Sid Sidebottom (Braddon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In continuation: I was trying to give an overall definition of the National Green Jobs Corps program, which is a 26-week environmental work experience and training program that is targeted at low-skilled 17- to 24-year-olds who have been unemployed for more than 12 months, especially those who have not completed year 12. The participants are to undertake work experience and skills development on environmental and heritage projects for something like 130 hours of training, leading to a nationally recognised qualification such as a certificate I or certificate II qualification in horticulture, conservation or land management. Participation in the program will also enable young unemployed people to meet their participation obligations for receipt of youth allowance, Newstart allowance or parenting payment income support.

We have been reminded by several speakers that the program is not new. Indeed, a Green Corps program has been operating continuously in Australia from 1997 to 30 June 2009. What is new, however, is that the participants in the updated and renamed program are to be provided, at least temporarily, with a supplement to their income support payments. This is as an incentive both to participate in the program and to assist in this participation. This amounts to an extension of the existing training supplement paid to eligible Newstart allowance and parenting payment (single) recipients who commence approved courses between 1 July of this year and 30 June 2011 to National Green Jobs Corps program participants.

It is interesting to look at the history of a good idea, because that is what this is. Irrespective of how many times we rebadge, rename, restate, redo—whatever you like—in politics a good idea tends to continue. This one can be at least searched back to 1992 and the LEAP program under the Keating government. Then it was dealing with 15-year-olds to 20-year-olds who were looking at a 26-week course. They were involved in issues such as land care, cultural issues, heritage and conservation and they were paid a taxable training allowance based on differential ages. So it has been there in the past—more recently with the last government—and it is continuing with this government. I applaud this government and the policymakers for continuing what is essentially a pretty good idea.

I would like to highlight some of the practical results of the Green Corps program, results which I share with just about everyone in this place—and I know it has been pretty important in your electorate too, Mr Deputy Speaker Secker. One example is the Tasmanian Arboretum, which is located in Melrose, or more specifically Eugenana, where I live. This is a botanical tree park, established in 1984, and is now made up of about 66 hectares of magnificent arboretum. The Green Corps program, through Central Victorian Group Training, has been involved in a number of projects at the arboretum.

When you look at the aims of the program, which are reiterated in our bill, you can look at the development aims for the young people involved, such as leadership and teamwork skills, which I alluded to earlier; skills to liaise with stakeholders; interpersonal skills; confidence in gathering information and presenting outcomes to a variety of audiences; knowledge about the projects and confidence to share that knowledge; self-esteem and self-confidence; and, importantly, the promotion and development of a positive work ethic. They are all very positive characteristics and important skills to develop. The community aims—because these are of a collective nature—are to improve the appearance of the natural areas and open spaces in our community, to reduce invading weed species and to educate the community in aspects of the appreciation and preservation of natural and cultural heritage features. These features in actual fact have been replicated since 1992 all the way through to the present and will continue to be replicated under the excellent program outlined in our legislation.

Looking at some of the outputs of this arboretum project, we see 100 grams of seed were collected, 1,900 trees were planted, 2,000 seedlings were propagated, 200 metres of walking track were constructed and 20 metres of boardwalk, 1,450 metres of fencing were constructed and 6.5 hectares of weeds were removed. That is a pretty good outcome for a small project team, and a lot of hard work and a lot of skills were developed with it as well. Something you would be more familiar with, Mr Deputy Speaker Secker: three self-closing gates were established.

Patrick Secker (Barker, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would rather they self-opened!

Sid Sidebottom (Braddon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It was not written here, anyway. They knocked together a brochure explaining what they have done, they put together an information box, they set up distance markers and they designed and made 10 interpretive signs. Again, all good skills and of course they enhanced the magnificent atmosphere and aesthetics of the arboretum.

What other things did they manage to achieve in their Certificate I in Conservation and Land Management, with additional units from Certificate II in Conservation and Land Management? They had to go through an accredited training plan and that meant they had to be prepared for work. Those that passed the certificate I and certificate II were indeed prepared for work. They were able to carry out basic first aid; they were able to follow occupational health and safety procedures; they were able to support the nursery work that was required at the arboretum; they were able to apply chemicals under supervision; they were able to support the natural area conservation; they could operate basic machinery and equipment; they could recognise plants; they could install maintain and repair fencing, and given the distances of the fencing construction, nearly 1,500 metres, that is a fairly good experience I would say; they could plant trees and shrubs; they followed basic chemical safety rules; they undertook propagation activities; they were able to treat the weeds as well as recognise them and isolate them; and they were able to maintain their workplace. They are very positive outcomes in what was a pretty important program for the arboretum.

There were other programs involved with the Green Corps projects in Latrobe, particularly the magnificent Platypus Park, and also in Devonport on the Victoria Parade-Mersey River foreshore.

So, all in all, very good skills and incentives are introduced in this legislation for people to take up training and skills development, with a supplement in addition to act as an incentive. And not only are they developing skills in the area of conservation management and in the environment, but they are also developing very important personal skills and characteristics which will stand them in good stead for the future and allow them to develop not just an individual stock of skills for our community, but collectively they will be very important for this country. I commend the government on this legislation and I am glad that it is getting the full support of this whole parliament.

Amanda Rishworth (Kingston, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I too rise to speak in favour of the Social Security Amendment (National Green Jobs Corps Supplement) Bill 2009. Over the past couple of years I have been very fortunate to attend many Green Corps project launches and graduations in my electorate of Kingston, where I have seen and heard of the great work being done by young people involved in the Green Corps scheme. Having seen the valuable contributions they are making, it is a pleasure now to have risen in support of a bill that will encourage more of our youth to get involved in this program and programs like it throughout Australia.

