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Forum held at Locomotive Workshop, Australian Technology Park, Redfern.

Emma opens

Thanks. And good morning one and all!

Let me start by congratulating Youthsafe for putting together the terrific program that we have before us today.

Gill and I would also like to acknowledge the traditional owners of this land, and pay our respect to their elders and heritage. 

Before Gill gives us an overview of kids’ work experience in NSW, we thought you might like to hear a young person’s perspective, especially when it comes to starting in a new workplace. 

My first job was when I was 17 as a waitress at the local RSL Chinese Restaurant. I started on the day before New Year’s Eve and they were too busy to give me any training so I got confused about what I had to do and I was unfamiliar with a club environment.  

I was a bit worried to see they had pieces of cardboard all over the floor where the washing up water splashed. I could see there was a safety issue but I didn’t feel comfortable raising it with the boss. I stayed in the job for a year but I always felt that my boss looked down on me and didn’t treat the waitresses with respect.  

My second job was in a big supermarket when I finished my HSC. They trained me really well and they were very safety conscious. I was in a casual position: on call for night shifts so I would get a call at 6pm to come into work within the hour. I couldn’t plan my evenings with my friends and family and if I was out, the supervisor was not very understanding, and made me feel guilty if I couldn’t make a shift.  

When I did a late shift I would get home at 1 or 2am and have a shower and finally get to bed an hour later. I only lasted four weeks in this one, and I learnt that I’m the kind of person who needs a decent night’s sleep to be able to function properly. 

My third job was to work at a bakery. I had to arrive for the 5am deliveries and put the bread and cakes on shelves and in display cabinets. I liked serving the old ladies and hearing about their day. It was nice to see that some people still stopped to smell the roses. I was working a few days per week because I was saving up to go to New Zealand. It was one of my more positive work experiences. I only left there to take up the traineeship at the Commission but I’m not going to tell you about that because the boss is right here…… 

Before I hand you over to Gill, I’d like to tell you about one of the more unpleasant experiences from my first job.

This is the sort of situation I would have preferred not to be exposed to, and I’m pretty sure there were ways that it could have been avoided. 

I’d now like to hand you over to Gill – thank you. 

Gill

Thanks Emma. And good morning from me too!

As Emma said, what we have here today is great example of the effort that’s being made – and the effort that must continue to be made – to keep our kids safe in the workplace.

Private enterprise, government, unions, and researchers all have a role to play in making the work experience of kids and young people as enjoyable, rewarding AND SAFE as we can make it.

Today’s program also reflects and reinforces the important notion that health and safety – and the experience of work itself – aren’t static.

As we’re reminded by the excellent exhibition just down the corridor, this room we’re in right now was once a workshop for rolling stock – a place for metal workers, carpenters, fitters and engineers. It’s still a workplace, only now it’s office workers, academics, students, sales reps, and young people serving food and drink.

As the nature of work evolves, so too do the measures and practices we need for the safety of our working kids.

At the NSW Commission for Children and Young People, we’ve conducted two major research projects that are of particular interest for those of us working in kids’ interest on the job.

The first and most obvious is our Children at Work report, and the recommendations to Parliament that flowed from it. The second is our research into children’s understanding of wellbeing.

Children at Work

Probably the biggest eye-opener of the Children at Work report was the sheer size of the workforce.

When we think of younger children at work, we often think of a world more like the one of the old railway workshops – a Dickensian world of kids in mines and factories.

Our research surveyed 11,000 kids between 12 and 16. More than half of them had worked paid or unpaid in the previous year, and about a quarter were in regular, paid employment.

But it’s also important to recognise that just as kids bring something special to the workplace, they also have some special needs. Kids aren’t just pocket-sized adults, and a child of 13 is different from someone at 17 in their last year of high school.

Before I move on, I’d like briefly to look back on Emma’s experiences at work. As you’ve heard, she saw the good, the bad, the ugly – and the blotto – of working in Australia as a young person. 

What I’d like to add – if it’s ok with you Emma – is that in her first stint on the job – where she received virtually no guidance, worked in difficult conditions, and was the recipient of at least one tirade of abuse – she stuck with it. Emma worked in that job for a full year, and taught herself to be pretty good at it in the process. 

It’s part of what makes kids a good option for employers – for better or worse, they’ll often put up with things that you or I just wouldn’t. They want to succeed and do well, and are often desperately keen not to disappoint. 

Young people are learners in the workplace. Not only are they learning the specific skills of the job itself, they’re learning about what a workplace is and what to expect from it. 

One of the reasons kids will often put up with situations that adults wouldn’t, is that they carry with them the assumption that adults have their best interests at heart. 

Kids come into the workforce at a time when their experience of adults is largely with people who love them – parents, relatives and family friends; or who take professional care of them – teachers, coaches, doctors and so on. 

The expectation that their interests will be met – or even considered – isn’t always the reality when it comes to relationships with adults in the workplace.  

We also need to be aware of the developmental needs of our kids. Research tells us that kids judge and predict risks differently to adults. They’re less likely to think that something serious can happen to them, and they’re more likely to underestimate the consequences of risky behaviour. 

