Renewal SA’s Works Program has taken out the Jobs Generation Award at the inaugural National Growth Areas Alliance (NGAA) Awards in Adelaide.
The inaugural NGAA Awards, presented on Friday, focus on achievements in outer metropolitan growth areas which contribute to improving the quality of life in these areas.
The Works Program at Playford Alive was nominated alongside 18 other high quality projects from around Australia which focus on generating jobs of the future through employment opportunities and industry growth.
The Renewal SA Works Program at Playford Alive was recognised for development of its place-based economic participation model which has now been extended across Renewal SA projects at Bowden, Tonsley, Woodville West and Port Adelaide.
Renewal SA Chief Executive, John Hanlon, said the award was recognition of the important community benefit The Works Program at Playford Alive provides.
“Since the scheme began at Playford Alive in 2008, more than 1,900 people have taken part in the training and employment programs and more than 500 of these people have gained paid employment,” Mr Hanlon said.
“The program has helped people overcome a wide variety of barriers to employment, while also generating wider benefits such as a sense of financial security, confidence and self-worth.”
In the last financial year (2013/14) the program secured $1.1 million in funding in partnership with stakeholders and engaged more than 286 participants, providing 229 work experience placements and 87 paid jobs.
The Works Program is delivered through clauses in all Renewal SA contracts within Playford Alive obliging contractors to provide work experience or new paid employment positions specifically for the Playford Alive local community and northern suburbs residents.
The award follows recent publication of an Australian Workplace Innovation and Social Research Centre (WISeR) report which found that Renewal SA’s Works Program at Playford Alive has generated long term benefits for previously unemployed people in the northern suburbs.
The Adelaide University report, Building Jobs, found investment in major urban infrastructure projects like Playford Alive can play a significant role in generating much needed jobs in Northern Adelaide over years to come.