Minister Rishworth interview Press Conference in Adelaide

E&OE TRANSCRIPT

Topics: funding for the GOGO Foundation; Cabinet reshuffle; Fuel indexation.

AMANDA RISHWORTH, MINISTER FOR SOCIAL SERVICES: I am so pleased to be here with Sarah Gun, the CEO of the GOGO Foundation and Crystal Crossman, who is one of the former participants but who now works in the community section of Beyond Bank. Today, what we've announced, is extra funding to go to the great work of the GOGO Foundation, particularly in their Inclusive Workplace Program. What this does is provide a whole-of-person-centric support for women in particular that may have found barriers to getting into work or study. It's really wrapped their arms around them and provided them with the support they need to get back on their feet with confidence. That might be technical skills, really, it is very individualised and so the work they do and the individual stories that come along with it and the trajectory are really amazing. I just like to congratulate Sarah, who last night won Changemaker of the Year for South Australia and Western Australia. This little organisation is doing such impactful work to break down some of these barriers. Some of these women may have faced family and domestic violence, may have found themselves with mental health issues or other separations, relationship separations, that has meant they haven't had a clear path forward for confidently participating fully in community. This program, which is a nine-week program, really puts them back on their feet. I am so pleased that as a result of the Commonwealth investment we are going to see the doubling of the number of participants that will be able to be part of this program over the next year. So I might hand over now to Sarah to talk a little bit about the program and then you'll be able to hear from Crystal directly about the impact it's had on her life.

SARAH GUN, CEO GOGO FOUNDATION: Thank you Minister Rishworth. We're delighted with this announcement into the Inclusive Work Program at the GOGO Foundation. The Inclusive Work Program plays a significant role in supporting women who have experienced marginalisation from the workforce into safe, sustainable employment for the long-term. It allows these women to escape from poverty and exclusion into community engagement. They find their voice and their confidence and it allows them to thrive and live fulfilling lives. Eighty per cent of the women that complete our program within six months are in safe sustainable employment after a long period of being marginalised from the workforce. The funding that we've received today will double the number of women that are coming through our program. In 12-months we look forward to introducing you to 60 incredible women, with a fantastic life trajectory and career ahead of them.

JOURNALIST: There may very well be women who are watching this tonight and seeing the sort of impact that your organisation brings. If they wanted to get involved, if they were walking through your doors what would they expect to see?

SARAH GUN: First of all, they would be loved. We would welcome them with open arms for exactly who they are and how they show up on that morning. For many of our participants, the hardest thing is actually leaving their homes, getting on the bus or the train and coming into the city in unfamiliar surroundings. We would greet people as they are, with all that they have, and we start the gentle loving process of embracing all their potential and allowing them to see their potential and what the future can hold for them.

JOURNALIST: It is very clear that this organisation is your baby, so when women come through those doors what do you hear from the women who are coming to you? What sort of positive impacts and experience?

SARAH GUN: So many of the women are isolated. They have a multitude of lived experience that has seen barriers continuously come up against them, they can be personal lived experiences of things we know take a dreadful toll. Domestic and family violence, intimate partner violence, experience with the child protection system. Poverty is the cause of many things such as periods of incarceration, not being able to engage in education. Many women are really lacking confidence, their needs have not been met, their voices have not been heard. So they are these gentle souls with relatively low expectations I would say coming in, What we're able to do over a relatively short period of just nine weeks is give them everything they need to make them whole and to value themselves and to understand the special and unique gifts that they and their lived experience of marginalisation have to offer the world to make the world and the workforce more compassionate.

JOURNALIST: You were talking us through some really interesting statistics on stage today. You were talking about the percentage of women that have experienced some level of violence and the percentage of women that now have employment. Can you talk us through that just briefly?

SARAH GUN: The women that have so far completed and graduated from the Inclusive Work Program, the number to date is 75. Of those women 75 per cent have told us that mental ill health is the barrier to employment and social inclusion. And 70 per cent have told us that they have lived experience of family, domestic or intimate partner violence. Additional data that we collect tells us that 18 per cent of the women coming into our program are Aboriginal South Australian women, 12 per cent are women with English as a second language. 35 per cent have tertiary qualifications, but what that also means is 65 per cent do not and some of those women have not completed secondary school.

JOURNALIST: One more from me, the funding, how impactful is it going to be?

SARAH GUN: This funding is a huge investment in our capability to deliver this program. We work in small groups of eight to ten. We're now offering two groups a term in school hours in school term so that anyone that caring for a child is able to be involved. What we know is that there are marginalised women across the country. We have an opportunity now to invest with this money, to dig deeper, to make sure that what we're doing is exactly what women need. Our hope for the future is that we can offer this around the country.

JOURNALIST: Could you please just tell us your full name and could you please tell us what your experience has been?

