Industry News

The Federal Government has committed $71 million for a new building and facilities at the Monash Health Translation Precinct (MHTP).

A partnership between Monash University, the Monash Institute of Medical Research, Southern Health and Prince Henry's Institute, the MHTP is focused on transmitting research outcomes into the clinic as quickly as possible. 

The new MHTP facility at Monash Medical Centre will include a series of linked, disease-themed laboratories and clinical research units, and will expand to 800 the number of laboratory and clinical researchers accommodated on the campus.

Monash University Chancellor, Dr Alan Finkel, said the funding will result in the development of an academic health science precinct that will integrate medical research, teaching and health care, resulting in better healthcare, more rapid introduction of innovation and the training of a highly skilled health workforce.

Director of Monash Institute of Medical Research, Professor Bryan Williams, said the new facility would provide an exceptional opportunity to translate basic laboratory observations to clinical practice.

“It will provide medical research scientists with ready access to clinicians and patients and expand the international reputation of medical research conducted at the MHTP,” Professor Williams said.

The Federal Government has launched MyUniversity, the first online service that allows potential students to compare and contrast different universities and the courses they offer.

Ranked by criteria such as course content, student satisfaction and post-study employability of its students, the service has been described as a ‘valuable tool’ by Minister for Tertiary Education Senator Chris Evans.

"We've provided for students to choose where they want to go without restrictions, to choose the courses they want to study, and part of empowering them is to give them good information about what their options are,"  Senator Evans said.

"We've got 39 public universities and other private institutions and we want to make sure that prospective students understand the choices available to them."

Although cautious of the accuracy of the data, the service has been welcomed by Universities Australia.

"Prospective students, making one of the biggest decisions of their lives, must have confidence that the information available to them presents an accurate and complete picture of the options they are considering," CEO of Universities Australia Belinda Robinson said.

"Getting it right is also essential for the reputation of universities operating in an increasingly competitive market brought on by the demand-driven enrolment system.

"We don't believe the MyUniversity website is there yet, particularly in relation to attrition rates, staff: student ratios, the entry score cut-of search function, course mapping and searchability.

However, the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) has slammed the service, accusing the Government of failing to learn from the short comings of the MySchool website, which was universally condemned.

“While the Minister claims the MyUniversity website is intended to lift performance and quality, the reality is that the information it is based on is at best limited, and at worst inaccurate and misleading,” said  NTEU President, Jeannie Rea.

“The use of indicators, including cost of library photocopying, whether your university has a swimming pool and the number of car parking spaces on campus, fails to address the real quality issues in higher education, such as insufficient government funding and a highly casualised workforce.”

The site can be found here

The National Water Commission (NWC) has released two annual reports on the performance of Australia’s urban water utilities and rural water service providers.

Releasing the two reports, Parliamentary Secretary for Sustainability and Urban Water, Senator Don Farrell said the wet conditions of the last two years, following severe drought, demonstrates the challenge of delivering water services in Australia.

"The urban report shows that the water industry is performing well in delivering water and wastewater services to 18.7 million Australians, including very high quality drinking water.

"The rural report demonstrates that investment in infrastructure renewal to modernise irrigation networks and install new metering technologies is boosting efficiency and reducing water losses."

The report found that water availability had increased dramatically over the 2010-11 period, with major flooding offsetting the prolonged period of drought suffered by the country.

Acting Chair of the National Water Commission, Stuart Bunn said, "Australia's water service providers and jurisdictions provide vital leadership in developing these reports.

"The Australian water sector has a chance to take stock before storages are again tested by drought. Although considerable gains have been made, we need renewed and forward-looking reform to ensure our water supplies remain safe and reliable.

"In particular, the Commission believes there is scope for further reforms that set clearer water security objectives, promote better customer choice, and send clearer price signals."

The report found that the period of intense drought, which preceded last year’s wet conditions prompted further infrastructure spending in the water sector, which has greatly contributed to water security and availability.

The full annual report can be found here

http://www.nwc.gov.au/publications/annual-reports/2010-11

The Reserve Bank of Australia has announced it has kept the country’s official cash rate unchanged at 4.25 per cent, citing recent information surrounding the world economy.

In his statement on the monetary policy decision, RBA Governor Glenn Stevens said that while the world economy is set to grow at below-trand pace this year, he does not expect any deep downturn.