We need to take these things into account when managing the risks for children and young people at work. 

So in many ways, kids are a special case. But in many ways, they’re not. 

The workplace isn’t a monoculture. We already make provisions for different communities of workers with different needs and contributions. 

Parental leave, flexible working hours, return to work duties, long service leave, productivity bonuses – these are all measures designed to meet different needs of different workers – and to keep them in the workforce. 

Children and young people are just another part of the picture. 

If we look at Emma’s experience again, we can see that there were several measures available that could have helped reduce the risk associated with that grog-filled cranky customer. 

• Training: Guidance on how to handle difficult customers, and a recognition about what sort of behaviour is just not on.
• Supervision: Rostering to ensure that the junior employee is properly supported
• Reassigning available resources: RSLs have security guards, one of these could have been asked to pay special attention to the restaurant area in the event of an unexpected staff absence.

And I’m sure there are many of you here who could suggest lots of other measures that could have helped. The point is that it doesn’t have to be difficult, provided we make kids’ safety a priority – and that we understand kids’ safety needs may be different to adults’ safety needs. 

And for the most part, employers, unions, parents, and others in the work/life mix do a good job. 

Our research showed that, in the pre-Workchoices environment of the time, most kids enjoyed working.  

Kids told us they valued the opportunity work gives them to develop new skills, exercise more responsibility and self-reliance, earn money and make a contribution. These are opportunities that they may otherwise be excluded from because they’re kids. 

But, of course, the news is not all good. Our research told us that 

• 40% of children reported a work-related injury in the previous 12 months
• Almost 10% of kids reported an injury needing time off work or school
• Almost 48% of kids reported verbal harassment at work and one-in-five reported physical harassment
• Farming, labour work, food preparation and delivery work had higher injury rates
• The most common injuries were burns, open wounds and sprains and strains

I’ll draw your attention foremost to the second of these findings – time off work or school. It’s a reminder that the impact of the work experience for our kids extends beyond the workplace itself. And our aim as people working in kids’ interests should be focused on the whole child, not simply isolated pockets of experience. 

Our challenge is to work together to reduce the risk of injury for our working kids, and in doing so, contribute to a better future, and a better present, for our kids.

Well-being

In another Commission research project, this time partnered with the University of Western Sydney, we explored with kids, what makes their present better. 

We spoke with kids about their conceptions of well-being, and the elements that contributed or undermined their capacity to feel good about themselves and their place in the world. 

Kids from eight to 15 told us that one of the most important elements to their well-being is HAVING AN INFLUENCE. 

Kids recognise the extra knowledge and experience that adults have. They expect, and want, to receive guidance. But they also want to have a say in what happens to them. 

Kids also need to have their achievements acknowledged. It can be as simple as the common courtesies of please and thank you. Congratulating a young worker on clearing his first table, using the till properly or completing her first sale will make the workplace a better place for that young worker.  

A welcoming and supportive work environment is also important for kids when things aren’t going so well.  

Most of us have found ourselves in workplaces where we feel we don’t fit in, or from time-to-time find the pressure too much. It’s also sometimes tough to front up for work when we’re having family worries. 

Kids don’t see coping with adversity as an inherent skill – like good balance or perfect pitch. They see it as something achieved in partnership with others.  

They look to relationships with friends, relatives and trusted adults to help them through hard times. And an inclusive workplace, where supervisors and other staff take the time and space for young workers is an element in this. 

When looking at the experience of kids in the workplace, our focus must be kids’ overall well-being, not just the absence of danger in a particular location at a particular point in time, although that too is important.

No Net Detriment

A good step in the right direction was last month’s ruling by the NSW Industrial Relations Commission.  

Key to the ruling is the No Net Detriment principle that responds to the Commission’s Children at Work research – and other important work in this area. For instance, our research found that excessively long hours on the job had a negative effect on kids’ schooling and other commitments. 

The ruling also recognises that kids need support in the workplace, and that government has a role to play – so that kids aren’t left to fend for themselves to negotiate with a boss three times their age with a university degree and ten year’s management experience. 

The ruling is another element of the network of safety we should be building around the children and young people of New South Wales. 

Today’s program put together by Youthsafe provides a great snapshot of how that network is developing for our working kids.

Summary

What we know is that the youth workforce packs a punch in our economy. And it’s not just the 16 and overs, it’s kids as young as 13.

Children make a great contribution to businesses large and small – from the family farm or shop, to major international chains and corporations.

Employers know that, in the right jobs, employing kids is good business. And kids in turn enjoy the independence, the freedom, the friendships, and the money, that work offers. 

But kids are kids, and we need not just to employ them, but to look out for them. 

Now I’d like to ask Emma to close – Emma?

Emma

Thanks Gill.

I guess what I’d like to emphasise is that working has overall been a good part of my life.

The things I like are pretty simple – I like to be treated fairly, to be taken seriously, and to know that I’ll be listened to. 

It’s great to know that there are so many people who want to contribute to making the experience of work for kids even better and safer. 

And I guess my final comment is: Let’s get cracking!

ENDS

 

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