❓ Ms. Dalton inquires about the expansion and impact of the early childhood education and care job ready program. The Minister responds positively, highlighting the program's success in training and employing individuals, particularly women and Aboriginal people, in high-demand sectors.
AnsweredQoN 537Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
EARLY CHILDHOOD
EDUCATION AND CARE — JOB READY PROGRAM
537. Ms L. DALTON to the Minister for Training:
I refer to the expansion of the
early childhood education and care job ready program to more regional
locations.
(1) Can the
minister outline to the house how this free program is training more early
childhood educators for work in the important early childhood education and
care sector?
(2) Can the
minister advise the house how job ready partnerships with industry are
encouraging more Western Australians to take up jobs in areas of high demand?
EDUCATION AND CARE — JOB READY PROGRAM
537. Ms L. DALTON to the Minister for Training:
I refer to the expansion of the
early childhood education and care job ready program to more regional
locations.
(1) Can the
minister outline to the house how this free program is training more early
childhood educators for work in the important early childhood education and
care sector?
(2) Can the
minister advise the house how job ready partnerships with industry are
encouraging more Western Australians to take up jobs in areas of high demand?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) I
am very happy to answer this question because it gives me an opportunity to
talk about the fantastic work that the Cook
Labor government is doing in vocational education. I made the announcement in
concert with the Minister for Early Childhood Education earlier this
week to expand the job ready program for early childhood education and care.
The job ready program has been developed alongside industry. It will respond to
requests for short, sharp training to meet high demands for skilled workers. It
is a great model because it works alongside
entry-level training. It is designed for people who have not been in the
workforce before or who have had a long break from the workforce, to give
them the wraparound support they need with a placement in industry.
Importantly, it is part of our Free in '23 suite of offerings, so these
job ready programs are free for anyone who wants to take them up.
We know that early childhood
education and care is crucial for early childhood development and great for the babies and young children who attend care
centres. It is also a key enabler for increased participation in the
workforce. For working families, and often working women, the proximity and
availability of childcare is very important because it means they can
participate in the workforce.
Along with the Minister for Early
Childhood Education, I have announced the expansion of the early childhood
education and care job ready program to Albany, Bunbury, Geraldton, Karratha,
Katanning, Kununurra, Mandurah and Northam—all
those regional areas. It will also be expanded to more metropolitan areas. This is a very good early introduction for people living in those areas
who have had difficulty getting into the workforce and who might be interested
in early childhood education and care and working in those centres, but who are
not confident enough to do their certificate III or start training. It has
already been very successful. In fact, when I was in Geraldton recently I met
19-year-old Yolanda, who had participated in the early offerings of this
program in Geraldton. As a result, she already has casual work in the industry,
which is fantastic. I understand that the member for Geraldton knows Yolanda from
her time at TAFE and has met her previously.
That is such a good example. We know it is difficult to get people to
work in a range of different areas, but if we can train local people,
particularly in regional areas, that is great. They have housing, they are
connected and committed to the community and we can get them into these areas
of work.
There are job ready programs
available across a range of different industries. In fact, more than 2 000 Western
Australians have already commenced job ready programs. I am really pleased to
announce that almost half of the 2 000 Western Australians who have taken up
job ready programs have reported that they have either secured employment or
have gone on to do further training, which is exactly what we want. We want
them working in those industries and we want them to say, ''Okay, yes. I'm
ready for my cert III. I'm ready to keep training. I've got my
confidence up.'' They are working in critical industries such as early
childhood education and care.
It is also really pleasing that 78 per
cent of job ready participants are women. We know we need to do more work, and we want women back in the
workforce. We want them to get confidence and training that we know will
be accessible. Also, really importantly, another under-represented cohort in
our community is Aboriginal people, and 40 per cent of participants are
Aboriginal people. This is all good news.
The other job ready programs include
construction, bricklaying, hospitality, aged and disability care, truck driving
and drillers offsiders—areas in which we know there is big demand. This
is a great program, and I give credit to my predecessor, Hon Sue Ellery, who
put it in place when she was the Minister for Training. It is part of a suite
of work we are doing; we are investing huge dollars into vocational education. There is $320.5 million to make training more
accessible and to get people ready for the jobs that we know are out
there. I want to highlight to the house how successful that has been. We are
having huge success in apprenticeships and traineeships alone. At the moment,
more than 45 000 Western Australians are participating as apprentices or
trainees—45 000! That is a great number. As a government, we are very
proud of it.
