Industry News

The Federal Government has announced the signing of a $5 million agreement between Geoscience Australia and Engineers Australia that will see a complete revision of the Australian Rainfall and Runoff guide, with an aim to achieve a better understanding of flood risks faced by communities.

The Clean Energy Regulator (CER) has issued the first carbon credits under the Federal Government’s carbon pricing mechanism, signalling the commencement of the Australian carbon market.

The Productivity Commission has announced it will conduct a new inquiry into regulatory barriers faced by mineral and resource exploration companies.

The United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, has appointed Prime Minister Julia Gillard as one of 10 champions of the Global Education Initiative, Education First.

Woolworth’s Chairman James Strong has announced his intention to retire at the conclusion of the company’s Annual General Meeting in November, after twelve years as Director and eleven as Chairman.

Westpac and international software solutions company SAP have announced a new partnership to develop the country’s first real-time payment solution for large companies and institutions.

The former chief executive officer of Western Australian hotel chain Compass Hotel Group has appeared before court following an investigation by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).

ANZ Bank has announced that after ten years of operating separately as ANZ and The National Bank of New Zealand, the two arms are to be brought together under the ANZ brand.

A new carbon sequestration research centre that is expected to play a critical role in reducing Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions has opened in Perth.

The Commonwealth Bank has confirmed that consumer spending has significantly dropped in the September quarter, with the latest Business Sales Indicator showing a 0.4 per cent drop.

The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) has urged the Federal Government to focus more on fixing the gaps in the system to ensure its ability to deliver adequate retirement income.

Nexus Energy has announced the appointment of Seven West’s CEO Don Voelte as the company’s new Non-Executive Chairman, and will take over the roll mid next month.

The Victorian TAFE Association (VTA) has published a preliminary study that shows that women will be unfairly targeted by the forthcoming TAFE cuts by the Victorian Government.

The Federal Government has congratulated the 211 teachers who have been awarded the Endeavour Language Teacher Fellowship for 2013.

Three Australian Councils have won a Federal Court challenge that ruled that Lehman Brothers Australia, now in liquidation, was liable for millions lost in complex financial derivatives investments, known as collatoralised debt obligations (CDOs).

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released the September Australian Social Trends which has revealed Australian households are using 25 per cent more electricity and 22 per cent more gas, than they were ten years ago.

The consultation process is open for the revised Victorian Local Government Draft Best Practice Procurement Guidelines.

A comparative study of representative governance arrangements for local governments across Australia is being undertaken by the Australian Centre of Excellence for Local Government and the Victorian Local Governance Association.

An independent advisory committee has been appointed by the Victorian Government to assist in delivering an "effective, transparent and simple" development contribution system across the state.

The Advisory Committee will be chaired by Kathy Mitchell, Chief Panel Member with Planning Panels Victoria. Members will be Trevor McCullough, Senior Panel Member with Planning Panels Victoria; Professor Rodger Eade, Senior Policy Advisor at Victoria University; Chris De Silva, Director of Mesh Planning; and Bryce Moore, Founding Director of Moremac Property Group.

In June 2011, Planning Minister, Matthew Guy, established a stakeholder reference group to provide advice on a new development contribution system.

The advisory committee will consider the work of the reference group and develop a framework based on five infrastructure categories: community facilities, open space facilities, transport infrastructure, drainage infrastructure and public land.

The committee would be responsible for reaching an agreement on the scope of works that could be included in each infrastructure category and the setting of the standard development contributions.

It has been proposed that a different levy would be set for different development settings such as greenfield development, metropolitan infill development and regional and rural development, as well as a levy for residential and non-residential development.

Mr Guy said councils and developers would have greater certainty through a new a set of standard development contributions for different development settings.

He said a mix of standard and variable levies would remove the requirement for councils to prepare costly and complex development contribution plans.

Further information about the Advisory Committee process can be found here.

The Federal Government has announced the signing of a regional development agreement over the regional development of the Upper Spencer Gulf in South Australia.