There have been many impressive Green Corps projects which have taken place in my electorate of Kingston. In October this year I attended the launch of the ‘feral fighters’ Green Corps project in the southern Mount Lofty Ranges. This particular project provides the opportunity for 10 young people to work with park authorities to carry out threat abatement activities. And to protect endangered species, these volunteers are involved in conducting flora and fauna surveys as well as weeding and revegetation projects. Those projects are valuable to the local environment, which will benefit with increased biodiversity and restored native species.

In the past 18 months, two Green Corps projects have also been run in partnership with the Willunga Environment Centre. The Willunga Environment Centre is an excellent centre of education. It has a number of volunteers and also some staff who really promote the environment in the Willunga-McLaren Vale region. In this Green Corps project, participants have planted around 8,000 trees on the Willunga Hill space and along the coastal area of Aldinga. These two projects have also included reef watch monitoring activities and the improvement of local trails and fences and maintenance work on local heritage buildings.

Importantly, the participants have gained valuable skills, many receiving a Certificate I in Conservation and Land Management and a senior first aid certificate. Many participants have also completed a number of units towards their certificate level II. In addition to these formal qualifications, the program has developed valuable workplace skills such as good communication and others concerning an introduction to occupational health and safety standards, and the importance of a good work ethic. But, more importantly, this program has also developed many intangible skills and elements as to these young people. What has really impressed me is seeing some of these young people when they attend the launch at the beginning of the project and then seeing their development after the 26 weeks at the graduation. What I have seen in all of the graduations that I have attended is a huge increase in self-esteem for these young people. In all of the graduations I have attended, they have got up and said a few words about the things that they have achieved. And apart from all of the more tangible skills and the certificate levels, it has been making friends, it has been developing self-esteem and, most importantly, feeling ‘a sense of agency’ towards being able to get involved and work. Certainly there has been a huge impact that this program has had, and I have been so pleased to be able to witness that improvement in these young people.

This project has also had great success in achieving significant outcomes with the environment. As I have mentioned, there has been so much done. You can look at pictures only of two years ago and see that there were no trees whatsoever on the Willunga Hills. Slowly we are starting to see the Willunga Hills becoming greener from the hard work of the Landcare group, the Willunga Environment Centre and the contribution that the Green Corps students have made. The other important element to this, I believe, is the huge connection that these Green Corps projects have had in terms of the awareness and preservation of the local Indigenous culture of the Kuarna people. This has been a significant theme throughout all the Green Corps projects that have gone through that I have attended.

Another exciting Green Corps project has been taking place in the last two years at McLaren Flat in partnership with Gemtree Vineyards. In this project the Green Corps volunteers have helped return 10 hectares of barren land to its natural condition as wetlands. Gemtree have some representatives here tomorrow for the export awards—they do a great bottle of wine—but they also have a huge commitment to the environment on the land they manage. This has been a great project. Volunteers have been involved in building pathways and platforms and revegetation. Reports back from the partnership have been glowing. I have been told that the volunteers involved have been sensational and incredibly driven, partly because they have been able to see the fruits of their labour transform the local environment. The work being done in these wetlands is also improving the habitat of a number of threatened species, including the Mount Lofty southern emu-wren.

I want to speak about one more project in my electorate, which is in Hallett Cove. This is a Green Corps project that has been restoring the ecosystem of the Lower Field River in partnership with the Friends of the Lower Field River. I have spoken to the Friends of the Lower Field River. This is a group of people who have been working to revegetate this area, but they are all people who are working in daytime jobs and as volunteers they could only meet once a month. The Green Corps project has been able to escalate the revegetation that they have been working on. Participants involved in this program have planted 4,500 trees and propagated 8,000 seedlings. They were also involved in making mosaics, mulching, fencing and the construction of seats. The youth development outcomes of this included confidence and self-esteem, as I mentioned before, based on public speaking, setting goals and then actually achieving and celebrating those achievements, and making a huge difference to the community.

Non-government organisations have been helping these young people in these projects. I would particularly like to pay tribute to the Willunga Environment Centre, Mission SA and Greening Australia. They have been the bodies that have provided the team leaders that have worked with these young people and allowed them to achieve.

I would also like to at this point make mention of the friendship groups. These are all volunteer groups. In each of these projects a friendship group has been involved. What has been really lovely for me to see at the graduations is the strong connection that these young people have made with the volunteers in the friendship groups that are usually—not always, but usually—a little older. This connection between these young people and the volunteers in the area is really important. Certainly a lot of young people I spoke to said that they were learning the value of volunteering and were in fact thinking of volunteering themselves. I think that connection is really appreciated. Friendship groups have been able to impart some of their experience, some of their knowledge to these young people, while the young people, as part of the Green Corps, have been able to fast-track some of the things that the volunteers have not had time to progress.

The outcomes have been incredibly important in my electorate of Kingston. We are also seeing some impressive figures nationwide. Nationally the Green Corps participants have planted more than 14 million trees, erected over 8,000 kilometres of fencing, collected 9,500 kilograms of seeds, and have built or maintained over 5,000 kilometres of boardwalk or walking tracks. As has been the case in Kingston, other electorates will have been significantly improved as a result of the Green Corps program. The Green Corps participants have been a great asset to communities in my electorate and, as I mentioned, to the community groups, as I am sure they have been around the country.

