Industry News

The Western Australian Government has announced the appointment of a steering committee to oversee the development of the proposed Pilbara Maritime CUF (PMCUF) in the state’s North-West region.

The PMCUF steering committee will be chaired by Richard Muirhead and will include representatives from the departments of Commerce, Regional development and Lands, State Development and Transport, together with members from LandCorp and the Port Headland and Dampier Port Authorities.

“The Pilbara Maritime Common Use Facility is a concept that was developed in response to increasing demand for facilities to service both the offshore oil and gas market and the defence industry in the region,”  Minister for Finance and Commerce Simon O’Brien said.

“I have appointed an experienced and highly credentialed steering committee to provide guidance and co-ordinate the delivery of this exciting project.”

Mr O’Brien said the next 15 months were critical to the project’s development.

“The steering committee will be involved in progressing four detailed feasibility studies looking into market demand, economic benefit, front-end engineering and design and financial viability,” he said.

The PMCUF will provide access to common-use infrastructure for all regional businesses with capabilities in the support and operation of commercial vessels servicing the offshore oil and gas projects, housing and construction, and requirements of the Royal Australian Navy. 

The Federal Government has approved the release of funding for the detailied planning and design work on the fourt and final section of Townsville’s Ring Road.

Once completed, the Ring Road will remove 5,000 trucks a day from local streets, while improving access to the town’s port.

“The planning and detailed design work, along with the associated community consultations, will take about 18 months to complete.  We expect construction to begin in early 2014 and take around two years,” Federal Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Anthony Albanese said.

Jointly funded by the Federal (up to $160 million) and Queensland ($40 million) governments, the project will connect the Douglas Arterial to the Bruce Highway at Mt Low.

WorkCover Queensland has launched a website for the construction industry providing dedicated news, events and information for employers in the construction sector.

WorkCover Queensland manages 27,000 current workers compensation policies with workers employed in the construction industry, making it one of the state’s largest workforces. In 2011, WorkCover received over 10,800 new statutory claims for the construction industry alone, making it the third highest industry for claims after the healthcare and social assistance, and manufacturing industries.

The new construction industry site is here.

The South Australian Government has announced the state is offering up to 20 billion litres of water to be sold to the Federal Government for use as environmental flow.

“This was extra water we had to buy to ensure we had enough water to keep Adelaide going,” Premier Jay Weatherill said.

“Our message to our irrigators today is we stand ready to back you in and do our fair share.”

Under the current draft Basin Plan, South Australia has been allocated a 101 gigalitre reduction from the River Murray water use. So far, 79 gigalitres of the 101 target have recovered from water purchases from irrigators, with the remaining water being obtained from water recovery projects under development.

The Queensland Government has announced it is ‘closely examining all options’ on the future of the state’s Tugun Desalination Plant  in a bid to save taxpayer losses on the $1.2 billion project.

“It doesn’t operate to its full capacity and keeping it idle is costing millions. The operating costs of the plant this financial year to the end of April has been $14.2 million,” State Minister for Energy and Water Supply Mark McArdle said.

“Whilst operating it in “hot standby” mode saves about $10 million per annum, compared to continuous operation at one third capacity, it also creates additional asset risks as the plant was not designed to go through frequent stop/start cycles.”

“I have therefore requested a review and a report on the best options for the operation of the desalination plant. This review will fully evaluate how best to use the efficiency and effectiveness of the plant in the short to long term.”

In 2004 the Gold Coast City Council planned for a 50 megalitre per day desalination plant at Tugun to counter water supply shortages on the Gold Coast. The Beattie government almost tripled the scale to 125 megalitres per day and the plant is operated under an alliance between Seqwater, Veolia Water Australia and John Holland Pty Ltd.

The City of Perth’s Heritage, Culture and The Arts Portal has won the People and Community category of the WA Spatial Excellence Awards.

The awards are jointly presented by SSSI (Surveying and Spatial Sciences Institute) and SIBA (Spatial Industries Business Association).  Their work encompasses the disciplines of land, hydrographic engineering and mining surveying, photogrammetry, cartography, geodesy, remote sensing and spatial information science. 

As a result of a joint project between the City and Digital Mapping Solutions (DMS), the City now has a fully integrated database of heritage management and conservation-related information which staff can access through a single media portal.

In their citation, the judging panel commented: “The City of Perth places a high importance on the preservation and conservation of heritage buildings within their local government area.  Their approach goes beyond that normally taken by a local government authority.” 

The City’s successful program brings together various information sources and makes them available via a digital mapping system.
 
