Industry News

The Foreign Minister Bob Carr has announced $4.9 million in aid funding for the Extractive Industries Technical Advisory Facility to help developing countries share the benefits from mining.

The Centre is a partnership between AusAID, the University of Western Australia and the University of Queensland, launched by Prime Minister Gillard at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting last year.

By 2015 the Centre will train 2000 people in the management of mineral resources.

While visiting the International Mining for Development Centre in Perth today, Senator Carr said Africa's exports of oil, gas and minerals are worth more than nine times the money it receives in foreign aid.

"This represents an opportunity for developing countries to use their mining wealth to drive their future prosperity," Senator Carr said.

The Facility helps developing countries to understand, negotiate and analyse the complex financial, legal and environmental aspects of mining agreements.

Australia now joins Canada, Norway, Switzerland, the International Finance Corporation and the World Bank in supporting the Facility.

Monash University will launch its first mining engineering degree in 2013.

The Monash University Bachelor of Mining Engineering (Honours) will be the only Group of Eight mining engineering degree to be offered in Victoria or Tasmania.

Monash University's Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, Professor Tam Sridhar said the introduction of the new mining degree reflected the University’s continuing commitment to providing industry-relevant courses.

“The creation of this degree is a positive response to industry requests to produce quality mining graduates to fill the significant deficit, which has existed in Australia for many years, particularly in the area of engineering,” Professor Sridhar said.

“Currently only about half of the mining engineering positions in Australia are being filled by Australian mining graduates each year. The mining industry is continuing to expand, and will do so for quite some time and it is important that Monash take the lead to develop new courses to address the needs of an industry, which is very important to Australia.

“We have already had considerable interest from students and the new degree will enable Victorian students to undertake a degree in mining engineering in their home state for the first time. Scholarships will be offered to encourage qualified students to pursue this course.”

The four-year course, a combination of theory and practice, has been developed with substantial industry support and will provide graduates with a diverse range of potential career paths. 

Alongside subjects covering the technical requirements of resource developments, the course will also cover units in sustainability, community engagement and the environment.

Professor Gary Codner from the Department of Civil Engineering said the course had been designed to provide the industry with the type of multi-skilled engineer required in the mines of the future.

“The course incorporates automation, environment, sustainability, people and community, safety, project management, economics, communication skills, innovation and leadership: all aspects of the mines of the future,” Professor Codner said.

“We have integrated all these areas into the degree so our graduates will be ready to make a positive impact in communities here and overseas. They will be ready to work in exploration, planning, extraction and processing of minerals.”

Full details of the Bachelor of Mining Engineering (Honours) can be found in Course Finder.

Researchers at Swinburne University of Technology have developed a way to reduce the time it takes to make components out of aluminium and other metals.

Traditionally, aluminium components such as those used in motor vehicles are cast into a steel die or mould. The molten aluminium takes considerable time to cool down, and the component cannot be removed from the mould until it had cooled and hardened.

Swinburne PhD graduate Dr Khalid Imran and his supervisor Professor of Advanced Manufacturing at Swinburne's Industrial Research Institute, Syed Masood, have combined the use of a giant 3D printer and layering metals to make a predominantly copper mould that is promising to significantly reduce waste and cut cooling times in high-pressure die-casting by one-third.

"In the competitive manufacturing industry, time equals money, particularly in Australia where wages and energy costs are high compared with countries such as China and India," Dr Imran said.

"If the production rate is high then you can produce millions of parts in a very short time and that will reduce the cost of manufacturing."

Dr Imran said that while tooling steel tends to hold heat, another metal - copper - is quick to release it. But the problem he found with copper was that it had a lower melting point than tool steel and when used as a mould interacted with the molten metal injected inside.

Working with the Precision Optical Manufacturing (POM) Group, designers and builders of Direct Metal Deposition (DMD) additive manufacturing systems, and the University of Michigan, Dr Imran found a solution - sandwiching a third metal that mixes with both copper and steel in between. The make-up of the bonding metal is a closely guarded secret.