This morning I heard a statistic: 92 per
cent of people who participate in apprenticeships go on to get work in that
industry, like the member for Scarborough did—he had employment as an
electrician, as we know, but he is now in Parliament. These are great job
opportunities and great training opportunities, and I am proud to be part of a government
that is making this happen for Western Australians.
am very happy to answer this question because it gives me an opportunity to
talk about the fantastic work that the Cook
Labor government is doing in vocational education. I made the announcement in
concert with the Minister for Early Childhood Education earlier this
week to expand the job ready program for early childhood education and care.
The job ready program has been developed alongside industry. It will respond to
requests for short, sharp training to meet high demands for skilled workers. It
is a great model because it works alongside
entry-level training. It is designed for people who have not been in the
workforce before or who have had a long break from the workforce, to give
them the wraparound support they need with a placement in industry.
Importantly, it is part of our Free in '23 suite of offerings, so these
job ready programs are free for anyone who wants to take them up.
We know that early childhood
education and care is crucial for early childhood development and great for the babies and young children who attend care
centres. It is also a key enabler for increased participation in the
workforce. For working families, and often working women, the proximity and
availability of childcare is very important because it means they can
participate in the workforce.
Along with the Minister for Early
Childhood Education, I have announced the expansion of the early childhood
education and care job ready program to Albany, Bunbury, Geraldton, Karratha,
Katanning, Kununurra, Mandurah and Northam—all
those regional areas. It will also be expanded to more metropolitan areas. This is a very good early introduction for people living in those areas
who have had difficulty getting into the workforce and who might be interested
in early childhood education and care and working in those centres, but who are
not confident enough to do their certificate III or start training. It has
already been very successful. In fact, when I was in Geraldton recently I met
19-year-old Yolanda, who had participated in the early offerings of this
program in Geraldton. As a result, she already has casual work in the industry,
which is fantastic. I understand that the member for Geraldton knows Yolanda from
her time at TAFE and has met her previously.
That is such a good example. We know it is difficult to get people to
work in a range of different areas, but if we can train local people,
particularly in regional areas, that is great. They have housing, they are
connected and committed to the community and we can get them into these areas
of work.
There are job ready programs
available across a range of different industries. In fact, more than 2 000 Western
Australians have already commenced job ready programs. I am really pleased to
announce that almost half of the 2 000 Western Australians who have taken up
job ready programs have reported that they have either secured employment or
have gone on to do further training, which is exactly what we want. We want
them working in those industries and we want them to say, ''Okay, yes. I'm
ready for my cert III. I'm ready to keep training. I've got my
confidence up.'' They are working in critical industries such as early
childhood education and care.
It is also really pleasing that 78 per
cent of job ready participants are women. We know we need to do more work, and we want women back in the
workforce. We want them to get confidence and training that we know will
be accessible. Also, really importantly, another under-represented cohort in
our community is Aboriginal people, and 40 per cent of participants are
Aboriginal people. This is all good news.
The other job ready programs include
construction, bricklaying, hospitality, aged and disability care, truck driving
and drillers offsiders—areas in which we know there is big demand. This
is a great program, and I give credit to my predecessor, Hon Sue Ellery, who
put it in place when she was the Minister for Training. It is part of a suite
of work we are doing; we are investing huge dollars into vocational education. There is $320.5 million to make training more
accessible and to get people ready for the jobs that we know are out
there. I want to highlight to the house how successful that has been. We are
having huge success in apprenticeships and traineeships alone. At the moment,
more than 45 000 Western Australians are participating as apprentices or
trainees—45 000! That is a great number. As a government, we are very
proud of it.
This morning I heard a statistic: 92 per
cent of people who participate in apprenticeships go on to get work in that
industry, like the member for Scarborough did—he had employment as an
electrician, as we know, but he is now in Parliament. These are great job
opportunities and great training opportunities, and I am proud to be part of a government
that is making this happen for Western Australians.
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