Industry News

Australian Broadband Services (AusBBS) has announced it has secured first round funding for the development of its NBN network, meaning it will become the first ISP to operate exclusively over the National Broadband Network (NBN).

“We will be the first ISP to fully leverage the speed and capacity offered by the NBN, harnessing it to develop a very low cost business model, allowing us to offer cheaper and simpler internet access to all Australians. We will outsource the majority of our needs to specialists all over the country to ensure a top class service at a competitive price,” AusBBS CEO and founder Rob Appel said.

“The NBN will create a highly competitive environment in which new entrant ISPs can compete for the first time in many years. AusBBS will be among a new generation of ISPs structured to take advantage of non discriminatory wholesale pricing and passing on genuine benefits to customers.”

“By leveraging the power of the cloud to outsource most of our needs we can securely make available the applications and information our suppliers need, wherever they happen to be. Our overheads will be significantly reduced using this model, allowing us to offer competitively priced access plans to all Australians, wherever the NBN reaches,” concluded Appel.

More information is available here

Commercial and consumer data intelligence specialist Veda has released its quarterly Consumer Credit Demand Index for the first quarter of 2012, showing a continued decline in consumer credit demand.

The report found that overall consumer credit demand has slipped 4.8 per cent year on year, with credit card applications down by 8 per cent.

While the index found that mortgage enquiries increased for the first time in eight quarters in Queensland, the NT and WA, they have dropped sharply in NSW.

"Turning points in mortgage enquiries usually occur one to three quarters ahead of turning points in house prices, an early warning sign which could indicate that after a continued decline, mortgage enquiries may have bottomed out.  Veda mortgage enquiries are closely related to the number of housing finance approvals so this is a trend to watch, particularly if you are hoping for a future pick-up in house prices," Group Strategy and Planning Manager at Veda Angus Luffman said.

"In terms of state by state mortgage activity we are seeing different trends play out with NSW mortgage enquiries being affected by the expiration of stamp duty and Queenslanders starting to bounce back after a challenging year.”

Credit Card applications declined sharply in SA (-12%), NSW (-11.3%) and Victoria (-8.8%) over the last year while the decline is less severe in Queensland (-1.6%) and WA (-4.2%).  In part, the weakness in credit card applications reflects the rise in the use of debit cards and the introduction of responsible lending laws in 2011, which has led to more steps being added to credit card application processes. 

The Federal Government has released a discussion paper on high cost, small amount loans, commonly referred to as ‘payday loans’.

Minister for Financial Services and Superannuation said that the paper was a response to the concerns raised by consumer groups, industry and consumers.

"Payday lending can be high risk for vulnerable or low-income consumers. People often borrow money from payday lenders in order to meet short-term commitments like rent and groceries. The interest charged on the loan is often so exorbitant it only worsens the financial position of the consumer in the long-term, who may need to take out further loans in order to pay off the original loan and the interest," Mr Shorten said.

"This Government acknowledges that there is no quick fix to problems related to payday lending. As such, we fund a range of programs which help consumers address their financial issues before they resort to payday loans."

The paper outlines three major goals that Government has identified:

• reduce the need for high cost, short term, small amount credit by improving access to low-cost and/or fairer alternative assistance;
• encourage more alternatives to high cost, short term, small amount lending; and
• improve assistance to those in a debt cycle so they are provided with constructive long-term solutions.

The discussion paper can be found here

The deadline for submissions is June 4.

The Federal Government has announced a new $1.5 billion Remote Jobs and Communities Program to start from July 2013.

The program will aim to provide a more integrated and flexible approach to employment and participation services for people living in remote areas of the country.

The program will see jobseekers assisted by a single provider with a permanent presence in their region, while also ensuring that people who are not working are participating in activities that support skill increases.

The Federal Government has announced that the program will see Job Services Australia, Disability Employment Services, Community Development Employment Projects and the Indigenous Employment Program rolled into a single integrated service.

The ANZ Bank has announced two senior Research appointments in a bid to further expand the company’s research product offering to its customer base.

ANZ has announced Li-Gang Liu’s appointment to the position of Chief Economist, China. While Richard Yetsenga has been appointed to Head of Global Markets Research.

