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SearchArchives for March 2011
30 March, 2011
New Premier to
stand for Service
Last weekend’s State Election has returned a change of Government with new Premier, Barry O’Farrell replacing Kristina Keneally,
Mr O’Farrell accepted the role by assuring the community that he would keep all the election promises made to voters in the election period.
“I give this pledge,” Mr O’Farrell said.
“We will still deliver on all our commitments.”
The promise was good news for the NSW Public Service with the General Secretary of the Public Service Association, John Cahill saying the State’s Public Servants would hold Mr O’Farrell to account, particularly on his commitment to a bigger Public Service and his promise not to cut PS jobs.
“He said that he wants to increase the number of public sector workers rather than decrease them, so he’s saying all the right things, but we’ll just have to make sure that he sticks to it,” Mr Cahill told the Sydney Morning Herald.
“But if there is a u-turn on some of these things that were said before the election, we’ll certainly bring that to everyone’s attention.”
President of the NSW Teacher’s Federation, Bob Lipscombe congratulated Mr O’Farrell on his win.
“Prior to the election, the Coalition made a number of positive commitments, including the employment of an additional 900 teachers,” Mr Lipscombe said.
“It has also expressed a readiness to discuss improvements in a number of other areas of education.”
The Herald also reported that Mr O’Farrell promised 550 new police officers over three years.
This promise was also welcomed by staff representatives, the President of the Police Association, Scott Weber saying the extra officers would be welcome because the force was operating with the lowest police-per-population numbers in the country.
“Generally policing is looking for the respect that it deserves and has been lacking over the last period of years,” Mr Weber said.
“They obviously want to make NSW the premier State again, well, the first way to do that is obviously properly respect and resource your police force.”
30 March, 2011
New website firms
up flexible work
The Department of Premier and Cabinet has launched a new website dealing with flexible work options and practices.
The new site has been developed to guide managers and staff deciding on the best flexible work arrangements to adopt for their organisation, taking account of the needs of the Agency and those who work in it.
Announced in DPC Circular C2011-11 Flexible Working online toolkit, the website can be accessed at this PS News link.
“Flexible working arrangements are not just for those with family and caring responsibilities,” the Circular says.
“Most workers at some stage in their work life will place a premium on more flexible workplaces, including older workers, younger workers and those with a disability.”
The Circular says that the new Flexible Working website is a springboard for Agencies wishing to develop flexible working solutions with their staff and would help them retain staff and improve their workforce through flexible working solutions.
“Flexible work arrangements are important elements of strategies for attracting and retaining valuable skilled staff and to build diverse workforces,” it says.
The Circular says the new site explains the context for considering flexible work place arrangements and the associated business benefits that come from implementing them.
“The arrangements help employees balance the changing demands of work and personal life while contributing to improved performance and productivity,” it says.
The Circular says that all public sector agencies, including State Owned Corporations, are encouraged to use the resources available through the site and senior officers are asked to promote the Flexible Working site to all employees.
The Circular C2011-11 Flexible Working online toolkit can be accessed at this PS News link.
30 March, 2011
Union sees red over
Green comments
The General Secretary of the Public Service Association, John Cahill, has responded angrily to an attack on the staff of the Department of Planning from Greens politician, David Shoebridge.
Mr Cahill rejected Mr Shoebridge’s comment that the Department needed a broom through it “from the top down”.
Mr Cahill said it was an “outrageous politicisation” and a “baseless attack” on the NSW Public Service and all professional Public Servants.
“Our members working in the Department of Planning and throughout the whole of the public sector have to work with the legislative and policy guidelines of the NSW Government whatever its political colour,” Mr Cahill said
“Mr Shoebridge should have restricted his comments to what policy the Greens have in respect to legislative change required in the planning system of NSW.”
Mr Cahill called on Mr Shoebridge to retract his ‘ill-conceived” comments and apologise to all NSW Public Servants.
He said the comments, which were made when criticising NSW planning provisions, were not appropriate and the Public Service had nothing to do with the problems highlighted by Mr Shoebridge.
“Our members are just doing their job and are not responsible for the political decisions made by NSW Governments in respect to policy and legislation,” Mr Cahill said.
He said rather than calling for a broom to be put through the NSW Public service, the “shoe should be on the other foot and a broom put through the Greens!”
30 March, 2011
Water workers in
deep at ICAC
The Independent Commission Against Corruption has made adverse findings against nine people, including seven Sydney Water employees, for allegedly engaging in corrupt conduct by accepting payment from contractors.
ICAC’s public inquiry, presided over by Commissioner David Ipp QC, spanned 18 days and gathered evidence from 62 witnesses.
According to ICAC’s report on its inquiry, one of the worst cases of corrupt conduct uncovered involved nearly $300,000 of unauthorised expenditure of public funds.
The report said the employees included three inspectors from Sydney Water’s Civil Delivery section, three from its Plumbing Inspection and Assurance Service (PIAS) and one Property Assets Manager.
The report said the employees accepted bribes from contractors, engaged in secondary employment which impacted on their performance as employees of Sydney Water, authorised payments without the authority to do so and submitted invoices containing false information.
The Commission recommended that the advice of the Director of Public Prosecutions be sought in relation to the prosecution of some of those involved in the corruption.
It said many of the contractors allegedly involved made full and frank admissions to the Commission, which decided to exercise its discretion not to make corrupt conduct findings against them.
ICAC noted there were a number of prevailing flaws in the rules, relationships and systems at Sydney Water and made 18 recommendations to help prevent corruption and similar conduct from happening in the future.
Among its recommendations was a call for any staff in identified risk areas of operational and/or fraud risk to be subject to intrusive supervision and that Sydney Water review its organisational structure to identify and remedy situations where supervisory arrangements were split or unclear.
A full copy of ICAC’s report can be found at this PS News link.
30 March, 2011
Rescuers return
from disasters
The 76 members of the NSW Search and Rescue Task Force sent to Japan to assist with that country’s recent natural disasters, have returned.
Commissioner for NSW Fire and Rescue, Greg Mullins welcomed the team home which comprised 56 fire and rescue specialists, two structural engineers, nine paramedics, two retrieval doctors, a police specialist and two search dog teams.
Commissioner Mullins tanked the team for the work, as did Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione, Deputy Police Commissioner and State Emergency Operations Controller, Dave Owens and Acting Chief Executive of the Ambulance Service, Mike Willis.
“We congratulate and thank them for their hard work in assisting the Japanese people in their hour of need,” Commissioner Mullins said.
“They have not only made all members of the emergency services proud, but the entire Australian Community.”
He said the team searched earthquake and tsunami wreckage for survivors under severe weather conditions.
Deputy Commissioner Owens said the NSW emergency workers were praised for making a “huge” difference during the rescue operations under very trying and extremely difficult circumstances.
“Yet again, as with the New Zealand deployment, we were able to send help immediately with a highly trained, highly disciplined, and fully equipped team,’’ Deputy Commissioner Owens said.
Acting Chief Executive of the Ambulance Service, Mike Willis, said the team had shown true professionalism and courage and had encountered personal sacrifice as they assisted victims of the Japanese tsunami.
He said Australia had donated the team’s tents, shelters, generators, beds, food stocks and water to help local authorities in relief efforts.
Medicines and medical equipment were also given to the local hospital, he said.
30 March, 2011
Records access
hits new record
NSW State Records has launched a new website aimed at increasing public accessibility to the State Archives collection.
The site aims to identify those datasets relating to the archives collection which can be published in the most accessible ways.
According to State Records, the new way of published data to be used by this project could lead to new way of collecting information and create new possibilities for searching the archives.
It says that this will also allow for possible “re-purposing” of information, such as visualisations or in applications online.
“As a first step, State Records NSW is publishing data from its online catalogue, Archives Investigator,” it said.
It said information published on the new website would contain background data on its content is what helps search engines find information faster and more easily and therefore allowing better accessibility.
State Records says that among further advances towards increasing the accessibility and use of archival information could be the development of standardised formats or new software to improve and simplify access and searching.
“Future steps might involve the use of standardised formats (e.g. EAC-CPF) or the development of an Application Programming Interface (API) to the catalogue,” it said.
All data published from the website would be done so under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Australia Licences.
“This licence allows users to share and remix the data so long as it is attributed to State Records NSW and is used for non-commercial purposes,” it said.
State Records said it would welcome any suggestions or ideas about future directions for this project and more information – or access to the site – is available at this PS News link.
30 March, 2011
Workplace hazards
in safe hands
A series of reports on workplace hazards such as work-related pain and fatigue, exposure to chemicals and wet working conditions has been released by Safe Work Australia.
Based on the findings of National Hazard Exposure Worker Surveillance Survey, the reports identify the demographic and employment characteristics of the workers across Australia affected by the hazards and the measures taken to eliminate, reduce or control the danger.
Chair of Safe Work Australia, Tom Phillips said biomechanical demands, such as repetitive hand or arm movements, lifting heavy loads or working in awkward postures contribute to the development or worsening of inflammatory or degenerative musculoskeletal disorders which are one of the leading causes of morbidity and disability in Australia and worldwide.
He said findings of the study included exposure to biomechanical demand was very common in Australian workplaces, with more than 99 per cent of workers reporting exposure to at least one of the nine biomechanical demands surveyed.
Mr Phillips said it also showed 21 per cent of workers reported exposure to all nine biomechanical demands; and young workers, male workers, night workers and lower skilled workers were most likely to report exposure to biomechanical demands and had the highest overall biomechanical demand exposure scores.
Mr Phillips said work-related musculoskeletal disorders were one of the eight priority occupational diseases for Australia and accounted for the largest proportion of occupational disease workers’ compensation claims in Australia.
He said furthermore the report into the exposure to biological hazards, found: 19 per cent of workers reported they worked in places where there were biological materials; 63 per cent of workers who reported exposure to biological hazards were female; and exposure to biological hazards was concentrated in the Health and community services and Agriculture, forestry and fishing industries.
Mr Phillips said the survey also looked into wet work exposure, with a report finding: 9.8 per cent of workers reported they washed their hands more than 20 times per day and 4.5 per cent reported their hands were immersed in liquids more than two hours per day, which are both indicators of high exposure to wet work.
Mr Phillips said that this study outlined the importance of time restriction as a control measure for wet work and ultimately occupational skin disease.
The National Hazard Exposure Worker Surveillance Reports can be found at this PS News link.
30 March, 2011
Measles warning
spot on at Health
NSW Health has issued a warning to people born after 1965 to make sure they’re immunised against measles.
According to the Agency’s Director of the Centre for Health and Protection, Dr Jeremy McAnulty, the past four weeks had seen 29 cases of measles in NSW, seven of which could be linked with unvaccinated or partially vaccinated travellers returning from overseas.
Dr McAnulty, warned that measles was a highly infectious virus which spread easily among those who were not vaccinated.
“Measles can be a very severe disease but fortunately it is preventable through vaccination,” Dr McAnulty said.
“The MMR (Measles Mumps and Rubella) vaccine is very safe and effective.”
He said that in Australia, most people diagnosed with measles had recently travelled overseas and not been vaccinated.
“However, most of the recent measles cases have no history of overseas travel indicating there has been spread within the local community to people who are not fully vaccinated.”
He said that people born since 1965 who have not received the MMR vaccine or who had evidence of Measles infection could be highly susceptible to the disease.
Dr McAnulty said the symptoms of measles included fever, sore eyes and coughing, which was followed by a rash several days later.
Anyone with symptoms should stay at home and avoid going out into public, he said.
“It is important to see your GP but make sure you call ahead so they can make arrangements to see you without exposing others in the surgery or waiting room.
“In the early stages you might only have a cough, fever, sore eyes and a runny nose. Talk to your doctor before you go to the clinic.”
More information on measles is available from this PS News link.
30 March, 2011
Night time is right
time for ambassadors
The Sydney City Council has appointed ‘precinct ambassadors’ in its efforts to improve safety in the city centre at night.
Lord Mayor, Clover Moore, said that the ambassadors were not security guards or acting on behalf of the police, but offering practical information to people out late at night.
“(They) help monitor the area and have direct communication with our CCTV security control room and work closely with the police if potentially volatile situations come up,” Councillor Moore said.
She said the trial would run for 12 weeks and was part of the State Government’s ‘Hassle Free Nights’ initiative and would see the ‘ambassadors’ stationed on George Street between 8pm and 3:30am on Friday and Saturday nights.
“Sydney is the night time capital of Australia and I want it to stay that way but it has got to be safe for everyone,” Councillor Moore said.
“There is a problem is some areas with violent anti-social behaviour fuelled by a few poorly run licensed venues and this is because current ways of dealing with them are not working,” she said.
In operation for three weeks, the ambassadors had already assisted more than 750 people.
Councillor Moore said during the trial 79 incidents were prevented from escalating when ambassadors were able to contact ambulances and administer basic first aid
She said the ambassadors also served to direct people to public transport, ease pressure on overcrowded footpaths and had provided advice to over 480 people on how to get home safely.
She said new late night signage to public transport had also been installed in areas with high pedestrian volumes late at night such as Kings Cross, Oxford Street and George Street South.
30 March, 2011
National VET scheme
on trainer wheels
A national system for regulating the vocational education and training sector (VET) has been established under a new law passed by the Australian Parliament.
The National VET Regulator has been set up to regulate the sector in all States and Territories except Victoria and Western Australia. It will begin by regulating trainers in New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory.
According to the Minister for Tertiary Education and Skills, Senator Chris Evans, the move represents a new era for vocational education and training and will benefit more than 1.2 million students and thousands of Australian businesses.
“The new National VET Regulator will build on the current VET regulatory system to increase confidence in the quality and consistency of graduates across states and territories,” Senator Evans said.
“The new regulator will use a risk-based approach, allowing it to focus closely on poor performers while reducing the regulatory burden for strong, proven providers.”
He said the reforms had received considerable support for the introduction of the VET regulator from stakeholders across the board, including training providers, employers, industry skills councils and unions.
“The legislation establishes a strengthened regulatory framework with a range of escalating penalties to ensure the new regulator can deal with underperforming training providers,” Senator Evans said.
He said the Government had committed $55 million over four years to create the new regulator, as part of the Skills for Sustainable Growth package announced in last year’s Federal Budget.
Further information on passing of the three Bills that establish the new regulator—the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Bill 2010 [2011]; the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2011, and the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator (Transitional Provisions) Bill 2010 National VET regulator is available at this PS News link.
30 March, 2011
Conservationists
go to water
Sydney businesses have saved the equivalent of 80 Olympic swimming pools of water after small and medium businesses had their water use audited by the City Council.
Lord Mayor Clover Moore said 16 metropolitan Councils monitored the water use of more than 600 small to medium businesses and provided them with water saving advice.
Councillor Moore said water underpinned the broader city’s economic development and was something that afford to be wasted.
She said the businesses involved were using more than 10,000 litres of water a day and ranged from hotels, restaurants, and commercial offices.
According to Councillor Moore, during the Smart Business Live Green Program, 120 businesses made an average annual saving of 1.8 million litres and $5,900 from their water bill.
“These businesses have shown just how quickly we can reduce water use, and that improving water efficiency makes financial sense.” Councillor Moore said.
She said the City’s scheme was part of a broader program funded by Sydney Water, and businesses involved were using about 15 per cent less water, which added up to 1 million litres of drinking water saved each day.
She said the City of Sydney’s water saving program had been extended another two years, and with the support of Sydney Water and the Department of
Environment, Climate Change and Water, would be expanded to help businesses reduce energy consumption and waste.
“We estimate the new program, starting in July, will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2000 tonnes through energy efficiency improvements, and cut energy bills by
$200,000,” she said.
“I hope this inspires other Sydney businesses to get on board.”
30 March, 2011
Bargaining report
right on the money
A report on enterprise bargaining under the Commonwealth’s Fair Work Act 2009 reveals the current national workplace relations system is working well according to the Federal Minister for Workplace Relations, Senator Chris Evans.
Senator Evans said the Trends in Federal Enterprise Bargaining report for the September 2010 quarter showed the number of current enterprise agreements across Australia had grown to 24,745 covering more than 2.3 million employees.
He said the figures showed that agreement making under the modern workplace relations system was working well.
“This is the largest ever number of enterprise agreements at any one time, which clearly reflects that the federal workplace relations system of agreement making is meeting its objective to balance the needs of employees and employers without taking away basic rights and guaranteed minimum standards,” Senator Evans said.
He said the report also showed there was a record 24,119 current agreements in the private sector covering almost 1.8 million private sector employees, with the Construction, Manufacturing and Retail industries accounting for more than half the current agreements.
Senator Evans said the September quarter delivered an average annual wage increase of 4.2 per cent to Australian employees under new agreements. This was a slight increase from 4.0 per cent in the June 2010 quarter. In the public sector there was an increase of 4.7 per cent and 4.1 per cent in the private sector.
He said average wage increases in agreement across all industries had been within the range of 4.0 per cent to 4.2 per cent for more than three years.
“Wages growth has remained contained, reflecting the gradual strengthening of the Australian economy following the Global Financial Crisis,” Senator Evans said.
