Industry News

The Victorian Government has outlined $58 million in spending for high performance manufacturing in the State’s 2012-13 Budget.

New productivity networks, support for new technology and innovation and specialist advice and services for Victorian manufacturers are set to benefit from the spending to be delivered over foru years.

"These grants will support Victorian manufacturers to transform their operations by adopting strategies that improve productivity and competitiveness, strengthen capability and encourage wider and ongoing innovation,” State Minister for Manufacturing Richard Della-Riva said.

"This funding includes support for networks to plan and scope potential activities and to undertake specific projects such as information exchanges, collaboration with research institutions or pursuing new business and market opportunities.”

The Federal Government has announced the formation of three expert groups to help inform the design of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).

The groups will work under the NDIS Advisory Group to assist the Government in designing the scheme that will aim to meet the lifetime car enad support the needs of those with significant and permanent disability.

They will advise on the design of key elements of the scheme including eligibility and assessment, quality safeguards and standards and a national approach to choice and control for people with disability.

The formation of the expert groups comes after the Federal Government announced the rollout of the NDIS scheme, with the first cover expected to be granted in July 2013.

The expert groups are:

National Approach to Control and Choice
Jeff Harmer, NDIS Advisory Group (co-chair)
Fran Vicary, NDIS Advisory Group (co-chair)
Robbi Williams, Julia Farr Association
Kirsten Deane, National Disability and Carers Alliance
Lesley Hall, Australian Federation of Disability Organisations
Samantha Jenkinson, National Disability and Carer Council
Ara Cresswell, Carers Australia
Vicki O’Halloran, Somerville Community Services Darwin
Daniel Leighton, Inclusion Melbourne

Eligibility and Assessment
Rhonda Galbally, NDIS Advisory Group (co-chair)
Joan McKenna-Kerr, NDIS Advisory Group (co-chair)
Ros Madden, University of Sydney
Janet Dore, Transport Accident Commission
Robbi Williams, Julia Farr Association
Tim Moore, Carers Australia
Graeme Innes, Australia’s Disability Discrimination Commissioner
Frank Quinlan, Mental Health Council of Australia
Suzanne Lulham, New South Wales Lifetime Care and Support Authority
Lesley Hall, Australian Federation of Disability Organisations

Quality Safeguards and Standards
Lorna Hallahan, NDIS Advisory Group (co-chair)
Bruce Bonyhady, NDIS Advisory Group (co-chair)
Stephanie Gotlib, Children with Disability Australia
Margaret Reynolds
Marita Walker, Perth Homecare
Sally Robinson, Griffith University
Kevin Cocks, Queensland Anti-Discrimination Commissioner
Kelly Shay, United Voice

The Federal Government has announced $10 million in funding for Western Australia’s Carnegie Wave Energy’s Perth Wave Energy Project on Garden Island near Fremantle.

“With the Government’s assistance through the Emerging Renewables Program, this $31 million pilot project will demonstrate the potential for Carnegie’s Australian invented and owned CETO technology to provide up to two megawatts of energy to the electricity grid,” Minister for Resources and Energy Martin Ferguson said.

“This technology not only has the potential to increase investor confidence in wave projects and help unlock Australia's untapped wave energy resource, but it could also produce zero emission desalinated seawater, which on a dry continent such as Australia, is a significant additional attraction.”

The Western Australian Government will contribute $5.5 million to the project.

The Australian Law Reform Council (ALRC) has released an Issues Paper for its inquiry into the legal barriers to mature aged participation in the workforce.

The release of the paper comes after the ALRc has been asked to investigate a number of laws, including superannuation law, family assistance, child support and employment law.

“There is often a complex interaction between things that are ‘barriers’ to workforce participation and things that are ‘incentives’ to leave the workforce. Leaving the paid workforce may also mean people are able to make a valuable contribution in other productive work—like the hugely important role of volunteers in our community,” ALRC President Professor Rosalind Croucher said.

“The ALRC considers that six interlinking principles should guide reform in this area: participation; independence; self-agency; system stability; system coherence; and fairness. One key question we are asking in the Issues Paper is whether there are any other principles that should inform our deliberations. Other questions refer to changes that should be made to remove barriers in the various areas of law under review.”

The full issues paper can be found here

The Victorian Government has outlined $13.68 billion for health spending in the Victorian 2012-13 State Budget, marking a $618 million increase over the last year.

Health Minister David Davis said the budget had balanced the growing needs of the health sector with maintaining fiscal responsibility.