Commenting on the appointments, ANZ Chief Economist Warren Hogan said: “The Research team has a central role to play in developing ANZ’s global institutional investor customer base through strong insightful research. These appointments will help in fulfilling that role.”

Li-Gang Liu, previously Head of Greater China Economics, will report to Mr Hogan and continue to lead and develop the Greater China economics team, covering China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, based in Hong Kong.

“China is an increasingly important part of ANZ’s operations with significant potential for our institutional business. It is also an important fulcrum for our Research effort - as the most globally influential economy in the region, it lies at the heart of our research effort at ANZ,” said Mr Hogan.

Richard Yetsenga, previously Head of FX Research, will report to Mr Hogan and oversee all of ANZ Research Strategy, including the existing FX, Rates and Commodities teams. He will be based in Sydney.

“Richard has the right experience to perform the role of Head of Global Markets Research, having run strategy teams across Asia including seven years at HSBC in Hong Kong where he was Global Head of Emerging Market FX Strategy,” said Mr Hogan.

The University of Queensland has appointed Professor Peter Høj as its new Vice-Chancellor and President.

Professor Høj is the Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of South Australia and his previous roles include Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Research Council and Managing Director of the Australian Wine Research Institute.

He was selected from a highly-competitive field of candidates.

Professor Høj said he was honoured to be granted the opportunity to lead a research-intensive institution of UQ's stature.

“I look forward to working with UQ staff, students and alumni to further enhance the University's already excellent global reputation for learning, research and outreach activities across a full spectrum of academic disciplines,” he said.

Professor Høj has a Master of Science, PhD and Honorary Doctorate from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

He has served on the Prime Minister's Science and Engineering Innovation Council, and his many awards include the Boehringer-Mannheim Medal from the Australian Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

In addition to his Fellowship of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, he was recently appointed as a Foreign Member (Natural Sciences Class) of The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters.

The New South Wales Government has announced it is currently searching for a Head of NSW State Government Senior IT Manager.

The State Government is calling for an experienced ICT professional, with experience in senior roles as well as experience in developing new opportunities with customers and key industry stakeholders.

The State Government has announced the following prerequisites for candidates

• Strong market profile
• Established networks within NSW and other state Governments
• Demonstrable history in building sustainable senior relationships, particularly dealing with CIO level.
• Inside government experience will be considered very favorably

More details can be viewed here

The first interim report of the independent GST Distribution Review has been published.

The review, being conducted by panel members John Brumby, Bruce Carter and Nick Greiner, is currently considering whether the current horizontal fiscal equalization can be improved.

The first interim report outlines the Panel's current thinking on proposals and seeks further submissions from states, territories and other interested parties on the information and concepts outlined in this interim report.

“I thank the Panel for their work to date and look forward to receiving a second interim report on issues relating to state taxes and mineral royalties in mid-2012, followed by a final report later in 2012,” Treasurer Wayne Swan said.

“After the release of the final report, I will convene a meeting with State and Territory Treasurers to discuss the Panel's recommendations.” 

The review can be found here 

Maths and science will collide with computer games and virtual reality at the new $4 million Quantum Victoria physical sciences centre in Macleod West.

Education Minister Martin Dixon today opened the centre and the $16.2 million Charles La Trobe P-12 College in a landmark launch for Melbourne's northern suburbs.

"We are celebrating two exciting projects that will have a profound impact on both the Macleod community and the rest of Victoria," Mr Dixon said.

"Quantum is a truly exciting centre, using computer games, virtual reality and robotics to show students what a career in maths and science can mean."

Students can participate in different scenarios designed to tackle an area of science, including: studying the physics at work in an iPad game of Angry Birds; taking part in an Amazing Race-style competition that touches on the key areas of the centre – science, technology, engineering and maths; or design a Formula 1 car and test it in a virtual wind tunnel.

Quantum is the sixth and final of the Victorian Government's specialised science education centres in Victoria, designed to engage students in science.

Students from all schools throughout Victoria are able to attend Quantum, and the centre will run an outreach program, enabling schools to run programs from anywhere in the state.

Quantum joins the Victorian Space Science Education Centre at Strathmore Secondary College, the Ecolinc Centre at Bacchus Marsh Secondary College, the Gene Technology Access Centre at University High, BioLAB at Belmont High School and Earth Education Centre at Mount Clear College in Ballarat.

