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Parliamentary Questions


Question Without Notice No. 750 asked in the Legislative Council on 12 August 2020 by Hon Colin De Grussa

Parliament: 40 Session: 1

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.