Industry News

The Queensland Government has appointed former Mackay Mayor Colin Meng to assess local councils’ cases for de-amalgamation.

The Local Government Association of Queensland (LGAQ) has welcomed Mr Meng’s appointment, saying it is an important step in assisting council’s with a complicated process.

“Councils who do opt to push on with de-amalgamation will be navigating a difficult and complex process, so it’s good to see the Newman Government fulfilling this election commitment,” LGAQ President Paul Bell said.

“Unfortunately de-amalgamation will be no bed of roses – the high cost will certainly have residents thinking twice before they tick a box saying they want to go back to the way things were.”

A number of councils have already expressed interest in de-amalgamation, including Noosa and Port Douglas.

The Australian Centre of Excellence for Local Government (ACELG), in partnership of the University of Canberra, has published a survey into the use of social media in local government in Australia.

The Using Social Media in Local Government survey explores the application, adoption and use of social media tools and techniques in the local government sector. It was designed to capture the views, experiences and perceptions of local government leaders about the contribution that social media is making - and has the potential to make -  in communicating with residents, ratepayers and other stakeholders, and in improving the planning, organisation, and delivery of services.

The survey also explores the benefits, risks and barriers to councils in using social media, and identifies those areas where social media might best serve the sector.

The ACELG found that the steady growth of social media, combined with its ever changing and expanding repertoire of tools, presents both opportunities and challenges for local government.

The main findings of the survey are:

• There are clearly benefits for many councils in the use of social media, in particular, for engaging with hard to reach communities and fostering a more collaborative, transparent approach to community governance.
• Councils are being encouraged to consider the use of social media as part of their emergency management strategy.
• Social media use is not without its risks and can be resource intensive when developing strategies and establishing platforms.
• The results of the survey clearly show that while some councils have forged ahead with a social lmedia strategy, and are beginning to reap the benefits, many more are waiting in the wings – looking for guidance and support from the sector.
• In particular, councils are anxious about how social media fits in to their record keeping obligations, and the possibility of litigation should defamatory material be placed on their social media sites. Currently, authoritative information about these issues is difficult to source, and theadvice is not always clear, varying as it does from state to state.
• The most significant barrier to participation in social media for most council is an overall lack of understanding of the various platforms and the way that they could be incorporated into councils existing communication platforms.
• The provision of local government specific sector wide training and documentation, incorporating case studies and online tools would go a long way to assisting councils to benefit from a social media strategy.

ACELG’s full report can be found here (.pdf)

The Federal Government has announced $27.8 million in funding for seven projects throughout South Australia as part of the second round of the Regional Development Australia Fund.

The funding will see five South Australian Councils and two other recipients share in the funding as follows:

• $10.03million to Wakefield Regional Council towards the $30.11million Wakefield Region Water Supply Upgrade;
• $5million to the City of Port Augusta towards the $12.27 million Far North Regional Community Sports Hub;
• $5million to the Unity Housing Company towards the $26.88million Northern Region Affordable Housing Initiative;
• $3.91 million to the Leukaemia Foundation of Australia Ltd towards the $9.57million Leukaemia Foundation Patient Village;
• $2.21 million to the District Council of Franklin Harbour towards the $12.16million Lucky Bay Harbour Extension;
• $910,000 to the District Council of Coober Pedy towards the $1.84 million "Water For Growth" project; and
• $800,000 to the District Council of Tatiara towards the $1.71million Keith and District Sport and Recreation Centre Upgrade.

Local Government Association President, Mayor Kym McHugh, welcomed the funding, and has urged more bodies to continue to apply for funding.

“Coober Pedy and Tatiara had successful outcomes this time after being knocked back in the first Round, perseverance pays off,” Mayor McHugh said.

"There will be more opportunities and the strength of the application could hinge on the ability to leverage off other Federal and State funding opportunities and persistence.

"The $27.8 million from the RDAF announced by the Federal Government, today, will deliver both economic and social dividends for the fund specific communities but will also have flow on effects across the State."

OHS recruitment specialist National Safety Recruitment (NSR) has conducted a major annual salary survey of the occupational health and safety workforce, finding that the sector attracts salaries of up to 90 per cent above the average national salary.

The survey found that the average salary packages across the sector are around $133,854 per annum. The survey shows the mining ($174,700), oil & gas ($187,417) and construction ($173,819) sectors continue to dominate the salary scale.

“It is not surprising that we are seeing salaries climb as the demand for OHS professionals exceeds supply”, said Andrew Douglas, a leading practitioner and author in OHS.  

The introduction of harmonisation legislation and increased requirements in due diligence has business focused on safety and its willingness to employ and pay for top safety professionals on the rise”, said Douglas.