Dr Imran used the additive manufacturing process of DMD to layer the three metals and produce a predominantly copper mould. The revolutionary concept makes a mould directly from powder, ribbon or wire deposited in layers, without the need for casting, forging, rolling, cutting, machining, welding or drilling.

At Swinburne, DMD is produced using a machine manufactured by the POM Group that is fed by up to four different metal powders and builds 3D items from scratch.

"The process particularly lends itself to making moulds for die-casting, as the die cavities tend to be very complex and DMD provides a true metallurgical bond," said Professor Masood.

"We have measured the quality of the parts produced and we have proven that the quality of the parts produced by bimetallic tooling is as good as the original tooling methods," he said.

As well as being able to lay down multiple metals in complex patterns, the process has a major advantage over traditional tool making - it creates little to no waste.

Professor Masood said the technology would provide unique opportunities for companies to address needs in tooling development, tool and metal component repair, surface modification and coating, new alloy development and direct metal prototypes.

The Productivity Commission has released a discussion paper on its current inquiry into the compulsory licensing provisions of the Patents Act 1990.

The Commission has been asked by the government to:

• assess whether the current compulsory licensing provisions can be invoked efficiently and effectively;
• advise on the frequency, and impact, of compulsory licences in comparable markets and the common features of such licences;
• recommend any measures that may be required to efficiently and effectively exercise Australia’s compulsory licensing provisions;
• recommend any alternative mechanisms deemed necessary to ensure that the balance between incentives to innovate and to access technology best reflects the objectives of reasonable access to health care, maximising economic growth and growing the Australian manufacturing industry; and
• recommend measures to raise awareness of the compulsory licensing provisions.

The Commissioners conducting the inquiry are Alison McClelland (Presiding) and Dr Warren Mundy.

The Commission will consult with relevant stakeholders and welcomes submissions from them. It is due to submit its final report to government by 29 March 2013, following the release of a draft report early in December.  The discussion paper is available here.

Mr Sarv Girn has been appointed to the position of Chief Information Officer of the Reserve Bank of Australia. The appointment is effective from 3 September.

Mr Girn has most recently been an Executive Consultant to the Chief Information Officer at Qantas and has previously held executive IT positions at both Westpac and the Commonwealth Bank. He holds a Bachelor of Computer Science (Hons) degree from the University of London and his career in the financial services industry in Australia, the UK and Asia spans 25 years.

The role of CIO within the Reserve Bank will provide leadership in transforming and developing the core IT functions that support the Reserve Bank’s policy, operational and corporate objectives.

The Western Australian Government has announced the appointment of Simon Ridge, the State's Mining Engineer, as the new executive director of Resources Safety, the body charged with enforcing safe work practices across the state's mining and resources sector. Mr Ridge was promoted to the role following the retirement of Malcolm Russell.

State Minister for Mines and Petroleum, Norman Moore, welcomed the appointment of Mr Ridge, who has served in the Department of Mines and Petroleum for 16 years.

Mr Moore said the succession of Mr Ridge was a natural fit for the role.

“While Mr Russell was instrumental in driving resources safety reform in WA and establishing the RADARS strategy in 2009, Mr Ridge has been involved alongside him throughout the implementation process,” Mr Moore said.

Mr Moore said Mr Ridge will preside over a period of unprecedented focus on safety in the sector.

“The Western Australian Government is committed to overhauling the way safety and health in the resources industry are regulated and this appointment will ensure a smooth transition to continue the mines safety work under way and implement reforms proposed for the petroleum sector,” the Minister said.  

“I wish Mr Russell all the best for his retirement after 10 years at the helm and I thank him for his determination and efforts over the past two years in particular in strengthening safety regulation in the mining sector, and I look forward to working with Mr Ridge to implement changes that will help extend that across the whole industry in years to come.”

Mr Ridge will continue in the role of State Mining Engineer while he heads up the Resources Safety Division.

Westpac bank has announced the launch of a new pilot app for wireless payment systems in collaboration with MasterCard.

The Android Mobile Contactless Payment app will see users be able to tap their phone on a near field communication (NFC) MasterCard PayPass payment system.

