 | |  The Australian Government is seeking applications under round one of the Green Army Programme. The Programme provides opportunities for young Australians aged 17-24 years to gain training and experience in environmental and heritage conservation fields and explore careers in conservation management, while participating in projects that generate real benefits for the environment. Green Army teams of up to 10 participants (including on supervisor) will be deployed across the country under the Programme to help communities deliver local conservation outcomes. Projects will be guided by local community needs and are envisaged to generate real benefits for the environment locally. Participants will be paid an allowance and undertake accredited training. Launching the call for applications for round one of the Programme on the banks of the Yarra River on 9 April, Minister for the Environment, the Hon. Greg Hunt, said the Government is looking for projects that will make a real difference to the environment and local communities. "Councils, landcare and conservation groups are encouraged to act as Project Sponsors and submit new proposals that will improve and conserve the environment in their local communities," Minister Hunt said. "Green Army projects will restore and protect native habitat, weed invasive species, plant vegetation, clean up creeks and rivers, prevent erosion and conserve our cultural heritage places." Applications for projects under round one of the Programme are now open and will close on 9 May 2014. To be eligible for the first round of the Programme, projects must be ready to commence between 1 July 2014 and 30 June 2015. Project guidelines for new projects under the Green Army Programme, as well as sample application forms and FAQs to help groups plan their projects are now available from the Department of Environment website. | | | | |  Australia's transport ministers will hold a forum on regional and remote transport infrastructure and services in Alice Springs on 22 May, the day before their next Ministerial Council meeting. ALGA's President, Mayor Felicity-ann Lewis and senior ALGA staff will also attend the invitation-only event. The Forum, initiated by the Northern Territory Government, will be an opportunity for ministers to focus on the special transport challenges faced in remote and regional areas, including geography, the vast distances and the low population densities. It will also look at the impact these factors have on investment and maintenance costs and, in turn, the extent and reliability of transport links. Current national transport and infrastructure reforms are focusing on issues such as direct charging, private sector funding, investment prioritisation and regulation reform. The Forum would help to ensure that the special circumstances of regional and remote areas are also addressed. ALGA's own Local Roads and Transport Congress, held annually in a regional centre (the 2013 Congress was held in Alice Springs and the 2014 Congress will be held in Tamworth), has a regional focus and ALGA will draw on the outcomes of previous Congresses, as well as consultations with state associations, to inform its input to the Forum. | | | | |  A new report by the Victorian Government on Emergency Risks in Victoria, has for the first time outlined, assessed and published Victoria's major emergency threats. The emergency risks in the assessment include bushfire, earthquake, flood, heatwave, hazardous materials emergency, storm, transport infrastructure emergency and marine pollution. "The analysis tells us that our highest priority emergency risks are bushfire, flood and pandemic influenza. Following these are a group of risks that are more technological in origin, such as transport infrastructure emergency, mine failure (specifically coal mines supporting electricity generation), marine pollution and electricity supply disruption", according to the report. "Then come several risks that arise from natural processes, such as heatwave, insect pest incursions and emergency animal disease." The report provides information to assist private enterprise and governments to better understand and plan for emergencies in Victoria. It also sets out what is being done about those risks, and sources of further information, in order to better support strategic priority-setting. The risk assessment report is published under a national initiative known as the National Strategy for Disaster Resilience, which has been adopted by all Australian states, territories and the Commonwealth. The full report can be accessed here. | | |
| |  Easter is an important religious event and is the time when many people take the opportunity to travel and visit family and friends. Tragically, it is also one of the most deadly times on our roads. Road safety is an issue for everyone in the community and I urge everyone driving this Easter to exercise care and patience. The message of shared responsibility and mutual respect on the roads is particularly important over the Easter break. With 1,500 Australians losing their lives on our roads each year and nearly 30,000 experiencing serious injuries, speeding, driving while fatigued, or under the influence of alcohol or drugs, is simply not worth the risk. Take time to plan your trip in advance and allow plenty of time to reach your destination, building rest stops into the journey to prevent against fatigue and speeding. We know fatigue is a major factor in crashes. Ensuring adequate rest prior to the journey and recognising the signs of fatigue - yawning, loss of concentration and heavy eyes - will help avoid fatigue-related accidents. Any reduction in road fatalities is worthwhile and we each have a personal role we can play to make our roads safer. Many jurisdictions reinforce the road safety message in the lead up to Easter. In NSW, Fatality Free Friday is an initiative being promoted over a two month period, including the Easter break. The initiative recognises that while law enforcement and road rules form the backbone of safe roads, there is no substitute for driver vigilance and safe behaviour. Communities and holiday makers are also advised to keep up to date with river forecasts during the Easter period, as downstream flows will be influenced by the widespread rain which has fallen in many parts of the country. And please remember over Easter to go easy on the alcohol and chocolates, and whether you are travelling or not, make sure you spend some time relaxing in the parks, pools and beaches - either in your own community or in the one you are visiting. Wishing you a happy and safe Easter. Mayor, Dr Felicity-ann Lewis
