[Sub ID 4856] Pathways to education and employment (Office for Women)

Submission ID: 4856
Organisation name: Office for Women
Contact name: Ms Fiona Mort
State: SA
Contact email: fiona.mort@sa.gov.au
Contact number: 0883030961

Which priority group of the Try, Test and Learn Fund does your idea support?
Young carers, Young parents, Young students at risk of long-term unemployment

What need or issue are you trying to address?
South Australia is undergoing significant economic transition, due to the decline of the automotive industry, and the emerging opportunities in growing sectors, such as construction and urban renewal, health, ageing and disability, agriculture, food and beverage, defence, mining equipment and technology services, and tourism, recreation and culture.

It is clear that work is required to assist women, particularly vulnerable women, in to study and work, in order to maximise the full potential of this underutilised and often marginalised cohort.

Targeted and tailored responses to groups in the community, such as young parents and other women excluded from easy access to the labour market, would provide an enhanced and innovative approach to addressing the need for improved educational outcomes and promoting workforce participation. Focusing on non-traditional areas of employment will increase opportunities for these women.

What is your idea?
Aligning with the Try, Test and Learn Fund objectives around increasing workforce participation for young parents or young people at risk of not participating in the workforce, we propose establishing a new initiative across metropolitan South Australia.

The Pathways to Education and Employment initiative will target young women at risk of long term unemployment, or with a history of domestic and/or sexual violence, or who are young parents, or vulnerable in other ways such as exposure to the criminal justice system or homelessness. To effectively service this cohort, the initiative would operate from a support model that understands the lived experience of women.

The initiative would provide specialist support as well as employment-focused skills development training, commencing with basic skills, followed by TAFE based foundation education followed by further study where possible, aimed at achieving positive employment outcomes in non-traditional fields. Career and education support to allow participants to understand employment opportunities in their local areas will also be provided; the initiative will improve the opportunities for women while bolstering skills and employment in a number of South Australia’s growth industries, including construction and urban renewal and agriculture.