PRIME MINISTER
ADDRESS BY THE PRIME MINISTER, THE HON. P. J. KEATING, MP
OPENING OF YOUTH TRAINING AND EMPLOYMENT FORUM
NATIONAL PRESS CLUB, CANBERRA, JUNE 2 1992
Thank you for the opportunity to open this forum. I am
very grateful to the organisers for giving me the chance
to speak.
The issues of education and employment for our yon
people are issues of national concern. 2n
The cliches, of course, are easy but they are no less
true for that.
Young people are the nation's future. Our success as a
nation depends upon their skills and resources and the
degree of their commitment to this society.
At one level, providing employment, education and
training for our young people is a real test of our
ability to create an efficient modern economy.
But we won't do that without a social ethic. Our
economic success is inseparable from our social successwe
will succeed best in Australia if we raise the level
of our care for each other.
To a very considerable extent our success depends on the
degree to which our young people believe in this country.
It is perhaps another cliche to say they they won't
believe in it if we don't.
And it is hard to think of a truer measure of our belief
than the investment we make in them.
By any reasonable standards we have a duty to train and
educate them, to prepare them for the future, to give
them every possible chance.
We have a duty as a community and a nation.
If these are cliches, they are no less true for that.
But we won't get anywhere by simply uttering them.
Understandably, with an issue which goes to the very
heart of communities, we often end up with more heat than
light.
We need heat but we need more light.
What we need from this conference, and in the press in
discussions about unemployment and youth around the
country are rea itic and effective ideas and
strategies. When I became Prime Minister I gave a commitment to speed
economic recovery and do everything we realistically
could to reduce unemployment.
The measures in One Nation were the first step to doing
this.
We introduced a $ 100 million package to boost new
employment and training opportunities, save existing jobs
and strengthen the economy. The package will provide
assistance for nearly 40,000 young people.
Young people will also benefit from the substantial
increases in funding for labour market programs and for
TAFE places. WVe provided an extra SlOOD iioT~ n in the
November Economic Statement and a further $ 40 million in
One Nation for an additional 50,000 places in TAFE.
In the first ten months of 1991-92, almost 75,000 young
people have been involved in vocational education and
training placements.
But clearly this is not enough. We need to work on long
term solutions.
In tackling the next stages, we need to be clear about
the impact that the fundamental restructuring of the
labour market has had on opportunities For yo'ung people.
Major changes to industry structure and new technology
are substantially changing the type of jobs available.
In manufacturing, the old production line approach which
produced a large number of the same standard item and
which employed a large number of unskilled labourers is
fast disappearing.
It is being replaced with new, computer-based design and
production techniques which place a high premium on both
highly skilled and multi-skilled staff at all levels of
the design, production and marketingprocesses.
Similarly, in key service industries such as retail,
hospitality and tourism, the quality of our skills will
influence the standard of our service and hence our
ultimate success.
These changes are common to all industrialised nations.
They cannot be turned back.
The challenge is to develop the means by which young
people can gain the skills and experience they need.
The challenge is made more critical by the fact that
young people with little education and training are most
disadvantaged in the labour market.
There is one unmistakable fact about the modern labour
market: those who do not complete school or a postschool
qualification are twice as likely to be
unemployed, and are unemployed for much longer.
I can tell you. that the Goverrnent has accepted the
challenge. And I have to say that we're not at all interested in
John Howard's non-solution of dead-end jobs for young
people, jobs which don't involve any training.
As Ross Gittins wrote if we can't do better than that
there won't be much hope for the rest of us.
" An economy in which there is a great demand for
unskilled workers", he said, " is an economy at the
bottom of the pile in the international division of
labour; one with a low standard of living, producing low
value, labour-intensive goods and watching the nations
with cleverer, better-equipped workers pass it by."
The plain fact is that a competitive economy needs a
highly skilled workforce. And surely we can muster the
will and the resources necessary to create one.
We have already made substantial progress.
There has never been a group of school leavers in
Australia with higher levels of formal education than the
group now entering the labour market. In the last decade
the proportion of young people completing secondary
schooling has doubled from 35% in 1981 to 70% in 1991.
Our higher education system compares well with the OECD
average. In 1992 around 500,000 Australians are
participating in higher education, an increase of over
120,000 students since 1987 or the equivalent of 12 new
universities. By 1994, we will have increased the total number of.
Commonwealth-funded university places by 50% since 1983.
Over the 1992-1994 triennium, the Government plans to
spend a total of $ 13 billion on higher education.
We can see these changes reflected in the education and
labour market profile of young people. In the mid 1960s
nearly six in ten 15-19 year olds had a full-time job; by
the early 1990s, this stood at less than one in three.
Less than one in three were full-time students in the mid
1960s; now six in ten are.
In April 1992, 117,000 of our 1.3 million teenagers were
seeking full-time jobs. One in ten young people is
unemployed which is actually 32,000 less than the
number seeking jobs in April 1983 in the last recession.
Our goal is not simply to keep young people busy and off
the streets. In conjunction with business and industry
we must develop education and training systems which
ensure that young people receive skills that meet their
needs and the economy' s needs.
Successful economies are characterised by high education
standards; a strong emphasis on vocational preparation
for young people; and close links between education
institutions and employers.
Plainly, in Australia the weak link is vocational
education and training. It is the sector which most
clearly falls short of the standards of our main
competitors such as Germany and Japan and the emerging
tigers like Singapore and South Korea.
