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Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs and
Minister Assisting the Prime Minister
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Media Release H98/2003 - 30 July 2003

New Contracts for Migrant English Language Tuition in South Australia

The Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs, Gary Hardgrave, today announced the awarding of contracts worth $23 million that will result in English language tuition for over 6,000 migrants and refugees in South Australia over the next five years.

The contracts will provide English language tuition to migrants and refugees from more than 88 countries and 67 language backgrounds.

The contracts are between the Commonwealth and AIT English Language Services (AIT) and LM Training Specialists Pty Ltd (LMT), respectively. This is the second contract for the delivery of Adult Migrant English Program (AMEP) that each tuition provider has won.

The Minister said that as the current providers of AMEP in South Australia, both AIT and LMT have managed to achieve and maintain high levels of reach and student satisfaction.

'These excellent results can be attributed to their commitment to providing high quality, accessible, educational, and settlement focused support services to their AMEP clients,' Mr Hardgrave said.

Mr Hardgrave said he was looking forward to continuing a successful partnership that will facilitate AMEP's reach to its very diverse client base, and serve the needs of AMEP clients, the community and Australia as a whole.

Nationally, the Federal Government has allocated more than $500 million over the next five years to the AMEP, including $114 million this financial year.

Mr Hardgrave said that the new contracts with AMEP service providers in each state and territory would help more than 100,000 new arrivals on their journey to successful settlement in Australia.

'The Adult Migrant English Program is a vital component of the Government's commitment to 'nation building', community harmony and cohesion,' Mr Hardgrave said.

'It represents a significant investment by the Commonwealth in ensuring that new arrivals have every opportunity to learn our national language, and so take the first and most important step towards full participation in Australian society.'

While in Adelaide, the Minister will also conduct settlement consultations on the implementation of the Review of Settlement Services for Migrants and Humanitarian Entrants.

'This review has been invaluable in providing a clearer picture of what needs to be done to better meet the needs of newly arrived migrants and refugees,' Mr Hardgrave said.

Media contact: Amanda Lynch 0419 123 862

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