The bill before us today, the Social Security Amendment (National Green Jobs Corps Supplement) Bill 2009, will provide for a supplement of $41.60 per fortnight for eligible participants in the National Green Jobs Corps between 1 January 2010 and 31 December 2011. Eligible participants are those receiving youth allowance, Newstart allowance and parenting payment. This money will help cover the expenses incurred by participants involved in the program. It will also act as an incentive for young people to get involved in the schemes being offered in their local area. The 10,000 places provided throughout the life of the program will be targeted at 17- to 24-year-olds without year 12 qualifications who are finding it difficult to engage in the education and training system. During the 26 weeks of the program these participants will be required to undertake skill development and work experience, including 130 hours of accredited training. At the end they will receive a nationally recognised certificate level II qualification.

The scheme forms part of the Prime Minister’s learn or earn policy and is also part of Minister Kate Ellis’s compact with young Australians where, from 1 January 2010, all youth allowance recipients will be required to be in study or training until they receive either a year 12 or certificate II level qualification.

In designing this scheme the government has been guided by past experiences during economic downturns where it has been young people without skills and qualifications who have suffered the most. Our government realises that, just as in the case of the nineties, young people are being hurt by the current economic downturn. To put things in perspective, youth unemployment accounts for a staggering 40 per cent of the growth in unemployment in Australia in the past 12 months.

This bill offers support and incentives for young people to participate in the scheme, which offers skills and qualifications needed in today’s workplace. It goes some way towards helping those most affected by the downturn. We all know how difficult it can be to break into the labour market as a young worker with minimal experience. I hear stories every day from young people in my electorate talking about the difficulties and indeed I hear it also from their parents. The bill before us today is targeted at government support for young Australians who are finding it hard to make that transition into their working life.

The Green Corps scheme is an important scheme that has a lot to offer our communities. It is about developing our communities, it is about connection in our communities and it is really about giving young Australians, who may have found it difficult, help to develop their formal skills and, as I mentioned, those intangible, informal skills that really will equip young people not just for the workforce of tomorrow but actually for an improved quality of life and improved confidence. I think that is so incredibly important.

In closing, I would like to congratulate everyone that has been involved in the Green Corps projects in my electorate whether they be the community groups, whether they be the non-government training organisations or whether they be the young people themselves. What I have seen in my travels around and looking at these projects is a very good scheme and the amendments before us today will make this scheme even better. I commend the bill to the House.

Steve Georganas (Hindmarsh, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Social Security Amendment (National Green Jobs Corps Supplement) Bill 2009 has national long-term economic and environmental importance. The National Green Jobs Corps supplement, which is an amendment to the Social Security Act, addresses and supports the now widely recognised statute that the environment and the economy can and indeed need to work hand-in-hand. The Green Jobs Corps commences on 1 January, giving 10,000 young people the opportunity to develop green skills for their working future through a 26-week accredited training program. As we just heard the member for Kingston say, it is also about developing our community and connecting the community as well, and this will play a big role in that particular sphere.

The government is taking steps through this amendment to address the needs of two of our most precious resources, our young people and the environment. The government is committing $94 million over three years to create 50,000 new jobs and training places. That is 30,000 apprenticeships, the 10,000 Green Jobs Corps places, 6,000 local jobs that focus on sustainability in financially ravaged communities and 4,000 training places for the long-term and disadvantaged unemployed.

This initiative will not just give young people work; it will give them vital training in an area of ever growing importance. Protecting the environment is the way of the future and it is going to be, for many, the employment of the future. The National Green Jobs Corps will give underskilled and underutilised young people the opportunity to get involved in worthwhile work, to do something of value for themselves and the environment and to develop careers in what is certain to be one of the major markets of the future. For many, this would be an ideal career path and we are helping them take it. They will get 130 hours of accredited training, leading to a nationally recognised qualification. They will learn skills and gain accreditation in the areas of bush regeneration, erosion control, beach and dune rehabilitation and habitat protection. Young people across Australia have shown not just a willingness but an absolute enthusiasm to be involved in green matters, in sustainability and in helping to preserve and protect the environment.

In my electorate of Hindmarsh, as I go around and visit schools and community groups I see great enthusiasm and that enthusiasm is seen in a raft of projects and broader initiatives, including school projects. The electorate of Hindmarsh is home to more than 15 kilometres of Adelaide’s pristine coastline. It is one of the most pristine and picturesque coastlines not only in Australia but, I would say, in the world. It has tidal estuaries, natural sand dunes, wetlands and conservation parks, all within a few kilometres of the CBD of central Adelaide. It houses a multitude of aquatic and bird life and more than 30 species of indigenous plant life. The residents in Hindmarsh along that coastline have an affinity with their local environment and a strong desire to protect it.

The commitment runs from small children through to retired people. For example, the Cowandilla Primary School was named one of the most environmentally sustainable primary schools in the world last year after its success in the international solar cities schools competition. I am proud to be a former scholar of Cowandilla Primary School and I would like to congratulate them on their efforts to educate students in water conservation and biodiversity; it is inspirational stuff.

We also have many organisations, residents groups and community groups, for example the Friends of Patawalonga Creek led by Andrew Winkler, who started the group. They have done great work over the past 21 years preserving and protecting the remaining reed beds and wetlands between Glenelg and Port Adelaide. On National Tree Planting Day they organise a huge contingent of people who plant all sorts of natural habitat. This particular area has seen a dramatic change from being an area that was ravaged to now one that is going back to its natural environment.

