Industry News

The Queensland Government has passed legislation that will give council-owned water businesses in the state’s south east the same flexibility to manage staff in the same way as any other employer.

State Minister for Water Supply Mark McArdle said the passage of the South East Queensland Water (Distribution Retail and restructuring) Amendment Bill would give UnityWater, Queensland Urban Utilities, the Gold Coast City, Redland and Logan Councils greater freedom to manage their water businesses.

“These measures will let SEQ water businesses examine appropriate costs for running their operations and identify and deliver savings,” Mr McArdle said. 

“This will equip water businesses with a greater capacity to tackle rising water prices and reduce water bills for Queenslanders in the south-east corner.” 

Mr McArdle said the amended legislation ensured staff working for the water businesses were still assured of established employee protections contained in the current Enterprise Bargaining arrangements. 

“The amendment strikes a balance between the terms of the 2009 and 2012 Workforce Frameworks and the employment conditions of other council employees, and the need to reduce the cost of living for all residents of south-east Queensland,” he said. 

The University of Queensland (UQ) and Rio Tinto have signed a five-year, $2.5 million Corporate Education Agreement that will focus on developing academic leadership, building skills and capability for the mining industry, and increasing diversity levels by targeting female and Indigenous students.

The agreement is part of a Rio Tinto programme that is establishing a network of leading education providers to generate and foster an appropriate expertise base for the resources industries.

The partnership features education initiatives including 39 scholarships, two post-doctoral fellowships, the creation of a new bachelor's degree in geotechnical engineering, and initiatives to increase female engineering enrolments by 15 per cent.

UQ Vice-Chancellor, Professor Deborah Terry, said the agreement would build on a strong and long-standing connection with Rio Tinto, and would provide a broad range of benefits.

“UQ applauds Rio Tinto's support for future academic leaders, because it will give recent PhD graduates career paths that encourage them to educate and mentor coming generations of scientists and engineers.”

Rio Tinto Energy Chief Executive, Doug Ritchie, said the agreement brought a strong focus to integrated and practical learning, collaboration on curriculum, improving equity and access to university for a diverse range of students, and would ultimately build a sustainable talent pipeline.

“This initiative is aimed at building skills and capability for the mining industry both now and into the future,” Mr Ritchie said.

“The 39 scholarships, the first of which will be available from semester one 2013, will provide financial support to students throughout their university degrees, access to mining related education, field trips and internships.

“We look forward to helping increase the number of students in hard to fill disciplines such as engineering and earth sciences, as well as increasing the diversity of student intakes.

“This agreement will help provide a healthy talent pipeline into our two-year Rio Tinto global graduate development programme.”

It's the third such agreement for Rio Tinto, which has also set up education agreements with The University of Western Australia and Imperial College London.

The Western Australian Government has announced $6 million in funding over three years to deliver ‘crucial’ climate and marine research under the Integrated Marine Observing System.

State Science and Innovation Minister John Day said the Western Australian Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS) utilised a new array of moored buoys, ocean gliders and acoustic listening stations that were gathering important climate and weather data. 

“The ocean off WA influences our climate and weather every day - it also contains valuable fisheries, oil and gas reserves and unique marine biodiversity that attract tourists from across the world.

“The Government’s $6million investment provides research infrastructure to enable the State’s world-class marine and ocean scientists to generate new insights and understanding, ensuring the sustainable management of waters off the coast of WA for future generations. 

Working from its Research Vessel Solander, Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) is operating moored buoys at four sites near Broome on the Kimberley coast, and three near Dampier on the Pilbara coast, in water depths from 50 to 400 metres.

The buoys have sensors measuring ocean temperature, salinity, currents and water quality. This data will be used to improve numerical models of the ocean, used by scientists and managers in government and industry. Later this year, Curtin University will deploy acoustic listening stations to provide new information on a range of ocean phenomena, including movements of whales and fish.

