AGRICULTURE —
JOBS — HERE FOR WA CAMPAIGN
750. Hon COLIN de GRUSSA to the Minister for Agriculture and
Food:
I
refer to the Here for WA jobs in agriculture campaign announced on 27 March
2020 as part of the state government's COVID-19 measures.
(1) What is the expected cost of
the program?
(2) How many, if
any, Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development FTE are
dedicated to operating the website and the Facebook page?
(3) How long is the free trial for employers and what
will be the cost to employers once the free trial period ends?
(4) How many jobs
have been listed to date per region?
(5) What is the
breakdown of skilled and unskilled workers and how many of each have been
unsuccessful to date?
Hon
ALANNAH MacTIERNAN replied:
I thank the member for the
question.
(1) The Here for
WA jobs in agriculture campaign is an industry partnership with Food Alliance
WA that included the website www.jobsinwafoodandag.com. The Department of
Primary Industries and Regional Development contributed around $11 000 to the
marketing campaign.
(2) The Here for
WA jobs in agriculture campaign and the WA Food and Ag website and Facebook
page is a temporary project operated by the Grain Industry Association of Western
Australia on behalf of the Food Alliance WA.
(3) The Department of Primary Industries and Regional
Development has a separate commercial arrangement in place with a commercial
jobseeker platform provider website, studium.work/jobsinfoodandag. Free access
for all WA agrifood business employers is available until March 2021. A
dedicated DPIRD FTE is providing facilitation, coordination and support to
employers impacted by the worker shortfall and with the Studium platform.
(4)–(5) As of 11 August 2020, there were 10 921 jobseekers
registered on the platform, including 7 500 WA tertiary students and 22
airline pilots. There were 142 employers, 54 of which were from the agrifood
sector. I cannot provide a regional breakdown within the time frame. The number
of jobs being offered by each employer varies from between one and seven in the
grains sector through to between 150 and 300 for horticultural work, all of
which are located in regional Western Australia.