Survey highlights:

• Average salary $133,854, more than 90% above average Australian salary of $69,992 *ABS
• Top 3 paid industries continue to dominate average salary scale:
  • Oil & Gas / Petroleum ($187,417)
  • Mining ($174,700)
  • Construction ($173,819)
  • Mining total salary packages as high as $557,000 per annum
  • Entry level / graduate roles can expect healthy average salary packages of $60,458
  • Despite economic uncertainty, full time employment is solid (94%)
  • Attractive salary packages on offer with exceeding 9% super (25%) and bonus (82%)

Salary highlights:

• OHS/EHS Graduate / Administration / Support Officer - average total salary package of $60,458
• WorkCover/RTW Coordinator / Advisor / Consultant - average total salary package of $87,586
• Occupational Health Nurse / Health & Wellbeing Advisor – average total salary package of $88,543
• OHS/EHS Advisor / Coordinator / Consultant - average total salary package of $125,978
• Environmental/Sustainability Advisor / Coordinator / Consultant – average total salary package of $124,429
• WorkCover/RTW Manager / State Manager - average total salary package of $114,997
• Quality/Compliance Manager - average total salary package of $128,611
• OHS/EHS Manager / State Manager - average total salary package of $159,187
• WorkCover/RTW National Manager / General Manager - average total salary package of $147,886
• OHS/EHS National Manager - average total salary package of $178,474
• OHS/EHS Group Manager / General Manager /Director - average total salary package of $256,250

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has released statistics that have tracked a strong increase in engineering construction activity. The statistics show that total engineering construction has increased by 13.3 per cent in the March quarter, ending with a 56.2 per cent annual increase.

The private sector drove the boom, recording a total 19.3 per cent increase in the March quarter, ending with a 52 per cent increase over the year. Public sector recorded a contracting in the value of work done, falling 1.7 per cent for the quarter, or 3.2 per cent for the year.

Total engineering work for the quarter was valued at $29.2 billion

The full report can be found here

The New South Wales Department of Education and Communities has joined the US based Center for Curriculum Redesign, a prestigious forum that includes Harvard and Stanford univeristies and the Finnish Board of Education in its membership.

The not-for-profit forum brings together non-government organisations, academic institutions, corporations and foundations with the aim of creating a school curriculum aimed at catering for the needs of students in the 21^st century.

The department’s director-general, Dr Michele Bruniges, said the centre aims to strike a balance between theoretical knowledge and practical skills to create an all-encompassing curriculum.

"In many instances, the centre believes today's school curriculum is crowded with outdated content," Dr Bruniges said.

"The centre creates a forum for conversations between experts on a global level to both ‘clean up' curriculum and determine what must be added to meet 21st century needs.

"The long-term benefits of participating in, and contributing to, the centre's work will considerably assist teaching and learning in New South Wales public schools.

"Centre membership identifies this state as an education leader in Australia and internationally."

The Victorian Government’s ‘tough new building and construction’ industry guidelines has come into effect, with State Minister for Finance Robert Clark saying the move will drive productivity and improve work practices across the industry.

"The new guidelines to the Victorian Code of Practice for the Building and Construction Industry will help to deliver value for money for the State's infrastructure projects, eliminate unlawful activity on construction sites and promote a safe and productive culture across the industry,” Mr Clark said.

Mr Clark said the Victorian Coalition Government acted to introduce these guidelines in the wake of Commonwealth government moving to abolish the Australian Building and Construction Industry Commissioner and water down national guidelines.

Mr Clark said the Construction Code Compliance Unit (CCCU) in the Department of Treasury and Finance led by the Director, Mr Nigel Hadgkiss, would monitor compliance with the new Victorian guidelines.

The guidelines will:

• apply to all on-site public building and construction work undertaken in Victoria;
• be binding on all contractors in relation to their future privately funded work;
• prohibit parties entering into sham contracting arrangements or arrangements designed to avoid strike pay, right of entry and freedom of association obligations;
• prohibit coercion or pressure to make over-award payments;
• require tenderers for major projects to submit detailed plans which identify their approach to various matters including workplace safety, dispute resolution, management of subcontractors;
• require contractors to take all reasonable steps to bring any unlawful industrial action to an end, including by pursuing legal action where possible;
• identify practices that are inconsistent with freedom of association and require contractors to adopt policies to promote the right to join or not join a union;
• only allow establishment of project agreements in exceptional circumstances; and
• consolidate public building and construction procurement policy for the Victorian Government in DTF to streamline these functions alongside compliance monitoring.