The Federal Government has launched the new $1.1 million Australia-China Clean Coal Technology Partnership Fund, aimed at accelerating the deployment of low emissions coal technology to reduce emissions from coal-fired power stations.

The Fund is an initiative of the Australia-China Joint Coordination Group on Clean Coal Technology (JCG), which is supported by $20 million in funding from the Australian Government’s National Low Emissions Coal Initiative.

Federal Minister for Resources and Energy, Martin Ferguson, described the fund as a step towards deepening the cooperation between Australia and China to develop low emissions coal technologies, such as post-combustion capture, oxy-fuel combustion and gasification.

“Given Australia is the largest coal exporter in the world and China comprises half of global coal consumption, it is vital that we work together to develop technologies that can reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with coal.

The JCG Partnership Fund will focus on strengthening Australia and China collaborative ties by offering research and industry organisations support to provide exchanges, secondments, workshops and symposiums in the field of in low-emissions coal technology development.

The Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE) will manage the Fund and now invites applications from Australian and Chinese research and industry representatives to apply for funding to support collaborative low emission coal initiatives.

The Federal Government is aiming to foster relationships between research bodies and educational institutions by establishing a new $16 million multidisciplinary Science of Learning Research Centre.

The new centre will be responsible for identifying new teaching practices that are based on solid scientific evidence and will be administered by the Australian Research Council (ARC).

Calling for eligible research institutions to apply to administer the new centre, Acting ARC Chief Executive Officer Ms Leanne Harvey said the Government is strengthening the country’s education system and focusing on identifying the best teaching methods to ensure that the nation’s children get the best start in life.

“This Science of Learning Research Centre will help Australia build a scientific evidence base that can directly inform teaching practices,” Ms Harvey said.

“It will do this by bringing together high-quality researchers, education professionals and parents, who will share their diverse knowledge and experience.

“Research translated into live educational settings will also be an essential activity of the centre. This first-hand situation will allow researchers to test the transfer of new insights into practice, and will integrate digital technology as a learning tool.

“Overall, with the centre, we aim to create a unified effort by practitioners and researchers and use solid research to work out what education practices work best. The Government will then draw on this experience and knowledge to drive transformational changes in teaching and learning for a smarter Australia.”

The Australian Crime Commission (ACC) and the Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC) have co-published a report which provides a national picture and nature and threat of serious and organised investment fraud in Australia.

Released by Federal Minister for Home Affairs and Justice Jason Clare, the report is based on the consolidation of open source information obtained under the ongoing Task Force Galilee.

“This is the first unclassified report of its kind. It indicates that more than 2600 Australians may have lost more than $113 million to serious and organised investment fraud in the last five years. That number could be even higher because people tend not to report this kind of crime,” Mr Clare said.

“The targets of this type of crime are primarily Australian men, aged over fifty. They are usually highly educated – and have high levels of financial literacy. They are likely to manage their own super.”

“These criminal syndicates usually operate from outside Australia. They use front companies and false names. Once they’ve stolen the money the website disappears and the trail goes dead.”

In the next two months every household in Australia will receive a letter warning them about this criminal activity and providing information on how to avoid becoming a victim.

The full report can be found here

http://www.crimecommission.gov.au/publications/other/serious-organised-investment-fraud-australia

The Australian National University has announced internationally renowned scientist Professor Andrew Roberts as the new Dean of the ANY College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences.

Currently serving as the Director of the ANU Research School of Earth Sciences (RSES), Professor Roberts will commence his new posting in August, replacing Professor Aidan Byrne who has been appointed CEO of the Australian Research Council (ARC).

Professor Roberts has been Director of RSES since joining the University in February 2010. He was previously Head of the School of Ocean and Earth Science at the University of Southampton and Associate Director of the UK’s National Oceanography Centre.

ANU Vice Chancellor Professor Ian Young welcomed Professor Roberts’ appointment, saying he takes the reins at the College at an exciting time for Science.