Westpac's Head of Mortgages, Cards and Merchants, Axel Boye-Moller said Westpac is committed to embedding mobile payments into all aspects of its core business and providing a product offering that redefines the customer experience.

“Online and mobile are the cornerstone of Westpac's business. Currently 3.4 million Westpac customers are digital customers, 43 per cent of whom use their mobile phone to process payments online. The pilot enables simple mobile payments for purchases and reflects our approach towards progressive payment solutions for our customers," Mr Boye-Moller said.

The announcement by Westpac follows the successful trial of NFC based transactions by the Bank of New Zealand earlier this year.

Retail giant Myer has announced the appointment of Paul McClintock as Non-Executive Director and Chairman-elect following Howard McDonald's decision to step down from the Board in October.

Mr McClintock brings considerable board and executive experience to the role, and will serve concurrently on the COAG Reform Council, as Chairman of Medibank Private and as Director of Perpetual Limited.

The Myer Board thanked Mr McDonald's six years of service on the board, three of which he served as Chairman.

"The entire Board and I are grateful for Howard's counsel and retail experience over the years and his commitment to management's execution of Myer's strategy," Myer's CEO Bernie Brookes said.

Myer has also announced the appointment of Ian Morrice as non-executive director, effective immediately.

The Australian National University (ANU) has opened the final stage of The John Curtin School of Medical Research (JCSMR).

The new $60 million wing includes Clinical Research Suites and laboratories that provide crucial research infrastructure for scientists conducting research into neurological and sensory diseases including memory loss, epilepsy and blindness.

ANU Vice-Chancellor Professor Ian Young said: “The new building will house state-of-the-art clinical research suites and laboratory space designated for clinical and biomedical research into fields including genomics, translational and personalised medicine, pharmaco-genetics and vision, and neurological and sensory diseases including memory loss, epilepsy and blindness.

“The John Curtin School is one of Australia’s foremost medical research institutes – our researchers have won Nobel Prizes, the Prime Minister’s Science Prize and the Life Scientist of the Year award among many other accolades.”

“These facilities will enable us to continue expanding our understanding of how the human body works and how we can combat some of the major diseases of our time."

The new facility finalises a three-stage redevelopment at JCSMR with the entire build costing $144 million. 

The new facility will also be home to researchers in key fields including genomics, immunity, personalised medicine and drug design.

The Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) has released a draft paper outlining proposed developments of the Australian Curriculum for the teaching of business and economics.

The Shape of the Australian Curriculum: Business and Economics paper was welcomed by Federal Minister for School Education Peter Garrett.

“The release of the draft paper for economics and business is another step forward in the development of the Australian Curriculum,” Mr Garrett said.

“Business and economics are fundamental life skills and the new curriculum will help students make informed decisions about consumer issues, and manage money and assets to improve financial wellbeing."

The paper was developed through the input of a number of key stakeholders, including state and territory education authorities, teachers associations, schools, businesses and universities.

The draft economics and business paper proposes the curriculum focuses on four overarching concepts:

• Resource allocation and making choices
• Consumer and financial literacy
• Enterprising behaviours and capabilities
• Work and business environments.

ACARA will use feedback on the paper to guide the writing of the draft Australian Business and Economics Curriculum, which will be released for public consultation next year.

Once the curriculum is endorsed by states and territories it will be available for implementation in classrooms.

The consultation period runs from 6 August to 12 October 2012. Copies are available at http://www.acara.edu.au.

A new agreement reached between Federal and State Education Ministers will see a annual performance review of the country's teachers.

The new Australian Teacher Performance and Development Framework will be implemented and rolled out to all Australian schools from next year.

Under the agreement, under-performing teachers will be given extra training and development to increase their overall performance.

“For the first time, teachers will be entitled to a yearly review of their progress, and will receive ongoing support and training throughout their career to help them become even better teachers,” Federal Minister for School Education Peter Garrett said.

“Once implemented, the new agreement signed off today means that schools will offer their teachers feedback on their performance, based on evidence including classroom observation, parental and student feedback, and student results.