Superfund members will benefit from the Federal Government tax relief that enables superfunds to merge without triggering adverse tax consequences that would hit members' savings, according to estimates released by the Government

The Government will implement changes to the income tax law to support the implementation of its MySuper reforms by encouraging fund mergers that lower fees and costs for members.

"The Gillard Government is reforming superannuation so that fees and costs are lower.  The tax relief announced today removes a barrier that would have prevented otherwise sound superfund mergers from proceeding," the Minister for Financial Services and Superannuation Bill Shorten said.

Estimates undertaken by superfund AGEST about the impact of their proposed merger with Australian Super, show a 38 year old female worker earning around $44,000 will have $14,000 more in retirement savings thanks to the efficiency gains from the proposed merger.

Given the potential benefits to members of industry consolidation and the possible costs for some entities transitioning to MySuper, the Government will provide:

• from 1 June 2012 to 1 July 2017, optional loss relief for mergers of complying superannuation funds on the same terms and conditions as the former temporary loss relief with some exceptions including an optional roll-over for capital gains and appropriate integrity provisions (see Attachment); and 
• from 1 July 2013 to 1 July 2017, an optional roll-over and loss relief for capital gains and capital losses on mandatory transfers of default members' benefits and relevant assets to a MySuper product in another complying superannuation fund.
•  

Self-managed superannuation funds will be excluded from the relief because the MySuper requirements do not apply to them.

The Federal Government has announced all federally leased airports will be offered the protection of a Tripartite Deed, giving them greater certainty in securing financing for infrastructure developments.

Last year, the Government agreed to extend existing tripartite deeds for 12 major airports by another 30 years, removing an obstacle to airports’ planned investment of up to $9 billion to expand and modernise their facilities.

The protection of the Tripartite Deed will be offered to the remaining nine federally leased airports on the same terms as the other major airports. 

The nine airports to be offered these deeds are Parafield, Archerfield, Tennant Creek, Camden, Essendon, Mount Isa, Jandakot, Moorabbin, and Hobart.

Over the past decade Tripartite Deeds have clarified the rights of financers in the event an operator of a federally leased airport, to which they have lent money, goes out of business or loses its operating licence. 

These deeds has given financiers the confidence to invest, and operators the certainty to plan for the long term.

The announcement puts all federally-leased airports on a level-playing field when it comes to securing financing for major infrastructure developments and upgrades on airport land.

The Victorian government has announced a $1.2 billion re-development of the Port of Melbourne and will see the construction of a new container terminal at Webb Dock and further infrastructure upgrades as Swanson Dock to increase capacity.

The project is expected to generate in excess of 2,600 jobs and significantly enhance the economic prospects in the state, according to Premier Ted Baillieu.

"This major infrastructure project is an exciting opportunity to cement Victoria's reputation as the freight and logistics capital of Australia," Mr Baillieu said.

"The project will provide 700 direct jobs and 1,900 indirect jobs across Victoria, in addition to ensuring we are well placed to cater for the forecast demand in container freight.

"In 2010/11 the port handled a record 2.5 million twenty-foot equivalent containers (TEU) and has continued to set new trade records in recent months.

"With container movements in and out of Melbourne increasing in excess of six per cent every year and tipped to reach 8 million TEU by 2035, this announcement is an important part of the Coalition Government's plan to provide the infrastructure required to meet growing demand.”

Minister for Ports Denis Napthine said all Victorians would benefit from an improved and efficient port.

"With the port handling $82 billion worth of international import and export trade per annum, the Coalition Government recognises managing the port effectively is essential to maintaining the lifestyle, livelihood and trade benefits for Victorian people and Victorian businesses," Dr Napthine said.

The Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV) has requested public input over its recently released a draft copy of the proposed Strategic Plan for 2012-13.

The draft was developed with ‘extensive’ member input from the series of recent planning sessions held across Victoria and has been released to MAV representatives and CEOs.

The MAV is seeking feedback on the draft before its presented to State Council on 17 May. Comments can be submitted to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The working group tasked with considering governance issues associated with a possible move to a single water and sewerage corporation in Tasmania has met for the first time.