“He is widely respected in his discipline and his Research School, and he will bring to his new role a combination of enthusiasm and experience. He will be a flag bearer for the College, and lead by example. I congratulate him on his new role,” said Professor Young said.

The Federal Government has opened the $200 million Clean Technology Innovation Program (CTIP) to provide grants for Australian businesses to find and develop innovate ways of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Federal Minister for Industry and Innovation, Greg Combet, launched the merit-based grants program.

"We are looking for innovative projects involving applied research and development, proof of concept or early stage commercialisation activities,” Mr Combet said.

"The aim is to develop new clean technologies and associated services, including low emission and energy efficient solutions that reduce greenhouse gas emissions."

Mr Combet said the Government was looking to fund projects such as technologies that include generating energy from wind, solar, wave, tidal, hydro or geothermal power.

The Clean Technology Innovation Program will also help companies develop and commercialise technologies to improve energy efficiency in water treatment and waste management.

"It is about getting new products and services into the marketplace so households and businesses can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and prosper in a low carbon global economy," Mr Combet said.

This funding is a great opportunity for innovative local firms to access grants ranging from $50,000 to $5 million to improve Australian industry's competitiveness."

Grant funding will be made on a matching basis, meaning the Government will fund up to 50 per cent of the project cost.

The Program is now open and AusIndustry will be hosting information sessions around Australia to help businesses apply for these grants.

More information on the Clean Technology Innovation Program is available at www.ausindustry.gov.au or through the Hotline 13 28 46. 

Middle-aged women who spend long hours working are more at risk of gaining weight, according to a new study.

Published in the International Journal of Obesity, the study analysed the impact of employment status and the number of hours worked on the weight of middle-aged women and found those who worked in excess of 35 hours were more likely to experience weight gain.

Researchers led by Dr Nicole Au, from the Centre for Health Economics at Monash University, analysed 9276 women aged 45–50 years using the Australian Longitudinal Study of Women’s Health for 1996 and 1998. The study found 55 per cent of the women gained weight over the two-year period. On average the women gained 1.5 per cent of their initial weight while extreme amounts of weight gain were also evident.

Dr Au attributed longer working hours to increased weight gain with women spending less time maintaining their health and fitness levels.

“More than 60 per cent of Australian adults are now overweight or obese, representing a serious public health concern,” Dr Au said.

“The study highlights the growing number of Australian women entering the workforce and the effects on their ability to maintain a healthy weight. Extended work hours may reduce the time spent preparing home-cooked meals, exercising and sleeping which are risk factors for obesity.

“Policies that assist women who work long hours to reduce the time costs of sustaining a healthy diet and their physical activity routine may have positive benefits.”

Women working more than 49 hours were more likely to smoke and consume alcohol with 65 per cent drinking at risky levels and 36 per cent did not engage in any physical activity.

Tiger Airways has announced the appointment of Koay Peng Yen as the company’s new Group Chief Executive Officer, effective from 10 August. Mr Koay will take over from Chin Yau Seng, who will be returning to Singapore Airlines.

Mr Peng will face the daunting task of turning around the fortunes of the struggling company, despite having no previous experience in the airline business, a fact that Tiger Chairman J Y Pillay was quick to downplay.

“Notwithstanding that he is entering the airline industry for the first time, the Board assesses that his proven leadership and strategic skills, capacity for incisive thinking and facility for building cohesive teams are able to propel the Group to greater and sustainable heights,” Mr Pillay said.

Mr Peng has held a number of senior executive roles, including Executive Director of Pacific Carriers and PaxOcean Engineering Group.

Mr Pillay also paid thanks to Mr Seng, who’s return to the group’s parent group, Singapore Airlines, sparked the international search for a replacement CEO.

“On behalf of the Board, I extend our deep appreciation to Yau Seng for coming in at a critical period in the Company’s history, and stabilising the Group through a tumultuous period. He set the Group on a course of steady progress and improved governance,” added Mr Pillay.

