Jacinta Allan
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Jacinta Allan was elected as the Member for Bendigo East in September 1999 at the age of 25, making her the youngest woman to ever be elected to the Victorian Parliament.
Jacinta is the Minister for Regional and Rural Development and Minister for Skills and Workforce Participation.
Previously, Jacinta served as the Minister for Skills, Education Services and Employment and Minister for Women's Affairs. From 2002-2006, Jacinta served as Minister for Education Services and Minister for Employment and Youth Affairs.
Regional and Rural Development
Regional Development Victoria (RDV) is the Victorian Government's lead agency in developing rural and regional Victoria and was established as a statutory body by the Regional Development Victoria Act 2002, and began operation on 3 March 2003.
RDV's focus is on investment attraction, job creation, exports, creating stronger economies, communities and infrastructure to create a strong and growing provincial Victoria. There are a number of programs to:
- promote business and industry development
- work with local government and communities
- help new businesses establish themselves
- pave the way for existing industries to grow and diversify
Moving Forward: Making Provincial Victoria the Best Place to Live, Work and Invest, is the Government's $502 million action plan released in November 2005, that incorporates over 70 programs and initiatives to drive employment, population and investment growth in provincial Victoria over the medium to longer term.
In response to emerging challenges and opportunities, in June 2008 a renewed and refocused Moving Forward: Update – The Next Two Years 2008 to 2010 was unveiled. The centrepiece of the Moving Forward Update is a landmark new regional planning initiative to boost the planning capacity of Victoria's 48 regional and rural councils and accelerate the development of statutory plans for major regional growth centres.
In total, $68 million will be invested among five priority areas:
- $16.7 million to manage growth and change
- $8.1 million for industry development
- $7.38 million for skills development
- $25.2 million for infrastructure development
- $10.88 million to tackle drought and changing climate
Skills and Workforce Participation
As the Minister for Skills and Workforce Participation, Jacinta is driving a whole-of-government approach to tackle skill needs over the coming decade to secure Victoria's future economic prosperity.
This includes implementing the Victorian Government's $241 million skills action plan, Maintaining the Advantage; driving higher education and vocational education and training policy; apprenticeships and traineeships and Adult, Community and Further Education.
Recognising that some job seekers face continuing barriers to employment even at times of low unemployment, Jacinta is responsible for the State's employment programs, which help job seekers into sustainable employment while helping industry meet its skill and labour needs.
She is also responsible for the Skilled Migration Program, which has lifted Victoria's share of Australia’s skilled migrants from around 19 per cent in 1999 to more than 25 per cent today.
Background
Before entering Parliament, Ms Allan worked in the office of Steve Gibbons MP, Federal Member for Bendigo, the office of Neil O'Keefe, Federal Member for Burke, and the Commonwealth Department of Industrial Relations.
Ms Allan was born and grew up in Bendigo. She studied at Catholic College Bendigo before completing her Bachelor of Arts (Honours) at La Trobe University, Bendigo.