“Teachers will have to set goals for the year and will be helped to reach their goals. Those who are found to be under-performing or who need extra support will be given access to more training and development opportunities.”

The new framework will assess teachers against the National Professional Standards for Teachers. Copies of the framework are available at www.aitsl.ed.au.

The South Australian Government has released environmental guidelines for the forthcoming Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed deep sea port facility at Port Bonython.

State Planning Minister John Rau said the EIS for the $600 to $700 million facility could take up to 18 months to complete, and would ensure that all prerequisites are met before construction starts.

“We appreciate and encourage community interest in this venture. These guidelines and the EIS will be subject to thorough processes aimed at ensuring the facility is environmentally sound,” Mr Rau said.

The announcement comes after the port was granted Major Development status earlier this year.

Mr Rau said the proposal features a three-kilometre jetty and conveyance system, iron ore storage facility and a rail line connecting the facility to the existing, Port Augusta/Whyalla rail line.

“It will also accommodate cape-sized vessels capable of carrying up to 180,000 tonnes of cargo,” Mr Rau said.

The proposed development will also employ about 400 workers during construction as well as ongoing employment.

Once the EIS has been submitted and publicly released, the public will have the opportunity to comment and a public meeting will be held.

Extensive consultation has been conducted by the State Government and the Flinders Ports led consortium and will continue as the Port Bonython project progresses.

The guidelines have been publicly released and are available here

Australia's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was at 5.2 per cent in July, as announced by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). 

The ABS reported the number of people employed increased by 14,000 to 11,512,600 in July. The increase in employment was driven by increased full-time employment, up 9,200 people to 8,073,700, and part-time employment, up 4,800 people to 3,439,000. The increase in employment was driven by an increase in male and female full-time and female part-time employment.

The number of people unemployed decreased by 2,500 people to 635,100 in July, the ABS reported.

The ABS monthly aggregate hours worked series showed an increase in July, up 13.4 million hours to 1,625.1 million hours from a revised June 2012 estimate.

The ABS reported a labour force participation rate of 65.2 per cent in July. 

More labour force results are in the July 2012 issue of Labour Force, Australia (cat. no. 6202.0), as well as the upcoming July 2012 issue of Labour Force, Australia, Detailed (cat. no. 6291.0.55.001) due for release next week on August 16. Both publications are available for free download (after release) from the ABS website - www.abs.gov.au.

The NSW Minister for Finance and Services Greg Pearce has announced the Implementation Plan for the Government’s new Worker’s Compensation reforms.

Mr Pearce said the reforms, passed by Parliament in June, will proceed in several stages to allow an orderly rollout of new systems and claims procedures by insurers.

“Workers injured after 1 October 2012 will receive improved benefits under the new legislation while all other injured workers will be transitioned to the new scheme from 1 January 2013,” he said.

“Additionally, all seriously injured workers will receive their increased benefits under the new legislation from 17 September.

“Employers and the economy have already benefited from no increase in premiums, which were forecast to be as high as 28 per cent if these reforms did not go ahead.

“Under the new legislation employers are subject to strict new requirements to assist their injured workers to return to work,” he said.

Mr Pearce said guidelines to the WorkCover reforms will be published next month.

“The Government is committed to improving WorkCover’s capability to get workers back on the job sooner and inform employers of their new obligations,” he said.

“A WorkCover Independent Review Officer program will start from 1 October 2012 to provide a simple, fair and cost-effective process for reviewing work capacity decisions made by insurers.

“A legal reference group has also been set up to provide advice on the establishment of a new dispute resolution model announced under the reforms,” Mr Pearce said.

The Government has appointed a high level Safety, Return to Work and Support Board to be chaired by Michael Carapiet.

A selection process is currently underway with the Public Service Commissioner to select a new CEO for WorkCover to guide the transition and reform process.

The Victorian Minister for Local Government, Jeanette Powell, has used the annual Local Government Ministerial and Mayors Forum to call for strong leadership to be shown by local leaders in the face of trying times.

Address the 'Leading Now and for the Future' themed forum, Ms Powell called on the 79 senior local government representatives to show resilience and fortitude in their leadership.

