Industry News

The National Centre for Vocational Education Research has released the Australian apprentice and trainee statistics for the March quarter 2012.

In total there were 470 100 apprentices and trainees in-training as at the end of March 2012, an increase of 2.4% from the previous year.

Comparing apprentice and trainee activity in the year to 31 March 2012 with the year to 31 March 2011:

• the number of people commencing in trades occupations decreased by 2.6%
• the number of people commencing in non-trades occupations increased by 4.7%
• the number of people completing apprenticeships and traineeships increased by 8.6%.

In the shorter-term, seasonally adjusted data show between December quarter 2011 and March quarter 2012:

• trades commencements decreased by 2.4% 
• non-trades commencements increased by 1.4%.

The report, Australian vocational education and training statistics: Apprentices and trainees, March quarter 2012, is available here.

The National Transport Commission has  released its National Road Safety Partnership Program draft strategy for public consultation, responding to a key action in the National Road Safety Strategy 2011-2020 agreed by ministers in 2011. The strategy recognises the major role that industry can play in improving road safety in Australia.

NTC Project Director, Dr Jeff Potter said that work-related road crashes in Australia currently account for about 50 per cent of all occupational fatalities and 15 per cent of national road deaths.

“We believe there is a significant opportunity to facilitate knowledge sharing about how to improve road safety in the workplace and to provide recognition for those businesses that do the right thing,” said Dr Potter.

The draft strategy highlights that for many businesses, driving or operating vehicles and commuting to work are the greatest safety risks for their employees.

“Our research has found that many Australian businesses already have a positive road safety culture which not only benefits the community but their bottom line as well,” said Dr Potter.

“We’ve found that these businesses are eager to share their knowledge and processes, and even act as a mentor for other businesses, so that others can replicate their approaches and improve road safety,” said Dr Potter.

The NTC has facilitated the establishment of a steering committee, comprised of senior business representatives, to guide the development of the proposed program.

“This is an example of how road safety outcomes can be achieved through a collaborative, non-regulatory approach to reform.

“We’d like to hear from businesses of all sizes as to whether the proposed program framework would meet their needs and hear their ideas on how to encourage more organisations to implement road safety initiatives,” said Dr Potter.

The draft strategy is open for comment until 18 October and can be downloaded via the submissions page of the NTC website.

KPMG has released its Technology Innovation Survey, identifying disruptive technologies in consumer and enterprise markets over the next four years and highlighting leading innovation markets and innovation management trends in the technology industry.

668 technology executives took part in the survey, representing the top 10 countries driving technology innovation. The mix included technology startups, mid-market enterprises, large technology companies, venture capital firms and angel investors.

Three key takeaways of the survey’s findings include:

• The undeniable power of cloud to unleash innovations and improve productivity.
• The still-developing transformations of an “always-on” mobile era.
• China emerging as a force that will compete with the US to foster tech innovation and gain market leadership.

More than half of respondents point to the cloud (SaaS, IaaS and PaaS) as the next indispensable consumer technology and the greatest driver of business transformation. As the cloud emerges as a widespread technology and platform for new business models, disruptions in enterprise and consumer markets will continue to be a major trend to watch.

More than 4 in 10 said it is likely that the world’s technology innovation center would shift from Silicon Valley to another country in the next four years. Of those who believe Silicon Valley will not be the tech leader of the future, 44 percent point to China as the world’s leading innovation hub by 2016.

The report, Mobilising Innovation: The changing landscape of disruptive technologies, is available here.

Optus has launched its 4G network for Sydney, Perth and Newcastle with 4G services to follow in Melbourne from 15th September, 2012.

Kevin Russell, Chief Executive Officer, Consumer Australia said, "Optus is launching 4G services with significant coverage across Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Newcastle and this marks the beginning of Optus' national 4G network rollout".

To coincide with the launch of its 4G network in Sydney, Perth and Newcastle and the rollout of Optus 4G in Melbourne on 15th September, Optus will be the first carrier in Australia to launch Samsung's

GALAXY S III 4G to Optus customers.