ALGA President | | |
| | Under the Community Development Grants Programme, the Federal Government will fund identified projects that will construct and upgrade local community and sports infrastructure across Australia. The programme was initially announced by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development, the Hon Warren Truss MP and the Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development, the Hon Jamie Briggs MP, on 4 December 2013. The programme will fund projects including the Government's 2013 election commitments and Government selected uncontracted projects from the Regional Development Australia Fund and Community Infrastructure Grant Program. A total of $342 million is available under the Community Development Grants Programme for single year or multiple years projects. Funding for projects range in value from $2,000 to $13 million. Funding will commence in the 2013-14 financial year and will cease on 30 June 2017. Multi-year projects must be scheduled for completion and final payment made on or before 30 June 2017. Further information on the programme, projects identified, and guidelines is available from the Department of Infrastructure and Regional Australia website. The Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development will advise proponents how projects can be progressed. | | | | | May 12-18 marks the 25th anniversary of National Volunteer Week (NVW). This year, Volunteering Australia, in conjunction with the State/Territory peak bodies and their partners at Beyond Bank Australia, are inviting all communities to celebrate the power of volunteers and volunteering in Australia. Celebrate the power of volunteering, is the theme for NVW2014 and has been adopted by organisations across the country as they plan for events to collectively acknowledge and thank more than six million volunteers. Together, these volunteers form a formidable workforce powering many essential community, environmental, sporting, health, welfare, emergency services, education and cultural services and supports. "The week will be a celebration of individual volunteers, volunteer managers and the leaders who help drive and direct the power of volunteering to serve volunteering organisations and our communities,” said Brett Williamson, CEO, Volunteering Australia. “We could not imagine life in Australia without them or their contributions, both large and small, and we look forward to celebrating volunteering, which is part of the DNA of our nation." For more information on NVW2014 and to access resources such as commemorative lapel pins and certificates of appreciation, visit the Volunteering Australia website and you can keep in touch with all the news and events via Twitter and Facebook using #NVW2014. | | | | | The Australian Award for Urban Design presents a major opportunity to garner recognition for your outstanding urban design projects. The Australia Award for Urban Design, first awarded in 1996, was established to recognise recent urban design projects of high quality in Australia and to encourage cities, towns and emerging settlements of all sizes to strive for similar improvement. The intention of the Awards for Planning Excellence is to emphasise the important role of the planning profession, and to stimulate public awareness of good planning. The objective of the Awards Program is to: - Foster a high standard of planning through the recognition of planning excellence in every state and territory,
- Publicly acclaim those in each state and territory whose contribution to planning is outstanding; and
- Identify nominations for the National Awards for Planning Excellence.
- Present the winners with the Awards at the annual PIA National Congress.
Further information on the Awards is available at http://www.planning.org.au/awards. Entries close on May 28. | | | | | The roofs, walls and facades of buildings across Melbourne will be turning all shades of green with the launch of the Australian State of Victoria's first Growing Green Guide. The guide gives building owners, planners, designers, developers and home-owners vital information so they can integrate green infrastructure on their buildings and help manage the impact of a changing climate on the way we live in the city. It is an example of adaptation at a local level, enabling local communities to take action to be more climate resilient. The Growing Green Guide was the result of three years' collaborative work between the Cities of Melbourne, Port Phillip, Yarra and Stonnington, the University of Melbourne, the Victorian Government and industry experts. It is designed to assist existing and new buildings to use their roofs, walls and facades to work together with the environment. Green walls, facades and rooftops not only have a visual attractiveness, but help cool the city and retain stormwater which can help reduce flash flooding. The guide was made possible through AU$250,000 (US$231,500) in funding from the Victorian Government's Victorian Adaptation and Sustainability Partnership programme. The guide contains innovative ideas for cooling buildings and the environment, as well as some case studies. | | | | | Moree Plains Shire Council has become the first local government in Australia to collect one million drums through rural recycling program, drumMUSTER. Farmers, council workers and community volunteers were recognised as part of the celebration of the council's milestone. The program first started in Moree in February 2000, collecting drums that had been used by the local aerial spraying operators. The council now runs eight sites across the region for farmers and other chemical users to dispose of their empty agvet chemical containers. Another three are run by private organisations. AgStewardship Australia CEO Stephen Richards presented council's drumMUSTER Coordinator Trevor Annis-Brown, with an award for his 10 years of service with the program at the Moree Show. Since 1999, drumMUSTER has collected more than 23 million drums nation-wide, which represents more than 28,000 tonnes of waste avoiding landfill. Once collected, the waste is recycled into new and useful things again like plastic cable covers, wheelie