“What we are seeing now is wage increases simply returning to where they were prior to the GFC.”
He said it was important to note the September quarter wages growth for the Public Sector was contained within the normal range which, over the past three years had varied between 3.6 per cent and 4.8 per cent.
The full report is available at this PS News link.
30 March, 2011
Tribunal Directions
set benchmark
The Consumer, Trader and Tenancy Tribunal (CTTT) has published Chairperson’s Directions setting out the procedures that apply to applications for termination of a rental lease for non-payment of rent.
In the Directions, Chairperson of the Tribunal, Kay Ransome, clarifies that the CTTT cannot make a termination order where rent has been paid in full at the date of the hearing, or if the tenant and landlord entered into and fully complied with a repayment plan.
“Any application for a termination order in these circumstances will be dismissed,” the Directions say.
They say where an application for a termination is made on the ground of non-payment and the tenant still owed rent or had failed to comply with an agreed repayment plan, the tribunal had several options.
These options are to make a termination order, a specific performance order or a money order, if rent was not being paid.
The Directions say that a separate application for termination could also be made on the grounds of non-payment and that the tenant had frequently failed to pay rent.
They say that for those applications, made if the tenant had frequently failed to pay rent owing on or before the date set out in the residential tenancy agreement, the same orders would apply.
The Directions came into force on 15 March 2011 and access to them could be gained by visiting this PS News link.
30 March, 2011
NSW Infrastructure
builds on awards
Two major infrastructure projects in NSW reached the national finals of the National Infrastructure Awards presented in Sydney recently by Infrastructure Partnerships Australia.
The Newcastle Coal Infrastructure Group Project and Sydney Airport’s Runway 25 End Safety Area Project made the shortlist for Project of the Year but were beaten into first place by Brisbane’s $2.5 billion Gateway Upgrade Project.
According to the IPA, the awards recognise excellence across a number of areas, including construction, financial procurement and operation and maintenance.
Chairman of IPA, Mark Birrell, said that Brisbane’s Gateway Bridge Duplication was judged as the best project of the past year because of its iconic status, its engineering brilliance and its sheer scale.
The project was delivered on budget and 7 months ahead of time, which made it the “most significant road project completed in Australia last year,” he said.
NSW also enjoyed many accolades in the awards presentation coming away with two awards.
The NSW Roads and Traffic Authority’s M2 Motorway Upgrade, a finalist in two categories, was awarded the Government Partnership Excellence Award, sponsored by University of Wollongong’s Smart Infrastructure Facility.
The Sydney Desalination Plant and its operator, Veolia Water Australia, won the Operator and Service Excellence Award and other finalists included the Sydney Water dual purpose pipeline and the Woodlawn Bioreactor at Tarago on the States’ south.
Mr Birrell congratulated all the winners.
A full list of all the awards, finalists and winners can be found at this PS News link.
30 March, 2011
School framework
hits back at bullies
A national framework to ensure students are safe at school has been updated and revised to include measures to deal with bullying.
Federal Minister for Education, Peter Garrett said the revised National Safe Schools Framework was supported by all Ministers for Education across Australia, including NSW, and was the only national anti-bullying resource of its kind in the world.
“This Framework will assist schools and school communities to develop a comprehensive response to bullying that makes everyone in the school understand proactive and practical approaches to effective student safety policies,” Mr Garrett said.
He said since the National Safe Schools Framework was first made available in Australian schools in 2003, the use of new technologies such as mobile phones and computers had created new avenues for bullying, and therefore assistance to schools needed to adapt with the times.
“A recent study found one in five children experienced some form of this new type of bullying,” Mr Garrett said.
“This is why the revised Framework takes into account students’ safety and wellbeing in virtual environments.”
He said the States and Territories needed to take united action on bullying and violence in schools, and he encouraged all Australian schools to recognise that student wellbeing and safety were essential for academic development and to use the Framework to form a plan to combat bullying in the long term.
“As part of the action being taken this week to counter bullying, an online campaign called Take a Stand Together has also started, asking bystanders to stop bullying when they see it,” Mr Garrett said.
“The website, www.takeastandtogether.gov.au offers interactive activities for students and resources for teachers and parents.”
He said for more information on the revised Framework and supporting resources, PS News readers could visit www.safeschools.deewr.gov.au
30 March, 2011
Accommodation service
homes in on homeless
A new accommodation service for young offenders with a history of homelessness has been announced by the Chief Executive of Juvenile Justice at the Department of Human Services, John Hubby.
According to Mr Hubby, the new service would help young offenders gain independent living skills and stay out of custody and would have a key focus on Aboriginal offenders.
“The most recent survey of young people in custody revealed that six per cent were residing in unsettled accommodation or had ‘no fixed place of abode’,” Mr Hubby said.
He said the accommodation would be delivered in the Mid and Far North Coast, the Riverina Murray Region and in South West Sydney.
“It will reach young offenders aged 13 to 18 years with complex needs and young people leaving detention, particularly Aboriginal young offenders,” he said.
“For young people under the age of 16 years who may not be eligible for social housing, the organisations will provide alternative family, fostering or kinship care options.”
He said the support services would include improving social and community living skills as well as providing vocational, educational and training opportunities.
“Accommodation services for Aboriginal young offenders with a history of homelessness will help to reduce the risk of them coming in and out of the criminal justice system,” Mr Hubby said.
He said four organisations were involved with the program - YP Space MNC, North Rivers Social Development Council, Mission Australia and CatholicCare – and they would implement it in different parts of the State.
“They provide excellent value for money and demonstrated vast experience and expertise in delivering similar services for homeless young people,” Mr Hubby said
He said the contracts would provide the organisations with $4 million, funded through the Commonwealth Government’s National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness.
30 March, 2011
Plans changed under
planning changes
The Department of Planning has amended its standard template for the preparation of Local Environmental Plans (LEPs).
The Department said that the template – also known as the Standard Instrument Order - had been changed following feedback received during the exhibition of the Potential Amendments to the Standard Instrument – Options Paper2010.
“The SI Order contains transitional provisions for published Standard LEPs,” a statement from the Department said.
“For these, commencement of the amending Order will be deferred for a period of four months until 25 June 2011.”
It said the primary objective of amending the Order was to improve the efficiency of delivery of standard LEPs.
To achieve this, it will be clarifying the intention of zones, updating clauses to conform with changes in legislation and ensuring the relationship between existing land use definitions are clearer and don’t overlap.
“Those draft LEPs that have been certified for public exhibition, but have not yet been placed on exhibition can be exhibited in the form they were certified,” the Department said.
In the case of Councils who had not applied for a certificate for public exhibition for their draft LEPs, the amended standard template would apply immediately, it said.
“Standard LEPs that are post-exhibition must be made in the form of the Standard Instrument, as amended.
“Where the adoption of any new land uses or optional clauses, or any other amendment that would result in a material change to the policy position in the exhibited LEP is proposed, the Council will need to seek the Department’s advice regarding whether a planning proposal should be undertaken along with public consultation prior to adoption of the provisions in the LEP,” it said.
The Department offered its assistance to Councils when working through necessary changes, advising them to contact its regional team for information.
30 March, 2011
Fair Trade scam
A Fair Trade Warning has been issued to Bathurst consumers, where telephone scammers are claiming to be from NSW Fair Trading and offering to reimburse overcharged bank fees. Deputy Commissioner for Fair Trading, Steve Griffin has told consumers to hang up if they receive the calls and not to provide any personal or bank details.
Mr Griffin said advised any people who were victims of the scams to contact Fair Trading on 13 32 20.
Mosquito warning
NSW Health has emphasised the need for people to protect themselves from mosquitoes as both the Kunjin and Murray Valley Encephalitis viruses have been detected in regional NSW. It says that people who are working, living or visiting rural NSW, particularly where there are rivers, wetlands or flooded areas, are at a greater risk.
It advises people to avoid being bitten by covering up, using an effective insect repellant, burning mosquito coils and covering all windows.
Harbour access improved
$1.3 million has been earmarked to improve access to Sydney Harbour and its foreshores.
NSW Maritime is providing the funds towards nine projects as part of the ‘Sharing Sydney Harbour Program’.
More information about the projects is available from this PS News link.
Transport grants
Transport NSW has begun accepting applications for its ‘Country Passenger Transport Infrastructure Grants Scheme.
The scheme is designed to support funding to improve amenity of passenger transport infrastructure in rural, regional and remote communities.
Local government, incorporated community organisations, transport operators and other interested organisations that have a current Australian Business Number are eligible.
23 March, 2011
New Commission
for mental health
A new NSW Mental Health Commission would be established under an incoming Coalition government as a way of reforming and improving outcomes for the State’s mental patients.
Opposition Leader, Barry O’Farrell and shadow Minister for Mental Health, Kevin Humphries announced the plan saying they would also quarantine mental health funding within the health budget to ensure the new Commission could allocate resources to where they are most needed.
“The Commissioner will be a champion for mental health within government so that sufferers get the best possible treatment,” Mr O’Farrell said.
“Based on the successful West Australian model, our Commission will deliver better outcomes for the one in five people affected by mental illness.”
He said the new Commission was needed because NSW lagged behind other States in mental health care.
Mr Humphries said mental illness was a leading burden of disease in NSW and the Mental Health Commission’s role would be to overhaul and rebuild the State’s mental health system.
“Around one in five Australians is affected by mental illness each year,” Mr Humphries said, “yet only one in three will receive the necessary help they need.
“Too many mental health patients end up in hospital emergency departments.
“Early intervention with care in the community from a range of providers could prevent some of these hospital admissions.”
Mr O’Farrell said a Coalition Government would also establish a working group to develop legislation to set up the Mental Health Commission and create three specialist units within the Commission to manage the experience of mental health patients and their carers, including diverting them from the prison system and helping ensure the smooth operation of the Mental Health Review Tribunal.
23 March, 2011
Interpreter memo
talks the talk
Departments and Agencies have been reminded that they need to ensure interpreter services and translated materials are provided to clients and their internal workforce, where needed.
In Ministerial Memorandum M2011-06 Language Services Provision In Multicultural NSW, Premier, Kristina Keneally says that since July 1998 it has been Government policy that all agencies fund the provision of interpreters and translated materials when dealing with clients, in order to provide all clients with access to Government services.
“These arrangements are consistent with the principles of multiculturalism which are enshrined as the policy of the State in the Community Relations Commission and Principles of Multiculturalism Act 2000,” Ms Keneally said.
“The Act specifies the need to respect and make provision for the culture, language and religion of others within an Australian legal and institutional framework, and for all institutions within the State to recognise and promote the linguistic and cultural assets in the population of New South Wales as a valuable resource.”
She said the policy also extended to an Agency’s workforce, requiring it to make available translated materials to support service delivery, promote workplace safety, and encourage business and commerce within the State and overseas.
“Government agencies are also required to ensure that contracts with private providers and funding agreements with non-government organisations identify a budget for interpreting and translating, appropriate to the services provided and the needs of the clients of the service, and that appropriate monitoring processes are included in the contracts or funding agreements.”
She said the State Owned Corporations should also consider whether provision of language services would enhance their business activities when dealing with clients from non-English speaking backgrounds.
“The lead NSW Government agency for interpreting and translating services is the Community Relations Commission,” Ms Keneally said.
“Further information on language service provision may be obtained by contacting the Language Services Division at the Commission on telephone (02) 8255 6767.”
The Ministerial Memorandum can be accessed at this PS News link.
23 March, 2011
Google books
brought to book
Government Agencies have been advised not to enter a revenue-sharing arrangement with internet search engine Google for online access to their published books.
In Circular C2011-10 Google Books Settlement – Whole of Government Policy, the Department of Premier and Cabinet sets out the history and current status of a Court settlement entered by Google in the United States and how it might affect NSW Government entities.
According to the Circular, Google scanned and uploaded large numbers of books for its Google Books website in 2004 and later without seeking permission from the copyright owners.
A number took the company to Court and negotiated a settlement which was later amended.
“The Amended Settlement will not be binding unless and until certified by the court,” the Circular says.
“However, it is important that affected parties be aware of its terms and consider whether to take action in relation to it.”
The Circular says that under the settlement, Google will be free to upload a wide range of material including all material published in hard copy in NSW prior to 5 January 2009.
The settlement also allows copyright owners to remove their works from the Google Books site, to have them excluded from it, to receive compensation, to allow Google to use the materials or to do nothing.
“Following enquiries from some NSW Government Agencies, and after seeking legal advice, it has been decided that, on a whole-of-Government basis, NSW will not attempt to make a comprehensive claim in respect of all Crown copyright publications that come within the scope of the Amended Settlement,” the Circular says.
“NSW Government Agencies that engage in commercial publishing, or for other reasons need to closely control their publications, should carefully consider whether some or all of their publications should be “removed” from the Google Books databases or “excluded” from one or more of the uses proposed in the Amended Settlement.”
It says where an Agency decides a claim should be made for removal of one or more publications, it should do so before 5 April 2011.
“If making a claim for “removal” or “exclusion”, an agency should also make a claim for compensation,” the Circular says.
“A copy of each claim should be forwarded to the State Copyright Manager, who will maintain a central record.
“NSW Government agencies should not enter a “revenue sharing” agreement with Google under the terms of the Amended Settlement.”
The Circular, which was signed by the Director General of the Department of Premier and Cabinet, Brendan O’Reilly, can be accessed at this PS News link.
23 March, 2011
Early to bed for
financial reports
NSW Treasury has issued a Circular setting out the 2011 financial reporting requirements and auditing arrangements for Agencies in the Total State Sector and General Government Sector.
The Circular applies to all Agencies required to submit information to Treasury using the Treasury Online Entry System (TOES).
It includes information and dates for submitting year-end financial statements and the annual Treasury Return; a pro-forma for reporting emerging accounting issues; and procedures for reporting changes to financial statements greater than $5 million that follow lodgement of the Annual Return.
A major feature of this year’s reporting is the expansion of the Early Reporting Program which was piloted among 15 Agencies last year.
“To achieve higher quality financial reporting and earlier tabling of annual reports, Agencies need to improve the quality of their reporting systems (including monthly reporting) and adopt strategies to achieve earlier completion of their annual financial statements and annual reports,” the Circular says.
“Treasury proposes an expansion in 2010-11 of early close procedures to all large and medium tier agencies that report to Treasury through the TOES reporting system.”
The Circular refers to recent reports of the Auditor-General which highlight significant errors in Agency financial statements.
“To avoid these problems recurring, agencies need to progressively improve their financial and annual reporting systems and risk management and internal control processes.”
It says Agencies should adopt strategies, including the early close procedures, to allow management to review financial statements early and facilitate the performance of audits that meet the more timely reporting deadlines.
The Circular says all Agencies should adopt the early close procedures for April “unless another month end, between December and April, is determined as appropriate” which will allow the
Audit Office to report its findings by 30 June.
A list of the Agencies affected by the change is attached to the Circular which Treasury says r should be read in conjunction with Circular NSW TC 11/01 Early Reporting Program - Strategy to improve the quality and timeliness of financial statements and Annual Reports.
Copies of both Circulars can be accessed at this PS News link.
23 March, 2011
Women’s policies
no secret business
New initiatives to strengthen Government services relating to gender equality, health and domestic violence have been announced by the Opposition parties.
Shadow Minister for Women, Pru Goward said that if elected on Saturday, the Opposition would “shine the spotlight” on women’s issues.
“A NSW Liberals and Nationals Government will expand the successful Staying Home Leaving Violence program to provide greater assistance to those women at risk of homelessness from fleeing domestic violence,” Ms Goward said.
“In 2009 there were almost 26,000 domestic violence related assaults reported in NSW.”
She said women escaping domestic violence in NSW currently faced an uncoordinated and uncertain system.
“The removal of victims of domestic violence and children from the family home must become a measure of last, not first, resort.”
She said among its new policies the Opposition would expand the Staying Home Leaving Violence program to an estimated five new sites; create a Bureau of Women’s Statistics (BOWS) within the Office for Women’s Policy to retain statistics on issues involving women including employment, health, education and domestic violence; produce an annual report on the Status of Women in NSW; and ensure that all domestic violence related deaths were reviewed by the Domestic Violence Death Review Team.
“By creating a Bureau of Women’s Statistics and ensuring a separate annual report is produced, the Government and public will be better informed,” Ms Goward said.
She said the Coalition believed female equality not only improved the social and economic wellbeing of women but it also contributed to the economic wellbeing of the State.
23 March, 2011
Food survey tabled
A survey of food products labelled ‘gluten free’ in retail outlets across Sydney has found a high level of compliance in content labelling.
Conducted by the NSW Food Authority, the survey tested 222 products packaged as ‘gluten free’, including beverages, biscuits, bread and bread products, cakes, snack foods and lollies, dairy products, infant foods, meat, pasta, soups, sauces and spreads.
According to the Chief Executive of the Food Authority, Alan Coutts, the findings were good news for people living with coeliac disease, a condition which made them intolerable to gluten.
“Of the samples tested, there was 95 per cent compliance with the labelling and content requirements of the Food Standards Code,” Mr Coutts said.
