Industry News

The Federal Government has reaffirmed it’s ‘unequivocal support’ for penalty rates in modern awards, specifically over weekends and public holidays.

Leighton has announced the production of the first large scale amount of drinking water from its Victorian Desalination Plant.

The Queensland Government has opened more than $33.5 million in new funding for local government bodies in the state to help build essential infrastructure and implement flood commission recommednations.

The Queensland Government has invited communities and stakeholders to view the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the expansion of Xstrata Coal’s Newlands Coal Mine.

Queensland Minister for Local Government, David Crisafulli, has announced he will refer local government de-amalgamation proposals from five former shires to the Boundaries Commissioner.

The Queensland Government has announced the first Government schools to become newly designated Independent Public Schools in 2013.

The Western Australian Government has announced the successful demonstration of Aurora Algae’s algae production facility in Karratha, calling it a major development in the process towards using algae as a future biodiesel source in the state.

The Western Australian Governmnt has hailed the opening of a new iron ore export facility at Geraldton Port in the state’s Mid-West Region.

The New South Wales Government has opened the Environmental Assessment (EA) of Sydney Water’s $225 million to the public for a consultation period.

The Minerals Council of Australia (MCA) has published a new report that warns Australia’s attractiveness as an investment destination is rapidly deteriorating.

The South Australian Government has officially opened the new Fraser Mustard Centre, which will aim to connect cutting edge research with practical measures to improve the health, wellbeing and education of the state’s children.

A joint research paper published in the Nature Climate Change journal has found that the world’s corals and coral reefs face severe degredation if global-mean temperate rise two degrees or more above pre-industrial levels.

Industry Super Network (ISN) has called for the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) to implement a moratorium of high frequency trading (HFT), claiming that the practice is damaging to long-term investors, including super funds.

Federal Minister for Tertiary Education, Senator Chris Evans, has announced the 152 university adademics and professional staff to be recognised under the prestigious Citation Awards.

More and more job seekers are becoming reliant on social media to hunt for their next position, meaning that employers must look for ways to integrate the advancing technology into their talent sourcing, according to the latest report released by recruitment specialist Hays.

Hay’s latest white paper, titled Tomorrow’s Workforce, canvassed over 830 employers and candidates. It found that 69.3 of candidates use LinkedIn when looking for a new job, while blogging also proved popular, with 26.8 per cent of candidates using them to look for positions.

According to the survey, 82.2 per cent of candidates use social media to find jobs of interest, while 69.3 per cent of them use social media to research the organisation. The survey found that 7.3 per cent use them to see what others have to say about the organisation. 26.1 per cent use them to promote their own skills and abilities, by blogging or via Facebook.

For employers social media should be considered for its ability to connect with potential recruits,” says Nick Deligiannis, Managing Director of Hays in Australia. “According to our survey of employers, organisations are slowly beginning to use such tools to communicate their employee value proposition, although the uptake is far from universal.

According to Mr Deligiannis, technology has a crucial part to play in the recruitment process, with candidates becoming increasingly strategic in their approach to find positions.

“But it must not be done at the expense of face-to-face methods, which remain central to the recruitment process. We need to look at it as just one of the attraction tools that we can use. Taking the time to get to know someone is still crucial in identifying the right role for them and picking up the phone to candidates or meeting them in person just can’t be substituted,” Mr Deligiannis said.

Hays outlined the following key methods to implementing a successful strategy in using social media for hiring:

• Research: Find out what is being said online about your organisation, and where it is being said
•   Listen: Continue to listen to what is said about your organisation. You can also use the information as the basis for your future conversations with potential recruits
• Identify potential audiences
• Develop a strategy
• Involve the business – do not restrict your social media efforts to the HR department as candidates want to have peer-to-peer conversations with those in the areas of the business they could work in
• Select your social media ambassadors well and provide training on appropriate content that will engage potential recruits
• Do not become preoccupied with a single area of technology. Social media changes rapidly.

The full report can be found here

The Federal Government has rolled out an immediate and ‘target’ support for axed Queensland public servants after the State Government’s decision to cut 14,000 public sector jobs.

Research conducted by RMIT University shows that rate of injuries and death on construction sites are continuing to rise, despite advances in technology and safety measures.

The Victorian Government has handed the terms of reference to the Construction Code Compliance Unit (CCCU) to undertake an extensive investigation and report on the current state of compliance with the law and codes of practices in the Victorian building and construction industry.

Future climate change is likely to wreak havoc on the country’s plants, animals and ecosystems according to a study published by the CSIRO.

Spanish Company Fotowatio Renewable Ventures (FRV) has been given the green light to develop the country’s largest photovoltaic solar plant in the ACT.