Mr Stevens said moderate growth in China, a softening Asian economy and a recent dip in inflation all contributed to the RBA leaving the rates unchanged.

Citing modest credit growth and interest rate levels, Mr Stevens said the rate decision was informed by the stabilisation of housing prices.

“The Board eased monetary policy late in 2011. Since then, its judgement has been that, with growth expected to be close to trend, inflation close to target and lending rates close to average, the setting of monetary policy was appropriate,” Mr Stevens concluded. 

Scientists at the University of Newcastle have shown the potential of a simple blood-based test to identify people in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease, before any symptoms appear.

Spending a year studying data from the international Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative database, the Newcastle team assessed the levels of 190 proteins in blood from 566 people with either Alzheimer’s Disease, mild cognitive impairment or normal cognition. Their studies showed that measuring a panel of 11 proteins in blood can provide a predictive test with more than 85 per cent accuracy.

Monitoring the change in blood protein levels over time could increase accuracy above 90 per cent.

The study was funded by the University of Newcastle and the Hunter Medical Research Institute, and its findings are published in the prestigious PLoS ONE journal.

Senior author Professor Pablo Moscato said the results were likely to be significant for the way Alzheimer’s was diagnosed.

“Currently, Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis is based on clinical observations and testing of cognitive capacity and memory loss,” he said.

“The only reliable and accurate biological markers so far identified for early diagnosis require measurement by either expensive procedures such as brain imaging, or invasive procedures, for example spinal punctures.

“Our study makes a considerable step towards cheap, non-invasive testing by identifying a blood

protein panel to predict Alzheimer’s disease in its early stages.”

Early detection of Alzheimer’s disease is considered vital for effective intervention as there is no cure. The only available treatments are drugs that improve the functioning of neurons but do not stop the disease progressing.

Alzheimer’s disease attacks the brain resulting in impaired memory, thinking and behaviour. It is the most common form of dementia, affecting one in 25 Australians aged 60 years and over.

The Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) have urged the Federal Government to reconsider its determination to see a budget surplus in 2012-13, saying it is risky to pursue the goal given the economic volatility.

The AICD conducted a survey for the April 2012 Director Sentiment Index, finding that almost 60 per cent of directors say that the surplus is not vital for the Federal Government, while only 26 per cent said otherwise.

The Index, which measures the opinions and future intentions of the director community, has ranked overall director sentiment as slightly pessimistic but there are signs of increasing optimism about the economy and greater confidence in the general business outlook.  

“The findings reveal that directors’ sentiment and their business’ prospects are less pessimistic than they were in November 2011, though they are still more pessimistic than they were at this time last year,” said CEO and Managing Director of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, John Colvin.

The high value of the Australian dollar (38 per cent) and industrial relations concerns (25 per cent) round out the top three economic challenges identified by Australian directors. The impact of the minority Federal Government has fallen from the number one ranked challenge to the fourth (49 per cent in November 2011 to 24 per cent this survey).

Rather than pursue a budget surplus, directors would rather the Federal Government to allocate greater resources in areas such as infrastructure, health, education and business regulation.

The survey also found a shifting opinion of the National Broadband Network, with 45 per cent saying that the NBN is a negative thing for the country, down from 55 per cent last year. While 43 per cent say its positive, up from 35 per cent last year.

There are also signs that directors’ concerns about the carbon tax are lessening, with significantly fewer directors (16 per cent in this survey, down from 31 per cent in November 2011) identifying the carbon tax as one of the main economic challenges facing business. Nevertheless, more than 60 per cent of directors still believe that the announcement and legislation of the carbon tax will impact their business negatively.  This is unchanged from the last survey.

The Productivity Commission has published a draft report examining the role of local government regulation on Australian businesses. The report found a number of areas of local government regulation that place ‘unnecessary regulatory burdens’ on Australian businesses.

Of most concern to business is the costs they face from local government planning and zoning assessment and building and construction regulation.

The Performance Benchmarking of Australian Business Regulation: Role of Local Government as Regulator was commissioned by COAG and examines the country’s local governments’ regulatory activities.

The Commission has identified a range of leading practices in the Australian states and the United Kingdom which, if implemented more widely, have the potential to lower the costs imposed on business while maintaining the outcomes sought by local government regulation.

