QUESTIONS ON NOTICE Tuesday, II August 1992 ASSEMBLY 167 Tuesday, 11 August 1992 QUESTIONS ON NOTICE The following answers to questions on notice were circulated: REPORT ON FIREWORKS - DEPARTMENT OF LABOUR Question No. 593 Mr GUDE asked the Minister for Labour: Whether he will advise when the completed departmental report on fireworks will be tabled in the Parliament and made available to honourable members? Mr POPE (Minister for Labour) - The answer is: It is not customary to table reports on investigations into incidents, and I do not intend to table the Moomba Fireworks 1990 Report of Investigation. However, given the amount of public interest in the incident, which resulted in a major investigation, the report was made available to the public in May 1990. All of the recommendations of the report have been implemented with the exception of amendments to the regulations. This has been delayed in order to incorporate a proposed national code for fireworks displays. Honourable members can obtain copies of the report from the Chemicals Management Branch of the Occupational Health and Safety AuthOrity. STAFF A TTRITION RATE - SMALL BUSINESS Question No. 1031 Mr GUDE asked the Minister for Small Business: In respect of each department, agency and authority within his administration, what was the staff attrition rate for the fmancial years 1981-82 to 1990-91, respectively? Mr HARROWFIELD (Minister for Finance) - The answer supplied by the Minister for Small Business is: The Department of Small Business was created on 17 January, 1991; therefore, it is not yet in a position to produce attrition rate statistics. The Small Business Development Corporation, which formerly belonged to Department of Manufacturing and Industry Development until 17 January, 1991, is able to provide the following information on staff attrition rates for each of the fmancial years 1981~2 to 1990-91. YEAR STAFF A TIRITION RATE 1981-1982 Data not available 1982-1983 Data not available 1983-1984 7"10 1984-1985 9% 1985-1986 19% 1986-1987 20% 1987-1988 26% 1988-1989 13% 1989-1990 17"10 1990-1991 12% QUESTIONS ON NOTICE 168 ASSEMBLY Tuesday, 11 August 1992 TRAINING AND SELF-DEVELOPMENT - PREMIER AND CABINET Question No. 1155 Mr PERTON asked the Premier: In respect of each department, agency and authority within her administration, whether she will disclose the cost and nature of all training and self-development programs in which officers have participated since 1 July 1985, giving, in each case - (a) particulars of the training or self-development program; (b) the provider; (c) the cost; (d) the participants; and (e) the venue? Ms KIRNER (Premier) - The answer is: I am informed that information in response to the honourable member's question is set out below. 1. Office of the Auditor-General The office has had an extensive professional development program for many years. Training and self-development occurs both in-house and at external venues. The office policy is that each person is required to devote 6 per cent of his or her time to professional development. As a result, the number of courses attended is extensive and the time taken to extract full information would be prohibitive. However, the honourable member should refer to the annual reports of the Office of the Auditor-General for the years in question for detail on the office's training programs. In regard to the cost of individual courses, information prior to 1988 was recorded manually and is beyond the resources of the office to extract. However, the total costs of professional development (including internal and external courses) from 1987-88 to 1990--91 are: 1987-88 $43,000 1988~9 $92,000 1989-90 $68,000 1990-91 $38,000 2. Office of the Public Service Board (a) Courses attended by Office of the Public Service Board (OPSB) staff varied across a wide range of public sector related topics and personal development issues, encompassing officers in the SES as part of the OPSB Management Education Program and attendance by board members and staff at key public sector issue development courses. Examples of courses attended by OPSB staff included courses or programs on: Decision making at the Top Workplace Australian: Designing the Future Managerial Creativity and Innovation Career Planning and Development Communication Skills for Client Services WorkCare: Management of Claims Industrial Relations AIM Participative Management International Program for Senior Executives Managing People Managing with Initiative Financial Management for Finance Officers St John Ambulance First Aid Time Management Consulting Skills Creative Training Techniques How to improve your Presentation Skills Secrets of Successful Negotiating Presenting Your Case Introduction to Management Introduction to WordPerfect Program Planning and Management Advocacy Skills for Effective Dispute Resolution Negotiating New Awards and Agreements Negotiating Skills for Women How to select and keep Quality People QUESTIONS ON NOTICE Tuesday, 11 August 1992 ASSEMBLY 169 