Fiona Phillips (Gilmore, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On 12 October, I had the honour of officially opening the Eurobodalla Health Expo at the Batemans Bay Soldiers Club. This is a great local event with over 50 stalls to promote and link people with local health training and jobs. Our health and social sector workers provide invaluable support to our community, but in regional areas like ours those workers can sometimes be hard to find and even harder to retain. At the same time we have high unemployment rates, and young people are finding it harder and harder to get a job.

That's why forums like this are so valuable. They link jobseekers with good, quality jobs in areas of need. You never know—one day you're visiting a health and wellbeing expo; the next day you might be starting a new, lifelong, rewarding career in health or social services. There were so many community groups and local health and wellbeing organisations holding interesting and informative stalls. There were even mini health checks. The expo was a huge success and I had a great time chatting with our local community members, providers and trainers.

Thank you to the University of Wollongong, TAFE NSW and the South Coast Careers College for coming along and providing advice and information for prospective students. I'd also like to thank all the stallholders, local service providers and employers for their support. Congratulations to the Eurobodalla Health Service Community Representative Committee and the Eurobodalla Shire Council for organising such a wonderful event.