A Discussion Paper released by the federal Department of Communications outlines possible delivery models and key elements of a programme designed to improve mobile phone services throughout remote, regional and outer-metropolitan Australia. 

The Paper, released on 16 December 2013, reflects a Coalition election promise to address mobile phone service through the allocation of $100 million to the expansion of the current mobile network and the removal of black spots.  The Coalition has also pledged to maximise the utility of National Broadband Network infrastructure by encouraging co-location of mobile phone base stations.

The Mobile Coverage Programme has two components, with $80 million to be provided under the Mobile Network Expansion Project to improve mobile phone coverage along major transport routes in small communities and locations prone to experiencing natural disasters and $20 million to be provided under the Mobile Black Spots Project to address unique mobile coverage problems.

The Hon Paul Fletcher MP, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Communications said that the Discussion Paper seeks comment from those with an interest in the Programme.

“Inadequate mobile phone coverage is a significant concern for regional communities. Lives can literally depend on accessing mobile phone networks in emergencies, so expanding mobile phone coverage has clear benefits to public safety - as well as to the productive capacity of regional communities."

 “The Government is keen to hear from mobile phone carriers and other industry participants, and from other levels of government - but also from residents and community leaders in outer metropolitan, regional and remote communities around Australia.

“We want to drive this money as far as we possibly can, which means maximising competitive tension between bidders.  We also want to make sure this programme not only boosts mobile coverage but also stimulates competition in regional and remote mobile communications,” Mr Fletcher said.

The Department of Communications is keen to consult with councils, particularly on the $20 million component of the Programme and will be consulting with state and territory associations in the coming week on specific areas in need of better mobile coverage in regional and remote areas.

Councils are encouraged to contact their state or territory association if they are interested in nominating their community as a priority area for the Programme.  The Department of Communications is interested in hearing from councils up to the submission deadline of 28 February.  Enquiries can be directed to Philip Smurthwaite, Manager,  Regional Telecommunications Policy, Regional Communications Branch  on 02 6271 1485 or Philip.Smurthwaite@communications.gov.au.  Submissions can be lodged at mobilecoverage@communications.gov.au until 28 February.

The Australian Children's Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA) is an independent statutory authority that educates and informs the wider community about the importance of improving outcomes in children’s education and care.

It works with all regulatory authorities to ensure the consistent application of the Education and Care Services National Law across all states and territories.

ACECQA guides the implementation of the National Quality Framework (NQF) for Early Childhood Education and Care nationally and ensures consistency in delivery. 

Its role, as the national authority, is to drive continual improvement and consistent levels of quality in education and care services across the country with the aim to achieve better, more reliable outcomes for parents, children, the sector and the nation. 

This includes the Excellent rating which is awarded by ACECQA and is the highest rating an education and care service can achieve. Only services that have received an overall rating of Exceeding National Quality Standard through the NQF assessment and rating process can apply for an Excellent rating.

ACECQA Board Chair Rachel Hunter said the awarding of the Excellent rating indicates that services are embracing continuous quality improvement and encourages more applications throughout 2014.

"We are extremely pleased to have awarded the Excellent rating to five services nationally to date, which have all demonstrated outstanding commitment to improving quality outcomes for children in Australia," Ms Hunter said.

"This includes a long day care service run by Campbelltown City Council - Amarina Early Learning Centre at Airds in New South Wales.

"This is the first council-operated service in Australia to be awarded the Excellent rating.

"The Excellent rating recognises providers who are champions of quality improvement and are really raising the bar on what quality education and care looks like for Australian children.

"This is another important milestone for ACECQA’s NQF journey and is a great outcome for children, and we really do encourage more providers to apply.”

The purpose of the Excellent rating is to:

• celebrate excellence in the delivery of education and care
• engage and involve families and the community in the profession’s discussion about quality and what is important in education and care
• learn from and be inspired by examples of highly accomplished practice, innovation and creativity in education and care
• promote and reinforce the value of education and care and the people who work in the sector
• recognise providers and educators who are champions of quality improvement.

To apply for the Excellent rating, providers must have received an overall rating of Exceeding through the assessment and rating process. Eligible providers should complete the application form on the ACECQA website and demonstrate how their service meets the critieria.

The application form and information about the Excellent rating can be found here.

A Taste of Harmony 2014 celebrates diversity in Australian workplaces by encouraging colleagues to share food and stories from different cultural backgrounds.  A Taste of Harmony takes place during March when thousands of workplaces across Australia will host a lunch, morning or afternoon tea, inviting colleagues to contribute a dish that represents their own cultural heritage.

There’s no fee or fundraising involved and it’s quick and easy to register your council team online.  Simply go to www.tasteofharmony.org.au  to sign up, then choose a date within the week of 17-23 March to hold your event, and ask workmates to bring a dish to share.

You can brighten up your event by downloading a range of promotional tools and decorations such as posters, placemats, trivia questions, dish cards and a world map at www.tasteofharmony.org.au/promotional-tools

A Taste of Harmony is a fun, free and delicious way to celebrate our cultural diversity at work, so join in the celebrations!

The Northern Territory's super shires, created by the previous Labor government, are being replaced by a new local government structure.

The eight super shires will become regional councils, overseeing local authorities in each of the Territory's 63 communities.

Legislation to make the change passed through the parliament in October 2013, with a further urgent amendment made last December.

Some of the shires are already implementing changes.

On its website, the Central Desert Shire is now the Central Desert Regional Council, but a notice on the site says community members want to keep their existing logo because they are proud of their achievements over the past five years.

The government has labelled the changes as a new era of local governance in the bush.

Tenterfield Shire Council has had its first joint workshop with its neighbouring Queensland local government area, Southern Downs Regional Council, after signing a Memorandum of Understanding in October.