Using the IntraMaps platform, it is now possible to access a vast amount of heritage information and spatial data on a ‘one-stop shop’ basis.

City of Perth CEO Frank Edwards said the City recognised the value of linking heritage data with other property information, such as rates and land ownership, and engaged DMS to assist in implementing the portal.

“DMS is a WA-based company that is a prominent provider of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to local governments throughout Australia and New Zealand,” Mr Edwards said. 

“Before development of the portal, individual business units managed their data in their own way, creating issues such as data duplication and inconsistency between units.

“There are about 360 heritage-listed sites in the city with a large amount of associated documentation in a variety of formats.  The information could include photographs, reports, tenure information, conservation plans and heritage assessment documentation.

“Our new system will make it easier to access such information and to manage the City’s award-winning heritage program more efficiently.

“The community benefits from quicker turnaround times for development applications and information requests.”

The program is still in its infancy and it is intended that it will be available to the general public in the future.

The services sector continued to contract in May, albeit at a slower pace, according to the latest Australian Industry Group/Commonwealth Bank Australian Performance of Services Index (Australian PSI) which lifted 3.9 points to 43.5 in the month (readings below 50 represent a contraction in activity with the distance from 50 indicative of the strength of the decrease).

Reports of weak trading were widespread in May with no state recording an expansion in services activity. The only sub-sector to expand was personal & recreational services.

Australian Industry Group Chief Executive, Innes Willox, said: "The widespread difficulties across the services sector continued in May. Global uncertainties have further shaken business and household confidence and this is reflected in slower sales and falling employment. There is little sign to date of any respite flowing from the reduction in interest rates or from the easing in the level of the dollar over recent weeks. The weakness in new orders is of particular concern suggesting that the difficulties facing services businesses are set to continue over coming months, adding further weight to calls for another interest rate cut," Mr Willox said.

Commonwealth Bank Senior Economist, John Peters said: "The latest soft Australian PSI result reinforces just why the RBA felt compelled to cut rates by a surprisingly aggressive 0.5 of a per cent in May to try to boost low household and business confidence. Indeed, the multi-speed growth pattern across sectors and regions in the national economy is weighing heavily on the mood of business and consumers.

"The mining and related sectors continue to post strong activity while large segments in the non-mining economy remain under pressure from the high Australian dollar and born again savers and 'deleveragers' in the household sector. This is cogently underlined in the May Australian PSI with only one of the nine sub sectors posting readings above 50. It is this ongoing dismal outlook in many non-mining sectors that we believe will help push the RBA over the line to ease rates by another 0.25 of a per cent to 3½% at the June Board meeting later today," Mr Peters said.

Australian PSI Key Findings for May:

• The Australian Industry Group/Commonwealth Bank Australian Performance of Services Index (Australian PSI) continued to contract in May although at a slower pace with a lift of 3.9 points to 43.5 (readings below 50 represent a contraction in activity with the distance from 50 indicative of the strength of the decrease).
• Personal & recreational services was the only sub-sector to record an expansion in activity in May (57.51).
• Finance & insurance activity improved (49.91) but continued to contract. The sub-sector did record expansions in sales and deliveries.
• Sub-sectors closely related to household spending - including retail trade, wholesale trade and accommodation, cafes & restaurants - remained in the red in May.
• In line with the widespread and ongoing weak trading conditions, the Australian PSI® average selling prices index is now at its lowest level since the selling prices index series began in 2007.
• The new orders sub-index increased in May to 40.4 - remaining in negative territory.
• Employment continued to contract in services in May - dropping 2.6 points to 44.0.

Download the full May 2012 Australian PSI®.

Testosterone prescriptions have surged since 2006 due to promotional activity, according to University of Sydney research which also found growing overuse in older men.

The research by Professor David Handelsman from the University and director of the ANZAC Research Institute, Concord Hospital has been published  in the Medical Journal of Australia.

It follows another recent study, led by Professor Handelsman and published in the journal of Clinical Endocrinology,  which suggests testosterone decline in older men is not a result of ageing but of medical conditions and ill health that accumulate as men get older.

"This Healthy Man Study looked at very healthy men aged 40 and over and found that a decrease in testosterone was not associated with increasing age. Instead factors such as obesity or a history of smoking were strongly linked with any decrease," Professor Handelsman said.

The study supported the interpretation that diseases associated with ageing and not ageing itself affects testosterone levels in older men. It underlines the inappropriateness of the increasing sales of testosterone to older men which is highlighted in Professor Handelsman's MJA article.