Mr Koay will be proposed for election as Director at the Tiger AGM on the 31^st of July. 

Workplace Standards Tasmania has published the first report of the review into the state’s child labour laws.

Announced last year by the State Minister for Workplace Relations, David O’Byrne,  the review is being conducted to assess the following:

• Current laws are sufficient and appropriate to legally protect children employed in Tasmania;
• Any laws should be changed, strengthened or simplified to better protect children; and
• There should be increased education and compliance assessments to ensure the current laws are well understood and complied with.

Mr O’Byrne has released the report for public consultation and comment and can be found here:

http://www.wst.tas.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0014/200732/Child_Labour.pdf

Comment is invited on the issues raised in the report.  We are particularly seeking responses to the questions posed in the terms of reference, that is:

• Are the current laws sufficient and appropriate to legally protect children employed in Tasmania?
• Should any laws should be changed, strengthened or simplified to better protect children?
• Should there be increased education and compliance assessments to ensure the current laws are well understood and complied with?

Any comment must be in writing and should be addressed to ‘Review of Tasmanian Child Labour Laws’ and forwarded by:

Mail to:
Workplace Standards Tasmania
PO Box 56
ROSNY PARK  TAS  7018

Email to:
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The Education and Employment Committee, the body charged with carrying out the Prime Minister’s demand for an inquiry into workplace bullying, has announced it will travel to Sydney, Melbourne and Hobart over the coming days to hear from the community.

The Committee has announced it will hear from representatives of law societies, unions, industry groups, organisational psychologist is, workplace consultants, academic experts, community groups and individuals who have firsthand experience of workplace bullying.

“The Committee has received a strong response to its call for written submissions and is now seeking to explore issues associated with workplace bullying in greater detail,” Committee Chair Amanda Rishworth said.

“The Minister has asked us to complement work currently under way to develop a Code of Practice: Preventing and Responding to Workplace Bullying and initiatives by state and territory governments.”

As well as the formal public program available on the inquiry website, the Committee has set time to hear from individuals about their experiences of bullying in the workplace. To encourage maximum participation by individuals, who may be reluctant to be publicly identified, the media will not be permitted to report these individual impact statements and none of the statements provided to the Committee will be published. Others wishing to make statements or observe proceedings will be allowed to be present in the room.

“Bullying has serious consequences for individuals and the wider community. Every Australian has a right to feel safe and respected at work. While it is not the role of the Committee to intervene in or consider individual cases, we welcome submissions from employers, employees and their representative organisations regarding proposals and suggestions for securing workplaces against bullying at a national level,” Ms Rishworth said.

The Committee has announced the following meeting times

Sydney

Date: Tuesday, 10 July, 2012

Venue: Macquarie Room, Parliament of New South Wales

Time:                              

Melbourne

Date: Wednesday, 11 July, 2012

Venue: Legislative Council Room, Victorian Parliament

Time:                              

Hobart

Date: Thursday, 12 July, 2012

Venue: Tasmania Legislative Council

Time:   

The hearings are broadcasted live on Live on http://www.aph.gov.au/News_and_Events/Watch_Parliament

Internationally recognised chemist Professor Andrew Holmes has been awarded the prestigious Royal Medal from the Royal Society London, the only Australian in 10 years to receive the accolade.

Professor Holmes received the medal for his work in applied organic electronic materials. His work in the field culminated with his contribution to the discovery of light emitting polymers, which have uses in solid state lighting (LED), flat panel displays, transistors and solar cells. He has led the Chemistry team in the ongoing collaboration between the CSIRO and the University of Cambridge.

Professor Holmes is a CSIRO Fellow, University of Melbourne Laureate Professor of Chemistry at the Bio21 Institute and a Distinguished Research Fellow at the Imperial College London.