The current Optus 4G network footprint is:

• Sydney: Optus 4G coverage stretches from Bondi in the East to Newington in the West and from La Perouse in the South to Dee Why in the North.
• Perth: Optus 4G coverage stretches from Perth Airport in the East to City Beach in the West and from Como in the South to Innaloo in the North.
• Newcastle: Optus 4G coverage is available across Newcastle, as well as in Port Stephens, the Hunter Valley and Lake Macquarie areas.
• Melbourne: From September 15th 2012 Optus 4G coverage in Melbourne will stretch from Blackburn in the East to St Albans in the West and from Brighton in the South to Fawkner in the North.

Optus' 4G launch builds on its recent 3G network enhancement project to improve 3G performance for Optus mobile customers across regional cetntres and major capital cities.

Preliminary results for the FTTx, DSL and CMTS markets show a mix of growth and declines in 2Q12 as multiple transitions in fixed access technologies and products continued, according to telecoms analyst Ovum.

In a new report Ovum says that PON ONT and ONU units and VDSL2 port shipments grew strongly while other segments lagged.

The transition stages vary greatly from country to country, but at a global aggregate level, they include a shift from DSL to FTTH/FTTB networks and a deceleration of OLT shipments as the focus swings to customer acquisition and ONT/ONU sales. In 2Q12 overall DSL shipments were down, but VDSL2 volumes recovered strongly to a record 6.3 million. In North America, the proportion of VDSL2 was 57 percent of all DSL shipments, in EMEA 43 percent.

Within FTTH/FTTB PON networks, shipments of global PON customer premise equipment (ONTs and ONUs) rose strongly as a long wave of OLT installations at the central office has begun to lose steam. Asia-Pacific and China in particular led sales of PON ONTs and ONUs. We noticed the first year-over-year decline in global PON OLT port shipments in more than three years.

The table below shows vendor rankings in each market segment. These rankings are for shipment volumes only.

However, leadership in shipment volumes is not always translating into leadership in revenues or profits. Ovum revenue market share results and rankings will be available in a week, and the results differ from those of shipment volumes.

Kamalini Ganguly, Analyst, Network Infrastructure Practice comments: “The division that has opened up recently between PON volume and revenue trends continued in 2Q12 due to price wars, particularly in China, and will have an impact on vendor results and strategy.

“The conversation in fixed access tends to be around shipment volumes, but the focus should really be on revenues and profits. The PON price wars in China and elsewhere are not sustainable. Revenues are not keeping pace with growth in volumes. Vendors – even Huawei – are being pickier about projects and markets. If price pressures continue, there may be more vendor consolidation like that of Calix’s acquisition of Ericsson’s PON portfolio.”

CMTS vendors saw volumes drop quarter-on-quarter in 2Q12, but such softness is not unusual at this time of the year. Shipments are still high and were up 10 percent from the year-ago level.

“CMTS annualized shipments in North America and EMEA are at their peak,” concludes Ganguly.

Energex has published its 2012-13 to 2016-17 Network Management Plan (NMP) providing a f blueprint for the company’s current and future plans for operating, maintaining and improving South East Queensland’s electricity supply.

The Plan, which is published annually under the requirements of the Queensland Electricity Industry Code, outlines the company’s commitment to deliver a safe, reliable, cost effective supply of electricity to the more than 3.1 million people who live in South East Queensland.

The NMP includes an assessment of the current regulatory framework, an overview of the network and emerging issues including the impacts of changing customer energy patterns, new technologies and environmental factors, such as domestic solar PV.

The report includes information regarding historical energy consumption and peak power demand and future forecast trends; the impact of air-conditioning use on temperature sensitive load and extensive analysis of the network reliability and performance against Minimum Service Standards.

Included in the NMP is information regarding the capital works and operational expenditure for the 2011-12 period and longer term targets; power quality performance and company’s response capacity for natural disasters, severe weather events and other emergencies.

