Jill Hall (Shortland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I was horrified to learn that the federal government had decided to defund DETNAC, the Department of Education and Training New Apprenticeships Centres. I question the reason behind this decision, and so does my constituent Alison, who is dedicated to training young Australians to address the chronic skills shortage in our nation. She wrote to me in April when she learnt of the fact that DETNAC in Newcastle had been defunded and she put the facts on the table. It is an organisation that provides services to new apprentices, trainees and their employers.

The staff were taken in and collectively informed at the beginning of April that they were no longer required as they did not get the new contract, and that would be effective from 1 July. As of 30 June this year, they will all be unemployed. DETNAC is an organisation with sites all over New South Wales—in Sydney, Newcastle, Wollongong, Lismore, Tamworth and Wagga. All in all there are approximately 300 employees who will be out of work within 10 weeks—not very good at all.

They have been regularly audited by the Department of Education, Science and Training with a 98 per cent success rate and are constantly praised as being the best NAC in Australia. They are dedicated to providing the best service to both apprentices and employers. To use Alison’s words, it was a ‘bombshell’ when she found out about the government’s decision. She came to me to ask if I could assist, and of course I will endeavour to do everything in my power to get the minister to reconsider the government’s decision.

To give you some background on DETNAC, in December 2005 the Commonwealth gave it a quality rating of 98.63 per cent. Employers and apprentices gave DETNAC a satisfaction rate of 93 per cent, which is above the average—they were above average on both counts. DETNAC was the only NAC to meet the Commonwealth’s quality assurance benchmark in each New South Wales region in 2005 and it has met or exceeded the retention and completion benchmark in every region, yet the Howard government has defunded this high-performing organisation.

The high quality of assistance offered by DETNAC has delivered services which are complemented by a commitment to improve participation and achievement in apprentices and trainees through strategies such as Way Ahead for Aboriginal People, which has increased employment of Aboriginal apprentices and trainees by 230 per cent in the last 18 months—hardly something you would suspect would lead to the defunding of an organisation.

This issue was taken up by the Minister for Education, Science and Training. She, like many other people in the community, expressed concern about how this decision will hurt New South Wales apprentices and employees. She believes, as do people in the electorate that I represent, the people who work at DETNAC and the people who have received training from DETNAC, that this decision is unwarranted. The minister supported employees and trainees across the state who have called on the Commonwealth to reconsider this decision.

The DETNACs in New South Wales have helped more than 100,000 apprentices and trainees and more than 37,000 employers. It is absolutely imperative that the minister revisit this. This decision is outlandish and I call on the minister to immediately reconsider and award the contract to DETNAC for people who are skilled and dedicated— (Time expired)

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