Mark Coulton (Parkes, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge an organisation within the community that is working towards a goal that I hold very dear—that is, the creation of a culture of lifelong learning within our communities. I am talking about the Australian Learning Communities Network Inc. This organisation recently held its national conference in Adelaide. When I was Mayor of Gwydir Shire Council before entering this place it was my honour to be Chair of the Gwydir Learning Region. The Gwydir Learning Region is a body with similar aims to the Australian Learning Communities Network. Through a partnership of stakeholders, including education, business, local council and local community, the Gwydir Learning Region has established itself as a wonderful example of what can be achieved in growing a learning community.

Local communities, especially in regional and remote areas, can benefit greatly through focusing the available resources in a coordinated manner to address local skill deficiencies or other social needs through existing programs such as school based traineeships and apprenticeships, through encouraging adults to enter or re-enter training to enhance their skills or simply through making opportunities available for our aged and other disadvantaged segments of our population to participate in activities to allow them to socialise. The pivotal factor in this equation is the role that local government can play in facilitating this learning community culture. The enhancement of each community through learning should be seen as a core business of local government, especially in areas devoid of established learning institutions. This was certainly the case within the Gwydir Shire, which is very much a learning organisation.

From my own experience with the Gwydir Learning Region I also witnessed how this learning can strengthen a community. People who come together to learn—and to help each other learn—provide a great service to their communities and to each other. I have seen this within the Gwydir shire, where this emerging culture of lifelong learning has seen many mature-age students acquire new skills that they have been able to use to benefit the communities in which they live. The Gwydir Learning Region model was praised in a recent independent evaluation, where it was found to provide individuals with the opportunity to advance their education, develop new skills, achieve social and economic goals and pursue pathways that might not have been available to them previously. However, the benefits extend beyond the individual. From the point of view of economic and regional development, it was found to represent an innovative approach to aligning skill development with local employment needs, and in doing so create a sustainable future in rural New South Wales.

Since my association with the Gwydir Learning Region began I have seen many students take on, and then excel in, a diverse range of professions, from aged care to IT. As a result, these communities have seen a significant expansion in their skill base, which has in turn had a direct affect on their ability to build their commercial potential. In my own community I have seen mothers attending the same class at Warialda High School as their sons and daughters and people with very minimal education themselves finally going on not only to fulfil very important roles in the community but also to help their own families through being able to earn a proper income.

For many years Mr Jim Saleeba, from the Albury-Wodonga area, has championed the importance of learning communities. Jim has recently retired as the chair of the Australian Learning Communities Network, but he is still very much involved in promoting its aims. Jim and his fellow board members give their time to this cause without any expectation of reward beyond helping the various communities around Australia that desperately need this attention to coordinate learning to improve their quality of life. The Australian Learning Communities Network receives virtually no government funding yet its goals hold the key to the success and regeneration of many of our communities. I sincerely hope that this government recognises the need to fund programs that allow the growing network of learning communities to thrive and to encourage more areas to take up the challenge—it is worth the effort.