Mr Clark said the guidelines would also give DTF the authority to refer all breaches of the law to the appropriate agencies, and co-ordinate compliance and enforcement activity with appropriate agencies.

The Victorian Government has announced the successful recipients of funding under its new $10 million rail freight incentive scheme.

The Mode Shift Incentive Scheme (MSIS) aims to encourage the use of rail freight as an alternative to road freight to reduce congestion in the Port of Melbourne and regional roads.

Transport Minister for Public Transport Terry Mulder said the six companies which received funding had committed to moving almost 50,000 containers or the equivalent of 65,000 truck trips into and out of the Port of Melbourne by rail instead of road.

"This new initiative increases the mode shift commitment to six companies from four under a previous program, greatly increasing the number of containers being moved by rail and encouraging competition,” Mr Mulder said.

The companies which have received funding are:

• Tocumwal corridor - Patrick Container and Regional Port Enterprises;
• Horsham corridor - Wimmera Container Line (WCL) and Qube Holdings;
• Warrnambool corridor – Wettenhalls; and
• Mildura corridor - Iron Horse Intermodal

Mr Mulder said the MSIS encouraged industry to increase the amount of freight carried on rail by providing incentives to move containerised freight movement from road to rail.

In order to be successful, applicants had to compete for funding and demonstrate they could provide the greatest economic, environmental and social benefits from reducing truck movements and shifting to rail.

"Promoting competition and adopting a rigorous approach to calculating the benefits has enabled an increase in the number of companies receiving funding and the overall number of containers being moved by rail by around 16,000 per year," Mr Mulder said.

The Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV) has announced council rates will rise an average $75, or five per cent, this coming financial year to help cover the growing costs of community service demands, hikes in Government levies and the impact of the Federal Government’s carbon pricing scheme.

President of the MAV, Cr Bill McArthur, said that as the economy slows, councils are increasingly under strain to increase community services to meet local needs.

“The Local Government Cost Index has forecast it will cost an average 3.9 per cent more this year to provide the same level and mix of services as last year. That’s around $58 per ratepayer to maintain the status quo,” Cr McArthur said.

“Local government’s contribution to vital community program such as aged care, youth and family services continues to grow as funding from other levels of government fails to keep pace with service delivery costs.”

A recent analysis conducted by the MAV shows that the carbon tax will see council costs increase by 0.8 per cent. Excluding any mitigation programs to reduce council emissions, if carbon price cost increases are collected through rates it would equal a median rate rise of 1.5 per cent – around $22 per ratepayer.

Cr McArthur said a common misconception was that rates should rise in line with CPI, which measures a common basket of household goods and services not construction, material and wage costs facing councils.

“Councils need staff to deliver over 100 community services and maintain $60 billion in local assets.

“It’s never easy striking a balance between keeping rates affordable and delivering everything that communities have come to expect. When councils ask what services they could reduce, communities generally want all the same services but at a lower cost.

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has left the country’s official cash rate unchanged at 3.50 per cent, citing an unchanged outlook on inflation coupled with a stronger than expected economic performance in the first half the year.

In his statement, RBA Governor Glenn Stevens said that while financial markets remain volatile and regional growth continues to be somewhat subdued, he said that a strong business credit result had bolstered overall credit growth.

Mr Stevens also sited historically strong terms of trade as an ongoing buoy for the Australian economy and will assist in keeping inflation within the 2-3 per cent target band.

The Governor also cited a fall in commodity prices as a means to relieve pressure on inflation, providing some countries the ability to ease macroeconomic policies, resulting in a stronger control over inflation.

“As a result of the sequence of earlier decisions, there has been a material easing in monetary policy over the past six months. At today's meeting, the Board judged that, with inflation expected to be consistent with the target and growth close to trend, but with a more subdued international outlook than was the case a few months ago, the stance of monetary policy remained appropriate,” Mr Stevens concluded. 

The New South Wales Government has announced the full suite of water new allocations for the state’s water users for the 2012/13 water year.

Effective from 1 July, the full announcements can be found as follows:

• Greater Metropolitan 
• Lower Macquarie groundwater sources 
• Upper and Lower Namoi groundwater sources 
• Namoi Valley 
• North Coast 
• North western region 
• Peel Valley 
• Macquarie-Cudgegong Valleys 
• Lower North Coast 
• Lower Lachlan groundwater 
• Lachlan Valley 
• Lower Gwydir 
• Hunter 
• Gwydir Valley 
• Great Artesian Basin 
• Central Coast 
• NSW Border Rivers 
• Belubula River 
• Brogo Dam and South Coast 
• Murrumbidgee 
• Billabong Creek 
• Murray Valley and Lower Darling 
• Murray and Lower Murray alluvial 
• Murray-Darling Basin groundwater 
• Tarcutta and Adelong creek 
• Lower Murray Groundwater sources 
• Lower Murrumbidgee Groundwater sources  

Public education in Tasmania is continuing to show steady improvement over the past five years, according to a new report released earlier this week.