Volunteer groups like Henley and Grange Dunecare, the Tennyson Dunes Group and Semaphore Park Coastcare have been giving their time to protect our precious dunes through seed propagation, revegetation and community education. Their work alongside the local Charles Sturt City Council is helping to protect the flora and fauna of some breathtaking coastal areas. We also have the Friends of Gulf St Vincent and the Henley and Grange Residents Association. When there is any degradation to the environment they inform me and ensure that they are very vigilant in letting the authorities know and come up with solutions. I am very proud to have those groups in my electorate. The work done by all of these groups shows that the broader community cares about the environment. They give their time for free to protect it. Imagine how much safer and more protected the environment becomes when we, as a skilled workforce, join the fight.

To get that skilled workforce we have to make sure we take the opportunity now to get it right. The National Green Jobs Corps addresses the inadequacies and the limitations brought on previously by the policy of the coalition when it simply rebadged the Keating government’s 1992 LEAP and tried to pass it off as their own initiative. The coalition restricted this sort of training to people aged 17 to 20, therefore telling an unemployed 21-year-old they were too old to learn new skills. We have extended the age limit to 25. The coalition offered no financial incentive, but we will provide a training supplement of more than $40 per fortnight.

The National Green Jobs Corps has been well received across the board by industry, environmental groups and unions. It is a most welcome initiative in my electorate of Hindmarsh. Heather Ridout of the Australian Industry Group believes the plan will address the shortfall in Australia’s national green skills capacity. Tony Mohr of the Australian Conservation Foundation has given it his tick of approval. Sharan Burrow of the ACTU has praised the initiative for its support of young Australians hard hit by the economic downturn. The initiative has broad appeal because it is doing something practical to address issues that are going to become even more important in the years ahead. It is helping create a sustainable future not only for our environment but for the people who are going to be living in it. The beneficiaries of this initiative will be the next generation of Australians.

As I said, the bill will amend social security laws to provide for a temporary National Green Jobs Corps supplement for recipients of youth allowance, Newstart allowance and the parenting payment who participate in the National Green Jobs Corps. The National Green Jobs Corps is a 26-week environmental work experience and training program targeted at low-skill 17- to 24-year-olds. Additional financial assistance will be provided to these participants in the form of a supplement of $41.60 per fortnight whilst they are participating in the National Green Jobs Corps. This payment will be on top of their existing youth allowance, Newstart allowance or the parenting payment. The supplement will be payable to those who commence in the National Green Jobs Corps between 1 January 2010 and 31 December 2011. I commend this bill to the House.

Darren Cheeseman (Corangamite, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is with great pleasure that I rise to speak on the Social Security Amendment (National Green Jobs Corps Supplement) Bill 2009. This legislation provides a double whammy, really, in terms of outcome. This bill is about protecting the environment and providing young people with meaningful jobs. It is another example of a Labor bill that achieves multiple positive outcomes, providing young people with really good, satisfying jobs where they gain knowledge and skill. The detail of the legislation includes amendments to the Social Security Act 1991 to provide for a National Green Jobs Corps supplement for eligible recipients of youth allowance, Newstart allowance and the parenting payment. This bill introduces a temporary National Green Jobs Corps supplement. This supplement will assist low-skill job seekers receiving youth allowance, Newstart allowance or the parenting payment when they are undertaking the new environmental work experience program through the National Green Jobs Corps.

So much good work has been done in my electorate of Corangamite through Green Corps. I note that is the case across many other parts of Australia. It is great to see young people engaged, learning things and being outdoors and active, and they are doing some very useful work that enhances the environment and builds our communities. Green Corps projects have been undertaken right across the Surf Coast, the Bellarine Peninsula, the Otway Ranges and many other parts of my electorate. It is a fantastic program. We are now, through this legislation, aligning the National Green Jobs Corps with the government’s Compact with Young Australians. The government’s Compact with Young Australians guarantees a training place to those under the age of 25 who are not employed to ensure they have the skills needed for the economic recovery. When they complete the program the majority of participants will have attained a certificate level II qualification. This is consistent with the Compact with Young Australians where job seekers aged under 20 without a year 12 qualification are encouraged to attain a year 12 equivalent qualification.

The supplement will be available to youth allowance, Newstart allowance and parenting payment recipients who are participating in National Green Jobs Corps. Eligible recipients will receive an extra $41.60 per fortnight while they participate in the program. The training supplement will be available for people commencing in National Green Jobs Corps between the period 1 January 2010 and 31 December 2011.

The National Green Jobs Corps program is now a very significant national program. From very humble beginnings, it has become a real force for change. Ten thousand places will be provided through the life of the program over the next two years. These places are targeted at 17- to 24-year-olds without a year 12 qualification, who often struggle to engage in education and the training system. This program will provide structured work experience and accredited training.

The National Green Jobs Corps supplement is an additional payment of $41.60 per fortnight to help eligible participants receiving income support payments meet the costs incurred by participating in the program. It will also act as an incentive, encouraging young people to participate in the program. It will be available for participants who commence before 2012.

The thing I particularly like about the Green Corps is the way it is being used to specifically target young, low-skilled people who are looking for that opportunity. Instead of young people being left to their own devices, this provides them with an opportunity to gain the necessary skills to participate in our economy. It provides work that has real worth. It teaches skills to those who need skills. It brings young people together in a useful and interesting way to participate in environmental activities. It gets young people into places that are interesting. It gets young people working cooperatively together.