Australia must begin to value vocational skills as highly
as academic skills, and expect excellence from both.
This is why we are moving as quickly as we can to reform
and expand entry-level training arrangements and the TAFE
system.
The most striking feature of Australia's vocational
preparation system is that it is small. On one measure,
only around one in five places occupied by a 16 or 17
year old is in vocational preparation. The OECD average
is one in two, and in Germany it is eight in ten.
In Australia, apprenticeship is the largest form of
vocational preparation, accounting for 60% of
participation. But there are weaknesses with the
apprenticeship system.
The occupational and industry coverage is too narrow.
There is little vocational preparation for the service
sector which provides two thirds of employment for 15-19
year olds.
Young women, whose employment is concentrated in the
service sector, are greatly under-represented in
vocational preparation.
And there is a tendency for programs to rigidly separate
general education from vocational training.
The Carmichael Report proposes major initiatives to
significantly increase the flexibility and quality of
vocational training, as well as the number of work-based
training places available to Australia's young people.
Broadly speaking, in my view these are not options, but
imperatives. And we need to move on them now.
Expanding the industry and occupational coverage of
structured training arrangements will provide greater
training opportunities for all young people. We must
work with industry, unions and training providers to see
that it happens as quickly as possible.
So far, there has been strong in-principle support for
the thrust of Carmichael's proposals from the ACTU and
peak employer groups including the BCA, CAI and the MTIA.
There is also general support from the States, and the
Minister, Kim Beazley, will be commencing detailed
discussions with his State counterparts this week.
The Commonwealth Government is committed to reforming
entry-level training. I will be giving this a high
personal priority over the next months.
To accelerate the process, I will convene a series of
meetings of peak business organisations, employers and
the ACTU to advance the development and implementation of
the pilot projects which will test the new approach.
For the reforms to entry-level training to be successful,
they must be backed up by a greatly expanded and improved
vocational education and training system.
I am convinced that the best way to achieve a truly
national system of vocational education and training is
for the Commonwealth Government to assume a key role.
In One Nation I proposed that the Commonwealth enter into
a partnership with the States, with the Commonwealth
assuming full responsibility for the funding of the
system, while the States retained responsibility for its
administration, management and planning at a local level.
To date we have been unable to reach agreement on this
proposal. One option, which has many attractions, is for the
Commonwealth to go further and assume full
responsibility, not only for the funding, but also for
the administration of TAFE.
It would ensure an efficient and effective national
vocational and educational training system.
It would allow a closer integration of TAFE and
higher education policy.
It would enable the Commonwealth to pursue its
fundamental objectives of raising the system' s
quality and diversity, and achieving across
Australia a better match of training and the needs
of young people, industry and the labour market.
It is a step we are prepared to take.
I recognise that we could not achieve such a system
overnight. In the meantime, it is critical that the pressing demand
for more places in TAFE be addressed. I would therefore
propose for the 1993-1995 triennium that the States
maintain their current effort on TAFE and, where
necessary, lift their effort from their own resources to
reach an agreed national standard of provision.
For its part, the Commonwealth would commit additional
funding for the growth and improvement of the vocational
education and training system.
As part of the arrangements for the triennium, we would
seek an inter-governmental agreement at Heads of
Government level to raise the quality and responsiveness
of the mainstream TAFE system.
In order to steer the system towards national objectives,
the Commonwealth would use part of its growth funding to
purchase courses directly from institutions and industry
to encourage an active involvement by the private sector.
Whatever happens, we must settle matters as soon as
possible. The Government is determined that Australia will have a
world class vocational education and training system and
we will not be deflected from that objective.
The Commonwealth will therefore support the development
of a network of high profile institutions, catering for
the advanced technical training needs of specific
industry sectors.
In this way the Commonwealth would also be in a position
over time to build institutes of vocational education in
connection with industry, as well as maintain our
recurrent effort for the existing TAFE system.
I have spoken today about the far-reaching reforms of the
education and training systems for young people. But
more can be done to help those young people who are
unemployed now.
I In addition to the initiatives I have already mentioned,
the Government is considering some measures in the Budget
context. I am not convinced that more of the same is needed. This
is why I was keen to address you today. One of the aims
of this forum is to hear ideas from different sectors of
society. I trust you will take my presence here as an
indication that I want to hear the views of young people
and others who are grappling with the issues.
There is no one answer.
I know from some initial discussions with business and
industry that there are a lot of good ideas around many
of them are already being put into practice.
Business is saying that it has a role to play in
addressing youth unemployment: that it is not the
Government's sole responsibility.
We need, I believe, a national effort to find solutions.
In some cases, business is linking up with community
organisations for example, by developing training and
work experience programs for homeless kids.
They are working in partnership with Government for
example by employing young people through the
Government's Jobstart program.
In many other cases they are going it alone and employing
unemployed kids above their normal requirements.
In addition to considering our own initiatives on youth
unemployment, I see a role for Government in
consolidating and promoting the good ideas of others.
I think we can encourage other businesses to consider
what role they can play.
I will be holding a national meeting of business people
and others who are taking a lead in this area with a view
to developing a national response to youth unemployment.
A national initiative.
I believe we can learn from each other. I believe we
have to.
This forum today will make a considerable contribution to
the debate. Thank you again for inviting me.
I wish you well in your discussions and I will be
interested in your conclusions.