"I'm confident that today's discussions will help us deliver on our shared priority of building prosperous and sustainable communities across Victoria," Mrs Powell said.

Forum participants heard from and discussed issues with Deputy Premier Peter Ryan; Minister for Health and Ageing David Davis; Minister for Mental Health, Women's Affairs and Community Services Mary Wooldridge and the keynote speaker, entrepreneur Mark Bouris.

"A broad range of topics were considered – including transport; economic and social development; health and population growth – which have enormous impacts on local communities," Ms Powell said.

"The local government sector is crucial to providing the services and infrastructure people need, and Victoria's Mayors and Chief Executives must provide the strong leadership that will ensure the sector remains responsive to those needs." 

A recent survey has revealed that almost one in three young people have been bullied or have witnessed bullying at work.

SA Unions State Secretary, Janet Giles says the Australia-wide survey by Essential Research, has found some deeply concerning statistics about the rate of workplace bullying.

"Thirteen per cent of people between the ages of 18 and 34 said they had been bullied at work, with another 19% having witnessed it.”

"We know from our other work with young people that they are less familiar with their rights at work, and are more often in part-time or casual work where they worry that if they speak out they will lose their jobs."

"What's most concerning about the survey is that 65% of the bullying is reported to have come from employers or managers."

"This figure rises to 74% for those in part-time work."

"These are the people with the power to hire and fire, increasing the likelihood that young people will feel intimidated into remaining silent."

"We clearly need stronger national laws against bullying to stop it happening in the first place, rather than dealing with it when it has already occurred."

Coordinator of the Young Workers Legal Service, Anne Purdy says the Service took 450 calls last financial year, and a huge number of them related to workplace bullying.

"We see this as a major occupational health and safety issue for young people."

"It is a dreadful thing to happen to them in what is often their first job, and the cases we have seen reveal young people suffer depression, anxiety and are unable to work as a result."

"We have seen some cases where this behaviour is excused as some kind of work 'initiation'.

"But it is wrong, and it leaves young people feeling that all work involves bullying, and they become afraid to try again in another job."

The University of Wollongong’s Graduate School of Medicine has won a Federal Government grant to develop a program to train doctors to carry out video medical consultations with patients (known as Telehealth) using the National Broadband Network (NBN).

UOW won the $50,000 grant under the NBN-Enabled Education and Skills Services Program to develop the program, with a view to a trial over the next two years.

Telehealth consulting is a key feature of the NBN roll-out across Australia, as it will enable people living in regional, rural and remote locations to access specialist medical advice from their general practices with the assistance of their own trusted health professionals.

The NBN rollout overcomes a number of the technical constraints to Telehealth by improving the accessibility, connectivity and speed facilitating richer and immersive video consultation experiences across Australia.

The UOW trial program will aim to develop Telehealth consulting skills among current GPs, specialists doctors and the next generation of medical professionals.

Professor Andrew Bonney, who is the Roberta Williams Chair of General Practice at the Graduate School of Medicine, will lead the project to develop the Telehealth training program and potential trial with GSM medical students, General Practice preceptors (GPs who closely supervise medical student training in general practice) and consultant specialists.

Murdoch University researchers have developed a new battery to store power from renewable sources for use in non-generation times.

According to project leaders Drs Manickam Minakshi and Danielle Meyrick of Murdoch’s School of Chemical and Mathematical Sciences, while the efficiency of wind and solar technologies has improved rapidly, the problem of continuous supply has remained unsolved.

“The central obstacle facing sustainable energy is unreliability. Wind turbines don’t turn on a still day. Solar doesn’t work at night and can be hampered in the day by cloud, dust or snow coverage,” Dr Minakshi said.

“To provide power at non-generation times, excess energy needs to be stored in batteries, but storage technologies now being considered, such as molten salt or molten sulfur, work at high temperatures, making them expensive and impractical.”

“Our water-based sodium-ion battery has shown excellent potential for affordable, low-temperature storage.”

Dr Minakshi said he was drawn to sodium because its chemical properties were similar to lithium, the element that powers most portable electronic devices.

