Industry News

Nominations for the Australian Vocational Student Prize (AVSP) are now open, with Federal Minister for School Education Peter Garrett calling on schools to nominate students for the Prize.

The Federal Government has announced it has begun seeking potential providers for its $1.5 billion Remote Jobs and Communities program, which is aimed at delivering a more integrated and flexible approach to employment and participation services to remote Australia.

The Australian Law Reform Council (ALRC) has released a discussion paper for its inquiry into legal barriers faced by older people participating in the workforce.

Grampians-Wimmera-Mallee Water (GWMWater) has announced that the full support of its irrigators in its bid to transfer 28,000 gigalitres of water to the Federal Government.

Research released by the University of Sydney suggests a prominent connection between childhood obesity and children having a television in their bedroom.

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has announced its decision to cut the official cash rate by 25 basis points, bringing the official cash rate down to 3.25 per cent.

The Tasmanian Government has announced the release of a new Relationships and Sexuality Education Strategy for all State Government schools from Kindergarten to Year 12.

Ratings agency Standards and Poor’s has confirmed Tasmania’s AA+ credit rating, noting the state’s financial management was key to maintaining the “very positive ratings factor.”

A team of researchers from the CSL and the University of Melbourne has discovered a potential breakthrough for the treatment of type 2 diabetes in a drug that has been shown to prevent the development of the disease reverse its progression in animal testing.

The South Australian Government has received an independent progress report on the State’s Strategic Plan and has been published for the community to access. 

A team of researchers from the CSIRO have discovered how mosquitoes develop vital immunity, which could lead to the development of future vaccines, and other control measures, for mosquito born diseases such as dengue fever and West Nile.

Published in the roceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA (PNAS), the team from CSIRO’s Australian Animal Health Laboraory found the protein Vago is released by infected mosquito cells, providing a warning to other cells to defend against the invading virus.

Mosquito born diseases, such as Japanese encephalitis and West Nile, present a significant threat to the global population, with dengue fever along infecting between 50-100 million people and resulting in around 22,000 deaths annually.

According to CSIRO's Professor Peter Walker, these insect vectors present a particular biosecurity risk for Australia as they are rapidly spreading into new areas driven by a number of factors including climate change and increased travel and trade.

"Difficulties in generating safe and effective vaccines for many of these pathogens present significant challenges due to their complex ecology and the range of hosts the viruses can infect," Professor Walker said.

"Until now, very little was known about the defensive anti-viral response of insects. Unlike humans and other mammals, insects lack key components of the immune response including antibodies, T-cells and many important cytokines, such as interferon."

Using West Nile Virus as their infection model, the research team has demonstrated that, although unrelated structurally, Vago acts in mosquitoes like human interferon.

"Mosquito cells can sense the presence of a virus by detecting its small genome, stimulating the secretion of Vago. The secreted Vago then binds to receptors on other cells, signalling an anti-viral defensive response to limit the infection," Professor Walker said.

"This is the first demonstration that such a mechanism exists in mosquitoes or any other invertebrate.

"We are now looking at how viruses such as West Nile and dengue overcome the defensive response of the mosquito and how we can use this knowledge to increase resistance to infection and decrease the efficiency of disease transmission."

The new Australian Cancer Research Foundation Cancer Genomics Facility has opened in Adelaide, which will conduct research into faulty genes and developing individually-tailored treatments.

The South Australian Government will cut 4,000 jobs from the public sector as it rolls out its new Public Sector Renewable Program aimed at ensuring the delivery of better quality and more innovative community and public services.

Port Adelaide Football Club has confirmed the appointment of TV personality David Koch as its new Chairman of the Board of Directors.

Qantas has announced it has reached an agreement to sell its 50 per cent stake in road freight company StarTrack to Australia Post and acquire 100 per cent of the air freight business Australian Air Express.

The Queensland Government has launched a new online survey that is seeking public input for the formation of a future management strategy of the Fraser Island dingo population.

The National Broadband Network Co (NBN Co) has announced it will build three new satellite ground stations that help isolated areas of the state connect to the NBN service.

The Tasmanian Government is calling for public submissions on a new issues paper that examines climate change adaptation measures in the state.

A new Bill brought before the Tasmanian Parliament seeks to provide official recognition of human rights for those suffering with a mental illness.

The Tasmanian Government has announced work has begun on the new $7 million redevelopment of the Macquarie Wharf Number 2 Shed, which will be able to host new Antarctic research vessels from China.