Voting will start in the Tasmanian local government elections on Tuesday 14 October and be open for a two week period.

The elections cover all 29 Tasmanian councils and are the first to take place since a number of electoral reforms were introduced. The changes to the Local Government Act in 2013 prevented dual representation in both the Tasmanian Parliament and local government, and also saw the introduction of all-in, all-out local government elections every four years, with four-year terms for mayors and deputy mayors.

The last local government elections were held in 2011. Since then 11 Tasmanian councils have reduced councillor numbers. These reductions will be implemented as part of this month's elections.

Counting of votes and the announcement of results will follow the close of polls on 28 October.

For more information visit the Tasmanian Electoral Commission website.

The 2014 council elections in South Australia have attracted a record 1,334 candidates including 72 positions elected unopposed and a record number of 382 women standing for council. The number of mayors and councillors returned unopposed was the lowest on record resulting in 1,261 candidates vying for 629 positions.

Voting material will be mailed out to electors between the 20 and 24 of October, with voting to close at 5pm on Friday 7 November.

Counting of votes will start the following day, and the declaration of results will follow at the end of each election count.

For more information visit the Electoral Commission of South Australia website.

One of the first Green Army projects in Victoria is underway with young people working on a range of environmental activities at the iconic Dandenong Ranges.

Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt visited the project site at Belgrave this week to launch the local Green Army project with Federal Member for La Trobe, Jason Wood MP.

The Green Army team will focus on land works in the southern and eastern areas surrounding the Puffing Billy Corridor to improve the conservation values of the Dandenong Ranges.

"The team will undertake revegetation activities and weed management including control of the invasive Wandering Trad. The project will also improve trail connectivity in the parks, bushland reserve and trackside properties of the historic Puffing Billy Railway," Mr Wood said.

The Programme encourages practical, grassroots action to support local environment and heritage conservation projects across Australia, providing training to 15,000 young Australians by 2018.

Further details on the programme are available at the Green Army website.

Australians downloaded nearly one million terabytes - or one exabyte - of data via broadband in the three months to June this year, according to a report released on Tuesday 7 October by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

"Overall, there was a 16 per cent increase on broadband downloads in the three months to December last year," said Lesley Martin from the ABS, "but if you look solely at mobile handsets, then downloads jumped by 40 per cent."

"Our total download volume for the three months was 996,160 terabytes via broadband, and 38,734 terabytes via mobile handset."

"Exactly five years ago, for the three months ended June 2009, we were just about to hit 100,000 terabytes of downloads, so today's result makes a tenfold increase in just five years."

"The increase reflects the dominance of broadband, Australia's continuing appetite for the internet and particularly the swing towards higher download speeds," said Ms Martin.

The survey also found that two-thirds of broadband subscribers had download speeds of eight Mbps or greater, and that mobile wireless is the most prevalent internet technology in Australia, accounting for half of all connections.

Further information is available in Internet Activity, Australia, June 2014 (cat. no. 8153.0) available for free download from http://www.abs.gov.au/.

 

Australian infrastructure planners should look to UK 'City Deals' as a vehicle for lifting economic productivity, according to new research released on Wednesday 8 October by the Property Council of Australia.

UK City Deals are a formal agreement between the UK central government and a region aimed at boosting economic growth and productivity through a shared infrastructure deal.

The Introducing UK City Deals report prepared by KPMG for the Property Council outlines the benefits of this approach for Australian policy makers.

"Under UK City Deals, infrastructure needs are assessed and funded region-by-region, leveraging local expertise and other funding mechanisms, with clear rewards for success.

"Under the UK model, infrastructure funding is directly linked to economic growth. To be successful, projects must deliver the maximum economic bang for the taxpayer buck.

"A City Deal assigns funds by region or metropolitan area and relies on local expertise and creativity to maximise productivity outcomes." KPMG provided advice to all levels of government in the UK to implement the City Deal policy.

Communities can now apply for grants through the $50 million, 20 Million Trees program.

The funding aims to re-establish Australia's green corridors and urban forests, as part of the National Landcare Program.