The payments to young people through this scheme that support the costs involved in participating in the scheme are also targeted. The supplement is limited to those who receive income support payments, in recognition that they are in a group which generally needs support and help. It is important to note in relation to this program that it has been extended to 17-year-olds. This will bring the program into line with the Compact with Young Australians, which requires, from 1 January 2010, that all youth allowance recipients be studying or training until they get a year 12 qualification or a certificate II qualification. Those who are unable to study will be required to participate in activities such as part-time work, part-time study or training for 25 hours a week.

That means that there will be a large group of 17-year-olds who will be seeking to participate in the National Green Jobs Corps in order to meet that eligibility requirement. I believe that is a very good thing. As many people know, 17 is a very vulnerable age. A lot of 17-year-olds have found themselves out of the education system and in difficulty with the law and others. This program brings them under an umbrella that will provide very positive steps for their future.

This is another example of how the Rudd government is supporting young people into work and educational activities. I have no doubt that there will be many young people who will be inspired by what they do during their Green Corps program training, and their lives will be turned around and enhanced as a consequence. As we know, the Labor government are moving on multiple fronts to support young Australians. We are improving educational opportunities by improving student income support, building better high schools and universities and engaging in a national dialogue led by the Prime Minister between the federal government and young people. We are developing preventative programs on issues such as alcohol abuse and helping on a wide range of other areas. We are giving young people a helping hand wherever we can. This bill, of course, is another example that achieves that, and I commend it to the House.

Tony Zappia (Makin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Social Security Amendment (National Green Jobs Corps Supplement) Bill 2009. This bill amends the Social Security Act to provide for a national green jobs supplement of $41.60 per fortnight for eligible young people on top of their existing income support payment. The supplement will be paid to participants in the National Green Jobs Corps program who receive income support via youth allowance, Newstart allowance or parenting payment. The National Green Jobs Corps will give up to 10,000 young Australians the opportunity to develop skills and help the environment through 26 weeks of accredited training and work experience. The funding agreement commences on 1 January 2010 and will run until 31 December 2011. The National Green Jobs Corps program is a separate program to the existing Green Corps program and does not replace it. There are strong similarities between the programs with the projects they work on and outcomes they achieve for local communities, about which I will speak further later in my speech.

The National Green Jobs Corps program is specifically designed to assist young people aged 17 to 24 to gain skills and work experience during this time of global economic crisis. The program focuses on equipping young Australians with the skills to fill job opportunities in emerging green and climate change related industries. The structured projects through the program link these young people with their community and allow them to work on the protection, conservation and rejuvenation of Australia’s natural and cultural heritage.

The two most significant challenges that we as a government face today are the global economic crisis and how to halt the destruction of our natural environment worldwide. At the heart of these two challenges is providing a future for young Australians—and, importantly, a future with a natural environment that is preserved and protected. To do so, we need to address issues such as global warming, land degradation, salinity and habitat loss.

As Australia moves to being a low-carbon economy, we need to make sure there are employment opportunities for young people in industries that will be part of this low-carbon future. In July this year the Prime Minister announced that the federal government would spend $94 million over three years to create 50,000 new green jobs and training places. Ten thousand of these training places are in the National Green Jobs Corps. History shows that in times of economic downturn, as we have seen during this current global economic crisis, youth unemployment rises faster than the general rate of unemployment. Young people who have not completed year 12 or equivalent are the most vulnerable in difficult economic times.

That is why the Prime Minister announced at the April 2009 Council of Australian Governments meeting our Compact with Young Australians. This compact means that every Australian aged between 15 and 24 who is not in the workforce will be entitled to an education or training place. The Compact with Young Australians partners with state and territory governments and business and education providers to deliver a better future for young people in Australia. At the time, the Prime Minister also announced the ‘earn or learn’ policy, whereby, to continue receiving youth allowance, a person under 21 without a year 12 or equivalent qualification must be in education or training to receive income support.

In June this year the government introduced the training supplement of $41.60 for young Australians who commence an approved course of study from 1 July 2009. This bill introduces a similar supplement of $41.60 paid to people who commence in the National Green Jobs Corps program. This income supplement recognises the additional costs someone on an income support payment may face in travelling to and from the Green Jobs Corps project location as well serving as an incentive for young people to get involved in this excellent program.

I will briefly refer to the program’s environmental benefits. The kinds of projects that this program will involve include bush regeneration and the planting of native trees, erosion control, beach and dune rehabilitation, habitat protection for wildlife and construction and restoration of walking and nature tracks, about which I will speak more later when I discuss projects in my local area. The projects also include important scientific research and education assistance such as biodiversity monitoring, surveys and audits of flora and fauna and consultation and education with the community on environmental matters.

Over the years, I have been associated with numerous environmental restoration projects in my electorate, including the Dry Creek Linear Park, the Little Para River Linear Park and the Cobbler Creek Linear Park, the most recent of these being the Green Corps project at the western end of Cobbler Creek, which the Minister for Home Affairs—who at the time was the Minister for Employment Participation—and I visited earlier this year. The Green Corps project involved 10 young people working on a 26-week restoration project along the Cobbler Creek watercourse. Their work involved the establishment of a walking trail, construction of a creek crossing and undertaking soil, water, animal and vegetation surveys. I was also pleased to be able to attend the graduation ceremony for the participants, in May 2009, at the completion of the project. In May 2009 I also represented the minister at the launch of the Black Hill Green Corps project in the Northern Lofty district of Adelaide. The project also enabled participants to plant trees, construct walking tracks and fencing, remove weeds and complete surveys of plants and wildlife.

