workers who will earn a wage while learning new skills or undertaking training. At the same time, this program will be working to conserve and restore the natural environment in communities across the state.

In a new era of state-Commonwealth partnership, the Bligh and Rudd governments have joined forces to deliver the Productivity Places Program which is already providing additional training places for job seekers. The Productivity Places Program has placed over 16,000 participants in Queensland in training already.

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