Mark Arbib (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Government Service Delivery) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable senator for the question. I think you will find if you look at the Hansard, Mr President, that I did not say there were weekly meetings with the environment department. Senator Birmingham said that there were weekly meetings.

Yesterday I did talk a great deal about training. Again I will restate: this was previously a largely unregulated industry with no clear qualifications for those working in it. There were discussions, with regard to training, that occupational health and safety would need to be a part of any training course they developed and rolled out. Also, there was discussion about measures to deal quickly with complaints about poor or shoddy workmanship. That is why a memorandum of understanding was developed with the Housing Industry Association, DEWHA, the environment department and, of course, NESA. This was to ensure jobseekers were able to access the training package that had been developed through the Construction and Property Services Industry Skills Council, along with the CFMEU and industry representatives.

In relation to the training, DEWHA, as the lead department for the development of the Home Insulation Program, contracted the relevant industry skills council, the Construction and Property Services Industry Skills Council, to develop the training package for home insulation workers. This is normal practice for determining the level of training required in particular industries or for specific activities in those industries. This is a role played in Australia by industry skills councils, who are expert bodies made up of industry, trade, employer and employee representatives, as government departments do not have the industry specific experience. These councils have the relevant expertise to develop— (Time expired)