“On the whole this is a pleasing result and provides assurance to consumers that they can have faith in the labels on the food they buy.”
He said consumers could be confident they were making informed choices about the products they bought based on the information on the packet.
He said of the 222 samples tested, 11 were found to contain detectable levels of gluten.
“None of the products returning detectable levels contained gluten at a concentration that is deemed to present a health and safety issue for people with coeliac disease,” Mr Coutts said.
He said levels between 20 and 100 parts per million (ppm) were likely to affect some people with coeliac disease while levels over 100ppm could present a health and safety issue.
He said regulatory action was taken by the Authority in relation to the products that failed the test.
“In these instances this entailed a written notification to the manufacturers of those products advising them to take immediate remedial action to ensure their products were compliant,” Mr Coutts said.
“Follow-up samples of those products will be conducted to ensure that occurs.”
He said the gluten study was one of many surveys of high risk foods conducted by the Food Authority to ensure consumers were not at risk of compromising their health or being ripped off by inaccurate or misleading labelling.
“While only a small number of samples proved positive for gluten, the NSW Food Authority will continue to undertake testing and monitoring of ‘gluten free’ products and ingredients in the interest of consumer safety,” Mr Coutts said.
23 March, 2011
Governance paper sets
course for the future
The Institute of Public Administration Australia has produced a new policy paper addressing some of the fundamental questions about issues and challenges facing governments around Australia and proposing principles and recommendations to guide their responses.
Prepared by the IPAA’s Submissions Standing Committee under the leadership of
Martin Stewart-Weeks, the paper The Future Course of Modern Government recognises the need for some fundamental rethinking but not at the expense of replacing existing systems and proven practices.
According to the paper, some of these systems and practices are bound to disappear over time but there were certain underlying issues of public administration that were perennial challenges which any new public governance and management frameworks would need to accommodate.
It says these include the need to balance complex and often contested notions of the public good; the ability to adjudicate between different and sometimes clashing interests and values; and the need to ensure systems of public management were always open, equitable, fair and transparent.
The paper says it tries to capture the sense that something important and potentially very exciting was happening to Australia’s systems of public management, without eroding the legitimacy of the larger frames of theory and good practice to which they represented an important and valuable contribution.
It includes discussion of the convergence between reforms under first the eGovernment and the Government 2.0 banners and larger programs of public sector reform.
The paper says some necessary changes will confront politicians and bureaucrats with uncomfortable implications for a new culture, but it heralds transitions with considerable opportunity for a more robust model of participation for better services, better and more effective policy and a capacity to repair the bonds of trust between citizens and governments.
Some of the recommendations and highlights in the paper include agreeing with the UK Public Services 2020 Commission that a combination of long-term demand, fiscal constraint and outcome failures had brought public services to a critical moment; that the next wave of public sector reforms would be formed around distributed systems, rather than centralised structures; and promoting participation in service design and delivery would be the heart of a new agenda.
It also says that improving public services would balance earlier models of contestability and competition with the use of social media which could unleash more powerful assessments of public service failures; and more and more public services should be designed, delivered and evaluated with an open invitation for appropriate participation by those experiencing or delivering the service.
The full IPAA paper can be accessed at this PS News link.
23 March, 2011
Anti-litter campaign
picks up the pace
A new anti-litter campaign targeting highways in the Hunter and Central Coast has swung into action with officers from the Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water (DECCW) visiting rest areas on the F3 and Pacific Highway last week.
Manager of Waste Management for DECCW, Chris McElwain, said that the campaign was in response to the Reducing Waste: Implementation Strategy 2011-15, which highlighted an increase in littering activities in NSW.
“The strategy, which was released earlier this month, cited industrial areas, shopping complexes and along highways as being some of the most littered sites in NSW and called for actions to address these particular areas,” Mr McElwain said.
“This week’s campaign by DECCW targets highways and aims to study some of the littering behaviours of people traveling along highways and tackle them with information about the affects of littering and its impact on the surrounding environment.”
He said officers from DECCW would be positioned at a number of rest spots along the F3 and Pacific highway for the next week or so.
“Along with encouraging people to take their litter with them, anyone caught blatantly littering will be issued with an on the spot fine by our officers,” Mr McElwain said.
He said fines for littering were $200 for an individual and up to $400 for a corporation.
“We all have a responsibility to keep our environment clean and dispose of our waste appropriately,” he said.
“Litter is harmful to the environment and to human health and can significantly reduce the aesthetics of an area and deter people from visiting.”
Mr McElwain said that in 2009-10, DECCW and Council officers issued nearly 4,700 on-the-spot fines for littering in NSW.
“It’s up to all of us to be responsible for removing our litter and leaving our environment clean,” he said.
“I would encourage anyone who might have seen litter being thrown or dumped from a vehicle to call the Environment Line on 131 555.”
23 March, 2011
Super Circular sets
super straight
A Circular outlining the accounting treatment for superannuation in NSW public sector entities has been issued by NSW Treasury.
Circular TC 11/04 Accounting for Superannuation sets out the procedures to be followed in Agencies, including Statutory State Owned Corporations, for the years ending 30 June 2011 and beyond. It supersedes Treasury Circular TC 09/01.
According to the Circular, the accounting treatment for superannuation in NSW public sector Agencies will vary depending on whether the superannuation relates to a defined contribution or defined benefit plan, and whether the defined benefit is assumed by the Crown.
It says that in cases where the Crown assumes responsibility for the super balances and funding, the Agencies do not recognise a superannuation liability or asset in their Statement of Financial Position (i.e. as they are recognised by the Crown), but do recognise a superannuation expense and equivalent revenue for the assumption of the liability.
“Generally the Crown assumes the defined benefit superannuation balances/funding responsibility of Budget-dependent General Government sector agencies,” the Circular says.
It says for superannuation balances and funding not assumed by the Crown, the Agencies concerned “must account for the net defined benefit liability/asset, according to AASB 119 Employee Benefits.
“Generally non-Budget dependent General Government sector agencies and Public Trading Enterprises do not have their defined benefit superannuation balances/funding responsibility assumed by the Crown,” it says.
The Circular also attaches Guidelines for superannuation scheme reserve transfers and an explanation of the circumstances under which an agency may use a surplus in one defined benefit scheme to extinguish some or all of the deficit in another.
It also includes an update of the defined benefit factors used in calculating the superannuation expense where the liability is assumed by the Crown.
The Circular can be accessed in full at this PS News link.
23 March, 2011
Tribunal hopes survey
has all the answers
The Consumer, Trader and Tenancy Tribunal (CTTT) is conducting an online survey to ensure the information contained in its Legal Bulletins continues to be relevant to its readers.
The Tribunal has used its website to invite visitors to have their say about the Bulletins which contain information about significant appeals to the Supreme Court and District Court against the tribunal’s decisions.
“Please help us improve the CTTT’s Legal Bulletin by completing our 1-minute legal bulletin survey,” the Tribunal asks.
Among the questions included in the survey are “How many times have you read the CTTT’s Legal Bulletin?”, “Which dispute types are you most interested in?”, “what do you like most about the CTTT’s Legal Bulletin?”, “What do you like least about it.”
The survey also asks respondents to rate the Bulletin in terms of its appearance, clarity of wording, relevance of information, and overall satisfaction.
It also invites participants to identify the profession that best describes them and offers them the option of adding other comments.
The CTTT can be contacted at this PS News link and the survey can be accessed at this PS News link.
23 March, 2011
Emergency departments
get a shot in the arm
Emergency departments at Campbelltown and St George hospitals would be upgraded and waiting times for patients reduced under a plan for better health care unveiled by the State Opposition.
Opposition Leader Barry O’Farrell and shadow Minister for Health, Jillian Skinner said the two emergency departments were among the busiest in the State and needed extra resources to keep giving patients world class healthcare.
“In December alone, 4,694 patients attended Campbelltown emergency while 5,463 patients attended St George,” Mr O’Farrell said.
“Our doctors and nurses are providing world class care in emergency departments, but are being let down by facilities approaching breaking point.”
He said emergency departments would be reformed if the Coalition won Saturday’s State election.
Mr O’Farrell promised $40 million to upgrade Campbelltown Hospital’s emergency department as well as its acute medical and surgical wards; $30 million for the St George emergency department; to publish real time information on emergency department waiting times at the busiest hospitals for patients to see where they would be treated fastest; and to appoint Emergency Patient Support Volunteers to advise and comfort patients waiting to be treated.
“These hospitals are bursting at the seams and we need immediate action to enable them to meet the growing demand for services in the St George and Campbelltown regions,” Mr O’Farrell said.
Mrs Skinner said the Coalition would also develop a 10-year Emergency Department Workforce Plan to ensure that NSW recruited, trained and retained more emergency doctors, nurses and health professionals.
“We’ve listened to local medical experts and we will deliver for better care and better access to our emergency departments for patients,” Mrs Skinner said.
23 March, 2011
Dredger scrapes
in for waterways
The Minister for Lands, Tony Kelly, has announced that the Government is to buy a dredger.
According to Mr Kelly, the $1.6 million machine would be used to maintain coastal waterways and keep them open to for safe navigation.
He said it would be welcomed by fishermen and boating enthusiasts.
The tender for supply of the transportable cutter suction dredge was won by Birdon Pty Ltd which beat of three other short-listed bids.
“The Port Macquarie company came out on top of an evaluation process that examined technical and cost-benefit elements,” Mr Kelly said.
“It’s expected to take six months to construct and deliver.”
He said once the new machine was ready, dredging would start immediately.
“The dredge will undertake the operations regularly conducted in past years to maintain navigation of the Swansea Channel,” the Minister said.
“It will also be available for dredging at other locations along the coast.”
He said taking ownership of the dredge would ensure the Government had the capacity to complete any required work and would complement the private sector capacity currently undertaking work on a contract basis.
MP for Swansea, Robert Coombs, said the additional dredging capacity would be welcomed by coastal communities.
“The Swansea channel is a vital waterway for the community and regular maintenance dredging is critical to the viability and sustainability of the lake,” Mr Coombs said.
Mr Kelly said the Government had allocated more than $6.7 million towards dredging and equipment over the past five years.
23 March, 2011
Fine results achieved
for workplace crimes
The Fair Work Ombudsman has revealed that legal action taken against NSW employers so far this financial year has seen fines of $687,660 imposed for breaches of the workplace laws.
Executive Director of the Fair Work Ombudsman’s Office, Michael Campbell said court penalties served as a warning to others to ensure they understood and complied with national workplace relations laws.
Mr Campbell said since July 2010, courts have finalised 25 penalty matters for the Fair Work Ombudsman and imposed penalties totalling almost $1.5 million nationally.
He said that since March 2006, Fair Work Ombudsman litigations have resulted in 187 court-imposed penalties totalling around $6.8 million.
“The courts are taking a pretty dim view of employers and unions who ignore the rules, dishing out some severe penalties both as a specific deterrent and to discourage similar conduct by others,” Mr Campbell said.
“We recognise that accidental breaches can and do occur and our approach is fair and flexible but, as one federal magistrate noted recently, compliance with all aspects of the law is not optional, it is essential.”
Mr Campbell said the Agency had also recovered more than $117 million for 87,000 workers around the country who had been underpaid.
Mr Campbell said court penalties in NSW this financial year included fines for underpaying employees and organising unlawful industrial action.
He said one company was fined $178,200 for underpaying two employees, and another company was fined $5,940 for underpaying 62.
He said successful prosecutions of underpayment of wages benefited employers who were complying with workplace laws because it helped them to compete on a level playing field.
For more information visit this PS News link.
23 March, 2011
Planning Directive puts
cap on contributions
The Department of Planning has issued a new Circular detailing changes to a Ministerial Directive on the caps to apply to developer contributions for residential developments.
According to Circular PS 11-012 Section 94E Direction – Development Contributions, the Minister for Planning issued a Direction in September 2010 setting caps on development contributions for residential projects of $20,000 per dwelling or lot for developments in established areas; $30,000 per dwelling or lot in Greenfield areas; and an exemption from the contribution for areas where development applications had been “lodged for more than 25 per cent of the expected yield from the development area or contributions plan”.
The Directive also gave the Minister the power to consider applications from Councils and developers for a higher contribution amounts.
The Circular says the changes to the September Direction related to the Schedules attached to it and not to the requirements relating to the contributions.
“Although the format of the Direction has changed, the requirements relating to the cap on contributions have not.”
It says mandatory contributions from developers helped provide infrastructure for new and growing communities.
“Certain land is exempted from the requirements of the Direction,” the Circular says.
“Where a Council has adopted a new plan (following the Minister’s agreement that it is a refinement of the previous plan) the reference to the plan has been updated.
“This change will ensure that the exemptions from the cap continue to apply to certain land within the Liverpool City, Ku-ring-gai and Shoalhaven City Local Government Areas.”
It says new greenfields areas had also been included for the Shoalhaven City, Wollongong City, Nambucca Shire and Blacktown City Local Government Areas.
“The maximum contribution in these areas is $30,000”.
The revised Directive took effect from 4 March 2011 and only applies to contributions imposed from that date on.
“The Direction revokes the earlier Direction that took effect on 16 September 2010.
“The revocation of the earlier Direction does not affect the operation of a condition of a development consent imposed in accordance with that direction.”
The full text of the Circular can be accessed at this PS News link.
23 March, 2011
Partnership plants
weeds of success
A partnership between the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) and the Northern Rivers Catchment Management Authority (NRCMA) has embarked on an ambitious project to control weeds and protect significant environmental areas.
The Tablelands to Coastline Endangered Ecological Community Restoration project aims to protect high priority locations within North Coast Region through funding of $56,000 from the NRCMA.
Senior Ranger (Pests) with NPWS, Tim Scanlon said the funding would be used to support restoration projects at nine sites from Cathedral Rock National Park on the tablelands to Yarriabini National Park in the south and Yuraygir National Park in the north.
“The sites have been selected due to their importance for protection of at least one endangered ecological community, threatened plant/animal species, significant Aboriginal areas and, unfortunately the threat posed by introduced weeds,” Mr Scanlon said.
He said projects in the Clarence Valley included controling bitou bush and lantana in swamp sclerophyll forest west of Sandon Road; extending the ochna, bitou bush, lantana and broad leafed paspalum control program at Redcliff; controlling coastal morning glory at Bare Point; all within Yuraygir National Park and dealing with infestations of balloon vine, moonflower, cats claw and dutchmans pipe in Susan Island Nature Reserve.
“The January floods left a large impact on Susan Island and this funding is very timely,” Mr Scanlon said.
“Due to the significance of the sites, the work will be undertaken by leading professionals using bush regeneration techniques.
“At each site, the work will be expanded through ongoing NPWS bush regeneration programs (and) follow up control programs will be in place for many years.
Mr Scanlon said monitoring of the project’s success would be measured using photo points, computer-based mapping and transects that measured the response of both the weeds and native species to the control programs.
23 March, 2011
New finance site
on the money
The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) has launched a new website to help people manage their personal finances.
ASIC Chairman Tony D’Aloisio said the website, MoneySmart, helped people make good financial decisions by providing free, independent and unbiased information, tools and motivation.
He said the website included 26 calculators and tools, some for use on mobile phones, to help people take simple steps to get quick answers to their questions about money, and covered not only the basics such as budgeting, saving, credit cards and loans, but also more complicated issues such as superannuation contributions, margin loans and income tax.
Assistant Federal Treasurer Bill Shorten said the Government had a broad and comprehensive reform agenda to improve the financial services sector and the financial wellbeing of all Australians.
“Simple, unbiased tools that increase the financial literacy of Australians such as MoneySmart.gov.au are an important part of this,” Mr Shorten said.
He said MoneySmart.gov.au had independent information, guidance and tools for all age groups about planning for retirement.
“The ‘retirement planner’ on MoneySmart.gov.au estimates what your income will be after you retire and what you can do now to boost it,” Mr Shorten said.
“It demonstrates how increasing employer contributions would give a big boost to people’s income in retirement.”
Mr D’Aloisio said the website and the underpinning strategy to improve the financial literacy of Australians was the result of a combined contribution and teamwork between the Financial Literacy Board, the Government, ASIC and industry and community groups.
The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) welcomed the initiative by ASIC to provide consumers with constructive financial information about their budgeting options and who could help them manage their debts.
Chief Financial Ombudsman, Colin Neave, said FOS has seen a significant increase in people in financial difficulty in recent times.
“We are very supportive of the life stage and life event approach that ASIC has taken,” Mr Neave said.
“Our experience with complaints about financial problems confirms people need to meet different financial challenges at different stages.”
23 March, 2011
More free shuttles
The CBD free shuttle bus network has been expanded to 12 routes.
An additional six free services have begun in Bankstown, Blacktown, Cabramatta, Kogarah, Newcastle, and Penrith.
These are in addition to the free services already operating in Sydney CBD, Wollongong, Campbelltown, Liverpool and Gosford.
More information from this PS News link.
Hospital worker gets TB
Liverpool Hospital has reported that a health care worker has been diagnosed with tuberculosis (TB).