In Australia Professor Holmes leads the Victorian Organic Solar Cells Consortium involving the University of Melbourne, CSIRO, Monash University and industry partners. The Consortium aims to deliver efficient flexible printed solar cells for low cost applications in electricity generation and benefits from a strong collaboration with the Imperial College Doctoral Training Centre in Plastic Electronics.

Professor Holmes is one of three Royal Medals that are awarded annually for the most important contributions in the physical, biological and applied or interdisciplinary sciences.

The Royal Medals were founded by His Majesty King George IV in 1825 and are awarded annually by Her Majesty The Queen on the recommendation of the Council of the Royal Society. Professor Holmes will be presented with the Medal at the Royal Society’s Anniversary Day meeting in November 2012.

Construction has begun on the Derwent Park Stormwater harvesting and Industrial Reuse project, which is expected to save 476 megalitres per year. 

Federal Parliamentary Minister for Urban Water Senator Don Farrell said that the project would significantly reduce demand on drinking water supplies and reduce the impact of urban run-off on local waterways.

“The scheme will harvest stormwater from the Derwent Park catchment, treat it and supply it to the Nyrstar Hobart Smelter and Moonah Primary School,” Senator Farrell said.

“This project will replace the equivalent of more than 190 Olympic-sized swimming pools of drinking-quality water with treated stormwater to be used in industrial processes at the smelter and for the irrigation of gardens and sports ovals at Moonah Primary School.”

“Long-term, the benefits for the community will be realised for the next 50 years, because it is being built to be upgraded and improved into the future to include other water uses and to achieve further environmental outcomes by removing more pollutants.”

The Queensland Government has announced plans to legislate to protect electricity customers from early termination fees if they choose to change companies.

State Minister for Energy Mark McArdle said the legislation would give Queenslanders greater freedom to shop around for providers. 

“Householders should be able to find the best possible deal and this change will ensure they won’t be penalised for exercising their right to shop around,” Mr McArdle said.

“Some companies break fee charges of around $70 is enough to put many customers off looking for better deals.”

The Electricity Amendment Bill will make changes to the Electricity Act (1994) including prohibiting early termination fees for small and residential customers where they are notified of an increase in charges above the regulated price.

In addition to the legislative changes the Queensland Government will be altering subsidy arrangements with respect to the Tariff 11 price freeze to ensure retailers who charge Tariff 11 customers above the notified price do not receive a subsidy from the Government for those customers.

Theiss Degremont has announced it has produced the first reverse osmosis water from the Victorian Desalination Plant near Wonthaggi.

Reverse osmosis (RO) is the first desalinated water produced from the plant, with the operation set to produce its first potable water expectd to be produced later this month when the plant remineralises the RO water.

The plant uses a 1.2km underground intake tunnel to pump seawater into its filter prior to the reverse osmosis process where ultrafine RO membranes separate salt from seawater.

The quantity of production will progressively increase during commissioning over the next five to six months and be fully operational before the end of the year. Reliability testing is expected to be finalised in February 2013.

During commissioning, once testing proves the water quality meets Australian Drinking Water Guidelines and contract requirements, water will gradually enter the water supply network via Cardinia Reservoir.

Mineral sands miner Iluka Resources Limited has issued an update predicting lower sales volumes and deteriorating economic outlooks.

In the revised guidance, Iluka  said that “a marked deterioration in major regional economies, more pessimistic official forward outlooks and commentary and the absence of anticipated or effective policy responses since the company’s previous disclosure in early May, have had a flow on impact on mineral sands customer confidence levels and future business performance expectations, which is likely to influence sales volumes materially over the remainder of 2012”.

The statement follows an initial downgrade in May, which it tempered with the hope of improved sales in the second half.

However, Managing Director, David Robb, said that the revised forcast “reflects the fact that we are considerably more pessimistic about the performance of major global economies and their future trajectories than we were at the beginning of the year, or indeed two months ago”.