Local governments interact with Australian businesses every day. While poor local decision making processes can place unnecessary compliance burdens on businesses, especially small ones, it is clear that the first step in addressing these is for the states and the Northern Territory to ensure the regulatory frameworks they require local governments to administer are fit for purpose,” Commissioner Warren Mundy said

“Given the huge diversity of local governments across Australia, it is vital that higher levels of government understand the capacity of local government to deliver the desired regulatory outcomes. Where resources are scarce, local government must be given clear guidance as to how to prioritise their regulatory activities,” Dr Mundy said.

The Commission has identified a range of leading practices to which all jurisdictions have contributed. They cover areas such as law making, legislative frameworks and capacity to regulate.

The Commission seeks comment on the draft report before finalising its report in July.

The full report can be found here

The Charted Institute of Logistics and Transport International (CILT) has appointed Kraft Foods senior Logistics Director Keith Newton as its new Secretary General.

Effective from 1^st May, Mr Newton will take over from Interim Secretary General, Colm Holmes, who will step down at the end of March.

Mr Newton’s appointment follows a comprehensive leadership and management restructuring led by the Trustees of CILT International in 2011.

Mr Newton brings a wealth of experience in the logistics sector, having held senior roles with Kraft and Cadbury. He has been an Institute member for 30 years and is an executive member of CILT’s Leaders in the Supply Chain.

Also appointed is Jon Harris to the role of International Professional Development Co-ordinator and Ceri Williams as the new Intenrational Administration Co-ordinator.

The CSIRO and Boeing have signed a five-year, $25 million strategic research program that will aim to develop new innovation in space sciences, advanced materials energy and direct manufacturing with an objective to drive improvements and productivity in the Australian economy.

"A partnership, with a global company such as Boeing, helps CSIRO get its science from the laboratory into industry so that people can benefit from the discoveries and developments," Senator Chris Evans, said today.

During the 23-year partnership, CSIRO and Boeing have jointly invested about $110 million across a wide range of projects, including world-leading technology innovations in sustainable aviation fuels, aircraft assembly processes, fire retardants and aircraft maintenance management software.

"This new $25 million agreement represents the next stage in what has been an extremely successful relationship between CSIRO and Boeing that has delivered real technological breakthroughs for the industry," Ian Thomas, President of Boeing Australia & South Pacific said.

WorkCover NSW will hold a free webinar this week to help businesses and workers better understand the recent changes in work health and safety laws regarding working with asbestos.

The webinar is part of WorkCover’s program to support NSW business, industry and workers adjust to the new laws and will cover all asbestos removal and demolition requirements.

“On 1 January 2012 new work health and safety laws commenced in NSW as part of harmonised national laws,” General Manager of WorkCover’s Work Health and Safety Division Joh Watson said.

“The webinar will provide an opportunity for employers and workers adjusting to the new laws to ask questions and seek clarification on how the new laws affect their workplace.

The Asbestos Removal and Demolition Requirements webinar will explain when asbestos work can occur, licensing requirements and changes, and the general requirements for WorkCover. Other subjects include:

• Asbestos in soil – new changes
• Notifications
• The Asbestos Register
• The Asbestos Management Plan
• Equipment use
• Health monitoring
• Training
• Role of the supervisor
• What to do in an emergency situation

The webinar will be held on Wednesday, 4 April from 11am – 12pm.  All webinar participants must pre-register at: http://www.workcover.nsw.gov.au/newlegislation2012/assistance-and-support/Pages/whs-webinars.aspx

Carter Holt Harvey Woodproducts Australia, a subsidy of BSG Holdings, has had its initial fine of $120,000 fine regarding workplace safety breaches doubled after it lost an appeal.

The company will now pay $230,000 for breaches in workplace safety that lead to the death of an employee after a one-and-a-half tonne timber pack hoist fell on her as she dislodged a jamped piece of timber.

The Director of Public Prosecutions appealed the initial fine, saying that it was manifestly inadequate.

While the company was found not to have blatently disregarding workplace safety, it had been blind to a common enough problem that should have been addressed.

In his ruling, Judge Michael Tinney of the Victorian County Court said more should have been done given the size and nature of the machine.

WorkSafe’s Executive Director for Health and Safety, Ian Forsyth, welcomed the increase saying timber milling was high-risk work requiring employers to provide the highest possible level of protection for their workers.