State Minister for Education, Nick McKim, said that the Tasmania’s Education Performance Report 2011 shows that the Government’s policies are having the desired effects on the education system.

"This online report focuses on improvement across a broad set of 11 criteria ranging from readiness for school to student retention,” Mr McKim said.

"Since the release of the first report in 2007, there has been a steady improvement across a range of measures including early years, literacy and numeracy, staff satisfaction and staff attendance categories, as well as parental satisfaction with reporting.”

Mr McKim said that it was pleasing to note that Tasmania's apparent retention rate for students in Year 10 to Year 12 has remained stable, consolidating recent improvements.

"We have maintained our focus on supporting students to make successful transitions from Year 10 to Year 11, and on continued engagement through to completion of Year 12," Mr McKim said.

The full report can be found here

The Tasmanian Government has announced Fiarbrother Pty Ltd as the winning bidder for the $7 million contract to transform Hobart’s Macquarie Wharf Number 2 Shed into a world-class Antarctic and cruise ship centre.

"This Antarctic and cruise ship centre will provide a massive boost for those two important industries, and another source of pride for people who love the Hobart waterfront," State Infrastructure David O’Bryne said.

"Hobart has the highest concentration of Antarctic and sub-Antarctic researchers in Australia, and the Government is working strongly with the industry to attract more East Antarctic nations to adopt Hobart as their Antarctic gateway.

"Our deep-water port is also going from strength-to-strength as a cruise ship destination, with another bumper summer coming up.

Adani and QR National have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that will see the companies jointly evaluate an integrated rail proposal for the Carmichael Coal Mine in Queensland’s Galilee Basin.

In a joint statement today, Adani Chairman, Gautam Adani and QR National Managing Director & CEO Lance Hockridge said preliminary work between the two companies will now move into a feasibility stage.

The study will assess rail infrastructure and haulage services for 60 to 80 million tonnes of thermal coal from the Carmichael Mine to the Abbot Point Cola Terminal and the future Dudgeon Point Coal Terminal.

“A vertically integrated solution where Adani and QR National work across the mine, rail and port interfaces will result in a very efficient and cost effective supply chain,” Mr Adani said.

“The joint evaluation will draw on the significant work done to date by both parties on logistics solutions – Adani with its mine and port developments, and QR National through its Central Queensland Integrated Rail Project.“ 

Mr Hockridge said: “Through preliminary work we’ve been doing with Adani, it became clear there was an alignment of interests in developing an integrated rail solution for their Carmichael Mine.

“The decision by the Queensland Government declaring a common rail corridor means that we can now accelerate work on the feasibility of the rail solution required.”

State Deputy Premier and Minister for State Development, Infrastructure and Planning Jeff Seeney said this co-operative approach was exactly what the Government had sought, following extensive negotiations with all proponents of mine and rail developments in the region.

“Adani and QR National’s decision to jointly evaluate an integrated rail project and accelerate work into the feasibility stage is good news for the companies and the state,” Mr Seeney said.

Western Australian water Minister Bill Marmion has met with water industry leaders from around the world in Singapore to discuss urban water solutions.

Mr Marmion has attended the Singapore International Water Week conference, themed around Water Solutions for Liveable and Sustainable cities.

Singapore International Water Week is an opportunity to learn from world leaders in the water industry and share knowledge and experiences which will help in our goal to become climate resilient,” Mr Marmion said.

“Singapore is internationally recognised as a leader in water recycling for the last decade and I am very excited to be touring the NEWater reuse facilities. This is an important learning opportunity as the Water Corporation progresses water recycling through the groundwater replenishment trial.

“This type of cutting edge technology will ensure we have sustainable drinking water independent of what our climate throws at us.

“I am extremely proud to be able to share our knowledge with the rest of the world at Singapore International Water Week and believe our experiences in Western Australia will help other countries suffering from the effects of a drying climate.”

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) has published a report that has found that one in ten months of children aged 24 months or less are diagnosed with perinatal depression.

The Perinatal depression: data from 2010 Australian National Infant Feeding Survey report shows that an estimated 111,000 mothers are diagnosed with depression, while 56,000 had perinatal depression.

“Certain population groups are more likely to experience perinatal depression,” said AIHW spokesperson Ann Hunt.