Among the information contained in the 2012-13 to 2016-17 NMP is that network demand forecasts show that with an average summer, peak electricity use in South East Queensland is tipped to hit 4988 megawatts. This is about 2.2 per cent above the temperature corrected peak from last summer.

Peak electricity demand for the next five years is forecast to rise at an annual average of 2.5 per cent, slightly higher than overall energy consumption which is expected to rise slowly at around 1.7 per cent annually due to increased energy efficiency of appliances, pricing impacts, the impacts of carbon pricing and the continued growth of domestic solar PV installations.

Peak electricity demand increases – traditionally on hot summer afternoons and evenings – rose by an average of nearly seven per cent annually each year between 2003 and 2007. The planning report attributes much of this change to the recent La Nina influenced weather patterns and a slower recovery from the Global Financial Crisis.

The report attributes the near-record flooding in summer 2010-11 followed by one of the mildest summers in South East Queensland in 80 years in 2011-12 for a softening in peak demand with the underlying temperature correction peaks still rising, albeit more slowly.

The report also highlights that the 2011-12 reliability performance of the Energex network for customers living in suburban areas was the best it has been since the first NMP was produced in 2004-2005.

The 2012-13 to 2016-17 Network Management Plan is available on the Network section of the Energex website.

The latest Cordell – Housing Industry Association Construction Industry Update and Outlook Report has been released, showing a patchy outlook for the construction industry, with mining-related construction slowing due to deferred projects.

The report coincides with the  Australian Industry Group's Australian Performance of Construction Index produced in conjunction with the HIA which shows that August was another month of contraction for the construction industry,.

The Cordell – HIA Construction Industry Update and Outlook (CIUO) report provides a snapshot of conditions across Australia’s various construction sectors as well as providing informed views on medium term directions for the industry.

“At a time of increased uncertainty regarding the construction investment pipeline, the CIUO Report provides a valuable information source for all states and territories regarding the mining, civil engineering, industrial, commercial, community, and residential flats and units sectors,” said Cordell Information National Marketing Manager, Chris Evans.

“The report analyses the construction project chain across new, deferred, and abandoned projects in addition to those that are already underway,” added Chris Evans.

“The latest report highlights the disparate conditions in Australia’s construction industry across both sectors and geographical jurisdictions, with mining the unsurprising star of the show,” said HIA Chief Economist, Harley Dale.

“What we have is a healthy, but narrowly based, short term construction outlook,” Harley Dale added. “Meanwhile the CIUO report finds that the number and value of deferred mining projects was already increasing sharply in the first half of 2012, prior to the recent scrutiny of the mining-inspired investment boom.”

The Australian PCI showed that apartment building was the weakest performing sub-sector in the month – down 10.8 points to 22.1 – offsetting gains from the previous month. Engineering construction remained the strongest of the sub-sectors – although still in decline at 35.7 with respondents citing a slowing in resource sector demand and project delays as affecting activity.

Australian Industry Group Director of Public Policy, Peter Burn, said: "The continuing severe slump in residential and commercial construction is a drag on the overall economy. In August a weakening in the engineering construction sector contributed to a further worsening in the sector as a whole. Even though interest rates have fallen recently, the near-term outlook for the construction sector deteriorated with a further fall in new orders. The drop off in new orders was particularly sharp for engineering construction and the apartment sub-sector," Dr Burn said.

Housing Industry Association Chief Economist, Harley Dale, said: "Against a backdrop of five weak quarters for new dwelling investment, as confirmed in this week's national accounts, it is concerning that the first two Australian PCI updates for 2012/13 provide no sign of a turnaround. The persistent weakness in the sub-indices for activity and new orders into the new financial year raises question marks as to whether we will see any tangible evidence of improved conditions in the construction industry by the December 2012 quarter. You would hope to be seeing a modest improvement by that quarter, but the odds of sighting that improvement appear to be lengthening," Harley Dale said.