CRYSTAL CROSSMAN, GRADUATE: My name is Crystal Crossman and I am 44. My experience has been life changing. The day that I walked into my intake interview, I knew something was happening. I wasn't quite sure what, but they were willing to take a chance on me when I wasn't willing to take a chance on me. So I took a chance on them. I figured they knew what they were doing. And I just gave over and then when I walked into the program on the very first day, I really knew magic was going to happen in my life. It's going to change. After nine weeks, I was going to be in really good hands and life was going to change.

JOURNALIST: What have you taken away from the program?

CRYSTAL CROSSMAN: What I've taken away from the program? I've taken away skills, practical skills that got me back into paid employment. I was able to set examples for my daughters about what a working mother looks like, what somebody who's achieving and succeeding should be doing to be the head of my household. That's what I took away.

JOURNALIST: If you don't mind us asking what were some of the challenges that you've experienced prior to entering this program?

CRYSTAL CROSSMAN: So I had been married for a significant part of my 20s and 30s and I had followed my ex-husband around in his career. So I had huge employment gaps, which sort of left me, once the divorce was done and dusted, without any real transferable skills, or so I thought, that would get me back into paid employment. I had separated from my husband, and I now needed to support two children and I needed to figure out how to do it.

JOURNALIST: How vital do you think these sorts of programs are for women who are finding a new lease on life a little bit later?

CRYSTAL CROSSMAN: It's incredibly important. So to be given this, not only the practical skills of cover letter, resume writing, workplace practices to get back into paid employment, these things that I hadn't dusted off in a really long time, but the self-belief, the confidence, the backing, the love and the support that, you know, if they thought that I could do it, maybe I could just do it. You know, maybe I couldn't believe in myself a little bit to go out and achieve that. I'm incredibly proud of the organisation and what it's achieved and that the funding has allowed all women to go through the program. It really does break intergenerational patterns. My children have now their lives improved, and they'll go on to lead successful lives as well. That's all, you know, thanks to the hard work of the team and Sarah and the program.

JOURNALIST: Minister Rishworth regarding the looming Cabinet reshuffle, will Andrew Giles and Clare O'Neill keep their portfolios?

AMANDA RISHWORTH: The Cabinet reshuffle is a prerogative of the Prime Minister. It's above my paygrade. But I would particularly take this opportunity to recognise the work that Brendan O'Connor and Linda Burney have made to our Government. If you look at their contribution, the impact that Fee-Free TAFE has had right across the country. In my electorate of Kingston, in Noarlunga, we have people undertaking Certificate II that never thought it possible as a result of Fee-Free TAFE. And of course, Linda Burney's commitment over a long period of time for Indigenous people, but for all Australians, is really important. But, really the reshuffle is a prerogative of the Prime Minister and when it comes to myself, I will serve for the Government and the Prime Minister in any capacity that he wants.

JOURNALIST: Will the changes, in your opinion, be likely to be minor given the importance the Prime Minister places on stability?

AMANDA RISHWORTH: Our Government has been a very stable Government. Compare that to the Morrison years, the Turnbull years and the Abbott years where we saw revolving doors of people having to resign and, you know where the former Prime Minister assigned five portfolios to himself secretly. In terms of the reshuffle and the extent of the reshuffle, obviously there's two positions to be filled in for Linda Burney and Brendan O'Connor, but any further speculation is really the prerogative of the Prime Minister.

JOURNALIST: And would you like to stay in your portfolio?

AMANDA RISHWORTH: I am incredibly passionate about the work and proud about the work I'm doing in Social Services. But of course, I serve at the pleasure of the Prime Minister and I will work for the Government in any capacity that he wants me to work in.

JOURNALIST: To change the topic, motoring groups are calling for reforms to fuel excise. They argue it's unfair that petrol car owners have to pay for road maintenance while EV owners don't. Is that a valid argument considering everyone uses our roads no matter what type of car?

AMANDA RISHWORTH: In terms of the current regular indexation that is applying to the petrol excise, that of course is a regular indexation that has happened over decades, under governments of all persuasions. That's a regular indexation. There is no plans to change that indexation as it currently stands and I'll leave it at that.

JOURNALIST: Independent MP Dai Le wants Labor to freeze or alter the way fuel excise works to take pressure off drivers specifically, like the Morrison government did, would you consider it?

AMANDA RISHWORTH: Let's be clear, the Morrison Government had the fuel excise indexation returning, it was not something that they reformed permanently. This is an ongoing fuel excise indexation that's happened on a regular basis. Of course, funding of our roads continues to increase in demand but our Government, through local government, has increased that funding for roads. We've made a significant investment, which has been more than the previous government. And of course, that is really critical that we keep the roads to a decent standard. Thank you.

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