“We expect a company which is part of a major player in the forestry industry to be leading the way on health and safety – clearly this wasn’t the case,” he said.

The company was prosecuted under Section 21(1)&(2)(b) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004. This section covers the responsibility of employers to provide and maintain a safe workplace. In particular it requires them to make arrangements for ensuring, so far as is reasonably practicable, safety and the absence of risks to health in connection with the use, handling, storage or transport of plant or substances.

The Australian Government’s Stronger Futures package will provide children in the Northern Territory a $583 million investment over 10 years after Aboriginal people telling the Government that education is a priority.

This will provide students with better access to improved education, with school attendance and enrolment rates in many communities a priority.

The funding will ensure that 200 teaching positions are retained in remote Northern Territory schools to ensure children have access to quality teaching. It attempts to enhance the quality of teaching to ensure children learn vital literacy and numeracy skills resulting in the best chance of getting a job in the future.  

This investment will ensure that all remote teachers, including local Aboriginal teachers, have the skills they need to provide specialist teaching in intensive numeracy and literacy for students with English as a second language, or who may experience learning difficulties.

The funding will also assist the Northern Territory Government to invest in professional development for Aboriginal school staff. This will help to increase the number of Aboriginal people with education qualifications and create pathways to assist local people to become teachers and education workers in their communities.

The Government will also continue to fund the School Nutrition Program, providing nutritious meals to about 5,000 students in 67 schools every school day to help them learn over the next decade. 

About 170 local Aboriginal staff are employed through this program to help in the preparation and delivery of meals.

Also on the agenda is providing funding to build up to 100 teacher houses in remote Northern Territory communities to tackle the shortages in staff housing.

The education funding includes the Government’s previously announced $85.6 million enhanced Improving School Enrolment and Attendance through Welfare Reform Measure (SEAM).

This measure will be closely aligned with the Northern Territory Government’s Every Child Every Day strategy, to ensure greater engagement between schools and families and give parents extra support when they need it.

Under this initiative, if children fall below the set attendance benchmark, schools and Centrelink will work with families to develop attendance plans that will work to address barriers to attendance. This funding for SEAM includes providing Centrelink social workers and other support services to assist families.  

The Federal Government’s Clean Energy Regulator has commenced operations, with responsibility over a broad range of Government initatives.

The statutory authority will administer both new and existing regulatory schemes, including the Federal Government’s carbon pricing mechanism, the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting scheme, the Renewable Energy Target, the Carbon Farming Initiative and the Australian National Registry of Emissions Units.

According to the Chair and Chief Executive Officer, Chloe Munro, the Clean Energy Regulator’s first priority will be to “ensure continuity of service for people who are involved with existing regulatory schemes which support business and industry to reduce their carbon emissions.”

A series of guidance notes and applications forms about the carbon pricing mechanism and associated schemes will be published by the Clean Energy Regulator.

The list of entities expected to be liable under the carbon pricing mechanism will be published to the Clean Energy Regulator website.

The Liable Entities Public Information Database will be published in a staged approach of updates as information is available to the Clean Energy Regulator.

More information on the new statutory authority is available on the Clean Energy Regulator’s website. 

The Federal Government has announced 21 companies to share in $60 million to help construct community-based accommodation for adults with severe or profound disabilities.

“People with disability need access to a range of supported accommodation models that will allow them, and their carers, to participate as valued members of their communities,” Prime Minister Julia Gillard said.

“The Supported Accommodation Innovation Fund will help address a shortfall in supported accommodation and respite for people with disability.”

Negotiations for funding agreements are in progress with the successful 21 organisations, which will be responsible for 27 projects, providing 169 new supported accommodation and respite places across the country.

These projects, which are to be completed by June 2014, build on the Australian Government’s $100 million capital injection in 2008 to build more than 300 supported accommodation places, which are on track to be delivered this year.
 
For more information on the Supported Accommodation Innovation Fund go to www.saif.govspace.gov.au 

Parliamentary Secretary for School Education, Senator Jacinta Collins, launched the second phase of the Gillard Government’s Positive Partnerships to provide classroom and family support for students with autism.

Senator Collins said the Gillard Government reinvestment of over $21 million is a great kick start to Autism Awareness Month throughout April.