Australian PCI Key Findings for August:

• The latest Australian Industry Group Australian Performance of Construction Index, in conjunction with the Housing Industry Association was down 0.4 points to 32.2 in August (readings below 50 indicate a contraction in activity with the distance from 50 indicative of the strength of the decrease).
• The Australian PCI has now been in negative territory for 27 consecutive months.
• The new-orders sub-index fell 5.8 points to 28.8.
• Across the sub-sectors: house building rose to 31.5, commercial construction increased to 34.0, apartment building dropped sharply to 22.1 and engineering consecution fell to 35.7.
• Employment continued to contract.
• The selling-price index was 38.5 in August.
• Survey respondents cited subdued conditions, a shortage of new tender opportunities, project delays and difficulty securing funding as impacting growth.

The ACTU has claimed that the rise of insecure work in Australia over the past few decades has made employees less able to speak up for their rights and workplaces less safe.

ACTU President Ged Kearney said a constantly changing workforce often meant that safe systems of work were not fully-implemented, and casual, contract and labour hire workers were also less likely to speak up if they thought something was unsafe because they feared the sack.

Speaking at the annual United Mineworkers Federation Memorial Day at Cessnock, Ms Kearney said one aspect of a secure job had to be a healthy and safe workplace.

“The creeping rise of insecure work is a threat to mine safety,” Ms Kearney said. “I am talking about labour hire, casualisation and contracting out, along with fly-in/fly-out or drive-in/drive-out.

“A lasting safety culture cannot be created with a mobile, temporary workforce. And it is well known that a lack of job security makes it more difficult for people to speak up for their rights, particularly about occupational health and safety. Industry studies point to a link between a lack of safety in mines and the growth of contract employment in the industry.

“Contractors are increasingly favoured by some mining companies over permanent employees because they are cheaper and many contractors are not union-oriented and are less likely to raise safety concerns.
Safety standards for some contractors have been found to be lower than other workers, as they received less training and induction.

“At the core of the CFMEU’s dispute with BHP Billiton-Mitsubishi Alliance in the Bowen Basin is management’s insistence on appointing health and safety officers who do not represent a workforce that is increasingly contract driven.”

About 40% of the Australian workforce is in insecure work. The recent inquiry chaired by former Deputy Prime Minister Brian Howe heard much evidence that insecure work had led to less safe workplaces.

“The law needs to keep pace with these changes, and through the ACTU’s Secure Jobs. Better Future campaign, we intend to ensure that contract and labour hire workers have the same health and safety protections as other workers. Because one of the fundamentals of a secure job is a healthy and safe working environment.”

The United Mineworkers Federation Memorial Day has been held every year since 1996 at the Jim Comerford Memorial Wall, named after the legendary late former Northern District President of the Miners Federation.

The wall commemorates more than 1800 men and boys killed in Northern NSW mines since the start of the 19th century.

The NSW Government has launched a new organisation, Health Consumers NSW, which will give patients, carers and all those who access the NSW health system a voice to inform health policy and delivery.

The NSW Minister for Health, Jillian Skinner said Health Consumers NSW will be an independent source of information for her and the state’s Local Health Districts to ensure better patient care and an overall better health system for NSW.

“Patients and their carers have a unique perspective on medical services and what we want to see is an increase in genuine and constructive feedback and engagement from those accessing the services provided by the NSW health system,” Mrs Skinner said.

Members of Health Consumers NSW will work with Local Health Districts, the Agency for Clinical Innovation (ACI) and organisations across public, private, allied health, non-government and community health services.

“The Agency for Clinical Innovation works to improve public health care services in NSW by engaging consumers and community members, along with clinicians to develop and implement patient-centred care and drive clinical innovation.

“By linking these organisations and health consumers together to share their experiences, HCNSW will play an important role in advising the NSW Government on patient-centric policies,” Mrs Skinner said.