“For example, almost 19% of mothers who smoked daily experienced perinatal depression, compared to about 9% of those who didn’t smoke,” Ms Hunt said.

“And mothers living in the lowest income households were more likely to experience perinatal depression than those in the highest (14% compared to 7%).”

Other groups more likely to experience perinatal depression included younger mothers under the age of 25, mothers who were overweight or obese, those who spoke English as their main language at home, and mothers who had had an emergency caesarean section.

The rate of perinatal depression also varied by location.

For example, mothers living in Major cities and Remote/Very remote areas reported slightly lower rates of perinatal depression than those from other geographical areas.

Perinatal depression was less commonly reported among mothers who had higher levels of education (bachelor degree or higher), were working at the time of the survey, and primarily spoke a language other than English at home.

“Of those we know about who sought help, the majority received help from their general practitioner or support from family and friends,” Ms Hunt said.

The survey can be found here

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has confirmed it is investigating the increasingly bizarre takeover bid surrounding retail giant David Jones.

ASIC has been monitoring the developments closely since the offer was made public on 29 June to its withdrawal on 2July.

“ASIC’s priority is to ensure market integrity is maintained and that markets are fair, orderly and transparent and that, if there has been a breach of the law, those responsible are held to account,” the Commission said in a statement.

The investigation is concerned with a $1.65 billion offer made by UK based EB Private Equity, which sent the company’s share price soaring by 15 per cent.

The offer was then pulled, but not before it was found that EB Private Equity’s headquarters was a P.O Box in Northern England. 

The Minister for Science and Research, Senator Chris Evans, has announced the part-time appointments to both the CSIRO Board and the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) Board.

Professor Thomas Spurling is being reappointed to the CSIRO Board, and Ms Shirley In’t Veld, who has expertise in commerce and law, broad knowledge of the energy sector and extensive experience as a business manager, will join the board for the first time.

Appointments to the ANSTO Board are Professor David Copolov (who is being re-appointed) and Professor Judy Raper.

Around 11,000 ex Ansett employees will receive their superannuation entitlements a decade after the company was put into administration. The Trustee, Mercer Superannuation, has advised the Federal Government that approximately $16 million has been paid to members.

The Ansett Residual Superannuation Fund was established in 2004 by the former trustees of the Ansett Australia Ground Staff Superannuation Plan and the Ansett Australia Flight Attendants Superannuation Plan to pay outstanding death and disablement claims before distributing the remaining assets to members.

"Payments have been made progressively over the last few months and by 28 June 2012, all outstanding superannuation entitlements have been paid,” Minister for Superannuation Bill Shorten said.

A new report published by the Bureau of Resources and Energy Economics (BREE) confirms that the increasingly strong demand for commodities has confirmed the massive infrastructure demand in Australia’s regions.

The Australian bulk commodity exports and infrastructure outlook to 2025 report examines global demand and Australian supply of key commodities and the timing of infrastructure investment across Australia’s major minerals regions.

"To maximise long-term benefits from Australia's resources boom, physical and social infrastructure must keep pace with potential increases in export volumes," Minister for Regional Development Simon Crean said at the report’s release.

"But no one government alone can fund the massive demand for infrastructure. Such a view inevitably results in buck-passing, inaction and a blame game.

"The alternative is a partnership between the three levels of government, and where appropriate, the private sector. Our Government is paving the way for these strong investment partnerships.

“Australia has infrastructure in place or under construction to support exports until 2017, but beyond 2017 much more infrastructure will be required, much of which is still being planned.”

“Expansions to port and rail infrastructure will be needed to support increased coal exports from the Hunter Valley in New South Wales and the Bowen, Surat and Galilee Basins in Queensland, while the Pilbara in Western Australia is expected to remain Australia's dominant iron ore region.

"The growth in Australia's LNG exports over the next decade and beyond will be supported by projects in Gladstone, the Pilbara and Darwin.

"In order for substantial investments to be made to expand Australia's infrastructure it is imperative that all tiers of government continue to work together with industry to ensure infrastructure is in place, on time, and within budget."

The outlook found:

• Based on scenario analysis, Australia's exports to 2025 for thermal coal could increase to between 267 and 383 million tonnes, to between 260 to 306 million tonnes for metallurgical coal, 885 to 1082 million tonnes for iron ore, and 86 to 130 million tonnes for LNG; and

• Projected export growth represents a potential volume increase from 2011 to 2025 of between 119 to 235 million tonnes for thermal coal, 127 to 172 million tonnes for metallurgical coal, 446 to 643 million tonnes for iron ore, and 67 to 111 million tonnes for LNG.

The report is available at: www.bree.gov.au