Further comment on Vickery report welcomed

4/8/93

Education Minister Norman Moore today welcomed any further public comment on the landmark Vickery report on education and training.

Mr Moore said there was no deadline for public input on the report, but it was vital, in the interests of the nearly 9,000 unemployed young Western Australians, to make prompt decisions about the more than 50 Vickery recommendations.

The aim would be for further public comment to be considered and any decisions made to take effect from the start of the next school and TAFE year.

The Minister rejected as hypocritical, criticism by Kay Hallahan of the Vickery consultation process.

"Dr Vickery's report highlights the mess of bureaucratic confusion left by the Labor Government, which started the problems when Kay Hallahan amalgamated the old Department of Employment and Training (DET) and TAFE, without any consultation whatsoever, to form DEVET," Mr Moore said.

"This left inappropriate competition between agencies, duplication of services and a confusion of roles, with teachers and students being the ones to suffer.

"There would have been no need for the Vickery review if Kay Hallahan had done her job properly."

The Minister said that with a youth unemployment rate of nearly 23 per cent, it was crucial to act quickly to get Western Australia's education and training structures right.

The Vickery review worked for about four months, consulting, through both oral and written submissions, about 100 individuals and organisations including unions, business, industry groups and public servants, many of them a number of times.

The Trades and Labor Council, the State School Teachers' Union and the Civil Service Association were given preliminary drafts of the report early in the committee's deliberations.

"This comprehensive consultation process sharply contrasts with the approach Kay Hallahan had towards decision-making during her term as Minister," Mr Moore said.

Media contact: Ross Storey  321 1444 / 222 9595