Betty Johnson, Chair of Health Consumers NSW said consumers want to be able to have a say on how the state’s health system operates at all levels - from policy development through to design, delivery and evaluation.

“By scoping our members’ issues and views, and inviting their contributions on current health policy, HCNSW will help to make sure that the broad consumer view is heard and taken into account,” Ms Johnson said.

“Giving consumers a voice is key to improving equity and access to health services and outcomes for health consumers in NSW.”

For more information on Health Consumers NSW visit www.hcnsw.org.au

Nowra company Benchmark Estimating has been chosen by NBN Co to provide estimating software and services for projects undertaken throughout the NBN rollout.

Benchmark Estimating was chosen by NBN Co for the company's ability to provide a flexible software solution that will help NBN Co to solve the varied estimating challenges it faces. The contract includes the supply of software licences, development and consulting services as well as training for users throughout Australia.

Implementation of the Benchmark Estimating Software solution has begun at NBN Co and it is expected that it will be fully utilised by NBN Co as it moves towards the full-scale rollout of the NBN.

Benchmark Estimating, which was established in 1996, provides enterprise class estimating software solutions throughout Australia and New Zealand. It is used for complex, long term projects undertaken by businesses in the information and communication technology, construction, civil, landscaping, mining and utility sectors.

The company has an office in the United  Kingdom and a European distributor based in Spain.

The Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Anthony Albanese,  has released the National Land Freight Strategy, a long-term plan for an integrated and multimodal transport system to move goods into and out of major ports and around the country quickly, reliably and at the lowest cost.

The strategy was developed by Infrastructure Australia with input from the National Transport Commission, industry, and state and territory authorities. Mr Albanese said it will now be up to the nation’s Infrastructure and Transport Ministers to work together to develop an action plan for turning the Strategy’s vision into a reality.

“Our freight and logistics network is the lifeblood of the Australian economy.  But at present it is struggling to cope with the existing demands being placed on it, let alone the doubling in freight volumes expected between now and 2030.

“Release of the Strategy gives us a unique opportunity to fix the regulatory and infrastructure failures which have to some extent held our miners, manufacturers and farmers back and cost the Australian economy tens of billions of dollars in lost export earnings.

“Quite simply our aim is to build and maintain a modern, well-planned, efficient and safe freight and logistics network that supports rather than hinders Australia’s future economic development,” Mr Albanese said.

Key principles of the Strategy are:

• One national, integrated network: Replacing fragmented, ad hoc decision-making with a proper, long term planning approach that identifies the existing and yet-to-be built roads, rail lines, intermodals, ports and airports which together form a workable, truly national freight network.This process would endeavour to protect current and future transport corridors and other strategic pieces of land from urban encroachment.
•  Better use of existing infrastructure: Over the long term it will be far smarter and cheaper to get the most out of existing infrastructure than to always build anew. In practice this could mean fitting new technology to improve traffic flows along major motorways, using higher productivity vehicles, creating dedicated freight routes and separating passenger trains from freight trains.
• Fairer, more sustainable financing arrangements: While in recent years there’s been a surge in spending on the nation’s roads (up 50 per cent), railways (up 118 per cent) and ports (up 305 per cent), building and maintaining a network fit for purpose requires mechanisms for ensuring the right investment occurs in the right place at the right time.

Mr Albanese said that together with the National Ports Strategy—which all the State and Territory Governments have now signed up to—the National Land Freight Strategy provides the roadmap Australia  needs  to lift productivity and stay internationally competitive.

The Strategy is available at  www.infrastructureaustralia.gov.au.

The Australian Medical Association has released its Position Statement on National Intern Allocation, outlining its approach to dealing with the problem of a shortage of intern training positions.

In 2013, there will be 3326 graduates of Australian medical schools competing for only 3091 currently available positions.

AMA President, Dr Steve Hambleton, said today that the AMA has been lobbying all Australian governments to address the intern shortage as a matter of urgency.

“We are pleased that this matter has now made it on to the Federal Government’s priority list,” Dr Hambleton said.

