From the President

Feds: Urgent Need to Fix Chef Shortage

DAVID BASHEER – AHA|SA PRESIDENT

Watch David's Video Update: https://youtu.be/JfOAfc0muOE

SMOKING TIMING BEGGARS BELIEF

We have become very accustomed to health bureaucrats governing our lives over the past 18 months. As frustrating as it is, and as difficult as it is to implement their needs, any fair-minded person understands why their involvement right now is so pronounced.

But why, why, why would the health bureaucracy select this time to release their ‘South Australian Tobacco Control Strategy 2021- 2025’ for us to be potentially saddled with?

Surely they understand this has been the most difficult time any hospitality person has experienced? To seek to burden us with more costs, more regulation and more compliance right now is beyond belief.

The desire this time is a requirement to provide a more ‘enhanced’ provision for smoke-free spaces at licensed venues. More cost. More compliance. Potentially a loss of more customers. And we become the smoking cops.

Smoking rates are currently 10.6 percent of the SA adult population. The goal is to reduce that figure to 6.25% by 2025. And they are coming after our venues and our customers to achieve it.

No state has implemented new smoking laws better than South Australia. That is because of the high degree of co-operation from pubs - and plenty of cost. The changes in 2007 saw us forced into huge capital investment requirements to meet SA Health’s new demands. Significant work and consultation took part in 2016 and

again in 2018 and 2019. We now know there is no finishing line and AHA|SA members are being used to implement their controls and desires.

The AHA|SA has argued, on your behalf, that the current strategies are proving highly effective and there is no need to increase the provision for even more smoke-free spaces within our venues.

Indeed, we believe this poorly thought out strategy will force smokers onto the footpath with no controls over second-hand smoke or litter.

It’s a bad idea at anytime. The AHA|SA will fight it. But to consider it right now whilst we are grappling with an array of public health orders smacks of an out of touch, unsympathetic approach with no grasp of the commercial realities or complexities of our time.

GLIMMER OF HOPE AROUND CHEF SHORTAGES

It was pleasing to hear Federal Employment, Workforce and Skills Minister, Stuart Robert, echo the long-held position of the AHA|SA that there is an urgent need to fast track the completion of training courses as one measure to address the crippling skills shortage we are all currently experiencing.

Cooking apprenticeship no longer meet today’s expectations. The current rigid approach is in many ways no different to how it worked in the 1980s.

This does not suit our fast-paced, highly digitised society and the new working structures that have evolved from it.

Today, a four-year apprenticeship is too long. It’s the principle reason behind the high dropout rate and resultant chef shortage.

Government needs to work alongside industry to achieve a shorter training module that will appeal to the young GEN Z chefs of today. This can be achieved without compromising our standards, while also ensuring we retain this State’s fabulous food culture.

At age 18, someone can vote, drive a car on the open road or even go to war. But, regardless of their talent, they are deemed too young to be released into our kitchens as qualified employees.

If we simply tinker around the edges of a system no longer meeting the needs of the employees or employers, we deserve to see the current skills shortage escalate.

Today’s kids are not the same as those growing up ‘in my day’. They want more instant gratification. That is why we record strong numbers of trainees commencing apprenticeships but so few complete. To them, four years is a lifetime sentence.

A teenager passionate about cooking needs to be given stronger pathways at secondary school that can include industry placements. By the time they leave school, they can be well on the way to achieving their qualifications. And they can experience a real life commercial kitchen environment – not some reality show.

Those qualifications at that time should enable them to hold down a position in a commercial kitchen, at the appropriate pay level. The system needs to then reward that person if they continue their studies to be a fully qualified or even specialised chef, more in line with international standards.

The curriculum and training program needs to also be reviewed to ascertain what components are critical for today’s kitchens and therefore fast tracked, and what aspects can be more comfortably taught in the workplace.

Neither the State of Federal Government can be criticized for a lack of funding for skills. Given there is a genuine intent to achieve a positive outcome from all parties, the time is overdue to concede the current and long established approach to training has not delivered the result Industry or aspiring long-term employees require.

The key measure can no longer be the number of apprenticeships created. We need to celebrate how many job-ready apprentices successfully complete their training.

To the Federal Employment, Workforce and Skills Minister, Stuart Robert, we say “bring it on”. This is an urgent need for a solution and we look forward to your leadership.

ADELAIDE ARENA

The State Government’s proposed $663m Adelaide Arena on the Riverbank represents a key election issue next March. Liberal and Labor have contrasting policy positions.

Apart from hosting up to 15,000 people for live sporting and entertainment events, the Adelaide Arena will have the flexibility to include convention and exhibition facilities.

With a connection to the adjacent Convention Centre, it will increase the convention space by up to 50% and allow Adelaide to compete for Interstate and International events it is currently locked out of.

With major CBD convention venues being upgraded and expanded around the country, Adelaide needs to be competitive in this space. 825000 visitors are expected to visit the site annually. Whilst the venue will not be completed until 2028, it provides this State with our best long- term opportunity to grow our pre-COVID-19 $8.1b visitor economy. An economy that directly benefits our accommodation hotels, food and beverage outlets and of course the spin off benefits to regional tourism when conference delegates extend their stay.

It is fair to say early public sentiment is mixed. But I would remind everyone there was significant resistance to the redevelopment of the Adelaide Oval. It simply took a sold out Showdown and a Rolling Stones concert to instantly give the new stadium unanimous public acceptance.

The proposed city arena can ignite the City and the State in a similar way. Look how the Adelaide Oval redevelopment led to significant public and private investment in the area. The Arena can further inspire more investment.

However, the cost of doing nothing will see a further leakage of conferences and events to the new facilities in Sydney and Melbourne along with the proposed future expansion in Brisbane.