Strategic Planning in the Public Sector Train the Trainer (b) The Providers Aggregated provider records are not maintained. Notwithstanding, the majority of development courses or programs attended by OPSB staff were organised through, or run in conjunction with, the OPSB Staff Development Branch, or by professional management or public sector institutes. (c) The Cost The cost of courses/programs for 1985-86 is not available. The OPSB has kept aggregated financial records relevant to the question since the 1986-87 financial year, as follows: The cost of courses/programs for 1986-87 was $14,713 The cost of courses/programs for 1987-S8 was $57,649 The cost of courses/programs for 1988-89 was $70,431 The cost of courses/programs for 1989-90 was $50,139.50 The cost of courses/programs for 1990-91 was $55,725.96 (d) The Participants The participants were OPSB staff and Public Service Board members. (e) The Venues Up until 30 June, 1990 the OPSB leased training facilities at 128 Exhibition Street, for internally organised programs. Since then, the OPSB has mainly used facilities at the CAE Business Education Centre and the Sir Monash Centre for such programs. External providers organise their own venues. 3. The Deparbnent of the Premier and Cabinet (including Office of Ombudsman). (a) The following list indicates the wide range of courses and programs attended by DPC since July 1985: Records Management Workshop Corporatisation Conference Enterprise Bargaining Seminar Systems Administration and Report Writing Course SIO WorkCare Seminar Improving the Planning of Human Services in Melbourne Senior Executive Forum Use of PC in the Public Sector Workshop Marketing your Services Introduction to Lotus 123 Communication skills for Client Services Introduction to DBase II1+ Women in Management Conferences OH&S for Training Personnel St John Ambulance Workplace First Aid Course Bridging Course Classification Training Course Introduction to DOS Finance Skills in the PSB Policy Development for Policy Officers SESSeminar Aids Seminars Future Directors Conference Planning for the Future Introduction to WordPerfect (b) The Providers DPC offers in-house training for staff to develop skills in computing and basic word processing. DPC staff members frequently attend a range of staff development and training courses organised by the Office of the Public Service Board. Further courses were initiated by a range of public and private sector agencies and institutes. (c) The cost of courses/programs for 1985-86,1986-87 is not available. However the total costs of professional development (including internal and external courses) from 1987-88 to 1990-91 are as follows: QUESTIONS ON NOTICE 170 ASSEMBLY Tuesday, 11 August 1992 1987-a8 $22,300 1988-89 $30,084 1989-90 $41,825 1990-91 $41,264 (d) Participants were staff members of the DPC. (e) The venue for in-house computing training is the Training Room located on the 3rd Floor, 1 Treasury Place. External agencies organise their own venues for courses and programs they offer. 4. Office of the Governor The collation of the information to answer this question from manual records is beyond the resources of the office. 5. Victorian Relief Committee There have been no training and self-development programs for the period in question. TRAINING AND SELF-DEVELOPMENT - SMALL BUSINESS Question No. 1164 Mr PERTON asked the Minister for Small Business: In respect of each department, agency and authority within his administration, whether he will disclose the cost and nature of all training and self-development programs in which officers have participated since 1 July 1985, giving, in each case - (a) particulars of the training or self-development program; (b) the provider; (c) the cost; (d) the participants; and (e) the venue? Mr HARROWFIELD (Minister for Finance) - The answer supplied by the Minister for Small Business is: The training details associated with the Small Business Development Corporation for the period from 1 July 1985 are listed below: 1985-87 No records were made of total expenses on training and self development for the 37 SBOC staff. 1986-87 $ 5,271 1987-a8 $19,538 1988-89 $15,199 1989-90 $29,360 1990-91 $40,717 Throughout the period 1 July 1985 to 30 June 1991, funds expended by the Small Business Development Corporation on training and development were directed to meet particular technological change training needs and program initiative needs. Staff from all functional areas and all classification levels participated in training and staff development activities during this period. The corporation's management information system does not, however disclose in each case of training expenditure, details of the program, the provider, the cost, the participant and the venue. The Department of Small Business was created on 17 January 1991, therefore information on this question can only be provided from this date, and this is attached. DATES COURSES PROVIDER COST PARTICIPANTS VENUE 2.9.91 and Getting Started Management $498 M.