The hospital is contacting the parents of newborn babies who may have come into contact with the health worker.
It assured families that the risk of a baby being infected with tuberculosis was low and treatments for TB were highly effective. Up to 187 families were estimated to be involved.
A hotline has been made available on 1800 059 647 and information was also available on the NSW Health website this PS News link.
Seal warning
The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) has reminded residents and visitors to the Central Coast to keep clear of fur seals.
Acting Regional Manager, Bronwyn Conyers said that it was common for seals to rest on beaches and rock platforms but they should not be approached under any circumstances.
“Seals are perfectly capable of returning to the sea without any assistance,” Ms Conyers said.
“(They) can be surprisingly aggressive when frightened.”
Free entry to Gardens
Entry to both the Mount Annan and Mount Tomah Botanic Gardens are to be free if the Coalition parties win Saturday’s State election
“Families in Western Sydney and the Blue Mountains should enjoy the same free access to their Botanic Gardens that people visiting the Sydney Harbour gardens enjoy,” Coalition leader Barry O’Farrell said.
“Abolishing fees will also encourage more tourists to the area, giving a boost to local businesses.”
Wharf project proceeds
Construction of the new Yeend Street Wharf in Birchgrove has been contracted to Sydney Marina Contracting Pty Ltd.
Chief Executive of NSW Maritime, Steve Dunn announced the $450,000 decision saying the wharf was is scheduled for completion in July.
Metrobus adds another
The newest addition to the Metrobus network, the M92, has come on stream connecting
Sutherland, Menai, Padstow, Bankstown, Lidcombe, Silverwater and Parramatta.
The new service will provide an extra 840 bus services a week and more than 48,000 additional spaces for passengers.
The M92 is running seven days a week, every 10 minutes in the weekday peak, 15 minutes off-peak and every 20 minutes in the evenings and on weekends.
More information from this PS News link.
Roof painter warning
NSW Fair Trading has issued a public warning to avoid itinerants touting for roof painting work,
Deputy Commissioner Steve Griffin said residents should report approaches to Fair Trading on
13 32 20 after collecting identifying information such as car registration, descriptions and phone numbers.
He said reports had been received from the Riverland where the elderly and people in regional and rural areas were often targetted.
16 March, 2011
Voting arrangements
are poll-driven
Voting has started in the State Election of 26 March with the NSW Electoral Commission opening 167 pre-poll voting centres across the State.
According to Electoral Commissioner, Colin Barry, ballot papers for the 93 Legislative Assembly Districts and the Legislative Council had now been printed, and postal voting material (including ballot papers) were being sent to the 180,000 NSW electors who had requested them over previous weeks.
Mr Barry said 60,000 postal vote packages would be mailed each day to clear the backlog and electors were beginning to receive their postal voting material.
He said most should receive their material by 18 March, and once the backlog was processed new applications would be processed as they were received.
He said postal vote applications from within Australia must be received by 23 March and applications from overseas by 21 March.
Mr Barry said 498 candidates had nominated to contest the 93 seats in the Legislative Assembly, and 311 candidates had nominated for the 21 seats to be decided in the Legislative Council.
He said people wanting more information about candidates could print out a personalised elector brochure confirming their enrolment details and listing the candidates and election day polling places for their district. They could do this from this PS News link.
According to Mr Barry, people who were not yet enrolled could still vote at the State Election.
He said recent legislative changes meant that people not on the NSW roll after the Writs were issued could enrol up to, and including, election day.
Mr Barry also reminded enrolled electors that voting was compulsory and the penalty for not voting was $55.
He said for enquiries in languages other than English voters should call the Electoral Commission’s interpreting service on 13 14 50.
Enquiries by people with a hearing or speech impairment could be made through the National Relay Service on 13 36 77.
16 March, 2011
Union report juggles
work-life balance
A survey of female Public Servants by the national Community and Public Sector Union has found that many are failing to achieve the right work-life balance.
The CPSU’s annual What Women Want, surveyed almost 10,000 women in Public Service positions and found two in five believed accessing flexible hours or taking leave for family reasons would disadvantage their career.
According to the survey, one in two said juggling work and family life wasn’t easy and one in five respondents said that they were dissatisfied with their work-life balance.
National Secretary of the union, Nadine Flood said however the survey also found that six in 10 women had the option of improving their work-life balance under current work entitlements.
She said among the reasons given for not accessing the leave they were entitled to, respondents said they were too busy; current staff levels would not cover their absence; or they had unsupportive supervisors.
Ms Flood said women in the PS were under increasing pressure both at work and at home.
“Women in the public sector have fought for and won some reasonable flexible working conditions in their agreements,” Ms Flood said.
“However, our survey shows clearly that having a technical right to access leave does not always mean women will get to use it.”
She said the survey also revealed a dramatic increase in the number of women being contacted by their employers outside work hours, increasing from 35 per cent of women in 2008 to 44 per cent last year.
She said the issues around access to flexible working conditions were complex, but it was clear that women were being squeezed at work and home.
Ms Flood said the What Women Want survey also found that nearly one in five full-time women was working an additional 10 or more hours each week; and one in three women said they had little or no influence over whether they worked additional hours.
16 March, 2011
Emergency teams team
up for earthquake
State emergency agencies have been asked to send a 76-person specialist urban search-and-rescue team to Japan following last week’s devastating earthquake.
NSW State Emergency Operations Controller and NSW Police Force Deputy Commissioner, Dave Owens, said the team would be mainly comprised of firefighter rescue specialists, supported by two structural engineers, eight paramedics, two doctors, and a police specialist.
He said Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) was the lead agency for urban search and rescue and would manage the deployment.
“There are fears that the death toll could be very high,” Deputy Commissioner Owens said, “with hundreds or even thousands of people killed as a result of the earthquake and tsunami.
“We are shocked and saddened by this disaster, and eager to do anything we can to help the victims.”
FRNSW Commissioner Greg Mullins said NSW’s search-and-rescue personnel had been busy in recent months, providing vital assistance in the aftermath of both the Christchurch earthquake and the Queensland floods.
“We are well prepared and equipped to assist in this type of disaster, and we have established a very strong working relationship with the Japanese urban search-and-rescue teams over the years through training and during other disasters,” Commissioner Mullins said.
“Some of the rescuers we are sending are veterans of earthquakes in Taiwan, Turkey, Indonesia, and the Indian Ocean tsunami, and of course the Thredbo landslide.”
Acting Chief Executive of the NSW Ambulance Service, Mike Willis said the Ambulance’s well-developed and practised deployment strategies had been activated and would provide any assistance required following the tragic natural disaster.
Both the NSW Government and Opposition have been briefed about the deployment and are fully supportive of the State’s response.
16 March, 2011
PS world to include
multiculturalism
The Premier has issued a Ministerial Memorandum confirming the obligation on Departments and Agencies to ensure that the principles of multiculturalism are implemented across the NSW PS.
Ministerial Memo M2011-05 Multicultural Programs and Service to Provision in New South Wales was signed by Premier Kristina Keneally, requiring all Agencies to produce a multicultural plan and report on it regularly in their Annual Report, or through the Annual Report of their Principal Department.
Ms Keneally said for more than 30 years, NSW had been at the forefront of developing and providing appropriate programs and services to meet the needs of a multicultural society.
She said a significant stage in this service provision was reached when the Principles of Multiculturalism were established in legislation.
According to the Premier, under the Community Relations Commission and Principles of Multiculturalism Act 2000, it became the duty of Chief Executive Officers of NSW public authorities to ensure that these principles were implemented in the business of their agencies.
Ms Keneally said the main vehicle for implementing programs and services to address the Principles of Multiculturalism and to meet the needs of NSW’s culturally and linguistically diverse society was the Multicultural Policies and Services Program, previously known as the Ethnic Affairs Priorities Statement (EAPS) program.
She said this program required all agencies to report on their multicultural plan regularly.
Ms Keneally said the lead agency for the Multicultural Policies and Services Program was the Community Relations Commission, which had the legislated responsibility to assist and assess agencies in their multicultural planning.
The Commission was also responsible, under the Community Relations Commission and Principles of Multiculturalism Act 2000, for assessing agency compliance with annual reporting obligations, and publishing a report on compliance in the annual Community Relations Report to Parliament.
16 March, 2011
Healthy report on
PS medical claims
A report released by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare has revealed that the number of new medical claims lodged by Public Service workers across Australia in 2007-08 was significantly less than in earlier years.
The report said that although the 1,300 or so claims lodged that year were similar in number to 2006-07, they represented a drop of about a third on the previous three years.
Jenny Hargreaves of the Institute’s Hospitals and Performance Group said Public Sector claims were examined in the report Australia’s public sector medical indemnity claims 2007-2008.
Ms Hargreaves said the report examined data on the number, nature, incidence and costs of medical indemnity claims in the public sector during the financial year from 1 July 2007 to 30 June 2008.
She said it was released alongside another report, Public and private sector medical indemnity claims in Australia 2007-08, which was the first time the Institute had been able to present the total number of medical indemnity claims across Australia.
She said the Public Sector report described the allegations of harm that gave rise to claims, the alleged physical and mental effects on claim subjects, the specialties of clinicians involved, and the size, duration and outcomes of the medical indemnity claims.
Ms Hargreaves said the report was the sixth in the series on public sector medical indemnity claims, presenting data on claims open during the 2007-08 financial year and updated claim characteristics over the period 2003-04 to 2006-07.
The report showed there were 1,292 new claims opened at some time in 2007-08.
According to the report, the number of new claims was similar to 2006-07 (1,306) but less than approximately 2,000 claims each year between 2003-04 and 2005-06.
The report said the proportion of new claims related to the clinical service context of Obstetrics remained relatively steady over the five year period (14-16 per cent) and Accident and Emergency fluctuated between 15 per cent and 21 per cent.
It said new claims relating to General surgery made up 12 per cent of claims in 2007-08 and in 2003-04, however there was a peak of 30 per cent in 2005-06.
According to the report, the increased proportion of new claims that year was affected by claims against one general surgeon in one State.
The report showed claims that were closed between 2003-04 and 2007-08 varied between about 1,600 and 2,200 each year.
The full report can be accessed at this PS News link.
16 March, 2011
Fair Trading lesson
on hiring tutors
NSW Fair Trading has issued a warning to parents to take care securing tutoring services for their children.
Deputy Fair Trading Commissioner, Steve Griffin said parents needed to research before making a decision and should avoid being pressured into signing contracts.
“The right tutor can complement the excellent education provided by schools, but parents should check tutoring services carefully,” Mr Griffin said.
He said parents needed to make sure tutors met their child’s needs and should consider how long the tutoring service had been in business; did the service belong to a relevant industry association with an enforceable code of conduct; can the service give them the name of any other parents they could talk to about the quality of its tutoring services; and had the tutors been interviewed face-to-face by the tutoring service.
Mr Griffin said other key questions to ask were about the qualifications and experience of the tutors; whether the tutors were trained specifically in the subject area in which they were tutoring; and had the relevant child protection screenings been performed on the tutors.
He said NSW Fair Trading received 398 complaints about education services in 2010, mostly relating to refunds, cancellations, fees and unsatisfactory service.
Mr Griffin said investigators examined a number of contracts to make sure they were compliant with unfair contract term laws and paid particular attention to ensure consumers were receiving appropriate cooling off periods.
He said no breaches of consumer protection legislation were found, but Fair Trading would continue to work with the industry to ensure consumer protection.
“By law, consumers may be entitled to cancel any contract and seek a refund if any aspect of their child’s tutoring service is wrongly described or misrepresented,” Mr Griffin said.
“The new Australian Consumer Law, which commenced on 1 Jan 2011, allows people to claim compensation when a service does not meet a consumer guarantee.”
He said a Tutoring – Tips for Parents fact sheet is available by calling 13 32 20 or at this PS News link.
16 March, 2011
IPART flags
taxi review
The Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) has released a discussion paper in support of its review of taxi fares to apply throughout NSW from 1 July this year.
Public submissions have been invited on the paper.
The Tribunal said the paper set out the review’s scope and process, preliminary estimates of the likely fare increase, and other specific issues.
It said the paper was part of the annual review process, and the factors considered when making recommendations on fares included the cost of providing taxi services; the need for efficiency in supplying taxi services; the social impact of recommendations; and the standards of quality, reliability and safety of taxi services.
The Tribunal said it intended to use the Taxi Cost Indices with the same composition as last year, with a full review of the TCIs planned for next year.
“We review the composition of the TCIs from time to time (approximately every
5 years) to ensure the cost items, weightings and inflators are still relevant and to accommodate changes that may have occurred in the industry,” it said.
The Tribunal said it was seeking comment on a short list of identified issues and it would consider these and any other relevant issues raised by submissions.
It said it would conduct its own analysis and finalise recommendations and report to Transport NSW in early June in time for fare changes to take effect from July 2011.
Among the issues IPART has identified for consideration are taxi licensing changes, a transparent, verifiable inflator for the taxi cost item inflator; and the introduction of excise on LPG fuel.
IPART said other issues in the paper it was seeking comment on included how the overall change in costs, demonstrated by the Taxi Cost Index, should be distributed among the various fare components; the extent to which changes in labour costs should be adjusted to take account of any productivity gains made by the industry; and how it might best gather data in 2011 to prepare for the planned major review of the composition of the TCIs in 2012.
The Tribunal said its final report and fare recommendations would be available from its website in mid-June, and copies would also be mailed to people who made a submission to the review or on request.
Submissions are due by 15 April, 2011.
For more information, see this PS News link.
16 March, 2011
Breakthrough for
domestic violence
A new national scheme for registering domestic and family violence orders has been agreed to by all the States and Territories.
Federal Attorney-General, Robert McClelland and Commonwealth Minister for the Status of Women, Kate Ellis said the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General had agreed to implement a national scheme in order to improve protection for victims of domestic violence.
Mr McClelland said the proposed scheme would allow a domestic or family violence order (DVO) issued by a Court in one jurisdiction, such as NSW, to be automatically recognised in other jurisdictions.
“Under current arrangements, if a protected person wants to have their DVO recognised in another jurisdiction they have to ‘register’ the order with a Court in that jurisdiction – putting the onus entirely on the victim,” Mr McClelland said.
“Many people fleeing domestic violence may not be aware of the requirement to register the order if moving interstate.”
He said some protected people were also too fearful for their safety to approach a Court.
“Under the national scheme, victims of domestic violence will be able to travel or move to another State and Territory and be automatically protected by their DVO,” Mr McClelland said.
“Allowing Court-issued domestic and family violence orders to be valid and enforceable across State and Territory borders is an important improvement in the protection of victims of domestic violence.”
Ms Ellis said the national DVO scheme was a key commitment in the National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their children 2010 – 2022.
“The National Plan, launched last month, is a single unified strategy that brings together efforts across Governments to reduce violence against women,” Ms Ellis said.
“The Commonwealth and State and Territory Governments are committed to reducing domestic violence, and strengthening family violence laws is an important part of this priority.”
States and Territories will now work together to draft legislation to give effect to the agreement.
16 March, 2011
Part-time workers
in full-time need
The Australian Bureau of Statistics has revealed a big pool of under-employed Australians who are looking for more work.
Almost three quarters of a million (733,900) part-time workers stated they did not have enough paid employment in September 2010.
This represents 22 per cent of all part-time workers. Over half (55 per cent) of all under-employed part-time workers said they wanted to work full-time, which is classed at 35 hours a week or more.
One in two under-employed part-time workers said they were actively looking for more hours of work.
The most common steps taken to find extra employment were to ask their current employer (62 per cent), contact a prospective employer (53 per cent), or search the internet (51 per cent).
More than half (59 per cent) of all under-employed part-time workers preferred to work more hours with their current employer.
Older workers tended to experience longer periods of under-employment. One in two (49 per cent) under-employed part-time workers aged 45-54 years, and 52 per cent of those aged 55 years and over, had been under-employed for one year or more.
In comparison, just 25 per cent of underemployed workers aged 15-19 years had been under-employed for one year or more.
Further information is available in Underemployed Workers, Australia, September 2010, which can be downloaded at this PS News link.
16 March, 2011
Money grows on trees
for forestry schools
Forests NSW has offered schools in its Central Region $150 worth of native trees to encourage students to celebrate World Forestry Day on 21 March.
The schools, between the Hunter Valley and Kempsey, are being urged to take part in the program by the manager of Forests NSW Central Region, Kathy Jones.
“This is International Year of Forests and to mark that and celebrate World Forestry Day on 21 March we are encouraging schools to think of the environment and take up this special offer,” Ms Jones said.
“We have an ongoing program of free native trees for schools run in conjunction with our nursery at Muswellbrook.”
She said schools in the area were encouraged to plant native species to beautify the environment for children and parents, to provide shade and to provide a haven for local wildlife.
Ms Jones said Forests NSW could provide advice on suitable species.
“We want to encourage children to participate in the planting of trees,” she said.
“This time of the year is a perfect time to plant native trees while there are rain showers around and before the winter season.”
She said schools should contact Forests NSW at Wauchope on 02 6585 3744 to order their trees and to discuss suitable species for their needs.