Mr Davis said the highlights of the Government's health service expansion, redevelopment and building program included:

• $46 million to provide 60 extra beds at Ballarat Base Hospital, and to honour the election commitment to build a helipad for the hospital, on top of a new multi-deck carpark;
• $15 million to expand maternity services and establish an intensive care unit at Sunshine Hospital;
• $23 million to build the new Charlton Hospital, co-funded with the Commonwealth, to replace the hospital that was damaged in the January 2011 floods;
• $93 million for a major upgrade at Geelong Hospital, including 64 extra beds, care for older patients and a boost to cancer care;
• $40 million to expand and reconfigure the Frankston Hospital emergency department, including a 12-bed short stay unit;
• $10 million to upgrade Castlemaine Hospital, including a new second theatre;
• $5 million for radiotherapy services in Warrnambool, to service south-west Victoria;
• $20 million to redevelop and expand Kilmore Hospital, including 30 extra beds; and
• $2 million to introduce chemotherapy services at Seymour Hospital.

Also announced was a further $59.6 million over the next four years to boost cancer research through the Victorian Cancer agency.

"The Victorian Cancer Agency provides a major co-ordinating role in cancer research in Victoria and this funding will ensure Victoria continues to progress vital work," Mr Davis said.

"Our initiative supports the activities of several cancer research and treatment facilities, including the $1 billion Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre, the Olivia Newton John Cancer & Wellness Centre, Monash Comprehensive Cancer Consortium and the regional cancer centres.”

Due to external economic shocks, Victoria's revenue forecasts over the next four years will be $8.3 billion lower than was forecast in late 2010. This is a bigger financial hit than that which occurred during the 2008 global financial crisis.

The Budget attempts to build on measures announced last year to put Victoria's finances back onto a sustainable path through further savings of $1 billion over four years. Measures taken include:

• limiting Parliamentarians' pay increases to 2.5 per cent for the next twelve months and a freeze on their allowances;
• limiting senior public servant salary increases to 2.5 per cent;
• a further reduction of 600 public service positions; and
• additional departmental efficiencies.
• The 2012-13 Budget delivers surpluses exceeding $100 million each year growing to $2.5 billion by 2015-16.

The government's fiscal strategy will stabilise net debt to six per cent of GSP by June 2016.

Through this budget, the  Government has prioritised the following:

• The Government will cut WorkCover premiums by an average of three per cent from July 1 this year.
• As part of the Government's manufacturing blueprint A More Competitive Manufacturing Industry, the 2012-13 Budget delivers $58 million to boost productivity and assist Victorian manufacturing businesses to compete in the global economy.
• The Government will invest a further $1 billion over four years to support future economic growth with a better educated and skilled workforce, to increase productivity and workforce participation.
• The budget provides $13.7 billion to Victoria's hospitals and health system in 2012-13. $1.2 billion is provided over four years in additional funding for health and aged care services. Funding has also been provided for major hospital upgrades in metropolitan and regional Victoria.
• A $200 million school capital program will fund new schools and important facility upgrades.
• The 2012-13 Budget also delivers $1.4 billion in new funding for early childhood development, education and training and $336 million to better protect Victoria's most vulnerable children.
• The 2012-13 Budget delivers on important new infrastructure projects, including $42.2 million for the Western Highway, $35.5 million for the Ballarat Western Link Road and additional regional rolling stock.

Acting Chair of the National Water Commission Stuart Bunn has released a position statement calling for Australia to draw on its experience and knowledge to protect and sustain the unique water resources in the north.

The Commission’s position statement outlines five principles to support the sustainable management of water resources as this important region develops.

The Commission encourages the three northern jurisdictions and the Australian Government to apply the following principles and actions to water resource management in northern Australia as a priority:

1. Fully adopt and implement the National Water Initiative (NWI) water reform framework. The NWI provides the right framework for developing and managing water resources and is equally applicable to northern Australia as it is other regions. Failure to adopt the NWI in full can create risks and limit opportunities. The NWI enables greater regulatory certainty and confidence for water related investment decisions, provides a community-wide, transparent and robust process for water planning decisions, and allows for adaptive management of water resources as new knowledge comes to hand.

2. Undertake transparent and inclusive water planning as an essential prerequisite to effective water management. Settling tradeoffs between competing outcomes for ground and surface water systems involves judgements informed by best available science, socio-economic analysis and community input. Water planning and management needs to consider broader natural resource management planning initiatives and be inclusive of all stakeholders, including Indigenous communities.