What the visit to Cobbler Creek highlighted to both the member for Gorton—the minister—and me, and what my visit to the Mount Lofty site highlighted, was both the environmental and social value of those projects. Young people who had dropped out of school, who had little hope of securing meaningful employment and whose future was very uncertain, participated in the Green Corps and subsequently had a much more positive outlook on life. They learned new skills and learned how to work with others. They embraced responsibility and saw their confidence and self-esteem lifted when their project was completed. They were able to see the results of their work and the contribution they had made to restoring part of a community linear park. Just as importantly, they learned about the importance and relevance of our environment to the overall wellbeing of communities. The Cobbler Creek site and the areas in the Adelaide Hills are locations where the natural landscape had been seriously degraded by human activities. It is only in recent years that we have truly appreciated the damage we have done to the natural environment and the devastating effect this has had on the ecosystem, water, soil quality and the habitat of local plants and animals.

Having spoken to many of the young people who were involved in both of those projects, I was able to see firsthand the effect that it had on their lives and how it had in fact changed their lives around. Most of the participants who started in both of those projects stayed on until the end. A couple did not, but those who did certainly came away as much better people for the commitment they had made. I remember speaking to the young people at the Cobbler Creek project. Because part of the time that they spent working on that linear park was in the middle of the heatwave that we endured in Adelaide earlier on this year, I said to them: ‘What did you do on those extremely hot days and how did you find it?’ The response was something like this: ‘It was tough going but we weren’t going to quit or give up. We were committed to what we were doing and we were prepared to work through the heat.’ That is an incredible commitment by young people who, prior to that, had no commitment to anything. Because they understood the work they were doing, because they learned to understand the importance of it and because they had collectively embarked on a project, they were determined to see it through. Those kinds of qualities will stay with them for the rest of their lives. It is those kinds of experiences that are so important for young people who otherwise, as I said earlier, would probably have a very bleak future.

Importantly, many of these projects are located in rural and regional Australia, where the local environment is often most in need of restoration. In such cases, the local community and farmers receive benefits such as improved water management and reduced salinity from the environmental restoration work.

There is another environmental perspective to this debate associated with restoring and preserving our environment, and that is regarding climate change and our ability to reduce our carbon emissions. We are, as most members of this House would know, in the midst of a national and international debate relating to climate change—climate change that, on the most credible scientific advice available across the world, is largely attributable to human activity raising carbon emissions into the atmosphere.

On Tuesday 17 November, I, along with a number of other members of this House, attended a breakfast hosted by the Federation of Australian Scientific and Technological Societies, otherwise known as FASTS. The presentation was about the emissions reduction targets and the impact of those emissions on the Great Barrier Reef. It was made by a number of Australia’s leading scientists, people who have spent most of their lives working in and around the Great Barrier Reef and in the scientific fields that they are now expert in. Their presentations were made on the basis of findings which have been peer reviewed, and they are quite happy to have anyone else question the findings that they brought to us.

There were some important facts presented at the briefing that I would like to share with the House. They are as follows. More than 100 nations have endorsed the goal of limiting average global warming to no more than two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial temperatures. Many locations, including the Great Barrier Reef, would still be at risk even under this scenario. To achieve a 50 per cent chance of avoiding this two-degree rise, global emissions need to peak no later than 2020 and then reduce by 80 to 90 per cent below 2000 emission levels by the year 2050. To achieve this, emissions from industrialised countries by 2020 need to be reduced by at least 25 per cent relative to their 2000 levels. Those are serious challenges for us and the point that the scientists were making to us was that, even if we can do all that, we stand a 50-50 chance of saving the Great Barrier Reef. The point I make about all this is that the work carried out under this kind of project is going to be very important in achieving those targets.

The emissions that I referred to earlier on have been elevated as a result of both carbon pollution human activities and the wide-scale clearing of vegetation across the world—which, in turn, would have otherwise absorbed atmospheric carbon. In other words, whilst carbon emissions are rising, the natural capacity of the earth to absorb carbon is falling. I would also like to quote from the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists, from their publication Optimising Carbon in the Australian Landscape. It says:

Terrestrial carbon includes carbon stored in forests, woodlands, swamps, grasslands, farmland, soils, and derivatives of these carbon stores, including biochar and biofuels.

The power of terrestrial carbon to contribute to the climate change solution is profound.

At a global scale, a 15% increase in the world’s terrestrial carbon stock would remove the equivalent of all the carbon pollution emitted from fossil fuels since the beginning of the industrial revolution.

Revegetation programs, such as those associated with the National Green Jobs Corps projects, are invaluable in restoring the ecology and sustainability of the environment, resulting in a much more effective carbon absorbing environment. The key to successful environmental management is to think globally and act locally, and that is exactly what the investment in the National Green Jobs Corps projects do. It was also interesting that, in the presentation made in respect of the Great Barrier Reef, the point was made that what is also contributing to the damage to the reef is in fact what is happening on the land and the waters that flow out onto the reef. Again, this is all related to the clearing of areas and the run-off from the land into the reef, and it is all related to creating a sustainable environment back on the land.