16 March, 2011
Forest trails open
for detective work
Parents are being invited to bring their children to the Cumberland State Forest in Pennant Hills next weekend to join the celebrations leading up to World Forestry Day on Monday.
Forests NSW manager of public programs and community interaction, Joanna Bodley said this was International Year of the Forests, and to mark the occasion Forestry NSW was hosting a special ranger program.
“Participants will become a forest detective for the morning and uncover all the signs and tracks foresters look for in finding out what animals live in the forest,” Ms Bodley said.
“They will also get an insight into the research behind forest management and how we protect valuable forest features like habitat while still providing a supply of timber to the community.”
She said this interactive activity was great for children and families with lots of items to touch and feel and some great stories about animals who call the forest home.
Ms Bodley said Forest Detectives would run from 10 to 11am and bookings were essential. The cost is $5.50 a person or $18 for a family of two adults and two children. Phone 1300 655 687 to book.
All children participating in Forest Detectives on 20 March will receive a World Forestry Day pack with a colouring book, bookmark and temporary tattoo.
16 March, 2011
Inflatable lifejackets
floated for safety
A supply of inflatable lifejackets has been presented by NSW Maritime to the Marine Teachers Association in Port Macquarie.
The agency handed over some 200 inflatable lifejackets to be used by schools in boating safety programs, which has the support of the Boating Industry Association of NSW.
NSW Maritime said the Marine Teachers provided an excellent service to the community through education and promotion of safe and responsible boating.
It said with almost 500,000 boat licence holders in NSW, it was important for all skippers to make sure they had a lifejacket on board for every person, and to know when to wear them.
According to NSW Maritime, the ‘gift’ lifejackets were part of a broader effort to raise awareness of changes to lifejacket rules that came into effect on 1 November 2010.
It said this was one way to raise awareness of the new lifejacket laws, especially the need to wear lifejackets at times of heightened risk such as boating alone or boating offshore.
NSW Maritime said there had been a significant Statewide improvement in boating safety so far this season with a decrease in the number of boating fatalities, serious injuries, and reported incidents on NSW waters since July 2010.
It said it had increased its safety education and advisory programs with a three-year $3 million safe boating education and communications strategy placing a big emphasis on the You’re the Skipper – You’re Responsible campaign, and on wearing lifejackets at times of heightened risk.
NSW Maritime said safe boating practices had seen a drop in fatalities by 79 per cent and a drop in serious injuries by 58 per cent compared to the same period last year.
While the downward trend for NSW boating statistics in the latter half of 2010 and early 2011 was encouraging, NSW Maritime said it was not time to relax.
More information on boating safety is at this PS News link and at the NSW Maritime ‘Safety Ambassador’ site this PS News link.
16 March, 2011
Experts whip up
horse warning
Horse owners across NSW have been warned to protect their animals from insect bites suspected of causing a new and unusual neurological illness.
Chief Veterinary Officer, Ian Roth issued the warning while at the same time assuring owners they shouldn’t be unduly alarmed.
“We have had reports of horses displaying unusual neurological signs such as lack of coordination, increased responsiveness to touch and sound, facial paralysis and weakness in the hindquarters,” Mr Roth said.
“This follows initial onset of clinical signs consistent with mild colic and depression.”
He said most cases to date had gradually recovered and there was no suggestion that Hendra virus was involved.
“All NSW cases have been tested for Hendra and all have returned negative results,” he said.
Mr Roth said samples were now being tested at the NSW Government’s Elizabeth Macarthur Agricultural Institute and the Australian Animal Health Laboratory at Geelong.
He said Industry & Investment NSW was investigating the disease and it was considered likely that an arbovirus, an infection spread by insects, might be the cause.
“Horse owners are urged to reduce the exposure of their animals from insect bites to minimise the risk of infection,” Mr Roth said.
“Registered products are available to reduce the exposure of horses to insect bites and should help protect horses from being infected with an arbovirus by biting insects.”
He said these included both physical barriers such as fly veils and registered chemical treatments.
Mr Roth said horse owners should not be unduly alarmed.
“The great majority of horses infected with the arbovirus will not develop clinical symptoms and those with clinical signs generally recover with good husbandry,” he said.
Mr Roth said the horse was usually a ‘dead-end’ host for mosquito-borne arbovirus infections and was not a source of new infection for people or other horses.
Owners who notice horses displaying unusual signs should contact their private veterinarian.
16 March, 2011
Indigenous consumers
well served by law
Indigenous consumers in remote areas of NSW are being urged to know their rights under the new Australian Consumer Law which ensures they receive a fair go in consumer transactions.
Deputy Commissioner of NSW Fair Trading, Steve Griffin, encouraged them to call 13 32 20 for advice on their rights and protections under the new law.
“Aboriginal people are far too often subject to the advances of unscrupulous, ‘one hit and they’re gone’ type traders in remote communities,” Mr Griffin said.
“People should know they have rights, they don’t have to accept substandard goods and services and they have Fair Trading in their corner when it comes to taking on traders who haven’t done the fair thing.”
Mr Griffin said NSW Fair Trading was focused on improving consumer literacy in Indigenous communities, as well as educating traders about obligations under the new national law.
“The law creates a clearer, simpler set of statutory consumer guarantees so people can better understand their rights,” he said.
“Door knockers and telemarketers have, in the past, deliberately targeted Indigenous communities with high-pressure, misleading or confusing sales tactics.”
Mr Griffin said the important thing for people to know was that they had a 10 business day cooling off period, during which time a trader should not be asking to take money from and the consumer was free to change their mind in that time.
“If you feel you have been harassed or stood-over by a door-to-door salesperson, call Fair Trading on 13 32 20,” he said.
Mr Griffin said the new Australian Consumer Law says that if a salesperson approaches you, other than by telephone, they must clearly explain upfront the purpose of the visit and provide identification (a name and address); explain that they are obliged to leave immediately if you ask them to do so; and inform you about your cooling off rights.
He said consumers could view more information at this PS News link or call into any Fair Trading Centre.
16 March, 2011
Taree gets injection
of medical training
A new $6 million medical training facility has been opened in Taree.
Federal Minister for Regional Australia, Simon Crean represented the Minister for Health and Ageing at the opening, saying the new Manning Education Centre meant Taree and District would benefit from an increased presence of health professionals and academics living and working alongside them.
“For too long, areas outside the big cities missed out - not enough doctors, not enough nurses, not enough services,” Mr Crean said.
“Facilities such as the Centre here in Taree, are an important first step in redressing the balance through health reform.”
He said medical students who trained in the regions as part of their degree were also more likely to stay in the regions once they graduated.
“Giving medical students the opportunity to train and study in Taree in these first-class facilities will lead to better health and medical services for families in this coastal region,” he said.
Ms Roxon said later that the Manning Education Centre allowed for an expansion in the number of clinical training places available to medical students in Taree through the University of Newcastle and the University of New England.
“This is another example of how national health reform is delivering more doctors and nurses, helping Australians to see and contact a health professional closer to home,” Ms Roxon said.
“It was expected 50 full-time equivalent (FTE) students from the University Departments of Rural Health program will utilise the facility and 30 (FTE) students through the Rural Clinical School program by 2012.”
The opening of the Centre follows Mr Crean’s announcement last week of the $1 billion Regional Development Australia Fund (RADF) which will start allocating money in July.
16 March, 2011
Weight loss waste as
advertisers fined
The NSW Food Authority has fined two Sydney-based companies for advertising food they claimed had weight-loss properties.
The Authority said both companies were advertising what was commonly known as ‘Latin Seed’ or ‘Slim Seed’ a South American product they suggested had the ability to reduce body weight.
It said these claims were investigated and found to be in breach of the Food Standards Code.
The Authority said the companies were both found to be marketing the seed, sold under the botanical name Aleurites Moluccana and each was issued with two fines.
According to the Authority, one company made claims on advertising material on the internet that the food was a slimming food or had weight-reducing properties and was also found to be using words or statements that could be interpreted as advice of a medical nature.
It said the other company was found to have made claims on printed advertising material found on the back of toilet stall doors in movie cinemas, that the product was a slimming food and it used the word ‘health’ in conjunction with the name of the food in its advertising.
In addition to fines totalling $1,760, each company will now be listed on the NSW Food Authority’s Name and Shame register.
Furthermore, the Authority has issued urgent advice to consumers not to consume plant seeds marketed under the labels ‘The Latin Seed’ and ‘Slim Seed’ after DNA testing showed the product was not the Aleurites moluccana species (commonly known as Candle Nut) as declared on the product label, but the highly toxic Thevetia neriifolia or Thevetia peruviana otherwise known as Yellow Oleander.
The Authority said it had received medical advice that Yellow Oleander contained cardiac (digoxin-like) glycosides which could be highly toxic to the heart.
It said it had advised the distributors of these products that further sale should be discontinued and that the products should be withdrawn from sale.
16 March, 2011
Honeycomb markings sweet
The Roads and Traffic Authority has issued a reminder to motorists regarding the yellow honeycomb line markings at busy intersections in the CBD.
The Authority said the yellow honeycomb line markings installed at the intersections of George and Hunter and George and Market Streets are a reminder to motorists to keep intersections clear in order to minimise the impact on public transport, traffic and pedestrians.
It said it was illegal to queue across intersections.
Defence grants open
Applications are now open for up to $14 million in training grants for Australia’s Defence industry.
The funding can be used to help pay for: trade apprenticeships support; University courses; short technical courses; and TAFE courses.
The grants will support up to 5,000 workers to develop technical, trade and professional skills while working in the Australian Defence Industry.
Applications for the grants close on 6 April, 2011.
For more information or to apply visit this PS News link or call the SADI hotline on 1800 651 292.
Hearing Centre opens
A new Australian Hearing Centre has been officially opened in Blacktown.
The new concept-store style centre, located in Westpoint Shopping Centre, is the first of its kind for Australian Hearing in Australia.
The concept-store design showcases hearing products such as Bluetooth devices, alarm clocks that vibrate and flash, digital hearing aids and touch-screen hearing tests, in brightly lit display cases.
The centre would also provide hearing assessments and hearing aid fittings, access to digital hearing device technology, repair and maintenance services.
Australian Hearing Blacktown is located at Shop 2029, Level 2, Westpoint Shopping Centre, 17 Patrick Street, Blacktown.
Children’s Centre opens
A revamped Communities for Children centre has been launched in Mount Druitt, benefiting more than 200 vulnerable parents and children.
The refurbished facilities now mean families in Mount Druitt have a new meeting room with IT and kitchen facilities and a child care and children’s play area.
Communities for Children will also deliver other activities to the Mount Druitt region, including parenting skills, a service targeted to Indigenous families, play-based activities, speech pathology, mobile child care, and referral to other local services.
Blacktown welcomes Centrelink
A new Centrelink office in Blacktown has been officially opened.
The office, at 8 First Avenue, Blacktown, would provide services to 70,000 customers a year, living in 40 surrounding suburbs.
The staff at Blacktown offer specialised pensions and family payments advice, migrant and indigenous assistance, jobseeker support and financial counselling.
Residents of Blacktown received one and half times higher than the national average for Family Tax Benefit, parts A and B, and also received carers payments, parenting payments and the aged pension at rates higher than most other local government areas.
9 March, 2011
New women’s plan
to deliver for PS
A new NSW Women’s Plan has been developed for the NSW Public Service.
Released by Premier Kristina Keneally in a Ministerial Memorandum, the new plan sets out the Government’s future directions across four priority areas.
Ms Keneally said those areas were supporting women in education, work and care; increasing women’s participation and representation in all aspects of public life; supporting women to live free from violence; and improving women’s health and wellbeing.
According to the plan, these priorities are central to achieving gender equality as they have a significant impact on women’s capacity to live healthy and balanced lives, and to participate in all aspects of life.
Ms Keneally said the plan noted the Government’s commitment to following a set of principles aimed at improving the lives of women in NSW.
She said these included valuing and respecting women’s human rights; valuing equality, diversity and social inclusion; ensuring all women’s voices are heard by policy makers; supporting disadvantaged groups of women; and using evidence to develop appropriate policies and programs.
Ms Keneally said the new initiative complemented existing NSW Government strategies, including the State Plan, the NSW Domestic and Family Violence Action Plan: Stop the Violence, End the Silence, the NSW Women’s Health Plan 2009-2011, the NSW Homelessness Action Plan 2009-2014, and the NSW public sector’s women’s employment and development strategy Making the Public Sector Work Better for Women.
The Premier said the NSW Women’s Plan was accompanied by an indicators framework to measure progress against the strategic outcomes in each of the four priority areas and included a number of broader gender equality indicators to track how women in NSW were faring.
She said annual progress reports would be prepared by the Office for Women’s Policy and published on the Office’s website to track progress against the Plan.
Ms Keneally asked Chief Executive Officers to make their staff aware of the NSW Women’s Plan.
The plan could be accessed at this PS News link.
9 March, 2011
More PS jobs to
enable disabled
The Department of Premier and Cabinet has unveiled a new strategy to increase employment opportunities for people with a disability in the NSW public sector.
Entitled EmployABILITY, the new program provides a clear direction for NSW public sector agencies, managers and employees to focus on a person’s ability - not their disability - and to explore opportunities to build a workforce that truly reflects and values the diversity of our society.
By introducing the program, the NSW Government is seeking to recognise the challenges faced by people with a disability and to support them staying in rewarding and meaningful employment and participating fully in the community through Stronger Together, a whole-of-government policy initiative.
According to a Circular signed by Director General Brendan O’Reilly, all NSW public sector agencies, managers and employees are asked to focus on implementing the strategy.
It said this was a targeted, sector-wide strategy for employing, developing and retaining employees with a disability.
The Circular said EmployABILITY set an incremental target for the sector to increase the representation level to 1.5 per cent by 2013.
It said this would be achieved by stabilising the declining trend in 2010-11 and increasing disability employment incrementally in each subsequent year to 2013.
Currently 1.1 per cent of NSW public servants have a disability requiring an adjustment in the workplace.
According to the Strategy, to achieve the target of 1.5 per cent, the NSW public sector will need to: improve employment opportunities for people with a disability, with a focus on people who require disability specific assistance in the workplace context; improve access to employment and workforce participation for a broader representation of people with a disability, depending on the work context; and build a workplace culture that values and supports people with a disability and enables individuals to identify their disability without fear of discrimination.
The EmployABILITY strategy can be accessed at this PS News link
9 March, 2011
Disability services
take step forward
Quality standards for the provision of disability services in NSW are to be upgraded in line with national moves.
Minister for Disability Services, Peter Primrose said the Government was revising quality standards for disability services as part of a national move to develop a more consistent approach to improving the quality of services and outcomes for people who use disability services.
He said that the Standards in Action manual was developed to assist service providers to implement the NSW Disability Service Standards and assist in service development.
“Ageing, Disability and Home Care received feedback from 715 people on the National Standards, following consultation held from April to June last year,” Mr Primrose said.
“This feedback will be used to review the NSW Disability Service Standards.”
He said the information received was extremely valuable and stakeholders confirmed the value of the Standards in Action manual as a useful tool in implementing the NSW Disability Services Standards.
Mr Primrose said that the updated manual would assist the non-Government sector to achieve better outcomes for people with a disability, their families and carers.
He said the NSW Government had made $17 million available to ensure that the non-Government disability sector was well placed to deliver services to people with a disability that were responsive, innovative, of high quality and cost-effective.
Mr Primrose said this was essential given the new direction for disability services in NSW through the second phase of Stronger Together, the NSW Government’s 10-year disability plan.
He said ADHC was adopting a two-stage process to update the Standards in action manual.
Mr Primrose said stage one would see the resource updated to include hyperlinks to relevant legislation and online resources, and that stage two would involve the content of each standard being reviewed in light of the revised National Standards and in partnership with the disability sector.
9 March, 2011
Make-up moves for
women on boards
Fifty per cent of all new appointments to NSW Government boards and committees are to be women by the end of 2012 under a new policy target announced by the Premier, Kristina Keneally.
According to a Ministerial Memorandum released by Ms Keneally, the policy target applies to all NSW Government boards and committees.
She said when recommending appointments to Cabinet, and for entities covered by the Guidelines for Boards and Committees including State-significant Trusts, agencies must: demonstrate they have consulted the NSW Government Register for Boards and Committees and/or outline other strategies they have used to attract women candidates; and indicate the gender composition of the relevant entity.
Ms Keneally said to improve transparency and reporting, agencies must include in their annual reports, for the boards and committees they administer: the actions they are taking to increase gender diversity, and the gender composition of each entity.
The Premier said to support the achievement of the 50 per cent target, the Department of Premier and Cabinet would publish quarterly reports on the number of women appointed as a proportion of vacancies.
Ms Keneally said all NSW Government agencies were encouraged to consult the Register for Boards and Committees when compiling nominations and to advertise all vacancies on the Boards website.
She said information about the NSW Government Register for Boards and Committees and quarterly progress reports could be found at www.boards.dpc.nsw.gov.au
9 March, 2011
Records extracts
its digital plan
NSW State Records has expanded on its strategy to implement a digital State Archives by explaining what it is, what it will be and what it will do.