Iluka is now predicting sales of 200,000 – 300,000 tonnes of zircon, down from the 400,000 tonnes forecasted in May and 450,000 tonnes in the previous forecast, with total sales of zircon, rutile and synthetic rutile in the range of 510 – 720 thousand tonnes, down from 965,000 tonnes forecast in May, and total sales of 1,036 thousand tonnes in 2011.

The Western Australian Government has sold a 15-hectare ‘strategic industrial’ lot to logistics specialist Toll Group, establishing the company’s first Pilbara operations.

Toll has announced it will develop a fully operational transport centre for the majority of its Karratha business services, comprising warehouses, workshopes, offices and other driver exchanges.

State Regional Development and Lands Minister, Brendon Grylls, welcomed the decision by Toll Group, saying it will employ about 40 local staff with a view to expand operations as the site develops.

“The location of the industrial land at Gap Ridge, close to the town centre and Karratha Airport, is proving to be an attractive and logical choice for businesses looking to locate in the Pilbara,” Mr Grylls said.

“For Toll Group, the site provides a strategic development opportunity, due to its proximity to key markets in the resources sector.”

The company will become the latest high profile business to take up residence at Gap Ridge, after leading Australian engineering company Monadelphous purchased a 6.9ha lot at the LandCorp estate earlier this year. 

The 260ha estate near Karratha will yield 108 lots in eight stages.

Leighton Contracts has announced it has been awarded a three and a half year contract extension for the provision of mining services at Sonoma Mine in Queensland’s northern Bowen Basin.

Valued at $738 million, the contract will see Leighton carry out overall project management of the site, including site statutory obligations, fleet maintenance and operational services for coal and overburden mining.

Leighton has been involved with the Sonoma operation since 2007, when its mining team commenced operations at the greenfield site. The mine has since produced a mix of 14 million tonnes of hard coking and thermal coal for rial and shipping.

Greg Fokes, General Manager – Coal, said the Mining Division’s experience and proven capabilities in coal mining and mine services had prompted Sonoma Mine Management to continue to partner with Leighton Contractors.

“We are very excited to once again work with Sonoma Mine Management. The contract extension at Sonoma recognises the hard work that the mining team has put into the project over the past five years and we look forward to many more opportunities in the future,” he said.

“Thanks to our trusted partnership with Sonoma Mine Management, we are thrilled to be joining forces on two projects associated with QCoal – this contract plus the $430million contract at the nearby Jax Mine.”

Results of a survey released by the Victorian Health Intelligence Unit show that around one in 20 adult Victorians has diabetes.

The Victorian Health Monitor, a biomedical risk factor survey and diet and nutrition survey conducted for the first time in Victoria, provides prevalence estimates in the Victorian population of chronic diseases and associated biomedical, nutritional and lifestyle-related risk factors.

Key findings on diabetes show:

• The prevalence of diabetes was 4.6 per cent for all Victorians in 2009–2010. The prevalence of type 1 and type 2 diabetes were 0.6 per cent and 4.0 per cent, respectively;
• A further 4.3 per cent of Victorians were at increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes; and
• The prevalence of diabetes was higher in those who were physically inactive and those who sat for more than eight hours a day, as well as people who were obese and those with hypertension.

The Victorian Government is investing $22.2 million over four years for the Life! Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease Prevention Program which  provides Victorians 50 years and over at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes with the skills and motivation to adopt a healthier lifestyle through effective lifestyle changes.

It has also developed the first ever Victorian Public Health and Wellbeing Plan to fight rising rates of The Prevention Community Model (PCM) — a jointly funded initiative of the State Government of Victoria and the Australian Government —aims to improve health and reduce health disparities in selected Victorian communities by addressing the underlying causes of chronic preventable disease.

Operating across 14 local government areas, the PCM will reach over 1.3 million Victorians, through schools, early childhood services, workplaces and the broader community.