These are serious matters that we, as a parliament, are trying to grapple with. This particular initiative of government I believe is invaluable because, on the one hand, at a time of economic downturn, it provides an employment and training opportunity for young people. Secondly, it provides employment and training to those young people who are probably the most disadvantaged and who would have the most difficulty in getting into full-time employment elsewhere. It is important because it restores the natural landscape and vegetation on land in so many parts of the country, in a way that will benefit the local communities in the long term, as has been the case with respect to the linear parks that I referred to earlier on. Those linear parks, as a result of this kind of activity over the past two decades, have now become some of the most used recreational areas in my electorate—all because the local communities took it upon themselves, commencing about two decades ago, to gradually but methodically restore those river systems to their natural state and, at the same time, create the walking trails through them without causing any additional detriment to the local water course. It is initiatives like that that I commend.

The Green Corps program and the funding required would have to be one of the most effective climate change investments made by this parliament. I welcome the opportunity that the National Green Jobs Corps program will give young people at a time of global economic crisis to improve their lives and the environment, and I commend this bill to the House.

Jason Clare (Blaxland, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for Employment) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank all members who participated in the debate on the Social Security Amendment (National Green Jobs Corps Supplement) Bill 2009. In a moment I will address some of the issues that have been raised, but first let us remember the purpose of this bill. This bill will provide a National Green Jobs Corps supplement of $41.60 per fortnight for participants in the National Green Jobs Corps who receive Newstart allowance, youth allowance (other) or the parenting payment. The reason for this supplement is to give job seekers an incentive to participate in this program and to support them as they work on National Green Jobs Corps projects. Up to 10,000 young people will participate in the program over the next two years, starting on 1 January 2010. Participants in the program will receive 26 weeks of accredited training and work experience as they work on projects that make environmental improvements now and develop the green skills that Australia needs for the future.

The lesson from previous recessions is that in an economic downturn it is young people who suffer the most. Youth unemployment accounted for over 40 per cent of the increase in unemployment between August 2008 and August 2009. Many of these young people have not completed high school. These are sobering statistics, but they would be a lot worse if it were not for the government’s economic stimulus package. There are a lot of young people now working in retail stores and on construction sites who would have been unemployed if we had adopted the opposition’s strategy of doing nothing and letting the market take its course. Our strategy is very different. It is based on the lessons of past recessions.

In the 1990s young people who had not finished school were three times more likely to be out of work and not studying than those that they once shared a classroom with. Today, the situation is very similar. That is why we have introduced the Compact with Young Australians based on the policy principle of learn or earn. ‘Learn or earn’ means that young people under the age of 21 without a year 12 or equivalent qualification must be in education or training in order to qualify for youth allowance. The National Green Jobs Corps is an important part of this policy. The National Green Jobs Corps is targeted at young people who have not finished year 12 or an equivalent qualification, because skills count. The opportunity to undertake accredited training while participating in the National Green Jobs Corps will help give young people the skills that they need.

Another lesson from the recession of the 1990s is that, when times get tough, apprenticeships and apprenticeship opportunities dry up and it can take a long time for them to return to prerecession levels. In 1990, 35,000 people started an apprenticeship in a traditional trade like carpentry or plumbing. In 1991 this dropped to 23,000, a drop of 35 per cent. It was 2004, 13 years later, before we again recruited more than 35,000 traditional trade apprentices a year. It is this great gulf in new apprenticeships that contributed to the skill shortages that we faced in the past few years and that the Liberal Party when in government did nothing about.

The shadow minister has correctly pointed out that apprenticeship numbers have dropped by about 20 per cent over the last 12 months. For the last few months I have been on the road with Lindsay Fox and Bill Kelty. Employers we have met from south-west Sydney to south-west Perth have all told us the same thing—that they were struggling with the effects of the global recession and they needed more support and help from government to put on apprentices at the moment. That is why the government has tripled the first year incentive paid to employers who take on an apprentice from $1,500 to $4,850. This is called the Apprentice Kickstart and will support as many as 21,000 apprentices entering a trade this summer. Kevin Cohen from Co-Wyn Building Contractors told yesterday’s edition of the Canterbury-Bankstown Express:

It’s a tremendous incentive for businesses and young people. It gives them an opportunity to get their foot in the door …

That is right. Apprentice Kickstart has also been endorsed by the Group Training Association; the Housing Industry Association; Skills Tasmania; Skill360, which is based in Northern Queensland; the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry; and the shadow minister. Mr Peter Andersen, the New South Wales Chairman of the Group Training Association and the General Manager of the Wagga based apprentice and employment specialist GTES, said:

For some months we have been saying that extra incentives are needed for the employment of apprentices in order to overcome the financial issues currently plaguing Australia as well as helping correct the skills shortage.

The program will go a long way to playing a positive role in achieving these outcomes.

That is from the Daily Advertiser of 19 October. On 20 October in the Maitland Mercury, Shane Goodwin, the Deputy Managing Director of the Housing Industry Association, said:

The extra payments to employers taking on an apprentice in the period of December to February, when there will be a jump in the number of school leavers, is well timed.

Not only is there an additional payment up-front for employers taking on an apprentice, but the offer of a further $2,500 at nine months should be helpful in addressing retention in the first year.

While demand for apprenticeships has been affected by the downturn in building and construction, the time to be investing in apprenticeships is precisely now so that we might soften the impact of skill shortages when the industry moves into recovery.

The additional apprenticeship incentives are well-targeted on traditional trades and represent good value for money.

Mark Sayer, the General Manager of Skills Tasmania, said:

Incentives often work and this is a good one.

I believe it will prompt employers to take people on.

Troy Williams—whom I met only a couple of weeks ago—the Chief Executive of Skill360, which is based in Northern Queensland, said:

Not only does it do the right thing by 21,000 young people, it provides our economy with the skills that it will require when the economic recovery gets fully under way.