 “The AMA is keen to help the Government achieve a favourable outcome, which will require the full cooperation of the States and Territories.

“We need a quick solution so that medical graduates have some certainty regarding their future and so we can continue to train the appropriate number of highly trained doctors to serve community needs.

“The AMA policy sets out a way to improve the efficiency of intern allocation processes so that medical school graduates do not have to apply to multiple States or Territories for an intern place.

“Not only will this simplify the process for graduates, it will help address many of the weaknesses in the current system that result in duplication and delay the allocation of places.

“Our policy would provide greater certainty in the allocation of intern places, but it will not solve the expected shortage of intern training positions.

“The quick solution is to immediately expand the number of available intern places.

“If things do not change, many medical graduates will next year be unable to enter the medical workforce.”

The AMA Position Statement on National Intern Allocation is at http://ama.com.au/node/7384

The Commonwealth has recognised the need for more doctors and, since 2004, medical student numbers have expanded dramatically.  By 2016, there will be around 3970 medical graduates finishing medical school each year.  Unfortunately, no plan has been developed to ensure that there are enough prevocational and vocational training positions for these graduates once they leave medical school.

Health Workforce Australia predicts that, without changes, there will be a shortage of 451 specialist training positions in 2016.

Federal Attorney-General and Minister for Emergency Management Nicola Roxon and Victorian Deputy Premier Peter Ryan have announced an agreement  with Vodafone Hutchison Australia to provide location-based emergency warnings during disasters.

Ms Roxon said the agreement would ensure more people benefit from the location-based text alert warnings by the end of next year.

"Getting emergency warnings out effectively during a natural disaster is absolutely critical, I'm pleased Vodafone has come on board to do this," Ms Roxon said.

"Emergency Alert has delivered 7.5 million warning messages for more than 500 emergencies across the nation.

"The enhanced Emergency Alert system will mean that people in disaster areas will be able to receive an alert based on location, rather than relying on the customer's 'registered' address.

"These changes are going to be a huge help for our emergency service agencies and will help to prepare local communities in times of disaster."

Mr Ryan said all states and territories would benefit from the decision by Vodafone to join Telstra in the delivery of the location-based alert technology.

"This is a world-first technology that is being rolled out across Australia and will offer a highly targeted location-based alert system for use during emergencies," Mr Ryan said.

"The Victorian Government has led negotiations with telecommunications carriers on behalf of all states and territories.

"The location-based SMS solution will be rolled out by Telstra this November, with Vodafone planning to provide the same service from November 2013."

Mr Ryan said that while the location-based technology was a significant benefit, people should not solely rely on mobile phones for bushfire alerts or warnings.

"It is important that people tune in to the radio, check emergency services websites and stay aware of conditions," Mr Ryan said.

Negotiations continue to progress positively with Optus to provide location-based emergency warnings, which we expect to be finalised shortly.

AquaSure has begun the first performance tests at the Victorian Desalination Plant to ensure drinking water being produced during the commissioning phase meets quality requirements.

Once the water meets the quality requirements, the next phase of the commissioning process under the desalination contract is to test the water transfer in the pipeline to storages.

As part of that process, desalinated water is expected to gradually enter Cardinia Reservoir in the next week or so, depending on AquaSure's commissioning progress.

The Victorian  Government is not required to make any payments to AquaSure for the water used during this stage of commissioning.

Victoria has placed a zero water order with the desalination plant for 2012/13.

"Today's jump in the level of industrial disputes confirms what industry has been saying for some time; there are some big problems in the Fair Work Act that need to be addressed without delay,"

The Australian Industry Group has argued that the increase in industrial disputes reinforces the need for problems in the Fair Work Act to be addressed.

Chief Executive Innes Willox said the most important change needed is to more tightly define the matters that are allowed to be the subject of enterprise bargaining claims.

“Provisions which have no place in a modern workplace relations system need to once again be outlawed, such as restrictions on the engagement of contractors and labour hire.