3. Develop an informed and shared understanding of northern Australia’s unique water resources based on robust science and socio-economic information. After a decade of significant investment to deepen the knowledge base of northern Australia for water planning and management, governments now have a greater understanding of the relationships between the ecological systems and hydrological regimes, how they interact with socio-cultural and economic factors, and how these would be impacted by water resource development. This has had an impact on the development of water policy, such as the establishment of Strategic Indigenous Reserves, the use of decision support tools for determining sustainable extraction regimes and for engagement of stakeholders in water planning.

4. Recognise Indigenous interests in water planning and management. The NWI requires that Indigenous interests and aspirations be factored into water planning; all the more important in northern Australia where Indigenous Australians make up a large percentage of the population and are significant landholders.

5. Strengthen cross-jurisdictional institutions and forums across the north to support efficient and effective water management and planning. The establishment of the Northern Australian Ministerial Forum represents an important mechanism for Australia’s northern jurisdictions to collaborate and coordinate their activities. The Indigenous Water Policy Group (IWPG), facilitated by the North Australian Indigenous Land and Sea Management Alliance (NAILSMA), is a good example of a mechanism to coordinate the effective engagement of Indigenous people across northern Australia.

Stuart Bunn said, ‘Because the diverse hydrological and ecological systems in our north differ so much from other systems, development in northern Australia presents inevitable challenges for water management.

‘We now have a historic opportunity to make sure that these largely undeveloped water systems support productive and healthy ecosystems, vibrant communities and rich Indigenous cultures.’

Stuart Bunn explained, ‘Transparent and inclusive water planning that balances development aspirations with environmental and cultural water requirements will be critical to building community confidence in decisions about how we share resources.

‘Achieving this will require an informed and shared understanding of northern Australia’s water resources based on robust science and socio-economic information.

‘The Commission is encouraged that progress is being made in achieving Indigenous access to water through cultural flows and water for economic purposes.  It is vital that Indigenous interests in water planning and management continue to advance and are properly recognised.’

Through strategic investments and partnerships such as the Tropical Rivers and Coastal Knowledge Research Hub, the Commission has worked to improve understanding of the area’s hydrology, river ecology and water-dependent ecosystems.

Recognising that the National Water Initiative (NWI) provides the right framework for managing water resources and is equally applicable to northern Australia, the Commission calls for NWI-consistent water legislation to be enacted in Western Australia and the Northern Territory. 

Stuart Bunn added, ‘We also acknowledge the importance of collaboration across governments and welcome the establishment of the Northern Australian Ministerial Forum.

‘The Commission believes that Northern Australia’s water resources can be developed in an culturally, socially, ecologically and economically sustainable way by pursuing these principles and associated actions.’

The Position Statement is available on the Commission’s website at www.nwc.gov.au

The Victorian Government has announced $12.7 million in spending for the state’s local libraries.

Outlined in the state’s 2012-13 budget, the spending also includes $3.1 million per year for the delivery of key library services.

"In addition to the traditional book lending services our public libraries now offer connection to the internet, the ability to borrow DVDs and CDs, support for book clubs, events for seniors and programs aimed at school-age children,” State Local Government Minister Jeanette Powell said.

"The Victorian Government is currently undertaking a comprehensive review of Victorian library services and funding arrangements, being led by the Ministerial Advisory Council on Public Libraries, a bipartisan committee which includes a representative from the Opposition.

"This budget delivers for the more than half of the Victorian population who are currently library members and the many more who will become members in the future," Mrs Powell said.

Nearly four out of ten workers can’t understand the basic information shared on global conference calls, read or write emails in English, or deal with complexity and rapid change.

GlobalEnglish Corporation announced the results of its annual Business English Index (BEI), the only index that measures Business English proficiency in the workplace. The 2012 BEI shows that a lack of Business English proficiency is threatening the productivity of companies, industries and country-specific economies this year.

With a growing number of companies operating across ten, 15 or even more than 20 countries with different native tongues, the majority of the world’s business conversations now take place between non-native English speakers in English. The current shortage of talent with the aptitude to speak, present, write, sell and service customers in English has become a high-performance challenge for leaders of multinational companies at a time when more international business growth has been fueled through expansions in emerging markets.

Based on a scale of 1-10, providing a ranking of employee Business English competency from beginner to advanced skills, the average 2012 BEI score across 108,000 test takers around the world is 4.15. A BEI score of 1.0 indicates an ability to read and communicate using only simple questions and statements, and a score higher than 10.0 represents an ability to communicate and collaborate in the workplace much like a native English speaker. There was an overall decrease in the average BEI score from last year’s inaugural index, which dropped from 4.46 to 4.15.