Located on the State Records website at the explanation revisits the history of the project, the principles it will adopt and examples of similar exercises around the world.
State Records said back in 2007, when it launched the Future Proof strategy, it also put out a discussion paper on the preservation of digital records.
It said this was developed after a lot of research and consultation – particularly by drawing on the experience of some of its sister archives institutions and fellow members of the Australasian Digital Recordkeeping Initiative.
State Records said following consultation across that community and the NSW public sector, it issued a policy on digital records preservation which set out some principles to underpin an approach to the preservation of digital records.
These were that digital State records should be migrated forward as technologies change; the content and essential characteristics of digital State records must remain unchanged; digital State records must be preserved in context; digital State records must be secure and tracked throughout the preservation process; and digital records preservation programs should be flexible.
State Records said all of these principles had informed its proposal to implement a digital State archives solution for NSW.
It said one of the benefits of starting this project in 2011 was the greater depth of research and experience in digital preservation that existed now.
Not limited to the needs of preserving digital records as archives, State Records said digital preservation initiatives assist the research data sector, libraries and others.
It said some of the tools and initiatives that it followed with interest included: a preservation planning tool developed by the European PLANETS project; a file identification and normalization tool developed by the National Archives of Australia, known as Xena; and Pronom, from The National Archives (TNA) of the UK, which is a resource containing detailed technical information about technical components required to support long-term access to digital records.
The detailed explanation of the strategy can be accessed at this PS News link.
9 March, 2011
Building taskforce
signs off on job
The NSW Nation Building and Jobs Plan Taskforce has published a glowing report of its involvement in the Nation Building Economic Stimulus program which has now been completed.
Signed by the NSW Infrastructure Coordinator General and Chair of the Taskforce, Robert Leece, the Building Success report said the program played a major role in getting the NSW economy back on track for the benefit of the entire community.
Mr Leece said in the past two years, the Government had developed more than $5 billion of infrastructure with facilities in nearly every town across the State that would leave tangible community benefits for future generations.
He said this had included 25,000 house renovations, 6,300 new dwellings, maintenance on almost 2,180 schools, 118 science and language centres and around 2,400 major infrastructure projects in almost 1,800 NSW Government Primary Schools.
Mr Leece said NSW had the largest delivery task in Australia – one third of the nation’s total - and had been the only State to deliver its program of works on time.
“We have avoided the risks posed by the Australian Government around delivery – no money will go back to the Australian Government from NSW, and neither will we need to pick up the tab for works not completed on time,” Mr Leece said.
He said the Commonwealth Government’s Building the Education Revolution implementation Taskforce’s* Interim Report said the NSW Government had outperformed all its peers on the BER P21 program’s primary objective of delivering stimulus.
Mr Leece said the Stimulus program also enhanced employment opportunities throughout NSW, drove growth, encouraged business confidence and ensured that the NSW economy remained resilient in the wake of the GFC.
He said everyone should be proud of what had been achieved and he thanked Paul Gilbertson, NSW Infrastructure CEO; Housing NSW Chief Executive, Mike Allen; the Director-General of Education and Training, Michael Coutts-Trotter; and their respective Program Directors, Paul Vevers and Angus Dawson for their support and cooperation.
The Report is available at this PS News link.
9 March, 2011
Interpreters’ call is
in plain language
Departments and Agencies have been reminded of Government policy relating to the provision of interpreters and translated materials for their clients, in Ministerial Memorandum signed by the Premier, Kristina Keneally.
Ms Keneally said Government agencies were expected to ensure that interpreter services were provided to clients when needed, and that appropriate translated materials were made available to support service delivery, promote workplace safety, and encourage business and commerce within NSW and in international trade.
She said since July 1998, it had been policy that NSW Government agencies fund the provision of language services when dealing with clients, in order to provide all clients with access to Government services.
Ms Keneally said these arrangements were consistent with the principles of multiculturalism, which were enshrined as the policy of the State in the Community Relations Commission and Principles of Multiculturalism Act 2000.
She said the Act specified the need to respect and make provision for the culture, language and religion of others within an Australian legal and institutional framework, and for all institutions within the State to recognise and promote the linguistic and cultural assets in the population of NSW as a valuable resource.
The Premier said Agencies were also required to ensure that contracts with private providers and funding agreements with non-government organisations identify a budget for interpreting and translating, appropriate to the services provided and the needs of the clients of the service, and that appropriate monitoring processes were included in the contracts or funding agreements.
State Owned Corporations should consider whether provision of language services would enhance their business activities, when dealing with clients from non-English speaking backgrounds.
The lead NSW Government agency for interpreting and translating services is the Community Relations Commission, and further information on language service provision may be obtained by contacting the Language Services Division, at the Commission on (02) 8255 6767.
9 March, 2011
Exercise website
up and running
A new website that enables older people to access physical activity services in their neighbourhoods has been launched by NSW Health.
NSW Chief Health Officer, Dr Kerry Chant said that by simply entering a suburb, the Active and Healthy website easily identified a list of exercise programs by local providers.
She said these programs focused on improving balance and strength, such as tai chi, yoga, strengthening programs and other specific classes designed for older people.
“NSWs challenge for the future includes a growing and ageing population, and as people get older they are at increased risk of having a fall,” Dr Chant said.
“Injury related falls is estimated to cost NSW $558.5 million every year.”
She said the website was also a useful tool for General Practitioners and other health professionals to assist them in the care of their patients.
“It also provides older people with information about leading a more active lifestyle which will help to promote physical and mental wellbeing,” Dr Chant said.
She said the Active and Healthy website was developed in response to a 2009 report by key falls prevention experts, which highlighted the need for a web-based directory of physical activity falls prevention programs for older people.
Associate Professor Jacqueline Close from the Falls, Balance and Bone Health Service at the Prince of Wales Hospital said the active and healthy website provided easy access to comprehensive information about exercise programs across NSW.
Dr Chant said that to complement the website, NSW Health had released Staying Active and on Your Feet, a new 20-page booklet full of useful information for older people to staying active and healthy to prevent a fall.
“Staying Active and on Your Feet includes everything from tips on ways to fall-proof yourself, advice on healthy eating, health and lifestyle and home safety checklists,” she said.
Information from the booklet is available on the new Active and Healthy website at this PS News link.
9 March, 2011
Plastic bag policy
carries the day
The Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water (DECCW) is to work with industry to remove plastic bags from food outlets and supermarkets and replace them with compostable bags.
Minister for Environment, Frank Sartor released the Reducing Waste: Implementation Strategy 2011–2015, saying it was a comprehensive road map to improve resource recovery and recycling in NSW over the next four years.
He said the strategy had received broad support from Local Government, the waste industry and environment groups.
“Food waste, often disposed of in plastic bags, currently accounts for almost half of most NSW household (red) rubbish bins,” Mr Sartor said.
“So if we can separate food waste from non-compostable plastic bags we can recover all of this waste.”
He said to do this Government had agreed with industry, local government, waste experts and environment groups, to do feasibility studies and any necessary trials, with the aim of introducing compostable bin liners to hold food waste, and phasing out plastic bags from food outlets and supermarkets and replacing them with compostable bags.
“An industry approved phase in of compostable bags will have the double benefit of increasing our capacity to recover and recycle more food and organic waste, as well as reducing the impact of plastic bags on our environment,” Mr Sartor said.
He said from the kitchen to the kerbside to the waste recovery centre, this strategy would overcome the barriers that were preventing NSW families and businesses from recycling more of their waste and sending less to landfill.
Mr Sartor said the waste reduction strategy proposed: to remove soiled nappies from the mixed waste stream either by introducing compostable nappies or simply separating nappies from other wastes; and to establish a network of free drop off centres to make it easier for householders to dispose of small quantities of problem wastes, such as lead acid batteries, paints and gas bottles.
The Waste and Resource Recovery Progress Report and the Reducing Waste: Implementation Strategy 2011-2015 is available at this PS News link.
9 March, 2011
Fraud Week warning
the real deal
National Fraud Week has been launched by NSW Fair Trading by highlighting the risks that scammers and other unprincipled traders pose for Indigenous communities.
Deputy Commissioner Steve Griffin said National Fraud Week activities across the country were focused on the enormous personal cost of scams.
“Indigenous communities are at particular risk of unfair trade practices because of factors such as geographic isolation, lack of choice and competition, language barriers, a lack of financial literacy and restricted access to services,” Mr Griffin said.
“Scammers have, in the past, deliberately targeted Indigenous communities.”
He said one alarming but common example was people arriving unannounced at family homes, using high pressure, emotional tactics to sign people up to funeral funds, leaving them to be ripped off badly, paying much more than the funeral is worth and getting tied to the contract for years.
Mr Griffin said NSW Fair Trading had a number of dedicated Indigenous programs.
“There are 15 dedicated Aboriginal customer service officers delivering programs on financial literacy and consumer rights,” he said.
“More than $2 million is invested in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander tenancy support programs this financial year, as well as $250,000 in financial counselling initiatives delivered by the non-government sector.”
Mr Griffin said NSW Fair Trading was the lead agency in a national initiative dedicated to improving consumer protection for Indigenous people.
“The National Indigenous Consumer Strategy Action Plan focuses heavily on misleading and deceptive trade practices, educating traders and trying to get more information into the community around acceptable marketing practices,” he said.
“The Action Plan is also fostering greater co-operation between agencies, which has been enhanced by the introduction of the Australian Consumer Law on 1 January 2011.”
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission provides assistance to people experiencing credit difficulties. Visit this PS News link or phone 1300 300 630.
More information on Fair Trading can be viewed at this website or call 13 32 20.
9 March, 2011
Food ‘traffic lights’
get green light
A national review of food labelling has adopted a NSW recommendation for “traffic light” indicators of whether the food concerned is healthy, not-so-healthy or somewhere in between.
Minister for Primary Industries, Steve Whan said the Government was serious about ensuring consumers had access to clear and accessible information about what they’re eating, when they buy it.
“This is about empowering people to make informed and healthy decisions when buying food for themselves and their families,” Mr Whan said.
“In our submission to the Blewett Review, the NSW Government called for a single consistent front-of-pack labelling system to be used across all food packages.’’
He said the Government especially pushed for the labelling to be in the form of a traffic light scheme, which in its simplest form would mean: Green for the most healthy foods; Red would be the least healthy; and Amber for in between.
“The fact is consumers are currently quite limited in their ability to make nutrition-based purchasing decisions and improve their health due to the sheer number of different food labelling schemes in use,” Mr Whan said.
“What we’d like to see put in place would be a uniform system that is clear, concise and instantly recognisable to everyone – including people with low literacy levels or who come from non-English speaking backgrounds.”
He said the Blewett Review, chaired by former Health Minister Dr Neal Blewett, was released on 28 January and included 61 recommendations, including: a front-of-pack labelling system be developed that reflects a comprehensive Nutrition Policy and agreed public health priorities; and introducing a multiple traffic lights front-of-pack labelling system, which would be implemented initially on a voluntary basis except where general or high level health claims were made or equivalent endorsements/trade names/marks appear on the label, in which case it should be mandatory.
The Blewett Review of Food Labelling Law and Policy can be viewed at this PS News link.
9 March, 2011
Bushland transfer
a walk in the park
The Commonwealth Government has agreed to transfer 70 hectares of bushland at Malabar Headland to NSW for protection as a national park.
Minister for Environment, Frank Sartor, said the Government, Randwick City Council and local community groups such as the Friends of Malabar Headland had negotiated for more than a decade for the creation of a conservation reserve on Malabar Headland.
“The Commonwealth has agreed to transfer its land on Malabar Headland to the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) for safekeeping after a century in Commonwealth hands,” Mr Sartor said.
“The agreement protects the largest remaining areas of untouched bushland between Botany Bay and South Head.”
Mr Sartor said the Malabar and Maroubra communities were now guaranteed more than 17 hectares as stage one of the park, and stage two would be transferred after further clean-up by the Commonwealth.
Mr Sartor said the new park would be divided into Eastern and Western sections on either side of the ANZAC rifle range (which would remain as a tenant of the Commonwealth Government and would not be included in the new park).
Federal Special Minister of State, Gary Gray said Malabar Headland was an important site culturally, historically and environmentally.
“About 40 per cent of the new park’s vegetation is classified as endangered Eastern Suburbs Banksia Scrub,” Senator Gray said.
“Along with other native vegetation, the headland provides a haven for the 283 plant species that have been recorded to date.”
He said further work was required by both Governments in relation to remediation and access arrangements for Lot 2, and due to its military past, lot 2 housed 43 important WWII coastal defence sites including forts, underground defence facilities and a sunken munitions railway.
Mr Sartor said NSW now had more than 850 national parks and reserves across the state for the enjoyment of NSW residents.
9 March, 2011
No flies on Griffith
in pest control
The community of Griffith in western NSW has been thanked by Industry & Investment NSW for its commitment to eradicating fruit fly in the local area.
I&I NSW Senior Regulatory Officer - Southern Zone, Wayne Norden, said help from the community had played a big role in the work to control the recent fruit fly outbreak.
“People have been very tolerant and helpful and we want them to continue to be vigilant in the way they manage their backyard fruit trees,” Mr Norden said.
“I&I NSW will be there to help manage the fruit fly outbreak in Griffith, but the job is much more effective when individual property owners take responsibility to look after their own fruit trees, and help protect the community from the inconvenience and possible economic losses of a fruit fly outbreak.”
Chief Executive Officer of Riverina Citrus, Dominic Testoni, said the season had thrown up some challenges, but with the support of the entire community, they could get on top of the problem this year.
He said a simple method of helping to control fruit fly was to remove all over-ripe and fallen fruit from around trees, place it inside strong plastic bags, and expose to the sun for at least three days, and up to seven days if temperatures were below 30 degrees Celsius.
Mr Testoni said the bags of fruit could then be placed in normal household rubbish bins for collection and disposal.
Mr Norden said I&I NSW had employed an extra 12 casual staff to assist with the eradication program at Griffith, which would continue in the district for at least another eight weeks.
He said fruit from backyard trees must not be taken out of the suspension zones.
Griffith residents can call (02) 6960 1351 for assistance if they detect fruit fly larvae or require advice on moving fruit.
For more information visit this PS News link.
9 March, 2011
Homeless action plan
gets warm welcome
The first report card on the NSW Homelessness Action Plan has been released with Housing Minister Frank Terenzini declaring the first year a great success.
Mr Terenzini said the Homelessness Action Plan was the Government’s key policy response to homelessness and set the direction for a State-wide reform of the homelessness service sector.
“The NSW State Plan incorporates the Homelessness Action Plan and sets ambitious targets to reduce overall homelessness by 7 per cent by 2013; reduce people sleeping rough by 25 per cent by 2013; and to reduce the number of Aboriginal people who are homeless by 30 per cent by 2013,” Mr Terenzini said.
He said the Government was unable to accurately measure progress against these main targets in the Homelessness Action Plan because the key report data would come from the 2011 Census which would not be officially released until 2013.
“But we made a commitment in the Homelessness Action Plan to produce an annual public report to demonstrate the achievements of the Homelessness Action Plan each year and we can now reveal our first year achievements,” Mr Terenzini said.
He said the key achievements of the Homelessness Action Plan in 2009/2010 were: 295 rough sleepers had been supported through two new outreach services; 569 people leaving care or custody had been supported through housing and support initiatives incorporating health, youth and corrective services; and 2,320 people had received priority assistance to access and/or maintain their tenancies.
Mr Terenzini said other achievements included: 284 young people had been supported through initiatives that provided intensive support for homeless young people with complex needs in the Nepean and Kings Cross areas; 21 clients supported through the Foyer Model - Young People in Illawarra project; and 40,571 people who were homeless or at risk of homelessness have received financial and legal services.
Mr Terenzini said the Homelessness Action Plan included initiatives that had been funded jointly by the Commonwealth and NSW Governments under the National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness.
9 March, 2011
Orange water supply
in the pipeline
A new pipeline to connect the Macquarie River with Orange in the State’s west has been agreed upon by the State and Commonwealth Governments.
Minister for Water, Phil Costa said the pipeline would provide Orange with a new reliable supply of water, reducing demand on the existing water supply.
“As well as creating new jobs in NSW, construction of the pipeline will also provide security to local businesses,” Mr Costa said.
“Water security is also important for critical human services - such as hospitals - that Orange provides for many other communities across central and western NSW.”
Mr Costa said funding for the Orange Pipeline included a $20 million investment from the Federal Government, an $18 million commitment from the NSW Government, and $9 million from the Orange City Council.
Federal Water Minister Tony Burke said the pipeline would secure water supply for Orange’s future by connecting the city’s existing water infrastructure to more reliable drinking water from the Macquarie River.
“We know that a reliable water supply is crucial to the future of growing regional centres like Orange,” Mr Burke said.
“Together with the NSW Government, the Federal Government is committed to water reform and making major investments in new projects to provide cities and towns like Orange with a more secure water supply.”