His challenge was to find material for cathodes and anodes capable of accommodating sodium’s ionic size – which is 2.5 times larger than that of lithium.

“Ions travel out of the cathode and into the anode to form a current. As an imperfect analogy, you can think of them as mesh filters that ions pass through. We had to find materials with larger gaps in their mesh,” Dr Minakshi said.

Dr Minakshi tested various metals and phosphates, eventually finding success with manganese dioxide as the cathode and a novel olivine sodium phosphate as the anode. The result is a safe, cost-effective battery with high energy density.

“While the technology is too bulky for portable devices, it has excellent potential for large-scale use, including storing energy from wind turbines and solar farms for later feeding into local electricity grids, as well as use in industry,” Dr Minakshi said.

The battery has the added advantage of being based on globally abundant and affordable sodium, iron and manganese – putting green energy potential in the hands of the developing world.

“Our research has reached the stage where we’re ready to move beyond our lab towards larger-scale commercialisation,” Dr Minakshi said.

Temporary migrant workers play an essential role in Australia’s resource industry by filling highly-skilled positions that cannot be met by local supply, the preliminarily findings of a pilot study by Edith Cowan University (ECU) have shown.

A team of researchers from ECU’s School of Management, led by Dr Susanne Bahn, together with the Australian Mines and Metals Association (AMMA) found that contrary to public perception, 457 visa recipients were not preventing skilled Australians from gaining employment within the resources sector.

The 457 visa is the most commonly used program for employers to sponsor specialised skilled overseas workers to work in Australia temporarily.

Dr Bahn is presenting the findings at the AMMA Migration and Labour Sourcing Conference in Perth on Thursday, 9 August 2012.

“This is the first study of its kind in Australia and shows that although the resources industry often seeks to employ Australian workers, some of the skills required are so specialised and only taught in one or two institutions globally, that the skill set required is simply not available,” Dr Bahn said.

She gave the example of helicopter engineers needed to maintain the equipment for oil and gas projects, who require up to six specialised licences that are only taught in the United Kingdom and France.

“Due to the lack of specialised skilled workers in Australia these companies are using their global workforce and employing them where and when they are needed.”

The study also found that some skilled Australian workers based in the eastern states are reluctant to relocate to WA.

“We identified cases where recently retrenched workers declined to relocate to WA and this was due to a range of reasons from social and family commitments to the high cost of living and a lack of infrastructure in some areas,” Dr Bahn said.

Improving social services and infrastructure is one way of attracting Australian workers to WA, according to AMMA Executive Director, Industry Ms Minna Knight.

“These preliminary findings highlight the need for industry and government to have a genuine discussion about worker mobility,” Ms Knight said.

“With more than $500 billion worth of projects in various approval and pre-approval stages in Australia, this research highlights the important role that temporary overseas labour plays in assisting major resource projects get off the ground and deliver future employment and economic benefits to Australians.”

The ECU team, in partnership with AMMA, will release a final report of the study 457 Visa Workers in the WA Resource Industry: The benefits and costs for business, migrant families, and the community by the end of 2012.

The National Broadband Network Co (NBN Co) has released its Corporate Plan for 2012-15, outlining an expected $1.4 billion increase to its capital expenditure over that period. The plan also outlines a $3.2 billion overall increase over the life of the rollout of the network.

Despite the announcement drawing criticism from the Federal Opposition, NBN Co's Chief Financial Officer, Robin Payne, said that any increases in costs are more than offset by projected revenue growth beyond the fibre construction period.

"We continue to build the NBN as cost effectively as possible,” Mr Payne said.

"Where prudent, we have built in additional costs to the plan but these are largely offset by savings we have made elsewhere. In areas where we are spending more it is generally because there are long-term benefits to NBN Co."

Shadow Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull wasted little time in savaging the business plan, accusing the Federal Government of continued waste, questioning the value of the entire scheme to the country.

"And the Productivity Commission should be asked to conduct a thorough cost benefit analysis to assess the most efficient means of upgrading Australians’ broadband as quickly as possible," Mr Turnbull said in a statement.

The Corporate Plan can be found here