The study in the MJA analyses data from the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and IMS, a company that provides national sales data year by year.

"I found that stable market growth over 15 years was disrupted by sharp increases following the introduction of two new testosterone products - a gel and a long-acting injectable version by a single company which became a monopoly supplier," Professor Handelsman said.

"There is growing overuse of testosterone in older men as an anti-ageing tonic and non-specific treatment for sexual dysfunction, for which sound evidence is lacking. Yet at the same time genuine low-testosterone conditions due to diseases of the reproductive system remain underdiagnosed."

At present new uses of testosterone should be restricted to carefully designed clinical trials to determine whether there is any objective benefit from testosterone treatment for conditions such as obesity, diabetes or cardiovascular diseases that accumulate as men age, Professor Handelsman observed.

"The progressive increase appears to be due to promotion-driven marketing of products which do not comply with the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme prescribing criteria and suggest that more effective implementation of those criteria is needed."

The long-term recovery outcomes for people with traumatic brain injury (TBI) will be improved by new research investigating the care of patients shortly after injury.

Commissioned by the Institute for Safety, Compensation and Recover Research (ISCRR) earlier this year, the two projects will be led by Monash University's Professor Jamie Cooper, Director of the Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Research Centre. The studies will share in $100,000 in funding.

The first project will use multi-modal MRI brain imaging to assess and measure outcomes for patients within the first 10 days of injury, while they are heavily sedated in intensive care.

Professor Cooper, of the University's Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine said Victoria has approximately 200 patients per year with severe TBI and almost a quarter of those patients survive long-term with a severe disability.

“Scanning the patients sooner would allow us to accurately predict the severity of the injury, and provide families with more precise answers,” Professor Cooper said.

“At the moment, we don’t have the ability to do that and it can sometimes be weeks after the injury that a patient is able to be reliably clinically assessed.”

It is hoped the research will lead to national and international programs that improve TBI patient outcomes, decrease the severity of disability for survivors and decrease the burden of costs to the TAC and community.

The second project will investigate the benefits and potential adverse effects of the use of therapeutic hypothermia on traumatic brain injury patients.

TBI patients who are having a cool saline drip administered by paramedics and are being cooled for a further three days with cooling wraps, will be examined in a larger Australian trial.

Professor Cooper said little work had been done in this area and the cooling treatment could prove successful.

“This is an important area in head injury research," Professor Cooper said.

"At Monash and Alfred, we have been trying to improve the outcomes of TBI patients for more than 20 years.”

ISCRR is a joint venture between Monash University, WorkSafe Victoria and the Transport Accident Commission (TAC).

The Northern Territory Government has announced that the Western Desert Resources’ $180 millionRoper Bar Iron Ore project has been awarded major project status.

“This proposed project will provide a significant economic boost to the region and create jobs and training opportunities never before seen in the region,” Territory Chief Minister Paul Henderson said.

”The project will be required to meet the high environmental standards required by the Northern Territory Government and subject to all necessary environmental clearances and approvals.

“We’ve made the decision to award Major Project status to this project to ensure all arms of Government are working together to capitalise on the huge economic benefits this project will bring.

“This agreement will ensure the Roper Bar region benefits from the project and will include a local industry participation plan to ensure local businesses are engaged, a community benefits package, and secure open access to shared infrastructure.

The proposed project will involve the development of an iron ore operation in the Roper Bar region, approximately 60km south of Ngukurr and 50km from the Gulf of Carpentaria coast. Stage 1 of the project will total approximately $180 million and involve the shipping of 24 million tonnes of ore over eight years.

WorkCover Queensland has launched its first information micro website for the state’s employers. The first micro-site, construction, contains dedicated news, events and information for employers in the construction industry.

The Department will continue to rollout a number of new micro-sites that will cater to a variety of industries, with sites to launch in the coming months for manufacturing, mining and transport.

The construction micro-site can be found here.

A visiting academic at the UNSW Water Research Lab, Dr Denis O’Carroll, believes that iron nanoparticles encapsulated in a rust-preventing polymer coating could hold significant potential for cleaning up groundwater contaminated with toxic chemicals.

Hundreds of sites around Sydney where soils have been contaminated from past industrial waste, landfills and gas leaks are known to exist, including the former HMAS Platypus submarine base in Neutral Bay and the Orica site in Botany Bay.

“Toxic contamination of soils is an historical problem,”  Dr O’Carroll said. “Until the 1970s, people wrongly believed that if we put these toxins into the ground they would simply disappear – that the subsurface would act as a natural filtration unit.”