20 Million Trees projects can be undertaken in urban and regional areas, on public and private land.

Communities, groups and individuals can apply for grants of between $20,000 and $100,000.

Applications are open until 30 October 2014.

Project guidelines and more information is available here.

As well as the grants, the Australian Government will also be running a tender process for service providers to undertake large-scale tree plantings. More details on the National Service Provider process will be available over the coming months.

Monday 13 October is the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction.

The International Day for Disaster Reduction started in 1989 with the approval of the United Nations General Assembly. The UN General Assembly sees the day as a way to promote a global culture of disaster reduction, including disaster prevention, mitigation and preparedness.

The day promotes how people and communities are reducing their risk to disasters and raising awareness about the importance of disaster risk reduction. Each year the day is themed. For 2014 the theme is Resilience is for Life: Older Persons and Disasters.

In Canberra, the Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC is hosting a forum featuring a panel of speakers who will explore Australia's contribution to natural disaster risk reduction at home and in our region.

The forum will draw on the perspectives of researchers, academia, government and NGOs and is jointly hosted by the Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, the Australian National University, the Attorney-General's Department and the Australian Red Cross.

The forum will be held from 5.30 to 7.30pm at University House, Australian National University.

A partnership between the Shire of Augusta Margaret River and the Australian Red Cross has taken out the top honour in this year's Resilient Australia Awards, Western Australian judging.

Now in their 15th year, the awards recognise innovative projects and campaigns that make communities more resilient when facing emergencies and natural disasters such as bushfires, floods and destructive storms.

Commonwealth Minister for Justice Michael Keenan and WA Emergency Services Minister Joe Francis announced the WA award winners in each of the three categories; Not for Profit, Local Government and State Government on Wednesday 8 October.

Mr Francis said the overall state winner, the Augusta Margaret River/Red Cross 'Get Ready' project, involved a successful campaign encouraging residents to adopt a 'shared responsibility' approach to emergency preparedness.

Winner of the State Government category was 'Bushfire Patrol', a bushfire education program devised by the Department of Fire and Emergency Services and the WA Education Department.

The winners of each category are now in the running for national awards to be announced by Minister Keenan on November 24, 2014.

More than 400 activities will be held around Australia as part of Anti-Poverty Week 2014. About 1,000 organisations and more than 20,000 people will participate in events from 12 - 18 October. 

Activities during the Week will include launches, forums, workshops, awards, exhibitions, fund-raisers, publications, presentations, addresses, festivals and many other activities focussing on different aspects of poverty and hardship at home and abroad.

Key themes include links between poverty and education, health, work, finance, housing, food and utilities. Other issues include Indigenous poverty, homeless people, poverty and children, poverty and older people, poverty and people with disabilities, rural poverty and many others.

Participants include major national organisations, educational institutions, welfare agencies, community groups, businesses, unions, government departments and local councils around Australia.

For more information and to find an event near you visit http://www.antipovertyweek.org.au

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Heart Foundation Tick program, and ahead of the roll out of the Health Star Rating system the Heart Foundation has recently begun reviewing its pioneering public health initiative.

The Heart Foundation's National CEO Mary Barry said it is now 25 years since the Tick was first launched and we are reviewing how far we've come and what we have achieved.

"In 1989, when the Tick program began, there was no information available to consumers about the contents of products. There wasn't even a nutrition information panel on the back of the packet.  The Heart Foundation ensured that all products carrying the Tick also carried a nutrition information panel.

Ms Barry said the Heart Foundation has played a major role in the development of the new Health Star Rating system and strongly supports its adoption and roll out.

"At this stage uptake of the star rating system by the food industry is voluntary and is yet to be fully taken up, so there remains an important role for the Tick to complement any new labelling system and to encourage the industry to make their foods healthier."

Ms Barry added that the Heart Foundation is considering a range of options for the future of Tick as part of the review.

The review is expected to be completed at the end of 2015.

People who would like to participate in the Tick Review can complete a survey and for more information please visit http://www.heartfoundation.org.au/healthy-eating/heart-foundation-tick/pages/default.aspx.