“The first phase of the Positive Partnership initiative was so widely successful that the number of teachers and staff we expected to train in helping students with autism was exceeded,” Senator Collins said.

Since 2008, Positive Partnerships has trained more than 8,000 parents, carers and school staff across Australia in how better to meet the needs of students with autism, and has provided online resources for more than 28,000 people.

Senator Collins said Australia’s significant progress in supporting school-aged students with autism spectrum disorder is also making the jobs easier for their parents, their carers, their teachers, school leaders, teaching support assistants and occupational specialists.

"I am pleased to announce that a new consortium will train more than 450 additional teachers and 1,450 parents each year until 2015,” Senator Collins said.

The Partnerships between the Education and the Autism Community (PEAC) group will deliver the program between 2012 to 2015.

Members of this group include Autism Queensland, Autism South Australia, Flinders University and Autism Spectrum Australia (Aspect) who will lead the consortium. 

Global consultancy firm Golder Associates has announced the appointment of Adam Kilsby as the company’s new leader for Australasia.

Effective from April 6, Mr Kilsby will lead a division of over 1,200 employees and an annual turnover of $200 million.

Mr Kilsby will replace Darren Watt as Managing Director for Australia and Region Vice President for Australasia, a key position for the expanding global company.

Having joined Golder in 1997, Mr Kilsby has led Golder's environmental services team in South Australia for four years. Between 2003 and 2007 he managed the Adelaide office, before being appointed National Operations Manager in 2008.

Mr Watt has been appointed Golder's global Vice-President, People after over seven years successful leadership. He will assume his new role in May.

Welcoming the appointments, Golder Associates President and CEO, Brian H. Conlin, said Mr Kilsby brought a wealth of experience to his new and important role.

"Adam has made an impressive contribution to Golder, representing our company as a civil and geotechnical engineer, environmental services consultant, project manager, operations manager and Principal," Mr Conlin said.

"I am very confident he will continue the Australasian region's record of outstanding achievement."

The Federal Government and the European Union have confirmed their ‘strong commitment’ to working towards linking their respective Emissions Trading Schemes (ETS), during bilateral talks in Brussels.

Climate Change and Energy Efficiency Minister Greg Combet said that the move will further develop a strong international carbon market.

"Linking our schemes is a priority for the Australian government. The European Union's ETS is the largest emissions trading scheme in the world. Together, the schemes will provide access to a wider range of options for cost-effective emission reduction," Mr Combet said.

The Federal Government has announced close to $12 million in funding to bolster developments in the solar technology sector.

The Round 3 funding for the Australian Solar Institute is aimed at accelerating solar energy technology development in Australia.

Amongst those projects to receive grants are the CSIRO’s solar hybrid fuels initiative (A$1.6 million), and collaboration between BlueScope Steel Limited and German researchers (A$0.5 million).

A total of A$2.3 million has been committed to projects of the successful Australia-Germany Collaborative Solar Research and Development Program to accelerate the commercialisation of solar technologies.

Australia’s Minister for Resources and Energy, Martin Ferguson, said the latest round of ASI funding would build on the significant solar technology advances made by Australian researchers to date.

“From a CSIRO project looking at how to reduce peak electricity grid demand by "turning on" a guaranteed solar driven air conditioner, rather than a conventional air conditioner, to a trial by Chromasun Pty Ltd of an advanced rooftop product to simultaneously provide electricity and hot water, the projects reflect Australia’s excellent track record in developing game-changing solar technology," Minister Ferguson said.

The practice of companies asking for potential employee’s Facebook usernames and passwords has become increasingly mainstream in recent months, prompting a statement from Facebook’s Chief Privacy Officer Erin Egan.

The statement, found here, reiterates Facebook’s commitment to their user’s privacy and their ongoing attempts to engage policymakers, initiate legal action and shut down applications that abuse their privileges.

Egan touches on unforeseen circumstances that could confront the employers when undertaking such a practice, including possible discrimination if an employee is dismissed based on information found on the social networking site. For example, if a potential employee is not hired based on questionable photographs, he/she could argue unfair dismissal based on his/her religion, ethnicity or sexual orientation, all of which is revealed when gaining access to a Facebook site.

Other problems arise when an employer is privy to private information and has no training to handle the repercussions and responsibility of this information I.e. information which suggests the commission of a crime.