He said the pipeline, expected to be completed by December 2012, would allow Orange City Council to transfer up to 12 megalitres of water a day from the Macquarie River to Suma Park Dam.
“Ensuring that the city of Orange has a secure and reliable water supply means that recent population growth and prosperity in the region can continue with the right infrastructure in place,” Mr Burke said.
To find out more about how Water for the Future is securing water supplies for Australian cities and towns visit this PS News link.
9 March, 2011
Drug trial rules
to be tested
A report recommending changes to pharmaceutical research processes in Australia has been accepted by the Federal Minister for Health, Nicola Roxon.
Ms Roxon said the report was an important driver in keeping Australian clinicians at the cutting edge of medical science.
“Clinical trials help patients benefit from the latest treatments available, which ultimately lead to better health outcomes for all Australians,” Ms Roxon said.
Releasing the report, the Commonwealth’s Minister for Innovation, Senator Kim Carr said the microeconomic reform would improve productivity and have benefits for patients, industry, researchers and governments.
“The new policies that will stem from this report will ensure Australia remains internationally competitive in clinical trials,” Senator Carr said.
He said the report recommended how to make approval processes for clinical trials being conducted in different states and territories more efficient; increase the benefits to the health system that come from e-Health reforms; and encourage more people to be involved in clinical trials.
“The industry estimates the annual economic worth of clinical trials to be in the order of $450 million,” Senator Carr said.
“Trials provide a significant number of high-skill, high-wage jobs for Australians”.
The Australian Government’s Chief Medical Officer, Professor Jim Bishop, who was a member of the Clinical Trials Action Group (CTAG) and chaired one of the expert reference groups, acknowledged the contribution of all those who provided input to the report.
“About 50 people were involved in the expert reference groups including clinicians, researchers, companies and state, territory and federal government officials,” Professor Bishop said.
“We also received more than 50 submissions from interested organisations and the public.”
The Clinical Trials Action Group is an initiative of the Pharmaceutical Industry Working Group which is co-chaired by Ms Roxon and Senator Carr.
9 March, 2011
Election nominations open
Nominations are now open for candidates wishing to contest the NSW Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council for the NSW State Election to be held on 26 March.
Candidates for the Assembly must nominate with the Returning Officer for the electoral district they wish to contest by noon on Thursday, 10 March.
Locations and contact details of Returning Officers’ offices are available at this PS News link or by calling 1300 135 736.
For Legislative Council Nominations, candidates, groups and registered political parties must lodge their nominations with the NSW Electoral Commission.
Information about nominations is available in the Candidates Handbook available from the NSW Electoral Commission or at this PS News link.
Planning Commissions rejected
The Lord Mayors of Australia’s capital cities have rejected a proposal by Federal Shadow Minister Greg Hunt to establish planning commissions to oversee development in the nation’s capital cities.
Council of Capital City Lord Mayors chair, Lord Mayor of Hobart Rob Valentine said that planning commissions are the wrong mechanism to entrust the long-term future of cities and communities with.
“We would strongly oppose the introduction of planning commissions in Australia’s capital cities,” Lord Mayor Valentine said.
“We have better mechanisms available to us than planning commissions.”
Training officer retires
Industry & Investment NSW Compliance and Training officer at Murrumbidgee Rural Studies Centre at Yanco, Jan Munro, is retiring after 14 years.
Ms Munro, who came to live in Leeton 37 year ago, said she had enjoyed 14 wonderful years at Yanco and intended to travel and visit her grandchildren in Melbourne in her retirement.
Her work involved in-house training for I&I NSW staff and commercial clients in order for them to become qualified trainers in areas such as irrigation, agronomy, beef production and farm skills.
Ms Munro said her work in compliance to maintain I&I NSW’s status as a registered training organisation had been both rewarding and challenging.
Second rescue team deploys
A second deployment of NSW search and rescue specialists travelled to New Zealand on Saturday, leading an Australian taskforce to relieve crews who have been working around the clock during the Christchurch earthquake operation.
Fourteen Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) search and rescue specialists joined the 74-member taskforce, which comprised emergency workers from around Australia.
This Australian taskforce will relieve the members of the first Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) team who were on the ground within 24 hours of the earthquake.
The original taskforce comprised personnel from FRNSW, SCAT paramedics from the Ambulance Service of NSW, NSW Health doctors, NSW Police Force officers, Department of Services, Technology and Administration engineers and ACT firefighters.
Mosquito warning
NSW Health is warning residents and visitors in western NSW to take extra precautions and protect themselves against mosquitoes following the detection of Murray Valley Encephalitis (MVE) in Western NSW.
Murray Valley Encephalitis is rare, but in some mild cases, symptoms of MVE include fever, headache, nausea and vomiting and muscle aches.
In more severe cases, symptoms can include neck stiffness, lethargy, drowsiness, confusion, delirium, tremors, neurological problems and coma.
People are encouraged to cover up as much as possible with light-coloured, loose-fitting clothing; use an effective repellent; light mosquito coils; and cover all windows, doors, chimneys, vents and other entrances with insect screens.
First ‘justice pups’ graduate
Two black Labrador “justice pups” have graduated after being trained for more than 15 months by young offenders inside Riverina Juvenile Justice Centre.
The two dogs, “River” and “Rina”, will now undergo intensive assistance dogs training then be placed with people with physical disabilities.
Justice Pups at Frank Baxter Juvenile Justice Centre in Gosford was the first program of its kind to be run in a state-run juvenile detention centre anywhere in the world, and aims to teach the young offenders about responsibilities.
Justice Pups has now expanded the program to the Riverina Juvenile Justice Centre.
Newcastle port upgrade
The NSW Government will fund a multi-million dollar upgrade of infrastructure at the Port of Newcastle to better position the city to target and win more defence and maritime construction and repair contracts.
The investment will refurbish the slipway and wharf, build a blast and paint facility and workshop, and provide upgrades to additional ship building, repair and launch capabilities on Government-owned land.
Up to 200 construction jobs will be supported by the upgrade and there will be further flow-on benefits for sub-contractors and local industry.
2 March, 2011
Procurement rules
sell out red tape
The State Contracts Control Board has launched its updated procurement framework, Procure IT (version 3).
The new framework comes into effect on 1 June and contains the standard terms and conditions to be used by Departments and Agencies when buying technology and communications-related products and services.
SCCB chairperson Dr Kerry Schott said Procure IT (version 3) should drastically cut red tape, reduce costs and speed up the process of entering into contract arrangements with Government.
“It will help promote ICT investment in NSW while significantly reducing the cost of legal negotiations on every ICT contract,” Dr Schott said.
“This means less money spent on lawyers, by both Government and industry.”
She said intellectual property would also now belong by default to the supplier rather than the NSW Government.
Dr Schott said Government would still have a licence to use the intellectual property, and transfer it between agencies.
“Government agencies can still own the intellectual property when public interest dictates; however, the change will encourage increased industry investment and development of intellectual property,” she said.
Dr Schott said a standard limitation of liability would now apply to most contracts, providing greater certainty for suppliers around risk, while ensuring Government exposure was protected.
“Changes to insurance requirements will make it easier for small to medium businesses to participate and this will result in greater competition and better pricing,” she said.
Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA) Chief Executive Office, Ian Birks welcomed the announcement and said collaboration between industry and government had resulted in a better outcome than could have been achieved by the usual point-to-point consultation.
Dr Schott said the new Procure IT framework was available now at www.nswprocurement.com.au.
Mr Birks said the AIIA would be running a NSW Procure IT Contracts Training Session on 3 March.
For more information, visit this PS News link.
2 March, 2011
Information to flow
through net
The Information Commissioner has launched a new website to assist members of the public understand their right to information and privacy issues.
Head of Information and Privacy Commission, Deirdre O’Donnell said the IPC encompassed the work of the Office of the Information Commissioner and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner.
“Our website offers a single entry point for people seeking information on their rights to access Government information and to protect their own personal information,” Ms O’Donnell said.
She said the website featured direct links to information from the Office of the Information Commissioner and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner.
“The IPC’s key objective is to promote Government transparency and accountability through better access to Government information, balanced with a commitment to privacy rights for the people of NSW,” Ms O’Donnell said.
“We are working to ensure the objectives of the NSW Privacy and Access to Government Information legislation are achieved by promoting the legislation and educating the community and agencies about citizens’ privacy and access rights.”
She said the IPC was also helping Government, business and the public to understand and use the legislation, as well as reviewing agency performance, investigating and conciliating complaints.
“We will also be providing feedback about the legislation, and about developments in the law and technology relevant to the legislation,” Ms O’Donnell said.
She said the Information Commissioner and the Privacy Commissioner worked independently as champions under the IPC.
“Questions about the privacy of personal information and access to Government information will naturally intersect, as they both involve rights to access information and impose obligations on Government in dealing with information,” Ms O’Donnell said.
“The IPC is working to identify these areas of overlap and will provide advice to Government agencies on how best to balance the principles of open Government with the protection of individuals’ privacy.”
To learn more about the IPC, visit the website at this PS News link.
2 March, 2011
Auditor throws book
at agencies
The Auditor-General has issued a disturbing report on his financial audits of NSW Government Agencies’ reports in 2010, particularly relating to e-procurement and e-tendering.
In his Volume One Report to Parliament for 2011, Peter Achterstraat included a summary of recommendations and key issues from the 2010 audits, and common themes from the his recent performance audits and reviews of information systems.
Mr Achterstraat said he was concerned at the widespread non-compliance with requirements for e-procurement and e-tendering, particularly as the NSW Procurement Reforms were effective since 2006.
“I found widespread non-compliance with e-procurement requirements and to a lesser extent with e-tendering requirements,” Mr Achterstraat said.
“Very few agencies complied with both requirements.”
He said he recommended governing bodies review the processes their agencies have in place to comply with procurement reforms and requirements and also how agencies identify and comply with laws, regulations, Treasury policy pronouncements, Premier’s memoranda and other obligations.
Mr Achterstraat said the Government needed to review the scope of the Premier’s Memorandum and the Public Sector Employment and Management Act 2002 and redefine the terms and expenditure limits with the aim of increasing the number of agencies and the proportion of the State’s procurement subject to the requirements.
He said improvements would include: defining terms; ensuring the requirements capture all major procurement agencies; and capturing smaller agencies not currently subject to requirements.
Mr Achterstraat said overall his report found very poor compliance with e-procurement, with one third of agencies not implementing any systems, policies or procedures to ensure compliance, while almost half did not comply in some respect.
The Auditor-General said 37 per cent of agencies were non-compliant with e-tendering requirements in some respect.
He recommended agencies improve compliance by ensuring: approved systems were implemented; systems installed access current SCCB contracts; policies and procedures are in place and adhered to by staff; internal audit monitors compliance; and staff were trained in the use and application of e-procurement and/or Smartbuy systems, as well as e-tendering systems.
Mr Achterstraat said his Report also looked at the themes from 2010.
He said he identified 957 misstatements in financial statements that were submitted for audit, 510 needed to be corrected by the agencies before he could issue his audit opinions.
The Auditor-General said more than half the Performance Audits recently conducted identified limitations in accountability, performance measurement and information quality.
2 March, 2011
Police fill the bill
in New Zealand
Up to 200 NSW police are to be sent to New Zealand to assist the community of Christchurch recover from its devastating earthquake.
The contingent follows 73 urban search and rescue experts who left Sydney the day after the disaster struck.
Premier Kristina Keneally said the NSW Police would assist with tasks such as sealing off areas, traffic control and law and order issues such as preventing looting.
“New Zealand authorities are finalising details of how and where the NSW police would be accommodated,” Ms Keneally said.
“Our officers stand ready to offer assistance to Christchurch authorities as they respond to this devastating earthquake.”
She said it was expected the NSW police would take enough food and water to allow them to survive for up to 10 days.
“The USAR taskforce, led by Fire and Rescue NSW, is a team of 73 specialists in fire and rescue, building engineering, trauma medicine and hazardous materials,” Ms Keneally said.
She said the taskforce comprised: 52 personnel from Fire and Rescue NSW; nine SCAT paramedics from the Ambulance Service of NSW; two doctors from NSW Health; two NSW Police Force officers including a victim identification specialist; four Department of Services, Technology and Administration engineers; and four ACT firefighters.
Fire and Rescue NSW Commissioner Greg Mullins said the USAR taskforce had responded to several major international and Australian emergencies in recent years.
“Our expertise is recognised by the United Nations and most recently, our urban search and rescue crews joined the response to the Queensland flood emergency in January,” Mr Mullins said.
“We are well prepared and equipped to assist our emergency services colleagues in New Zealand during this disaster.”
Anyone concerned about Australians in Christchurch should try to contact them directly in the first instance, and if this is unsuccessful, contact the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade 24-hour Consular Emergency Centre on +61 2 6261 3305 or 1300 555 135 within Australia.
2 March, 2011
Nurse recruitment
on the charts
Recruitment of an extra 1,400 nurses for the State’s health system is to start this month.
Premier Kristina Keneally said the additional nurses were part of a new agreement for the industry, which also a 9.7 per cent salary increase over the three years to July 2013.
“Make no mistake, nurses are the backbone of our health system and they are central to delivering the best healthcare,” Ms Keneally said.
“Put simply, this agreement is a big win for nurses – and they deserve nothing less.”
She said the NSW wages and conditions offer meant: 1,400 additional nurses for metropolitan, rural and district hospitals with recruitment to commence in March; wage increase for nurses of 9.7 per cent compounded over three years; and improved staffing arrangements based on the Nursing Hours per Patient Day model that gives nurse managers greater flexibility to best deploy staff at a local level.
Ms Keneally said it also included: additional designated resuscitation nurses in Emergency Departments of Level 3 and above; and, an approach to staffing based on the number of hours it takes to provide quality nursing care to patients in different types of facilities, with a graduated difference based on type of facility.
She said since 2005, the nursing workforce has increased by around 10.8 per cent and since December 1999 nurses’ salaries have increased by 57 per cent, now rising to 66.7 per cent following this agreement.
“Today’s agreement will provide more nurses right across the network and across a broad spectrum of health services,” Ms Keneally said.
“It will increase the number of nurses rostered in public hospital in-patient wards, extending to palliative care, rehabilitation and, acute adult mental health wards, as well as specialty areas such as Emergency Departments.”
She said the higher staffing levels would include major referral, metropolitan and rural base and district hospitals, and enhance their ability to meet the changing needs of local communities.
2 March, 2011
PS scholarship is
won for the money
William Hawkins from the Department of Environment and Climate Change has been awarded a Public Sector Scholarship from Chartered Secretaries Australia (CSA).
Offered for the first time this year, the scholarships were made available to talented PS staff making a difference in public sector Agencies and Departments across Australia.
CSA Chief Executive Tim Sheehy said the scholarship winners were chosen from a number of entries received from applicants working in public sector agencies and departments across Australia.
“They were judged to have the best grasp of the importance of good governance and risk management practices in the sector, from their submitted essay and reasoned case for being awarded with the Scholarship,” Mr Sheehy said.
He said CSA was extremely pleased to receive a number of outstanding applications from a diverse range of Departments and Government agencies, including Health, Indigenous Affairs, Education and Training, Police and Infrastructure.
Mr Sheehy said the national scholarship award, valued at $12,000, incorporated studying CSA’s higher education accredited Graduate Diploma of Applied Governance, which included public sector specific subjects in Applied Administrative Law and Public Sector Accountability & Transparency.
“CSA recognises the growing importance and promotion of good governance and risk management within the public sector and has developed sector tailored offerings over the past few years,” he said.
“As leaders in governance, we see the public sector scholarship as an integral part of our ongoing strategy to provide tailored education, training and professional development to those with governance and risk management responsibilities in the public sector.”
Ms Sheehy said as CSA was offering two scholarships per state per year, it was looking forward to opening the invitation for entries for Semester 2, 2011 very soon.
2 March, 2011
Premier gets in early
with prevention plan
The Prevention and Early Intervention Framework has been updated.
Launched in December 2007, the Framework was the first of its kind in Australia and the new, updated version, applies to all NSW Government Agencies.
Premier Kristina Keneally, who issued a Memorandum revising the Government’s Framework, said prevention and early intervention was premised on the idea that stopping a problem from occurring, or acting early to stop it from getting worse, offered better, more cost-effective outcomes for society than interventions later in the lifecycle of a problem.
Ms Keneally said that since 2007 there had been a significant and growing shift towards prevention and early intervention across the Government.
She said it was clear that there had been considerable progress in achieving the central aim of the framework, which was to embed the principle of prevention and early intervention in decision and policy making.
According to the Premier, under the revised Framework all agencies should consider a range of principles when reviewing or developing policy directions, programs or funding decisions.
Ms Keneally said those principles included: in addressing increasing demand for services, prevention and early intervention measures that reduce or manage long-term demand should be considered as a priority over short-term measures; as part of the development and assessment of any new policy or program, agencies must consider whether there are prevention and early intervention alternatives that may generate better outcomes for the investment made; and existing policies and capital and recurrent programs should be progressively reviewed to identify opportunities to shift effort towards prevention and early intervention.
