Draft bilateral agreements that provide a single process for environmental approvals in the Australian Capital Territory  and Tasmania have been released for public comment.

Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt said the One-Stop Shop policy is accrediting state and territory planning systems under national environmental law to create a single approval process that satisfies both Commonwealth and state or territory approval requirements.

The draft approval bilateral agreement with Tasmania is open for public comment until 11 September, and the Australian Capital Territory agreement is open for public comment until 12 September 2014.

For further information see www.environment.gov.au/

The  Australian Government will contribute $50,000 to help establish and provide general support for the National Carer Awards. The awards were announced on 17 August.

The National Carer Awards are a powerful way to promote greater community awareness and to celebrate and reward the dedication of carers who are providing support to the aged, and people living with disability, mental illness or a chronic medical condition.

The Awards are a joint initiative of Carers Australia, Life Without Barriers and Families Australia.

The winners of the inaugural National Carer Awards will be announced in November.

Agricultural infrastructure was the focus of a forum in Canberra on Monday August 18 with key stakeholders from across the sector joining the National Farmers' Federation (NFF) and the Australasian Railway Association (ARA) to discuss priorities in the agribusiness supply chain.

NFF President Brent Finlay said the forum was a prime opportunity to discuss the important roles both public and private investment can play in enhancing roads, rails and ports and identifying pathways to relieve the pressure faced by agricultural infrastructure.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development Warren Truss MP addressed the forum along with leaders from across the sector including the Australian Logistics Council, Prime Super, CSIRO and GrainCorp.

The forum is part of the long term plan for the sector to develop a strategic plan for agricultural infrastructure that includes the key components of road, rail ports and processing facilities.

A copy of Minister Truss' address to the forum is available here.

The Australian Centre of Excellence for Local Government at UTS is hosting a local government research symposium in Darwin on Friday 5 September.

The symposium will showcase current local government research and practice related to key policy issues for the Northern Territory, and will facilitate discussion about projects that have implications for local government policy. A free workshop in Darwin on Thursday 4 September is aimed at local government employees interested in conducting research within the sector, and will be led by experienced researchers and staff of the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The ACELG Research Symposium is a partnership with the Local Government Association of the Northern Territory, and the Northern Institute, Charles Darwin University.

Places are limited. The registration fee of $50 includes catering and associated resources for the day. For more information contact Jessie Lymn 02 9514 8223 or register online here.

Melbourne has taken out the title of the world's most liveable city for the fourth year running.

Adelaide came in at number five, Sydney number seven and Perth was ranked nine.

"Let's make all parts of our cities liveable," says Mayor Glenn Docherty National Growth Areas Alliance (NGAA) Chair following the announcement of this year's Worlds' Most Liveable Cities. With Melbourne winning top spot once again and Adelaide, Sydney and Perth all in the top ten, we need to bear in mind that not all areas of our cities are equally liveable."

"The population in these growth areas is growing at double the national rate, and residents face long commutes and lack of infrastructure. We need more investment in the outer suburbs to realise their potential. When they have the same opportunities as other residents, then we can pat ourselves on the back." Mayor Docherty said.

"We still have a way to go before we can claim liveability for all parts of our cities. We call on Federal and State Governments to invest to make our cities fairer." Mayor Docherty said.

Changing Places Toilets were introduced in the United Kingdom in 2006 to improve access for those with a disability and their carers.

The concept will be introduced to Australia at a conference in Melbourne on September 11 in partnership with the Planning Institute of Australia, City of Melbourne and Municipal Association of Victoria.

Each Changing Places toilet provides: a height adjustable adult-sized changing bench, a tracking hoist system, enough space and a safe and clean environment.  The UK now has over 600 Changing Places toilets.  

The event is targeted at architects, planners, developers, designers, access consultants, building surveyors, facility mangers, policy makers, metroaccess officers and anyone with an interest in removing barriers to social inclusion for people with a profound disability.

Work for the Dole Coordinators have been announced in 18 selected areas across Australia.

From 1 July 2014, the Government has rolled out new Work for the Dole arrangements for job seekers aged 18 to 30 years in targeted regions across Australia. Over 1600 young job seekers have now commenced in Work for the Dole activities.

The Work for the Dole Coordinators will serve as the first point of contact for organisations wishing to be involved in Work for the Dole, and offer places to eligible young job seekers.

As part of the 2014-15 Budget, the Government provided $14.9 million for Work for the Dole, including funding for Work for the Dole Coordinators. The reinvigorated Work for the Dole programme will move to a national scheme from 1 July 2015.

Further information on the new Work for the Dole Coordinators is available here.

The National Heavy Vehicle Regulator has issued its first safety and compliance alert to industry following early observations of investigators on a recent fatal fuel tanker crash in country Victoria.

NHVR Chief Executive, Sal Petroccitto, released the alert ahead of the completion of the investigation saying it offered important and practical advice that operators could act on promptly.

"Our mission is to Facilitate, Innovate, Regulate and issuing timely safety advice to industry is one of the key tasks of a national Regulator," said Mr Petroccitto.

"Our advice to operators who are working with dog trailers, pig trailers and road train dollies is that they should read this safety advice closely and should consider actions they can take to assure the integrity of their trailer or dolly coupling systems, with a particular focus on the tow eye fitment.

The NHVR Safety and Compliance Alert 1/2014, issued 19 August 2014, is available here.

The fourth Quarterly Report to the COAG Disability Reform Council on the National Disability Insurance Scheme is now available online, with the four NDIS trial sites up and running.

Key points from the Report include:

• The average time taken to determine a potential NDIS participant’s eligibility has been reduced from 29.7 days in the first six months of the Scheme to 13.3 days in the second six months.
• The average annualised cost of individual packages has risen from $32,200 to $34,600.
• The average length of time from application to commencement of services was 94 days (down from 101 days).
• As at 30 June 2014, there were 7,316 participants with approved plans, which is 78% of the bilateral targets.
• Participant satisfaction levels are very high, which is a great credit to the hardworking staff of the Agency.

It is to be expected that there would be important lessons to be learned following the first year of the operation of the trial sites. This is why the Productivity Commission recommended that the Scheme be rolled out in this manner.

The Board of the Agency and all governments remain committed to monitoring trends within the Scheme closely.

Australians living outside capital cities are at significantly greater risk (26%) of the nation's biggest killer, cardiovascular disease (CVD), according to national data analysed and mapped by the National Heart Foundation of Australia.

The Heart Foundation has released the first of its kind geographical snapshot of CVD (including heart disease and stroke) which shows one in four people living in regional and rural areas are suffering from the disease compared to one in five in metropolitan areas.

 The National CVD Prevalence map also shows:

• Of all the states and territories (noting there is insufficient data to map rates in NT), TAS has the highest rate of CVD in Australia at more than one in four.
• Of all the regions, the Southern Highlands/Shoalhaven region in NSW tops the nation with more than one in three adults suffering CVD.
• WA has the biggest gap in the prevalence of CVD between the city and the bush - one in six and one in four respectively.
• Among the other regions with high rates of CVD are Ballarat in VIC, Weston Creek in the ACT, the Central Coast in NSW and the Hunter Valley in NSW, where around one in three people have CVD.
• Cairns in QLD and the South East region of SA top their states for CVD prevalence with more than one in four people suffering the disease.

Heart Foundation's National CEO Mary Barry said she hopes the data will inform Government policy and health programs into the future.

Read the full media release and summary data