“The possibility of this waste polluting the environment, and potentially contaminating groundwater sources and remaining there for decades was ignored,” he says.

Far from magically disappearing, chemical contaminants from spilled gas and solvents, when not directly polluting surface waters, seep down into the earth, travelling through microscopic soil cracks, where they accumulate and can eventually reach the groundwater table.

Traditional clean-up methods have focussed on pumping out the contaminated water or flushing out toxins with a specially designed cleansing solution, but these are limited by difficulties in accurately pinpointing and accessing locations where contamination has occurred, says O’Carroll.

His approach is to tackle toxic contaminants with nanotechnology. O’Carroll, who is visiting UNSW from the University of Western Ontario in Canada, has been trialling an innovative new groundwater clean-up technology using metal nanoparticles 500 to 5,000 times narrower than a human hair.

The iron particles are injected directly into contaminated soil where they flow to the contaminants and initiate a redox reaction, whereby electrons are transferred between the particle and the pollutant. This reaction changes the oxidation state of the pollutant and diminishes its overall toxicity to safer levels, says O’Carroll.

“The tiny scale of these nanoparticles allows them to move through microscopic flow channels in soil and rock to reach and destroy pollutants that larger particles cannot. In addition, iron nanoparticles are particularly safe for use in the environment as they are not very mobile and dissolve quickly.

“This, in fact, is somewhat of a detriment as it limits the nanoparticles’ ability to seek out and degrade toxins. “

To optimise the nanoparticles, O’Carroll is experimenting with different formations of iron, and encapsulating the particles in a rust-preventing polymer, which slows the dissolution process and increases their mobility, without any adverse environmental impacts.  

Two contaminated sites in Ontario have been used for field trials of the novel technology and significant degradation of the contaminants at both sites has been observed.

Dr O’Carroll’s research has been featured on David Suzuki's The Nature of Things. 

Comcare has announced the finalists for the 2012 Comcare Work Health and Safety Award, with the winners to be announced at a gala dinner in Sydney on September 20.

The awards recognise and reward excellence in workplace health and safety, rehabilitation and return to work achieved by individuals and organisations covered by the Comcare scheme.

The finalists in each of the eight award categories are:

Category 1: Best Workplace Health and Wellbeing Program

• BIS Industries for Fairbridge Bindjareb Project
• Australian Competition and Consumer Commission for The ACCC’s Health and Wellbeing Program

Category 2: Leadership Award for Injury or Disease Prevention and Management

• There are no finalists in this award category.

Category 3: Best Workplace Health and Safety Management System

• Royal Australian Mint for Converting a culture

Category 4: Best Solution to an Identified Workplace Health and Safety Issue

• Department of Defence for Her Majesty’s Australian Ship (HMAS) STUART Personnel – Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat Radiation Hazard Prevention & Management
• Bureau of Meteorology forHydrogen Hazard Management
• BIS Industries forRelocatable vehicle maintenance pit, “Drop in pit”
• Royal Australian Mint for A Sticky Situation  

Category 5: Best Individual Contribution to Health and Safety

Sub-category a) A worker

• Able Seaman Electronics Technician Lisa Pickstone, Department of Defence

Sub-category b) A worker with responsibility for WHS as part of their duties.

• Daphne Paris, The Australian Film, Television and Radio School
• Captain Shane Sarlin, Department of Defence
• Dr Angelica Vecchio-Sadus, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)
• John Britto, Visionstream
• Tim Naim, Australian air Express
• Megan Evans, Department of Human Services

Category 6: Health and Safety Representative of the Year

• David Byrne, Department of Health and Ageing
• Jo Coleman, Department of Human Services
• Jerimiah Karati, Thiess John Holland

Category 7: Rehabilitation and Return to Work Award

Sub-category a) An organisation

• Department of Defence for 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (RAR) Casualty Management
• Department of Defence for Transient Personnel Management Cell
• TNT Express Australia forBuilding upon Best Practice in Early Intervention

Sub-category b) An individual

• Debra Kelly, Department of Human Services

Category 8: Claims Manager of the Year

• Dean Stone, National Australia Bank
• Natalie Heffernan, Comcare

A $54.3 million agreement has  been signed between Geoscience Australia, the NSW Minister for Resources and Energy, Chris Hartcher, and the Australian Coal Association to assess potential geological storage opportunities for greenhouse gases in NSW.