Nearly four out of ten (38.2 percent) global workers from 76 represented countries were ranked as Business English beginners, meaning that, on average, they can’t understand or communicate basic information during virtual or in-person meetings, read or write professional emails in English or deal with complexity and rapid change in a global business environment.

The majority of global workers (60.5%) from the represented countries scored between a 4.0 and 7.0, below an intermediate level, indicating an inability to take an active role in business discussions or perform relatively complex tasks such as presentation development and customer or partner negotiations.

Only the Philippines attained a score above 7.0, a BEI level within range of a high proficiency that indicates an ability to take an active role in business discussions and perform relatively complex tasks. Joining the Philippines in the top five were Norway (6.54), Estonia (6.45), Serbia (6.38) and Slovenia (6.19).

Both struggling economic powers (Japan, Italy and Mexico) and fast-growth emerging markets (Brazil, Columbia and Chile) scored below a 4.0 in Business English proficiency, placing them at a disadvantage when competing in a global marketplace. Three out of four BRIC countries did not attain a spot in the top-ranking 25 countries, including Brazil (2.95), Russia (3.60) and China (4.44).

The Victorian Government has announced a $10 million spending allocation to create the Office of Living Victoria, which will be responsible for overhauling the urban water system to make greater use of stormwater, rainwater and recycled water. 

"The money in today's Budget will establish the Office of Living Victoria (OLV) to reform the urban water sector and improve the way we use water,” State Water Minister Peter Walsh.

Mr Walsh said the OLV would improve water use by ensuring integrated water management is built into greenfield developments during construction.

"We need to make better use of all of our water resources, including rainwater, stormwater and recycled water, to drive change and increase liveability in Melbourne and Victoria's regional cities," Mr Walsh said.

"The OLV will bring together experts from across government who will work to drive the integration of water and urban planning."

The Victorian Government has announced a $200 million school capital projects spending package as part of the state’s 2012-13 budget.

State Minister for Education Martin Dixon said the state government was making significant investments in high-priority school capital works to drive employment and stimulate local economies.

"These include a new school in the Hume growth area, the first stage of a promised new school for students with autism spectrum disorder in the western region and a number of major building projects at regional schools,” Mr Dixon said.

A full breakdown of spending can be found here

The Northern Territory Government has flagged $380 million for the state’s Power and Water Corporation’s in the territory’s Budget.

“In Budget 2012 the Territory Government is rolling out more than $294 million to upgrade and deliver new power, water and sewerage infrastructure, as part of a five year, $1.8b capital and maintenance program,” Minister for Essential Services Rob Knight said.

The Territory Budget also delivers $38 million in capital and repairs and maintenance for the Indigenous Essential Services program, which services 73 remote communities. This includes, $7 million to upgrade the supply of water to Lajamanu, Maningrida and Ntaria.

The Victorian Government has announced a $10 million initiative aimed at encouraging to the use of rail freight to relive road congesting.

Announced in the State’s Budget, State Roads Minister Terry Mulder said scheme would be rolled out over two years.

"We have secured funding in this year's Budget for the Mode Shift Incentive Scheme (MSIS) which will encourage industry to shift freight from road to rail through a competitive funding framework," Mr Mulder said

"By targeting the most cost-effective rail services, the MSIS will contribute to a commercially-sustainable intermodal freight sector in regional Victoria.”

The Victorian Government has announced $33.7 million spend over four years for a package of energy security measures in the State’s Budget.

The measures include stronger government oversight of the beleaguered smart meter program and protecting the state’s interests during the introduction of the Federal Government’s carbon tax.

State Minister for Energy and Resources said Victoria would take action to improve the Advanced Metering Infrastructure, or 'smart meter', program following the recommendations of the 2009 Victorian Auditor-General's report and the 2011 independent Deloitte cost-benefit analysis.

The Auditor-General's report found an historical lack of governance and central oversight of the smart meter rollout and that government had a responsibility to better support the implementation of the project.

The Victorian Government has announced a major cut to WorkCover premiums, cutting them by three per cent from the beginning of July.

Premier Ted Baillieu said the reduction, outlined in the state’s budget, forms part of the Government’s aim to support businesses in ‘challenging economic times’.

"Victoria already has the lowest workplace insurance premiums in Australia and this cut will strengthen Victoria's competitiveness to attract business investment, reduce costs for business and support economic growth," Mr Baillieu said.

The cuts will see WorkCover premiums reduce from1 .338 per cent of an employer’s remuneration to 1.298 per cent.