"Most of the high profile bargaining disputes since the Fair Work Act was implemented have not revolved around wages but rather attempts by unions to impose restrictions on businesses. Not surprisingly employers have been resisting these union claims. Employers cannot afford to risk their competitiveness by capitulating to these union demands.

"The latest industrial dispute statistics are worrying. In the June Quarter 2012, there were 101,700 working days lost due to industrial disputes, up from 35,800 in the March Quarter 2012. This is the highest level of working days lost since the June Quarter in 2004.

"When the Government releases its response to the recent Fair Work Act Review, it is vital that it expresses support for the necessary changes and introduces amendments to address the problems in the Act. As well, the Opposition needs to take a hard look at the current industrial environment as it develops its own workplace relations policies," Mr Willox said.

While extreme weather events will inevitably impact water quality, the biggest risk to public health is not the intensity of these events but their increasingly close proximity to one another, UNSW researchers warn.

Environmental engineers at UNSW conducted a review of extreme weather events in Australia over the past 14 years to assess their impact on raw and treated water, and various supply infrastructures.

In some of these cases, they observed “rapid and unprecedented changes to raw water quality” and major obstacles to the provision of clean drinking water due to infrastructure damage and loss of electricity supply to treatment facilities.

Interestingly, the most severe impacts on water quality didn’t occur from the most “extreme” events on their own, but from multiple “significant” events occurring in relatively quick succession. 

“Throughout the case studies we noticed a very stark trend, which was that most of the significant water quality impacts came from a series of sequential events rather than from a single event,” says Dr Stuart Khan, a water quality expert from the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at UNSW.

Khan says the finding went against their initial assumption “that increased frequency of extreme weather events would simply lead to increased frequency of the water quality impacts”.

“A one in 100 year flood seems more significant than a one in 10 year flood because of the extent of the impact on the catchment and the general population,” says lead author Shona Fitzgerald, a research assistant at the UNSW Water Research Centre.

“But in fact, we found that the water quality impact of a one in 10 year flood, in combination with other factors, could be worse than an event considered more extreme, or rare.”

The results suggest, for instance, that a bushfire or drought followed by a heavy rainfall event would lead to far worse water quality impacts than either of those events would normally cause alone – even if they were considered very extreme.

After a bushfire, there is lots of ash on the ground, which contains high loads of the nutrient phosphorous. In time, this will be stabilised in soil and assist new plant growth. But if a heavy rainfall event comes along before that stabilisation can occur, this ash will wash into waterways leading to detrimental impacts on water quality. A subsequent hot weather event can lead to an algal bloom in water supply reservoirs, further impacting water quality.

“This finding highlights the need to consider combinations of weather events, and their cumulative effects, in planning and preparing for the resulting impacts on drinking water supply,” says Fitzgerald.

“Over the coming decades, one of the biggest challenges for water utilities will be managing uncertainty around climate change. On the ground, this means being able to adapt and learn from past experiences.”

The researchers examined 10 case studies involving bushfires, droughts, flooding, heavy rainfall and high winds from across five Australian states from 1998 to 2012.

The project was funded by the Water Research Foundation with contributions from the Water Services Association of Australia and more than 50 water utilities from Australia and the USA.

The Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) has released a draft report examining how consumers could make more informed choices about their electricity use.

The AEMC’s Power of Choice Review was requested by Commonwealth, state and territory energy ministers to look at changes to the existing market and regulatory arrangements to give consumers more control over their electricity usage and cost.

The AEMC’s draft report looks at how consumers get information about their electricity use and cost, and examines how electricity businesses can support customers to make informed choices.

Demand side options give consumers the ability to reduce or manage their electricity use, including options such as information on point in time costs for electricity, allowing consumers the choice to use electricity at a cheaper time.

The AEMC has released the draft report for public comment before it finalises its recommendations. The final report will be released later in the year.

The Minister for Resources and Energy, Martin Ferguson, said the Standing Council on Energy and Resources will respond to the report.