Announcing the agreement, Minister for Resources and Energy, Martin Ferguson said the NSW Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Storage Assessment Program had been made possible by the National Low Emissions Coal Initiative (NLECI) that was established in 2008 to accelerate the development and deployment of technologies to reduce emissions from coal use.

“Each partner has contributed $18.1 million to the NSW program. The funding allows NSW to conduct a pre-competitive data acquisition program to assess suitable sites for CO2. It will enable industry to start making decisions about how and where they will undertake this innovative storage process.

“As the nation’s repository for geological knowledge and capability, Geoscience Australia will be providing technical expertise and oversight into this program.”

The NLECI funding program opens the way for research, demonstration and deployment of low-emission coal technologies involving carbon capture and storage.

Of the $370 million set aside for the NLECI, $50m comes from the National Carbon Mapping and Infrastructure Plan, under which the NSW Program is being carried out.

“This program builds on the outputs of the Carbon Storage Taskforce Report which in 2009 said that four basins in NSW had been defined as suitable storage sites. It is about collecting more and better data in conjunction with the states, with shared funding to conduct a more robust and accurate assessment of the storage potential of these geological basins in NSW,” Minister Ferguson said.

The NLECI is designed to enable Australia’s resource sector to reduce their emissions as the nation moves to a more carbon constrained economy. It is part of the Australian Government’s commitment to promote clean energy and goes towards meeting Australia’s international targets for emission reduction. These technologies will enable the coal industry to make a major contribution to reducing Australia's greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent of 2000 levels by 2050.

The NSW CO2 Storage Assessment Program is expected to produce significant additional scientific knowledge of the NSW Basins and will contribute to a national assessment of the geological CO2 storage potential.

A poll conducted by the Lowy Institute has found that the majority of Australians, 62 per cent, support the move to grant 1,715 skilled migrant visas to the Roy Hill iron ore project. However, the vast majority, 81 per cent, is against direct foreign investment.

The poll also shows that people are particularly wary of Chinese investment, with 56 per cent of respondents saying they believe the Federal Government is allowing too much direct investment from our largest trading partner.

“These results reflect a general anxiety among Australians about the volatility of the global economy, and about the exposure of Australia’s economy to global forces,” said Executive Director Michael Wesley.

“We’re aware that much of the rest of the world looks at Australia as a land of comparative wealth, and we’re apprehensive about the possible downsides of that,” he added.

The poll found that 70 per cent of Australian’s credit the mining boom as the main reason why the economy has staved off recession, while only 41 per cent of respondents said they believed Government policy had anything to do with economy keeping stable.

Griffith University has announced its medical researchers are ‘on the brink’ of an effective treatment for the deadly Hendra virus and its closely related Nipah virus.

Griffith University Associate Professor Nigel McMillan said that the recent funding awarded from the Federal Government would allow for significant progress to be made in combating the virus.

The Griffith University research team, in collaboration with CSIRO, is developing a new therapy that attacks the virus by turning off a vital gene. Team leader, Associate Professor McMillan said the beauty of the treatment is that it is very simple.

“We have already been able to reduce Hendra virus in cells by 99.99% within a laboratory, and we have found the treatment is highly effective in very low doses,” Associate Professor McMillan said.

“We have also developed a novel way of delivering the therapy through what we call “stealth liposomes”, which will safely take the treatment to where it needs to go in the body.”

The NSW Government has committed an additional $70 million over the next four years to medical research and development in response to the NSW Health and Medical Research Strategic Review 2012 released by NSW Minister for Health and Minister for Medical Research,  Jillian Skinner.

The Health and Medical Research Strategic Taskforce, chaired by Mr Peter Wills, developed two strategies and associated recommendations aimed at fostering translation and innovation from research and building globally relevant research capacity. 

The State Government announced its 'enthusiastic endorsement' of the Wills recommendations, and outlined a  10-year Health and Medical Research Strategic Plan for NSW to implement them. 

The government’s response included the following initiatives:

• Changes to the Medical Research Support Program (MRSP) to drive collaboration and promote scale and sustainability:  Providing an extra $5 million to the base funding, in addition to the $5 million provided in 2011-12, to  bring the total commitment to $37.3 million per year. This program provides infrastructure funding to independent medical research institutes, based on merit and research excellence. It will have a 4 year funding cycle and tiered funding structure.
• Establishment of the Medical Devices Seeding Fund with $5 million per annum, to support researchers and encourage further investment in new medical devices that can contribute to the discovery and application of new treatments and diagnostic techniques to improve patient outcomes.
• $1 million to establish the Research Capacity Building Programto retain and attract new leading researchers to NSW.
• Support for Research Hubs of $800,000 annually to provide administrative support and assist incoordination of hub activities to enhance collaboration and facilitate the efficient sharing of expensive equipment, accommodation and support services.
• Establishment of Office for Health and Medical Research, to be responsible for implementing NSW Health and Medical Research Strategic Review and ensuring a high level of engagement with all parts of the health and medical research sector.  The Office will develop a biobanking framework that will improve and enhance investment in this research infrastructure, will be provided with $800,000 to support clinical research networks  and will establish a clinical trials support team.