The two Councils gathered on Monday to discuss a range of cross-border issues.

General Manager of Tenterfield Shire Council, Lotta Jackson, says most councillors attended the strategic planning exercise.

She says the two Councils have already found a way to save ratepayers some funds.

"Well, we just had a resolution on one [issue] which we're very proud of and that is our Jennings village residents are able to utilise the Wallangarra Waste Transfer Station at a reduced cost," she said.

"That's something we have achieved by working together, by our staff working together and coming to a resolution on that."

Lotta Jackson says there's no shortage of cross-border issues needing to be addressed.

"Road maintenance, waste management, information sharing, tourists, joint lobbying, emergency management and cross-border resourcing so we're very excited by this as a council," she said.

"It's going to be great to have that alliance and strength because our border to Queensland is extensive."

A Local Government NSW survey shows the amount of cost-shifting - totalling  $500million annually statewide - has increased dramatically in recent years and could be pushing  councils to the brink of financial ruin.

"In absolute terms, cost-shifting is estimated to have increased significantly from $380million in 2005-06 to $499million in 2010-11," the report said.

Responsibilities transferred from state and federal governments cost Newcastle and Lake Macquarie councils $30million in a year.

Lake Macquarie recorded the third-highest bill for transferred services outside the metropolitan area, ranking behind Wollongong and Wyong.

On a percentage basis, though, Maitland was hit the hardest - spending 12.65per cent of its revenue on services once the realm of state and federal governments.

Maitland  council is seeking a $115 annual rate rise each year for the next seven years to fill a budget black hole.

Cr Arch Humphery said the $7.5million cost-shifting bill at Maitland each year made a huge difference to the council’s financial position.

"It's not only frustrating, it’s unfair [and] it's unfortunate because there’s nothing you can do about it," he said.

A spokesman for NSW Local Government Minister Don Page said the state government and council representatives struck an agreement in April.

That agreement included a clause on cost-shifting, he said, which stated ‘‘any consequential financial impact is to be considered within the context of the capacity of local government”.

"The agreement is clear in its intention to address cost-shifting, not only with the specific clause on cost-shifting, but also in the range of mechanisms available for consultation and collaboration between state and local governments," the spokesman said.

Proposals for the 2014 Australian Centre of Excellence in Local Government (ACELG) Research Partnership Scheme are now invited, and should be submitted to ACELG by Friday, 14 February 2014.  The Scheme is designed to support genuine research partnerships in which ACELG is an active contributor at each stage of the process, from the finalisation of project briefs and selection of researchers, through to the completion and publishing of research reports.

Current and previous partnership scheme projects are listed here.

For more information, contact Jessie Lymn: jessie.lymn@acelg.org.au

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has released an information paper, outlining its plans to measure the economic contribution of cultural and creative activity in Australia.

In Australia and internationally, there is strong public interest in the role of these activities in the economy, as highlighted by Australia's National Cultural Policy Creative Australia.

Statistics have been published for these activities in other countries such as Canada, Finland, the United Kingdom and Spain.

The ABS’ plans were developed in consultation with key stakeholders from government, academia and industry. The statistics for Australia are scheduled to be published in February 2014.

A new heatwave service to forecast the onset of extreme heat events is being piloted by the Bureau of Meteorology.

Assistant Director for Weather Services at the Bureau, Alasdair Hainsworth, said the new service complemented the Bureau's existing maximum and minimum seven-day temperature forecasts across the country.

"The heatwave service provides a measure of the build-up of excess heat and will provide a more advanced indicator than temperature alone in anticipating the impact of heat stress," Mr Hainsworth said.

"The pilot service uses a heatwave intensity index that assesses the build-up of heat over a period of time, taking into account the long-term climate of a location and the maximum and minimum temperatures leading up to a heatwave event."

He said severe and extreme heatwaves posed significant risks to human health and safety, in particular to the elderly who were more vulnerable to the effects of heat stress.

"When these average conditions are exceeded over a period of time by continuously high night-time and day-time temperatures, heat stress becomes a critical factor in human survival and infrastructure resilience," Mr Hainsworth said.

"The new pilot service will map levels of intensity for each heatwave event, indicating areas of 'severe' and 'extreme' heatwave at the upper end of the scale."

He expected significant interest from stakeholders across the emergency services and public health sectors, as well as the energy, transport, horticulture and livestock industries.

"This new service has the potential to not only reduce the human impact of heatwaves, but also mitigate their economic impact by better informing stakeholders and allowing them to plan ahead," he said.

A recent report by PriceWaterhouseCoopers noted that heatwaves had taken more lives in Australia than any other natural hazard since European settlement.

Armidale Dumaresq Council and the University of New England have joined forces once again to stamp the educational passport of two undergraduate country students, offering scholarships to study Engineering or Urban and Regional Planning.

While the Armidale Dumaresq Council has been offering scholarships at UNE for more than 10 years, this is the first time an engineering scholarship will be available.

Two scholarships valued at $6000 per annum are available under the program, one for a student commencing their Bachelor of Urban and Regional Planning at UNE, and another to support a UNE student starting their Bachelor of Engineering Technology.

Selection criteria for the competitive scholarships will consider the student’s record of academic achievement and involvement in leadership positions at school or in the community.

Mayor of Armidale Dumaresq Council, Laurie Bishop, says the 2014 scholarships continue a long tradition of co-operation between the Council and UNE and this year will focus on boosting the ranks of Engineers and Planners in regional areas.

"Councils like Armidale have always struggled to attract and retain these highly skilled professionals, so rather than complain about how hard that is, this scholarship program is a direct investment in our future workforce. Recipients are also given the opportunity to undertake work experience at the Armidale Dumaresq Council."