Chaired by the Mayor of Brighton, Councillor Tony Foster, the working group has considered a range of matters relating to how councils would integrated separately owned assets into a single entity.

“The meeting was very productive, with two representatives of owner councils from each region, along with the Chair of the current water and sewerage corporations and the CEO of the Local Government Association in attendance,” Mayor Foster said.

“Councils have had concerns from the beginning about the amount of input they have into this sector as the owners of the entities. The governance proposals under consideration are about ensuring that as owners, Local Government has a more direct relationship with the board(s) and corporation(s),” he said.  

“Selection processes, board structure and numbers, communication between the Board and owners, accountability and reporting along with the basis for dividend distribution are key matters for the working group to address.”

The Federal Labor Government will provide grants of up to $110,000 to airlines flying to small and remote tourism destinations like Kangaroo Island to help them get ready for new, increased aviation security measures.

From July 1 this year, the Government will require a number of regional airports to have security screening of passengers and baggage for the first time.

Many small and remote airports cannot afford the purchase and upkeep of screening equipment, especially considering the bulk of traffic is infrequent flights run by regional airlines for tourism or fly-in-fly-out mining operations.

Eligible tourism operators and regional airlines will be able to purchase small portable passenger screening kits that can be carried on board and used at remote locations where screening would not otherwise be available.

It means tourists, miners and others can keep flying to remote places like Kangaroo Island, Lake Eyre, Coober Pedy, Birdsville, King Island, Bourke, and Broken Hill.

The introduction of screening technology is being funded by the Federal Government’s $200 million Strengthening Aviation Security Initiative.

The Federal Government has teamed up with the Australian Local Government Association (ALGA) to explain how landfill can be used to reduce pollution and earn carbon credits.

Parliamentary Secretary for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, Mark Dreyfus, yesterday addressed the ALGA forum on the carbon price and landfills, urging councils to do their own sums and not take at face value potentially misleading claims about high carbon price impacts.

Mr Dreyfus said some councils appeared to be significantly overestimating the impact of the carbon price on landfill, when the vast majority of landfill sites would not be subject to a carbon price at all.

He said only larger landfill facilities, with emissions over 25 000 tonnes a year, were liable to pay the carbon price, and only on waste disposed after 1 July 2012.

Emissions can be cut by up to 75 per cent using gas capture technology, which will help some landfills drop back below the 25 000 tonne threshold.

Landfill gas can be used to create electricity to power council or other nearby buildings.

"There is opportunity to make money under the carbon price scheme," Mr Dreyfus said.

"A carbon credit can be earned for every tonne of pollution cut or avoided from landfill, and these can be sold on carbon markets generating extra income for councils or landfill operators."

Applications for an energy efficiency grant should also be considered by councils, to help council and community buildings save energy and thousands of dollars through more efficient heating, cooling and lighting, under the Government's Low Carbon Communities program.

The Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency is partnering with ALGA and the Clean Energy Regulator to run a series of support sessions.

These will include face-to-face forums and webinars, which will assist councils in working through the necessary steps to factor the carbon price and carbon credit opportunities into their waste disposal services.

The Australian Human Resources Institute (AHRI) has released its Mature Age Workforce Participation 2012 survey.

The survey found that nearly half of participating companies recorded the loss of key areas of knowledge with a departure of an older worker, wile over one-fifth recorded a decrease in competitiveness.

The report indicates how much value the industry places on mature age workers, with 83 per cent of participants saying they would like to see steps taken within their organisation to ensure that mature aged workers are retained.

According to the survey, just under half of all respondents believe their organisation would support a Government subsidy to ensure the hiring and retention of mature aged workers.

The results come only weeks after the Federal Government announced a $1000 incentive to be granted to all companies who hire a mature age worker and retain them for over three months.

Despite this, the survey found respondents were generally against the idea of lifting the retirement age as a move to ensure greater participation rates amongst mature aged workers.

The survey can be found here

The Australian Research Council (ARC) has announced a $1 million funding extension for the Centre of Excellence in Policing and Security.

Announcing the funding, Acting ARC CEO Ms Leanne Harvey said the ARC Centre of Excellence in Policing and Security made a vital contribution to addressing a range of important issues from everyday policing to national and global security.

