Industry News

The New South Wales Government has announced additional access for farm freight trucks east of the Newell Highway in the state’s northwest.

Energy wholesaler AGL has announced it will suspend the development of the first stage of its 1,000 MW Dalton power station in New South Wales following an extensive viability investigation.

The Federal Government has announced $652 million in funding for medical research will be delivered via 1,141 grants.

The Federal Minister for Workplace Relations, Bill Shorten, has launched the 2012 Safe Work Australia Week by calling on workplaces and workers to raise awareness of work health and safety issues.

“Each year up to 300 Australians are killed at work and around 130 000 are seriously injured at work,” Mr Shorten said.

“The human cost, the emotional cost, is immeasurable. We all need to work harder to reduce these horrific figures.”

“Every Australian who goes to work should be able to come home safe.”

The eighth annual Safe Work Australia Week will be held from 21-27 October.

“Across our nation thousands of workers will use the week to promote and improve health and safety practices in their workplaces and encourage their colleagues to be leaders in work health and safety,” Mr Shorten said.

“This year’s theme is safety begins with ‘S’ but starts with YOU.”

“The theme recognises that every worker across Australia can take small steps to improve work health and safety.”

Workers are encouraged to become Safety Ambassadors and raise awareness of work health and safety in their workplace.

Safety Ambassadors have access to a range of Safe Work Australia Week resources, which show their commitment to improving safety in their workplace. 621 workers have already registered this year as Safety Ambassadors.

“23 Safety Ambassadors have also entered the Safety Ambassador of the Year Award. I will be announcing the winner of on 31 October 2012.”

Safety Ambassador registrations are open until the end of Safe Work Australia Week.

States and territories will also be involved in a range of activities and events as part of national Safe Work Australia Week or their own work health and safety weeks and months during October.

For more information about national Safe Work Australia Week and to register to become a Safety Ambassador go towww.safeworkaustralia.gov.au.

The Federal Government has announced a $68.2 million funding injection for medical research into anxiety, easting disorders, depression and other mental health conditions.

More should be done to ensure the emerging gas boom in Australia benefits the general population, according to a new report into the benefits and potential costs associated with the boom, according to a report released by the Australian Industry Group (Ai Group) and the Plastics and Chemicals Industries Association (PAICA).

The Federal Government has announced a major overhaul of the country’s apprenticeship system,  with Minister for Skills, Senator Chris Evans, saying as much as 21,000 apprentices will be recruited under the reform.

Qantas’ CEO, Alan Joyce, has announced it will invest $30 million to upgrade its heavy maintenance facilities in Brisbane.

The Tasmanian Government has announced it is seeking almost $900 million for 22 strategic infrastructure projects in its latest submission to the Federal Government’s Nation Building 2 Program (NB2).

The Australian Competition and Consumer commission has outlined its concerns over the proposed acquisition of online trading service Trading Post by Carsales from Telstra.

Palliative care admissions into hospital rose by over 50 per cent between 2001 and 2010, according to a new report released by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).

Data storage and cloud computing specialist NextDC has announced two senior appoints to its executive team.

Santos has commenced commercial operations of its first shale gas well in South Australia, with unconventional gas now set to be used in homes around the state.

Over 5 per cent of Internode’s customers are now using IPv6, according to the company’s founder Simon Hackett.

Large institutional investors are increasingly reliant on the personal advice of their colleagues, according to new research released by East & Partners.

Australians are increasingly turning to debit cards for their daily transactions, with the number of cards increasing by 5.7 per cent over the last year.

The South Australian Government has released a new literacy and numeracy discussion paper, saying it is an important step towards creating consistency in programs taught across the state’s schools.

Information and communications specialist Data#3 has announced the opening of its new Melbourne headquarters in Southbank, in a move that Managing Director, John Grant, called a ‘critical step’ in building the company.

The Western Australian Government has released the final management plan for the Ord River and Parry Lagoons nature reserves in the East Kimberly region, outlining strategies to protect the area’s natural value.

John Holland Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of Leighton Holdings, has been awarded the $232 million contract to construct the new Eastern Goldfields Regional Prison replacement.