Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2025-2026

Ms CLUTTERHAM (Sturt) (12:42): Employment gives us purpose. It helps us build self-respect. It forms part of our identity.

It makes us productive and is a means for us to make a productive contribution to society. It gives us agency and direction over our lives. It helps us network, to make connections and to build friendships.

Not every day, I accept, but sometimes it even makes us happy because we can leave a legacy through our work, even a small one. Work allows us to learn and develop skills. Work is a tool to help us create meaning in our lives.

Supporting work, supporting jobs growth and supporting workers and employers are the bread and butter of the Australian Labor Party. The dignity of work and the creation of opportunity for long-term, meaningful employment will always be supported by this government. That commitment is demonstrated by the creation of more than 1.1 million new jobs since we came to government across the public sector and across the private sector, in industry, defence, mining, education, health and, yes, the care economy.

Employment has risen by 8.6 per cent. There are 10 million Australians in full-time employment. The gender pay gap is at record lows, and women's participation in the workforce is growing, currently standing at just under 64 per cent.

Unemployment is also at record lows. Employers, employees and unions are sitting down at the table together to have constructive discussions, to negotiate positive outcomes that work for everyone. Encouraging collaboration and partnership and negotiation between all of these stakeholders was a large part of the point of this government's industrial relations reforms, which have proven to be good for the economy, good for the community and good for individual Australians.

We are also growing the workforce. Importantly, as of January this year, there have been almost 40,000 enrolments in the government's free TAFE program in the building and construction industry and just over 150,000 enrolments in the care economy. For so long, the care economy, where ordinary Australians dedicate themselves to serving others, has been undervalued and dismissed as unproductive—something to be valued less than other industries.

But aged-care workers, disability carers and early childhood educators have been recognised by this government as providing a service that is truly valuable, and recognised through the delivery of consistent pay rises that are designed to encourage people to stay in these valuable industries to continue to serve their fellow Australians. That is the whole point of the care economy which is deeply valued by this government.

Workers in the care economy are valued by this government—including the wonderful and tireless early childhood educators that work in my electorate of Sturt, whether it be at Goodstart Hope Valley on Grand Junction Road, Wattle Park Kindergarten at Wattle Park, or Kozy Kids at Glenside, all of whom I've had the pleasure to meet, and I've seen firsthand just how challenging their work is.

So I say to Rachel at Goodstart and Emma at Wattle Park kindy: your work is valued. Another sector of our economy that this government values is workers with a disability. I recently met Ben and Josh, who work for Jigsaw, a not-for-profit social enterprise, and who wouldn't otherwise be considered, ever, for mainstream employment, because of the characteristics they didn't ask for but were born with.

Ben, who is a paid administrative trainee, told me that he couldn't wait for his alarm to go off in the morning on his working days because he couldn't wait to get to work. Performing administrative work in a supportive environment with his colleagues gives Ben purpose, a pay cheque and a chance to grow and develop. And Josh, a digital trainee, also derives satisfaction from getting up and contributing to his community through his work.

Ben and Josh deserve this opportunity. The companies that Jigsaw partner with, that provide meaningful work for Australians with a disability, include DXC Technology, a business based in my own electorate of Sturt that assists global companies with IT and AI challenges. This is the very demonstration of the dignity of work, where all work is valued, no matter what industry it is in and no matter who performs it.

This government believes in the dignity of work and will always strive to create an environment that reflects that and facilitates stable and sustainable employment opportunities for all Australians. More people are in work than ever before, in secure, well-paying jobs that help them, their families and their communities. Proposed expenditure agreed to.