PRIME MINJISTER
Joint Statement by the Prime Minister the Hon P J Keating MP
and the minister for Employment, Education and Training, the
Hon K C Beazley MP
A National Employment and Training Plan for
YOUNG AUSTRALIANS
The Federal Government has laid the foundations for a strong
revival in job opportunities for young people with a
comprehensive package of new training and employment measures.
The Prime Minister, Mr Keating, and the Minister for
Employment, Education and Training, Mr Beazley, today finalised
the details of a new national employment and training plan for
all young Australians.
It builds on the historic decision last week in co-operation
with the States and Territories to establish the'Australian
National Training Authority and on the broad indti-stry and
community support demonst~ rated so effectively at the successful
National Meeting on Youth Employment and Training.
Mr Keating and Mr Beazley detailed the plan which will see
government expenditure of $ 297.2 million in 1992-93 and $ 767.2
million over three years and will help almost 100,000 young
people during the course of 1993..
The plan is driven by the Government's desire to lift the
burden of unemployment from the shoulders of Australia's youth
and to eliminate it as much as possible from the national
economy.
To that end the Government will provide every long term
unemployed teenager with the opportunity to find a place in the
job market. Support for other young people will also be
expanded. And in addition to programs outlined in One Nation,
in the Budget the Government will address additional specific
measures for all unemployed.
The key features of the package are:
. An offer to all long-term unemployed young people of a six
month vocational training course, with a JOBSTART funded place
on completion, giving _ employrs a wage__ subsidy to employ a
young person, with funding provided for 35,000 places;
. A milestone change for flexibility in pay and training
arrangements for young people with the creation of a new Career
Start Traineeship, designed by the government and the ACTO and
set up under a single Federal award to target early school
leavers, amongst the most disadvantaged of job seekers;
An expansion of SkillShare and JOBTRAIN and their link to
a wage subsidy for a job beyond training;
A new Landcare and Environment Action Program offering
young peo'l emplbyment experience in environmental and
conservation projects;
Increased subsidies to additional traineeships and support
for apprentices;
A further 12,000 pre-vocational TAFE courses in 1993;
$ 43.6 million over three years to underpin the development
of the new-entry level training arrangements for the
Australian Vocational Certificate recommended in the
Carmichael Report;
$ 48.6 million over three years to fund places in
Carmichael pilots and the new Career Start Traineeships.
The measures in the package, combined with the existing labour
market programs and the opportunities now available in
universities and vocational education, provide a positive
option of employment, education or training for young
Australians. Details of the package are set out in the attachments.
Mr Keating said the plan was the most comprehensive ever
assembled by any government and confronted the fundamental
concerns facing Australia's young people.
Firstly, it provided young unemployed with jobs NOW and also
increased significantly opportunities for immediate training.
Secondly, looking to the future, it provided the infrastructure
by which young people will acquire the skills, competence and
confidence they will need to succeed in tomorrow's workplace.
He said one of the keys to a sustained revival of job
opportunities for young people was in the implementation of the
new Australian Vocational Certificate ( AVC) and its application
to employers across the country.
" The move to the new system will be undertaken through a series
of pilots. All pilot schemes of sufficient quality put to the
government will be funded. We are already impressed by the
willing response of so many of Australia's leading employers
and trade unions to this offer," he said.
Mr Keating said the Government, in cooperation with the ACTU
and employers, will develop a new Career Start Traineeship
( CST).
" This new form of traineeship will enhance the flexibility of
the existing Australian Traineeship System and provide a bridge
in implementing the Carmichael Report. A new national award
will be established to assist in providing quick access to the
new and more flexible arrangements," he said.
Mr Beazley said the CST, the pilot programs and the development
of the AVC training system will transform the approaches to
vocational training in Australia.
" Together, the measures will better prepare our young people
for the rapidly changing world of the workplace and are
essential to create the more highly skilled workforce we
require to increase our living standards," he said.
The employment and training plan for young Australians also
includes a range of immediate measures to assist unemployed
young people into jobs and training courses designed to lead to
jobs. The Prime Minister said that all teenagers who are unemployed
for a year or more would be offered an accredited training
course in either a TAFE or similar training institution. Upon
completion of the course, young people will be able to use a
JOBSTART card to find employment. The JOBSTART card will
inform employers of the subsidy they can receive if they employ
that young person.
This subsidy presently ranges from $ 70 a week up to $ 230 a week
depending on age and duration of unemployment.
" This offer will provide the key to a job that many young
unemployed are looking for," Mr Keating said.
" In contrast John Hewson offers only a wage cut for all young
people," he said.
Today Mr Keating also announced the establishment of a new
Landcare and Environment Action Program to provide young people
with vocational training while working in land care,
conservation, environment protection and cultural heritage
activities. Such a program received strong endorsement at the
Youth Meeting. In 1993, this program is expected to involve at
least 6,000 young Australians.
The Plan also includes the expansion of existing programs such
as JOBTRAIN, SkillShare and JOBSTART to provide for wider
access for young people to integrated packages of training and
wage subsidy. These programs will assist an extra 15,800 young
people in 1993.
Mr Beazley said existing measures that have been successful in
halting the dramatic decline in apprenticeship and traineeship
numbers will now continue to be available to employers until
the end of June 1993. New measures, including extra incentives
to employers hiring additional trainees and a package of
measures to allow group training schemes to take on additional
apprentices and trainees will also assist young people into
jobs and avoid the possibility of skill shortages developing as
the economy recovers.
The Government will also provide an additional 1,650
traineeship opportunities for young people through expanded
intakes into the Departments of Social Security and Employment,
Education and Training, as well as ensuring that the target of
trainees constituting at least 25 per cent of all base grade
recruitment is achieved in other Commonwealth agencies.
Together these range of apprenticeship and traineeship measures
will assist some 24,700 young people in 1993.
Finally, the package includes a range of measures designed to
assist particularly disadvantaged young people who are at risk
of either failing to complete school education, or simply being
unable to take advantage of the opportunities made available by
the Government.
CANBERRA 27 JULY 1992