She said the Framework also set out a number of specific actions and strategies that would be pursued by the Government, including: conducting agency reviews; finalising a policy assessment tool, which would provide agencies with practical guidance on implementing prevention and early intervention strategies; identifying priority groups; and improving evaluation and research.
2 March, 2011
Fishy photos are new
angle for calendar
Photos of the big fish that didn’t get away could end up in Industry & Investment NSW’s 2012 Recreational Fishing Calendar.
The search is on for the best 12 fishing photos to illustrate the calendar and everyone who enters has the chance of winning great prizes.
Industry & Investment NSW fisheries manager, Sarah Boyd, said the recreational fishing calendar was an extremely popular resource for thousands of fishers around the State.
“The current calendar provides information on freshwater fish species and lists important dates for fishers such as inland fishing events and fishing season dates for species such as Murray crayfish and Murray cod,” Ms Boyd said.
“Twelve lucky winners will feature in this year’s calendar, and everyone will have the chance to win some great prizes, including fishing tackle and fishing magazine subscriptions donated by our generous sponsors.”
Ms Boyd said that more 350 entries were received for last year’s calendar and she hoped even more would be received for 2012.
“This calendar is a great way for people to offer their best photographs for others to enjoy and to showcase why recreational fishing is enjoyed by more than one million people each year throughout NSW,” Ms Boyd said.
“I encourage all fishers to take the camera out next time they hit the water – and take a photo of their favourite fishing experience.”
She said judges would be looking for photos that couldn’t be easily recreated, and that “special shot” capturing the moment.
Funds from the NSW Freshwater Recreational Fishing Trust and I&I NSW were used to produce the recreational fishing calendar each year.
Every entry in the competition receives a free copy of the calendar.
Photos can be entered online, or through the post, but entries must be received by July 31.
See this PS News link for more details.
2 March, 2011
Apprentice system
failing skills test
Australia’s apprenticeship system needs to be simplified, streamlined and better targeted if it is to help meet the critical skills needs of the economy, according to the Federal Minister for Skills and Jobs, Senator Chris Evans.
Releasing an independent report on reform options for the national apprenticeships system, Senator Evans said the growing demand for skilled workers required a decisive response.
He said the report, A Shared responsibility – Apprenticeships for the 21st Century, was produced by an expert panel chaired by Jim McDowell and made 14 recommendations, many of which required consideration by the Council of Australian Governments.
“The (Federal) Government is particularly supportive of recommendations for improving targeted incentive payments, work-based training initiatives and allowing competency-based progression,” Senator Evans said.
“Recent figures show 42 per cent of those starting apprenticeships are now aged 25 or above and the system must be able to recognise previous experience or qualifications held by these older apprentices and trainees and allow them to complete their training when they are competent.”
He said the Commonwealth would not consider introducing an employer contribution scheme, however.
“The Government believes industry is keen to co-operate voluntarily in a genuine partnership to improve the apprenticeships system,” Senator Evans said.
He said he was broadly supportive of the panel’s recommendations but would be reluctant to adopt measures which resulted in the imposition of additional or unwarranted bureaucracy.
He said as an immediate response to the expert panel report, the Federal Government would seek to extend contracts for Australian Apprenticeship Centres until 30 June 2012 for wider consultation on the future of the support services
Senator Evans said key stakeholders would be invited to provide feedback at a number of round table meetings with members of the panel, and the public were able to provide feedback at apprenticeshipreform@deewr.gov.au
The Panel’s report will be published on the Austr
2 March, 2011
Research on assaults
full bottle on liquor
Research conducted by the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research has revealed that 37 per cent of assaults in Sydney are committed within 20 metres of a liquor outlet.
This is despite only three per cent of the Sydney Local Government Area (LGA) being 20 metres from a liquor outlet.
Director of BOSCAR, Dr Don Weatherburn said each additional alcohol outlet per hectare in the Sydney LGA would result, on average, in 4.5 additional assaults per annum.
He said these were the key findings to emerge from a study of assaults in and around licensed premises in the Sydney LGA.
Dr Weatherburn said the Bureau analysed the proportions of assaults recorded by police within 20, 50, 100 and 200m buffer zones around each licensed premise in the Sydney LGA.
He said the proportions were compared with the land area covered by the buffer, with the proportion of assaults recorded around a set of randomly generated “sentinel” points and with the proportion of assaults found around commercial premises other than liquor outlets.
Dr Weather burn said more than half (56.8 per cent) of the assaults examined by the Bureau occurred within 50m of a liquor outlet, even though the area within 50m of a liquor outlet accounts for only 12.9 per cent of the area in the Sydney LGA.
He said the assault rate within 20m of a licensed premises was found to be 25 recorded incidents per hectare, compared with 1-2 assaults per hectare around the randomly generated sentinel points.
Dr Weather burn said the assault rate near other types of commercial premises was higher than the assault rate around the randomly generated sentinel points.
He said assault incidents within 20m of commercial premises accounted for 17.2 per cent of all assaults, even though the land area within 20m of Sydney commercial premises accounts for only 2.8 per cent of the Sydney LGA.
This is much smaller, however, than the proportion (37 per cent) of assaults found within 20 metres of a licensed premises.
The full report is available at this PS News link.
2 March, 2011
Councillors rated
in awards scheme
Nominations are now open for the 2011 National Awards for Local Government.
Federal Minister for Local Government, Simon Crean said there were 10 award categories including awards for regional Australia, women in local Government, innovative infrastructure and youth engagement.
He said the awards were an opportunity to highlight the important work of Local Governments contributing to the community.
“The Australian Government recognizes the critical role Local Governments play in making our communities more productive, livable and sustainable,” Mr Crean said.
“I encourage all elected councils to examine the award categories and submit entries that showcase their local initiatives.”
Mr Crean said the award categories were: Leading Community Climate Change Action, Youth Engagement, Promoting Reconciliation, Engaging and Strengthening Indigenous Communities, Excellence in Alcohol Management, Inspired Cities, Asset and Financial Management, Innovative Infrastructure Development, Regional Collaborations, and Women in Local Government.
He said he was looking forward to hearing about the creative solutions to local and national challenges that were being found at the local level.
Mr Crean said the awards were now in their 26th year.
He said award entries would close on 23 March and national winners would be judged by an independent panel and announced in June 2011.
Mr Crean said for more information, contact the Commonwealth Department of Regional Australia, Regional Development and Local Government on free call 1800 065 113, or visit this PS News link.
2 March, 2011
Dog attacks
being licked
The latest report from the Dog Attack Register has revealed a 13 per cent drop in dog attacks across NSW in the past three months.
Minister for Local Government Barbara Perry said the fall in attacks showed that the State’s strong dog laws - the toughest in Australia - were having an impact.
“Any dog breed has the potential to attack and it seems that an increasing number of dog owners are heeding the message that they must keep their dogs under close supervision at all times,” Ms Perry said.
She said in all, there were 1,168 dog attacks between October and December 2010 - a fall of 13 per cent on the previous quarter.
Ms Perry said during the quarter, 681 people were attacked - a decrease of 15 per cent - with 158 resulting in injuries that required medical treatment or hospitalisation.
She said although recording a 24 per cent drop, Blacktown Council remained the states “Dog Attack Capital” with 76 attacks.
Gosford Council reported the second highest number of attacks (71), then Wyong (61)
Cessnock (44), and Shoalhaven and Newcastle (each reporting 34).
Ms Perry said the three breeds of dog most commonly involved in attacks were the Staffordshire Bull Terrier (161), followed by the Australian Cattle Dog (97) and the German Shepherd (83).
She said in NSW dog owners could now face fines of up to $55,000 and/or two years in prison if their dog attacks a person.
Ms Perry said the Dog Attack Report was based on reports from councils, which must notify the Division of Local Government of any attack in their area within 72 hours.
The full Dog Attack Report was available on the Division of Local Government’s website at this PS News link.
2 March, 2011
Police hit back at
online criticism
The Australian Federal Police have responded to inaccurate media reports misrepresenting online education seminars it presents to National Rugby League clubs.
The AFP said the seminars were conducted by the AFP’s High Tech Crime Prevention team, which also delivered online education initiatives such as the ThinkUKnow program to Australian schools.
It said the initiative with the NRL was an extension of the AFP’s partnership with the NRL/Rugby League Players’ Association (RLPA) Education & Welfare program.
According to the AFP, the seminars focus on giving players advice about privacy on social networking sites and protecting their personal and financial information.
It said the program was piloted when the NRL invited the AFP to give online safety seminars to each of the Under 20 squads as part of the 2010 NRL Rookie Camps.
The AFP said following positive feedback from players and clubs, the NRL invited the AFP to deliver the same presentation to every NRL team.
The AFP rejected claims in an article in The Sunday Telegraph on 13 February, that an undercover AFP Federal Agent had been “flirting” and making “sexual advances” to players online, attempting to trick NRL players into releasing personal information.
It said since conducting these seminars, the AFP had adhered to the strictest confidentiality to ensure the privacy of players was not compromised, and the AFP had not, and would not, discuss specific content of the seminars publicly.
The AFP said the member presenting these seminars was not a sworn officer and was not “hired” by the NRL as The Sunday Telegraph’s article claims.
The AFP said it had welcomed the chance to cooperate with the NRL, which should be congratulated on taking the proactive step to protect the online welfare of its players.
It said any suggestions that Manly players had acted inappropriately in any way during this education exercise was a complete misrepresentation of what was a positive experience for everyone.
2 March, 2011
Smoke alarms set
off for caravans
Smoke alarms are now compulsory in caravans, campervans and other portable places where people sleep.
Taking effect from last weekend, Minister for Planning, Tony Kelly, said smoke alarms cost as little as $15 but could save somebody’s life.
He said the Government changed the law in 2006 to make smoke alarms compulsory in all homes where they were not already installed, and this policy had now been extended to moveable dwellings.
“Changes to the Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation will apply to all new and existing moveable dwellings where people sleep, regardless of whether they are registered for road use or not,” Mr Kelly said.
He said the Government would primarily rely on education to encourage moveable dwelling owners to install the smoke alarms, rather than inspections, and there would be no new powers for council or police.
Mr Kelly said under the regulation: owners of caravans and mobile homes would have six months to install a smoke alarm before on-the-spot fines of up to $200 (or up to $550 if the matter proceeds to court) would apply; penalties now apply where people remove or interfere with a smoke alarm already installed in a caravan or mobile home; and dwellings which were not regularly moved but still used for sleeping (such as site vans and caravans in backyards) were covered by the regulation.
Minister for Emergency Services, Steve Whan, said NSW fire fighters had attended more than 692 blazes involving moveable accommodation vehicles over the past 10 years, which resulted in 12 deaths and 72 injuries.
Minister for Disability, Peter Primrose has also announced the NSW Government had committed $2 million to provide free smoke alarms for people who were deaf or hard of hearing.
He said that the scheme would provide financial support to purchase specialised smoke alarms which used flashing lights or vibrating under pillow pads to supplement the standard sound of an alarm.
2 March, 2011
Survey to flush out
irrigator data
The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) has embarked on its annual survey of Murray-Darling Basin irrigators to see how they fared in the past year.
ABARES Deputy Executive Director, Paul Morris said results from previous surveys, conducted annually since 2006-07, had provided important information on irrigators’ financial performance throughout the Basin.
“The survey will provide insights into how irrigators managed financially in 2009-10 and 2010-11 compared to the previous three years, and to see whether their management practices have changed,” Mr Morris said.
“Although many irrigators have had to deal with recent severe flooding, much of the 2009-10 financial year was spent managing drought and associated low water allocations.” Mr Morris said irrigators were encouraged to participate in the survey as the information gathered would help the Government better understand the challenges facing the sector and regional communities.
He said about 900 irrigators were expected to be contacted to participate in the survey across 10 regions in the Basin.
Mr Morris said the survey was particularly important to better inform Government decision makers as they considered future water allocations in the Basin.
“ABARES has drawn on previously collected farm survey data to identify towns that are highly reliant on irrigation expenditure, especially those surrounded by irrigated annual crops such as rice and cotton,” he said.
“The survey will collect information on irrigated agricultural production and the financial situation of irrigators in the 2009-10 and 2010-11 financial years.”
Mr Morris said all information provided by irrigators remained confidential.
He said ABARES would only release the results from the survey as farm averages for a given region or industry.
The survey interviews are conducted on-farm by identified ABARES data collectors.
2 March, 2011
Charter boats on
course for warning
NSW Maritime has warned companies booking charter boats that any vessel used for charter work must have a current survey certificate and be operated by qualified crew.
Chief Executive of NSW Maritime, Steve Dunn said survey requirements demonstrated the vessel had passed safety and seaworthy checks and was suitable for cruises around harbours and waterways.
He said the warning followed an incident on New Year’s Eve.
“Three vessels had been chartered for use on Sydney Harbour and only at the last minute did it become clear that two out of three vessels were not in survey,” Mr Dunn said.
“One vessel operator was issued with an on-the-spot fine and one operator received a formal warning.”
He said NSW Maritime often received reports of vessels conducting informal charters which was like a bus operating without a roadworthy certificate and that illegal charters were not safe, nor insured.
Mr Dunn said the warning was to alert consumers about what to look for when hiring a charter vessel.
“If you’re chartering a boat, it’s perfectly legitimate to ask to see the certificate of survey or the survey plate required to be displayed on the vessel, and to see the qualifications of the vessel Master who will be operating the boat,” he said.
Mr Dunn said NSW Maritime, the State boating regulator, required charter vessels to undergo an annual inspection by NSW Maritime to assess the vessel’s condition, safety equipment and operation.
“A certificate of survey indicates that the vessel has been inspected and found to comply with the standards set out in NSW Maritime legislation,” Mr Dunn said.
Commercial Vessels Association (NSW) Executive Officer, Warwick Fairweather said it was a timely reminder that all vessels carrying more than eight persons had to comply with the Passenger Transport Act.
2 March, 2011
Hazard burns
Forests NSW Central Region will embark on a major hazard-reduction burning program to reduce the effects of bushfires next summer.
The program will be conducted on 4000ha of forests around Wauchope, Kempsey and Kendall.
Hazard reduction burning is undertaken to reduce the fuel hazard in areas subject to wildfire, and also areas close to houses and townships.
The burns would be undertaken with the appropriate fire fighting slip on units and tankers as required, and there would be a fire control room operating while fire fighters are in the field.
Anybody with any questions about the burning program should call Forests NSW on (02) 6586 9734.
Exhibition marks 50 years
NSW State Records will be displaying 50 items from the State archives collection as part of its 50-year celebrations.
The exhibition will showcase the richness and diversity of the State Records holdings, from “founding documents” recording the convicts on the First Fleet to items from the time of the establishment of the Archives Authority in 1961.
The collection will cover a range of eras in the State’s history, including 1788-1820, the founding era of the Colony’s history.
It also looks at 1820-1850, which saw the decline of the convict system, the upsurge of free immigration and the continuing expansion of the Colony; and 1850-1880, which covered the discovery of gold, and significant developments in communications technology.
Jobs book out
Dr Ann Villiers has published the fifth edition of her book How to Write and Talk to Selection Criteria.
Written specifically with the public sector in mind the, book is available online from this PS News link or at most bookstores.
Ship scuttled in April
She date for the scuttling of the former HMAS Adelaide off the Central Coast has been set for April 13.
The Land and Property Management Authority (LPMA) has been working closely with the contractor engaged to prepare the ship, to meet the conditions set by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, and that work is scheduled for completion next month.
The vessel was gifted to NSW by the Australian Government to create an artificial reef and dive site in waters off the Central Coast.
The dive site will be the first attraction of its kind in NSW and a world-class recreational facility, delivering environmental, economic and educational benefits to the region.
Casino review
The Casino Liquor and Gaming Control Authority has invited submissions of a review of the Sydney casino operator.
Every five years, the Authority is required by law to investigate and form an opinion as to whether or not: Star City Pty Limited, the operator of the Sydney casino is suitable to continue to give effect to the licence and the Act, and it is in the public interest that the casino licence should continue in force.
The Authority said submissions, which needed to be received by 15 April, must relate to matters specified in the terms of reference of the investigation, which are available from this PS News link or on (02) 9995 0844.
JP information booklet
NSW State Records has released a new information leaflet on Justices of the Peace.
This latest Archives in Brief provides a brief overview of the major sources held by State Records that relate to Justices of the Peace in NSW.
The leaflet says the early Justices of the Peace were drawn from the colony’s landowners, civil and military officers.
It says the position conferred increased power and status along with great responsibilities.
Healthcare thanks
Director-General of NSW Health, Professor Debra Picone has thanked thousands of hospital and healthcare volunteers who offer their time to help patients and staff in delivering essential public health services across the state, as part of NSW Health Volunteers Appreciation Day.
She said NSW Health greatly valued the relationship fostered with volunteers who gave their time, knowledge and life experience to support health services and make a real difference to the lives of patients, their families and staff.
Professor Picone said over the last financial year 6,200 UHA volunteers worked a combined total of more than 900,000 hours and raised more than $9.2 million dollars.
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