Many companies are finding it difficult to recruit qualified trades people, even in the current economic climate.

Peter Anderson, the Chief Executive of ACCI, said:

Initiatives like these are practical and responsive to our labour market needs. They minimise the risk of skill shortages arising from the shortfall in apprenticeship enrolments during the current economic downturn.

Finally, in the Bendigo Advertiser on 17 October, Andrew Southcott, the shadow minister, said:

We think it’s targeted in the right area.

We thank you for that contribution.

Several speakers in this debate spoke about the former government’s Green Corps program. I think it is important to make a couple of points here. There are three important differences between the new National Green Jobs Corps and Green Corps. First, the National Green Jobs Corps is larger than Green Corps. Green Corps funded about 1,700 places a year. This new program will fund up to 5,000 a year, or 10,000 places over the next two years. Second, the National Green Jobs Corps is targeted at young people most at risk of being unemployed. Unlike the previous government’s program, it is targeted at young people who have not completed year 12 or an equivalent qualification. Third, a key component of the National Green Jobs Corps is accredited training. While Green Corps had a training component, this was not always accredited or at a level equivalent to a year 12 qualification. The National Green Jobs Corps provides 130 hours of accredited training at the level of certificate II, with the flexibility to adapt to certificate I if required by the participant’s needs. As the member for Gippsland noted earlier in this debate, ‘This is a step forward for program participants,’ and I welcome his contribution.

The shadow minister was very critical in this debate of what he called ‘training for training’s sake’. No-one wants training for training’s sake. That is why I made a number of changes to the National Green Jobs Corps draft request for tender. The member for Dunkley will be pleased to hear this. He can tell the providers he met down in the greater Frankston-Mornington Peninsula area that, as a result of feedback I have received, the draft request for tender was amended. I will give you two examples: (1) if a program participant gets a job after completing 13 weeks of the program, their provider will receive the full financial benefits of a place completion—one of the concerns raised by a number of people who gave me feedback as part of the draft request for tender and an issue of concern raised by the member for Dunkley, which has now been addressed; and, (2) if a participant enters the National Green Jobs Corps from stream 1 of Job Services Australia and does not get a job while on the program, they do not go back to the start of stream 1. Instead, they will re-enter JSA at the 13-week mark, meaning they will get immediate access to skills assessment from their provider. The provider will then be able to arrange intensive activity matched to the job seeker’s needs. The provider will also update the job seeker’s employment pathway plan. This was not something raised in the feedback we received to the draft RFT but it was something which I thought was important—to ensure that people who participated in this program did not go back to the start of stream 1 and have to wait 13 weeks before they got access to this support and assistance. These changes are designed to help the transition from training to work. These changes, along with a number of others, have also been endorsed by the employment services industry.

This debate is not the first time the shadow minister has spoken about ‘training for training’s sake’. He will know, because we were there together, that he also made this point at the National Employment Services Association Conference in Sydney back in August. He referred there to the research of James Riccio from the MDRC centre in New York from 1994 and argued that work programs were more effective than training programs and, therefore, that the government should move away from supporting training.

The only problem with this research is that it is out of date. A succession of more recent studies has shown the need for a mix of training and work programs. I refer here to research by Hotz, Imbens, and Klerman in 2001; Gueron and Hamilton in 2002; Ochel in 2004; and Huber, Lechner, Wunsh and Walter this year. All of those pieces of research reach the same conclusion—that is, that the best results come from a mixture of job search and work focused education or training. That is what the research says and that is exactly what we are doing. That is why we have developed the National Green Jobs Corps, the Apprentice Kickstart and the reforms to Job Services Australia.

I note the opposition have gone a little quiet about Job Services Australia since July. Earlier this year they predicted turmoil. They said that JSA was convoluted and ill-conceived. The fact is the implementation of Job Services Australia has been a lot smoother than anyone predicted. Over the last few months I have been talking to JSA providers across the country—from Bankstown to Burnie and, as the Parliamentary Secretary for Western and Northern Australia, Mr Gray, will attest, from Caboolture to Kwinana. They all say the same thing—that is, that the transition has been a lot better than in 2003 and a lot better than in 1998. The Chief Executive Officer of the National Employment Services Association, NESA, Sally Sinclair, said:

… we are in the midst of the most successful transition in Australian employment services history with Job Services Australia.

In reflecting on the long winding road we have traversed to this point in Job Services Australia’s existence, there is little doubt that the partnership approach adopted by Government and industry has been a major factor in the success of implementation thus far …

We congratulate DEWR and the Government for adopting this partnership approach in the development of the framework and transition.

Already more than 100,000 job seekers have been placed in work. An important point is that 37 per cent of those 100,000 are people with major barriers to employment, coming from streams 3 and 4 of Job Services Australia. We are off to a good start but we are still operating in a very difficult economic environment. Unemployment is predicted to continue to rise over the course of the next nine months. This government will continue to work hard to make sure there is the right mix of training and work options available to all job seekers. And the National Green Jobs Corps is an important part of this work.

The National Green Jobs Corps will start on 1 January next year. Tenders to deliver the program have now closed and successful tenderers will be announced shortly. I would like to thank the employment services industry for their assistance in structuring this program, for the feedback they have provided in putting the scheme together and for the enthusiasm they have applied to deliver the National Green Jobs Corps. Again, I thank all members for their contribution to this debate. I commend the bill to the House.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

Message from the Her Excellency the Governor-General recommending, in accordance with section 56 of the Constitution, an appropriation for the purposes of this bill.