Mrs GASH (10:18 AM) —The purpose of the Workplace Relations Legislation Amendment (Youth Employment) Bill 1998 is to protect jobs and to provide young Australians not only with the opportunities to enter the work force but also with the security to retain their jobs once there.

As at December 1998 the seasonally adjusted figure for total unemployment was 7.7 per cent. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for people aged between 15 and 19 years looking for full-time work was 24.8 per cent—as opposed to 29.2 per cent at March 1996 under the previous government. That is a vast difference.

We need jobs for our young people. We do not need a few highly paid young people who are employed while the rest of the people are out of work. We need more and more jobs. As a child develops, getting a job becomes one of the most significant factors in his or her life. It signifies independence and is a rite of passage from childhood into adulthood. To begin with, a job might be a means to an end—anything from a new skateboard to a new car. Alternatively, it could be the beginning of a lifelong career. Young people may take on an apprenticeship or become trainees and be paid accordingly, or they might be paid as juniors or, in some cases, as adults. Whatever their classification, pay is one of the fundamental aspects of their working life.

Another aspect is job security. They got out there and got the job—now they have to keep it. Without the job security that junior wages could bring, they are in a tenuous position. If employers are forced to pay adult rates to young people, why not employ the adult? That way the employer gets a mature employee who brings experience to the job. But in employing that adult, we would be denying our young people the opportunity to develop their skills in order to take their place as trained and experienced adults in years to come.

I invite Labor to put forward a policy that would explain just how a young person would gain experience if they had no job. It just does not make sense. Junior wages help keep the workplace cost effective and recognise the cost and necessity of training young people to develop their skills, which in turn keeps the country moving forward. According to statistics, members of the Australian Retailers Association employ 386,000 staff, 330,000 of whom are aged 15 to 20 years. This is a fact; it is not fiction.

In a recent survey, members were asked to estimate the impact of abolishing junior wage rates. The survey showed that 16.8 per cent would lay off some junior staff, 18.4 per cent would lay off most junior staff and 50.6 per cent said that in future they would recruit only adult employees. This is not just us making claims; it is in fact a genuine, legitimate industry survey. It means that 85.8 per cent of these employers are saying that abolishing the junior wage rates would have a direct impact on their employment strategies for young people, and that impact would be fewer young people being offered a job.

As you may know, I was—and to a degree still am—involved in the tourism and hospitality industries. Our business employs 30 people, eight of whom were employed as juniors and have stayed with us, and another four of whom are currently juniors. Contrary to Labor's beliefs, we do not get rid of them when they become adults.

We all lead busy lives, and I am sure I do not need to tell any of you how that feels. Time is precious. Why would anyone give up some of that precious commodity to train juniors if they had to pay them adult wages? It would be far easier to employ adults who are fully trained and experienced. Without junior rates of pay, business would employ adults—and they would employ fewer adults than juniors. Not only that, they would have to work harder. It is an extremely competitive marketplace out there, and I have been active in it for many years. I know its strengths and I know its capabilities. Business could not afford the same number of adult staff as juniors. It is as simple as that.

During the 35 years that I have been in business, I have employed many young people. Many have come and gone—passing through and onto something else, equipped with a reference and some very hard experience. I would not support a youth wage if I felt it would take advantage of their age and it was to their detriment and to my benefit. Anyone who has been in business would understand that good employees are a valuable commodity. Good business people will protect their valuable staff and encourage them to stay. But let us face it—at the end of the day we have to ensure that the business survives. I have spoken to many businesses in Gilmore, both large and small, and employers have said the same thing—that without junior rates of pay juniors would lose their competitive edge in the market and be replaced with adults. Young people would lose their opportunity not only to earn but also to learn. Youth wages have been criticised as being discriminatory. Why penalise someone who is doing a good job simply because of his or her age?

Junior wages are not set to disempower or to discriminate. Rather, they reflect age and job experience, workplace skills and the time and effort it takes to groom a young person into a skilled senior. Junior rates encourage employment while affording the young employee important workplace skills that he or she will take through life. I believe that retaining the age based junior wage rate is the best way to continue to assist young people into the work force. Junior wage rates not only help protect their positions but also encourage employers to offer work opportunities to young people.

Much has been said about a move to a competency based wage system. Large numbers of young people start their working lives in relatively low skilled areas—for example, within the retail and fast food and hospitality industries. In these positions, the measurable competencies are easily acquired and do not encompass the other attributes intrinsic to maturity on the job. This learning takes time, repetition and analysis, which an employer can afford if junior rates apply.

In its report into factors influencing the employment of young people, Youth Employment—A Working Solution, the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Employment, Education and Training, of which I was a member, highlights the lack of support for the competency based wage rates. McDonalds Australia Ltd and its franchises employ more than 40,000 young people. They say that, while young employees can learn quite quickly the skills related to the tasks that they perform, the more general work skills such as teamwork, organisation, planning, responsibility, customer awareness, initiative, self-confidence and healthy work ethics take a lot longer. These attributes are not easily measured but young people are generally less proficient in them than older more experienced and more mature workers.

Coles Myer Ltd and Woolworths Ltd are major Australian retailers which employ more than 110,000 people under the age of 21 years. They too submitted that a competency based wage structure cannot adequately measure competencies such as maturity and life experience, which are required and valued by employers. Young people employed in the retail and fast food industries receive a sig nificant non-monetary benefit by developing the intangible personal qualities mentioned above. Putting the jobs of young people at risk by overpricing their labour will also risk the personal skills development and future prospects of thousands of young people. Without age based junior wages, young people will be priced out of the marketplace. I do not believe that junior wages discriminate against the young. I would not support junior wages if this were so.

Age based wages have worked successfully for more than 90 years under all political parties. Many of us here would have participated in this payment scheme at the beginning of our working lives. I know that I did. I do not believe that I was discriminated against and neither do I believe that I was disadvantaged. On the contrary. I gained workplace skills and was given the opportunity to learn and to train as were my children.

Today's youth deserve the same opportunities that we had. Let's not price them out of the market by making them unaffordable and unattractive. They need our support and our encouragement as they embark on their working lives. The age based youth wage system works for the employers and for the employees. It offers opportunity and experience for the young while making an attractive proposition for businesses. It is a win-win situation for all sides, and one which I support wholeheartedly.