Janelle Saffin (Page, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I speak in strong support of the honourable member for Blair's motion and commend him for bringing it to the House. I will associate myself with his contribution about, among other things, the NDIS and the Labor Party being the party of reform.

What I want to speak about in speaking in support of the motion is a particular program and project taking place in my seat of Page but more broadly across the North Coast area. That is the Disability Employment Broker program. It is a program designed to better help people with disabilities get jobs, help get them in the workforce and help maintain them in the workforce.

It is a program that can fund up to 10 Disability Employment Broker projects across Australia. It is a modest amount of money—$1 million in the 2012-13 budget—but with the potential to achieve significant outcomes. It has been introduced as part of Building Australia's Future Workforce package and that brings a lot of benefits with it. The Disability Employment Broker brings all aspects together—employee support, employer support, enhanced engagement with the employer—and looks at all industry sectors to see where it is easier to have people placed and where there is greater potential for ongoing employment, rather than short-term jobs.

I am pleased to say that TAFE New South Wales through its North Coast Institute was successful in its tender to undertake one of the brokering employment partnerships and training projects. That project commenced in September this year and will be completed in June next year. The project will cover the Northern Rivers and mid-North Coast areas and it will prioritise and target growing industries—retail, accommodation, food services, health and other industries that are experiencing skills shortages. They are industries that are quite significant and already established in the footprint where the project will take place. I was really pleased to see that the North Coast Institute of TAFE got the project, because I know that they have the specialised units, the skills and the commitment and they have set up a really nice style of management for this project. They are quite excited. I commend them for putting it forward. They will use a tripartite partnership model to broker the employment outcomes—which for the person wanting a job is a job. They will work with employer groups and Disability Employment Services, with TAFE as the architect and the lead of the project. They will engage with business networks, chambers of commerce, the Business Women's Networks and other industry in our area.

Part of the project will be about employment sustainability training. They are able to deliver that and work with employers on that. Another part of the project is working with employers to enhance their ability to manage people with disabilities in the workplace. Some of the job candidates will be provided with pre-vocational skills training and that will be designed and supported in partnership between North Coast Institute of TAFE and the providers and employers. It will help to create employment pathways, because sometimes it is really difficult to find which way to go. I am pleased to say that there is a project team, and the local employment coordinator from Building Australia's Future Workforce, who is from the North Coast, is on that with a range of other people with particular skills and expertise. It is a really good project for a small amount of money—about $130,000—and it will help about 20 people and it will help them long term.

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