"The reduction will benefit almost 60 per cent of Victorian businesses, of which nearly 59,000 will have their premiums cut by more than 10 per cent," Victorian Assistant Treasurer Gordon Rich-Phillips said.

The Federal Government has outlined $66 million in budget spending to improve water management over the next four years, with State Water Minister Peter Walsh saying the move will establish the state as a world leader in water practice.

"Over the next four years $50.4 million will be invested to improve water resource measurement and management," Mr Walsh said.

"This money will be used to improve surface water monitoring and data management, groundwater monitoring through the State Observation Bore Network, the Victorian water register and integrated water analysis and reporting.”

"Importantly funds will be used to manage potential risks to water availability to minimise the impacts of future droughts.”

The State Government will also invest $7.25 million to review Victoria's water legislation and co-ordinate activities under the Murray-Darling Basin Plan.

A Monash University researcher who is designing the next generation of medical implants using nanotechnology has been awarded the prestigious Alexander von Humboldt Award for the second time.

Professor Yuri Estrin will use the award to travel to the RWTH Aachan University in Germany to collaborate on improving the stability of the nanomaterials he is currently developing.

Professor Estrin received his first Humboldt Award in 1999, which he also used to do research at RWTH. Recipients of this highly competitive award must be nominated by an established academic in Germany.

The Awards are granted to "academics whose fundamental discoveries, new theories, or insights have had a significant impact on their own discipline and who are expected to continue producing cutting-edge achievements in the future.”

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has cut the country’s official cash rate by 50 basis points, bringing the country’s interest rate to 3.75 per cent.

In making the announcement, RBA Governor Glenn Stevens said a slower than expected world economy was key in informing the board’s decision.

Below trend output growth, combined with a slackening CPI increase were also considered major influences in the board’s decision to make the largest cut to the rate since February 2009, where it dropped the rate by 1 per cent.

“In considering the appropriate size of adjustment to the cash rate at today's meeting, the Board judged it desirable that financial conditions now be easier than those which had prevailed in December,” Mr Stevens said.

 A reduction of 50 basis points in the cash rate was, in this instance, therefore judged to be necessary in order to deliver the appropriate level of borrowing rates.”

Mount Gambier and the wider South East community recently hosted a water official from East Timor who was keen to learn from local experts about water resource management in the region.

Ms Juviana Jeronimo Neto from the National Directorate of Water, East Timor, spent two days with Department for Water staff as part of a work and knowledge exchange to help inform the future of groundwater management in East Timor.

Nick McIntyre from the Department for Water said the exchange was a great opportunity to provide East Timor Water Directorate staff with the benefit of South Australian experience.

“East Timor shares some similar groundwater issues with the South East region, and both areas’ groundwater systems are karstic systems,” said Mr McIntyre.

“During the exchange, the importance of groundwater monitoring to assess resource conditions was highlighted. Other points raised included the need to develop an understanding of recharge to groundwater from rainfall, making provision for environmental water needs, and having a licensing system to regulate the volume of extraction from the groundwater resource, including the use of water meters.

“Ms Neto informed us that they are just starting to look at ways to further use and manage their groundwater, and she was particularly interested to learn about the legal and planning aspects of South Australia’s water management systems.

“Formal regulation of groundwater is a fairly new concept in East Timor and we provided Ms Neto with detail around South Australia’s well permitting process as, under the current situation in East Timor, water is obtained primarily from rising groundwater springs.

“We also outlined some of the potential issues that could occur if wells are drilled or excavated without some level of permit control, such as potential groundwater contamination, improper construction standards or over-extraction from the groundwater resource.”

The Federal Government has opened nominations for the 2012 Prime Ministers Water Wise Award for commercial and industrial companies that can demonstrate significant recent water savings.

Announcing the opening of nominations, Senator Don Farrell, Parliamentary Secretary for Sustainability and Urban Water, said the award was a great way to celebrate companies that make outstanding efforts to conserve water.

"This is Australia's premier award recognising water efficiency excellence in the commercial and industrial sectors, which typically account for between 15 and 20 per cent of all water used in Australia," Senator Farrell said.

Judging is based on water savings and takes into account innovation, excellence in project delivery, and the ability for approaches to be replicated at other facilities.

The Prime Minister's Water Wise Award is part of the Water Efficiency Opportunities program, under the Australian Government's Water for the Future initiative.

Nominations will close on Friday 20 July 2012.

For more information visit:www.environment.gov.au/water/policy-programs/weo/pm-awards/index.html