MEDIA RELEASE

Monday 29 September 2003

Support for legislation

The Youth Affairs Council of Victoria announced support today for proposed changes to work experience arrangements for young people in the education system.

Legislation proposed in the Education (workplace learning) Bill contains several clauses designed to ensure the safety and well-being of young people who undertake work experience while at high school.

Under the changes the age where work experience can be arranged for young people at high school will be raised from 13 to 14 years of age. It is also proposed that pupils complete occupational health and safety training before entering into work experience.

‘These changes will help to ensure that work experience is a safe and enjoyable experience for those who participate in it’ said Georgie Ferrari, Executive Officer for the Youth Affairs Council.

‘While raising the age by one year may not seem like much in terms of time, developmentally, 12 months can be a long time in terms of maturity for a young person’.

The Youth Affairs Council understands that there are many other programs in place within the education system that expose young people to the work place and the range of career options available to them. While 13 year olds might feel like they are missing out, there will be other opportunities for them to learn about career paths in other more appropriate ways.

Other measures contained in the Bill include criminal record checks for employers or supervisors of the young person on work experience and making it compulsory for the school to contact the student during the work experience placement.

‘While mandatory criminal record checks are a step in the right direction in terms of protecting young people against convicted offenders, the don’t protect young people against offenders who have not been convicted for their crimes’ Georgie Ferrari warned.

‘The Youth Affairs Council hopes that as part of the occupational health and safety training the young people will receive, they get information of sexual harassment and workplace bullying and how to report it if it happens’

YACVic believes these measures are in the best interests of young people and encourages bi-partisan support for the Bill.

Further media comment
Georgie Ferrari
Executive Officer
Mobile: 0411 484 428
Phone: 03 9612 8999