bins and pipes. For more information visit the drumMUSTER website. | | | | | The Australian Government has provided $170 million for the continuation of 150 mental health programs, to ensure continuity for mental health services, suicide prevention and prevention programmes, while the National Mental Health Commission undertakes its review of all existing services. The Minister for Health, the Hon. Peter Dutton, said future decisions on how the Australian Government should fund mental health programmes will be informed by the Commission's review. Mr Dutton said the review was important to ensure that services are being properly targeted and that funding is going to programmes that have proven most effective. The funding would enable the projects to continue through 2014-15. Early notification of the continuation of funding will enable service providers to effectively plan service delivery through the 2014-15 financial year, he said. Information on the review can be found on the National Mental Health Commission website. | | | | | Sheffield on Tasmania's north-west coast has been awarded the 2014 Keep Australia Beautiful, Australian Tidy Towns Award. The announcement was made at the national awards ceremony hosted by the 2013 overall winner, Victor Harbor in South Australia. The last time a Tasmanian town has taken home the title of Australia's Tidiest Town was in 2007. Sheffield also won the Resource Recovery & Waste Management award, and won two highly commended awards in Environmental Innovation and Protection, and Energy Innovation. You can read more on Sheffield in the judge report here. Category award winners were: Community Action and Partnerships - Nundle, NSW; Dame Phyllis Frost Litter Prevention - Walpole, WA; Resource Recovery and Waste Management - Sheffield, TAS; Environmental Innovation and Protection - Walpole, WA; Water Conservation - Kingston SE, SA; Energy Innovation - Wangaratta, VIC; Heritage and Culture - Titjikala, NT; Young Legends - Mundubbera, QLD You can read all the judge reports and media releases on the Keep Australian Beautiful website. | | | | | Sydney Train customers in Sydney's CBD and surrounding areas can now enjoy uninterrupted mobile phone coverage in the CBD, with reception live in the city's underground tunnels. Mobile coverage for the T4 Eastern Suburbs Line has been switched on, completing the roll out of 18,000 metres of cabling in Sydney's underground. Optus first approached the then State Rail Authority in 1996 to install infrastructure to provide mobile phone coverage in the Sydney CBD underground rail network. The phone coverage project was undertaken with lead carrier Optus, along with Telstra and Vodafone. Last year coverage went live in the City Circle and tunnels north to Chatswood. Sydney Trains has launched new line specific Twitter handles to ensure customers receive all the latest travel information about services on their train line, with service information updates made regularly in real time. | | | | | Austrade has been asked to refocus uncommitted tourism grants funding to a new programme that will deliver demand-driver infrastructure for the tourism industry. States and territories will be responsible for implementing tourism demand-driver infrastructure projects that best meet their needs. Austrade has released a discussion paper, and would like to gain an industry-wide perspective of tourism infrastructure priorities that could be served by the Demand-Driver Infrastructure programme. It is also seeking feedback to inform the development of a definition of tourism demand-driver infrastructure. Funded projects should create and encourage visitation to a destination. As a starting point, Austrade has grouped infrastructure projects into four categories: - Environmental - the development or enhancement of natural assets such as protected and recreational areas, public spaces such as beaches and parks and walking trails;
- Built - such as mixed-used facilities, convention facilities, cultural institutions, entertainment and sporting facilities, city/town precincts and tourist attractions;
- Transport - such as roads, rail networks, ports and airports; and
- Enabling - such as tourism networks, plans and feasibility studies, and programmes to improve industry capability and capacity (eg business planning, workforce development, cultural awareness, digital product development).
Further information can be found here. Feedback can be provided to TourismDDI@austrade.gov.au before 30 April 2014. | | | | | NSW Minister for Primary Industries, Katrina Hodgkinson, has announced the appointment of three additional Rural Support Workers to assist drought-affected communities. This is to ensure farming families receive vital on-ground support during times of hardship, including the expansion of a $14.6 million package of emergency assistance measures to 23 local government areas and the far-western Unincorporated Area. The appointment of these Rural Support Workers will support communities dealing with the exacerbated drought conditions in NSW. The Rural Support Workers will help farming families, farming businesses and communities to develop skills, provide personal support to build resilience, as well as connect farmers with Local Land Service offers which can deliver on-farm support and advisory services. Rural Support Workers are available across NSW in Broken Hill, Hay, Albury, Orange, Dubbo, Coonabarabran, Goulburn, Tamworth and Grafton. More information is available here. | | | | | A report released on the economic benefits of the 150 Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations reveals they provide a range of quality employment and education opportunities for Aboriginal people and boost local economies. The report provides evidence that Aboriginal health services run by Aboriginal people: - Provide jobs for more than 3,200 Aboriginal people (over 5,000 in total) and are the main source of Aboriginal employment in many communities;
- Boost education levels of Aboriginal people with onsite training and genuine career paths;
- Provide wages and salaries higher than the average Aboriginal Australian income; and
- Provide the preferred method of primary health delivery to the majority of Aboriginal people in the areas they service with demand growing at more than 6% a year.
The document can be downloaded here. | | |
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