For more information visit the NSW Health and Medical Research Strategic Review 2012 and the NSW Government Response to the Review.

The New South Wales Chamber of Commerce has warned the state’s employers that they run the risk of footing a bill of up to $482 million this flu season if they don’t review their health and hygiene policies.

The Business Chamber has estimated the likely cost of the flu season on the state’s economy based on one in ten employees falling ill and requiring a week of recuperation.

The last thing NSW businesses need is a $482 million flu bill, so now is the time to be checking hygiene policies and reminding employees that flu season is upon us,” said Stephen Cartwright, CEO of the NSWBusiness Chamber.

”We conservatively estimate the average cost of an employee off sick with the flu to be about $1,300 – that doesn’t factor in the cost of temp staff.”

Mr Cartwright said that employers and employees need to be vigilant and take preventive steps to reduce the chances of workplace infections.

“My advice to employees is don’t risk it – if you think you are coming down with the flu see a doctor. Each person infected with the flu costs an employer over $1,300 for every week they are off work.

The Chamber has offered the following suggestions:

• Ensuring somebody within the company is responsible for keeping up to date with the latest influenza developments and information;
• Communicating relevant information to employees, but without causing undue alarm;
• Emphasising the importance of hygiene, such as regular and thorough hand washing;
• Employers and employees agreeing on appropriate leave arrangements when they have flu symptoms.

The House Standing Committee on Education and Employment is calling for submissions as it ratchets up its inquiry into workplace bullying.

The Committee has asked individuals and organisations to for submissions regarding the inquiry’s terms of reference:

• ‘the prevalence of workplace bullying in Australia and the experience of victims of workplace bullying;
• the role of workplace cultures in preventing and responding to bullying and the capacity for workplace-based policies and procedures to influence the incidence and seriousness of workplace bullying;
• the adequacy of existing education and support services to prevent and respond to workplace bullying and whether there are further opportunities to raise awareness of workplace bullying such as community forums;
• whether the scope to improve coordination between governments, regulators, health service providers and other stakeholders to address and prevent workplace bullying;
• whether there are regulatory, administrative or cross-jurisdictional and international legal and policy gaps that should be addressed in the interests of enhancing protection against and providing an early response to workplace bullying, including through appropriate complaint mechanisms;
• whether the existing regulatory frameworks provide a sufficient deterrent against workplace bullying;
• the most appropriate ways of ensuring bullying culture or behaviours are not transferred from one workplace to another; and
• possible improvements to the national evidence base on workplace bullying.’

The Committee ha announced it is collating evidence of bullying from all sources.

“Bullying has serious consequences for individuals and the wider community. Every Australian has a right to feel safe and respected at work. The Prime Minister and Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations recognise the importance of tackling this issue in referring this inquiry to the Committee,” Committee Chair Amanda Rishworth said.

Submissions to the inquiry can be made here This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

International recruitment specialist has warned that the Australian workforce can expect a moderate salary increase this financial year in the face of an increasingly difficult marketplace.

Hays Managing Director in Australia and New Zealand warned that that there is no swift dramatic upswing in global economic conditions, and therefore people should prepare for stagnate salary growth.

“Current conditions are here to stay for some time, so the sooner we can adapt business practices to meet the requirements of this – the ‘new normal’ – rather than waiting for a dramatic reversal to the global market to set us on a more secure road, the more effective we’ll all be,” Mr Deligiannis said.

“That’s why forward-thinking employers and candidates are going ahead with their hiring or career plans. It’s also why employers are increasing salaries, albeit moderately.”

The two major findings in the report were:

• 46 per cent of employers increased salaries last year between three and six per cent;
• 42 per cent of employers intend to increase salaries between three and six per cent when they next review; 

The 2012 Hays Salary Guide reveals salary and recruiting trends for well over one thousand roles across 14 locations in Australia and New Zealand, and was based on a survey of over 1,500 employers as well as placements made by Hays.

The guide can be found here