Cory Bernardi (SA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last week I considered myself fortunate to share with an Adelaide community the celebration of their very hard work. I was in Athol Park, a suburb in the north-west of Adelaide. It is a suburb of battlers that is dominated by housing trust homes where, even in this national environment of low unemployment, jobs are difficult to come by. I was in Athol Park to help recognise the achievements for which some members of that community have been recognised—one member in particular. That community minded person was Mr Allen Smith—a man who is short in stature but a giant in spirit. Allen received his award after being highly commended in the most outstanding participant category of the 2005 Prime Minister’s Work for the Dole Achievement Awards. He was one of the participants in the Building Athol Park Community Centre Work for the Dole project.

To me, Allen’s story was quite simply inspiring. He experienced unemployment which had undermined his self-belief and his confidence in his own abilities. Allen also suffered from a crippling arthritis condition which would have prevented anyone from being motivated to work. However, for Allen, the pain of his chronic arthritis paled in comparison to the pain of not being able to find a job. Allen wanted to provide for his family and to make a better contribution to his community.

Unfortunately, it is a fact of life that older people who have experienced a physical disability often struggle to get a fresh start in the job market. And often the greatest impediment to getting a job is their lack of confidence in their ability to contribute meaningfully to society. That is why I was in Athol Park last week. Allen had conquered his fears. He had done this with the assistance of the Work for the Dole program.

The Work for the Dole program has been operating for almost 10 years now and is one of this government’s proudest achievements—and with very good reason. It has grown from a pilot program with l0,000 places in 1997-98 to a program with over 64,000 places in 2004-05. It commands a $168 million investment from this government in helping to achieve the aims of placing our long-term unemployed.

I know there are thousands of success stories from this program and that these projects really do make an enormous difference in so many ways. Participants like Allen Smith gain valuable skills and work experience while taking part in projects that benefit their communities. Through this program they develop skills in problem solving, leadership, teamwork and responsibility—valuable life skills that will remain with participants for the rest of their lives.

Work for the Dole is a unique work experience program which focuses on three distinct outcomes. Firstly, participants have the chance to gain quality work experience. Secondly, job seekers have the opportunity to contribute in a practical and positive way to the greater good of our society. In return for the support given through the social security system, the Work for the Dole participants are able to give something back to the community and also receive reward for their efforts. Thirdly, the program provides a range of projects that directly benefit local communities.

Allen Smith and the Building Athol Park Community Centre project wholly embody these outcomes. Not only did Allen receive his award for being highly commended, but the community centre was a finalist in the best community activity category. The local residents of Athol Park were the driving force behind the establishment of this community centre. The residents made it clear that they needed a community facility where people could come together and access essential support services such as information for families with children, particularly for the growing local migrant and refugee community.

Residents formed the Athol Park Community Group and worked in partnership with the City of Charles Sturt Council, Jobs Statewide, the local police and the South Australian Housing Trust to begin the redevelopment of two donated houses into a community centre complete with an office area, training rooms, a room for childcare facilities, a large open kitchen area and a large backyard garden where fresh vegetables are grown. Incidentally, the vegetables from this garden are used when the centre cooks up weekly dinners for some of the local disadvantaged families to ensure they get a healthy meal on a regular basis.

This is one of the great strengths of the Work for the Dole program—it provides a vehicle through which partnerships between government and community organisations can achieve practical and positive outcomes and make a real difference in people’s lives. The redevelopment of the Athol Park Community Centre provided Work for the Dole participants with the opportunity to develop a diverse range of technical and employment-ready skills such as carpentry, brickwork, plastering, tiling and painting.

Allen Smith developed these skills and as the project progressed he always did more than he was asked. As his skills improved, so did his confidence and self-belief. Allen’s determination made sure he stood out as someone determined to make the best of this opportunity. And despite being dealt many of life’s hard knocks, and struggling with a severe arthritic condition, Allen volunteered for the Work for the Dole program. By doing so, and through his involvement in this project, he demonstrated his leadership abilities. Allen proved his strong work ethic; he showed his reliability and enthusiasm. He worked above and beyond his required hours to contribute to the success of the project. Eventually, Allen became a mentor to the other participants, who would always seek him out for advice and guidance. He often took responsibility for group projects and took on that leadership role easily. His enthusiasm and pride in his work was infectious and was always encouraging to all the other participants working with him.

Despite the constant pain, Allen was committed to seeing the job through. He felt that being active and participating in work helped him to remain positive in the face of his ailment and helped him to remain limber from all the moving around he was doing at work. And Allen’s strong work ethic and diligence has paid off for him. I am pleased to say he now has a regular job, which he thoroughly enjoys. His present employers are indeed fortunate to have Allen on their staff. Allen sums up the benefits of the Work for the Dole program. In his words:

I learnt a lot on site and actually found myself going home and trying to use the skills I had gained. I also found myself gaining confidence in what I could achieve. I found that I felt really comfortable working in the group. I found there were people on the activity that helped me and I wanted to help others.

He said:

I loved my time on the Work for the Dole programme. The programme is an incentive. It gave me appreciation within myself and improved my level of self esteem. I was doing something good for myself and for the community.

Work for the Dole is a program that builds hope. It helps people establish their dreams by helping them regain their pride and their sense of worth. This has never been more ably demonstrated to me than through meeting Allen Smith last week. It proved to me Allen Smith is a winner—not because he won an award but because he has worked for his community and worked to improve himself. Allen is a humble man, but even the most humble man deserves a sense of pride. To be there with Allen and his family when they shared in his achievement was a real privilege. And this government can be proud of the Work for the Dole program, which is making such demonstrable benefit to people’s lives—people just like Allen Smith.