For further information see www.aemc.gov.au.

The Australian Taxation Office has announced it will publish all findings made by its external scrutineers and the outcomes and improvements from implementing suggested recommendations.

"Our role is to deliver world class administration of the tax and superannuation systems that support and funds services for all Australians," said Tax Commissioner Michael D'Ascenzo.

"We continue to act responsively to Parliament and our scrutineers as well as being transparent and accountable to the Australian public.

"Part of how we do this is to be open to external scrutiny and responsive to recommendations made by our scrutineers such as the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) and the Inspector General of Taxation (IGT) and the Commonwealth Ombudsman. We are one of the most scrutinised Australian government agencies.

"Our decision to publish this material will allow people to track what we have done in the implementation of recommendations, what we have already introduced and where we are in the process of implementation of recommendations."

To start this process the ATO has selected three recent audits and reviews which were carried out by the ANAO and IGT.

"This is just the first step in our commitment to publish all recommendations from the audits and reviews of the ATO," said Mr D'Ascenzo

"Ultimately all audits and reviews done by scrutineers in relation to the ATO since 2010 will be published and from now on this site will be updated quarterly throughout the year.

"The three we have initially selected deal with issues affecting a large cross section of the community.

"Compliance in the small to medium market, audit policies, procedures and practices in the large business sector and a review into our change program are all very significant."

Mr D'Ascenzo said the ATO will generally agree to the external scrutineers' recommendations but pointed out sometimes that isn't the case.

"For example it may be a good idea but just not achievable against other demands, we may not be able to currently afford it or it may be a policy matter for Government," said Mr D'Ascenzo.

"Also not all recommendations are the same and some may be easy to implement where others may need significant system changes and can take some time to introduce."

Mr D'Ascenzo said ultimately the decision to publish was an effort to further enhance the ATO's responsiveness and transparency to Government, the Parliament, scrutineers and the community.

Read the findings made by the ATO's external scrutineers.

AMP Financial Services has appointed Morningstar as its preferred partner for research consultancy services following a comprehensive review.

Under the agreement, effective 1 October 2012, AMP’s research team will have access to Morningstar’s fund research, research analysts, and desktop tools.

Morningstar's fund research analysts will also participate in monthly investment committee meetings.

AMP Advice Integration Manager Andy King said AMP was “confident Morningstar will provide a flexible and competitive service to deliver specialist research, data, and technical support to enhance the current research efforts we provide to our advice network.”

The Financial Services Council has submitted a supplementary submission to the Productivity Commission’s inquiry into Default Superannuation Funds in Modern Awards in response to matters raised in the Treasury and DEEWR (the Departments) joint submission, released by the Minister last month.

The FSC expressed concern that the Departments’ joint submission:

• proposes the status quo remain despite the Commission identifying substantive problems;
• presents a reform proposal which would fail to address contestability, transparency and procedural fairness issues;
• ignores the ground-breaking changes which are to commence with MySuper and the broader Stronger Super reforms over the next two years;
• proposes inappropriate roles for other bodies;
• contains incorrect information; and
• misrepresents information on the treatment of superannuation in the industrial system.

The FSC argues that the superannuation system has been progressively de-linked from the industrial system, and “does not see a case for maintaining named superannuation funds in awards”.

Where the Departments argue that Fair Work Australia has significant expertise in “working constructively with stakeholders in undertaking the many functions for which it is responsible under the FW Act,” the FSC maintains that “FWA (and its predecessor the Australian Industrial Relations Commission) demonstrated its disinterest in matters related to superannuation over the past five years.”

The FSC claims that the Commission abrogated its responsibility to establish a process for selecting and reviewing default superannuation funds in Modern Awards, which has “led to superannuation funds under investigation by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) being prescribed as default funds simultaneously”.

“It is therefore critical that appropriate consumer protection mechanisms exist, and that the process becomes transparent and contestable.”

Submissions to the Productivity Commission inquiry are here.