“Since then, the Centre has been undertaking high-quality research to better understand the origins, motivations and dynamics of crime and security threats. This research is helping Australia improve its crime prevention and security policies.

“The research is also helping improve education and training programs in forensic intelligence; inform infrastructure security and natural disaster responses; and contribute to the increasing professionalisation of police forces—particularly through its research into police leadership and ethics.”

Ms Harvey said she was pleased the funding would also help the Centre strengthen its close partnerships with Australian police, security experts and forensic services.

Director of the Centre Professor Simon Bronitt said the funding boost would help the Centre attract and train new research talent for the future.

"Since 2006, CEPS has grown to more than 100 researchers and associate investigators, based across four universities—Griffith University, the Australian National University, the University of Queensland and Charles Sturt University,” Professor Bronitt said.

The Centre, administered by Griffith University, was established in 2007 with ARC funding of $10 million over five years. The additional $1 million in funding has been awarded following a comprehensive review of the Centre’s operations and performance. The findings of the review were overwhelmingly positive and the additional funding will help the Centre to continue its research in 2013.

A team of researchers at the University of Sydney has completed research detailing how the brain reacts to the bombardment of visual and other sensory signals it constantly receives.

The research has broad implications for the understanding of the process used by the brain for interpreting the world visually, and how the brain itself works.

In an article published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, Dr Isabelle Mareschal and Professor Colin Clifford from the University of Sydney’s School of Psychology and the Vision Centre, report a series of ground breaking experiments tracing the origins of a number of illusions to the cells of the primary visual cortex. 

"We tend to regard what we see as the real world," said Dr Mareschal.

"In fact a lot of it is distortion, and it is occurring in the early processing of the brain, before consciousness takes over. Our work shows that the cells of the primary visual cortex create small distortions, which then pass on to the higher levels of the brain, to interpret as best it can."

A common example of this that is often exploited by artists and designers is known as the tilt illusion where perfectly vertical lines appear tilted because they are placed on an oriented background.

"We wanted to test at what level the illusion occurs in the brain, unconscious or conscious - and also to see if the higher brain is aware of the illusions it is receiving and how it tries to correct for them," she explains.

"The answer is that the brain seeks more contextual information from the background to try to work out the alignment of the object it is seeing."

The team subjected volunteers to a complex test in which they indicated the orientation of a vertical line, perceived as constantly tilting from side to side, against a fuzzy background that was also changing.

"These illusions happen very fast, perhaps in milliseconds," Dr Mareschal says. "And we found that even the higher brain cannot always correct for them, as it doesn't in fact know they are illusions."

An international team, including members from the University of Sydney, has announced research that promises to reinvent modern computing through the development of ion-crystal technology.

The ion-crystal ‘quantum simulator’ technology has been used to develop a new breed of computer only 300 atoms in size, but with power that would require a contemporary computer the size of the known universe to match.

“The system we have developed has the potential to perform calculations that would require a supercomputer larger than the size of the known universe - and it does it all in a diameter of less than a millimetre," Dr Michael Biercuk of the University of Sydney said.

"The projected performance of this new experimental quantum simulator eclipses the current maximum capacity of any known computer by an astonishing 10 to the power of 80. That is 1 followed by 80 zeros, in other words 80 orders of magnitude, a truly mind-boggling scale."

The research far outstrips previous records in terms of the number of elements used together in a quantum simulator, meaning the machine can perform infinitely more complex tasks.

The team is made of leading scientists from the US National Institute of standards and Technology, Georgetown University, North Carolina State University and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research in South Africa.

"Many properties of natural materials governed by the laws of quantum mechanics are very difficult to model using conventional computers. The key concept in quantum simulation is building a quantum system to provide insights into the behaviour of other naturally occurring physical systems,” Dr Biercuk said.

"By engineering precisely controlled interactions and then studying the output of the system, we are effectively running a 'program' for the simulation.

"In our case, we are studying the interactions of spins in the field of quantum magnetism - a key problem that underlies new discoveries in materials science for energy, biology, and medicine.”

"For instance, we hope to study the spin interactions predicted by models for high-temperature superconductivity - a physical phenomenon that has yet to be explained, but has the potential to revolutionise power distribution and high-speed transport."