16 News

West Australian children with life-limiting health conditions are set to get new help and hope with the construction of the state’s first and only dedicated respite and hospice care facility for children.

The WA Children’s Hospice will be jointly funded by the Federal Government, the WA State Government and the Perth Children’s Hospital Foundation, with the Morrison Government committing $7.5 million towards the project.

Minister for Health and Aged Care, Greg Hunt, said hospitals could often be a stressful environment for children.

“Children’s hospices help to reduce the stress of a very difficult time by offering a more home-like atmosphere and allow families to stay together,” Minister Hunt said.

“Children’s hospices can also offer therapies and activities not easily accessible in hospitals and mainstream hospices, such as respite care, outdoor play, child appropriate nutrition and meals, multi-sensory play and onsite hydrotherapy.”

The WA Government, in partnership with the Child and Adolescent Health Service (CAHS) and the Perth Children’s Hospital Foundation, will build WA’s first children’s hospice.

The WA Government has transferred the land at Swanbourne to the Child and Adolescent Health Service, and has provided $3.2 million for project planning and design.

The Foundation will provide funding for the construction, fitout and ongoing non-operational costs of the hospice, while CAHS will be responsible for governance, management and ongoing operational clinical and support services funding.

Dr Rosanna Capolingua, CAHS Board Chair, said the service welcomed the investment from the Morrison Government towards the building of the first children’s hospice in the state.

“This facility is such an important and much-needed service for children living with a life-limiting illness, and their families,” Dr Capolingua said.

“The CAHS Board would also like to acknowledge the work the Perth Children’s Hospital Foundation has done in connecting with generous donors in our community enabling this hospice to be built on land provided by the WA Government.

“Having a dedicated facility in close proximity to WA’s tertiary children’s hospital, with top-class medical equipment and expert staff, in a beautiful setting overlooking the Indian Ocean, will provide some of our most vulnerable children and their families with much-needed respite and support.”

The Hon. Ian Campbell, Chairman, Perth Children’s Hospital Foundation, said: “On behalf of the Perth Children’s Hospital Foundation, I want to thank the Australian Government for this incredibly generous donation that recognises the need for a hospice for young palliative care patients and their families.

“This funding, on this one exciting day, moves the WA Children’s Hospice from dream to reality, providing the biggest single financial contribution alongside our other donors, large and small. We can now look forward with confidence to start building in Swanbourne in a few short months’ time,” Mr Campbell said.

The WA Children’s Hospice will provide palliative out-of-home respite care and support for children and families.

Aged care providers in regional and remote parts of Australia will be able to improve services and create safer environments under the latest investment from the Morrison Government.

The $35.3 million multi-purpose services (MPS) program will see 110 aged care sites benefit from minor capital grant projects averaging $321,000 each.

Minister for Senior Australians and Aged Care Services Richard Colbeck said the work would range from simple improvements such as gardens and pathways to major building renovations.

“The aim is to improve the health, safety and wellbeing of residents, including for those living with dementia,” Minister Colbeck said. 

 “These services allow people to stay in their own communities as they get older, close to their family and community ties.

Providers of MPS sites will also soon have the opportunity to expand their services, with 100 new residential care places on offer through a competitive allocation round.

“The grant funding and the MPS places round join the Government’s $18.3 billion aged care reform package as part of the Government’s comprehensive response to the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety,” Minister Colbeck said.

“The Royal Commission recommended the MPS program should be maintained and extended, and $35.3 million in grant funding and a further 100 places in 2022 will do just that.”

The maximum funding available for each individual MPS site is $600,000, with providers also required to contribute at least 20 per cent of the total project costs. Grant funding will be allocated across the 2021–22 and 2022–23 financial years.

The MPS grants build on the single largest investment in residential aged care infrastructure in Australia’s history, which in July 2021 saw $150 million in capital grants allocated to residential care services, predominantly in regional and remote Australia.

Outcomes of the MPS grants, including details of the successful providers, can be found here.

To mark Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month, the Morrison Government will provide an additional $2 million to Ovarian Cancer Australia for its work supporting women with ovarian cancer and their families.

Last year, it is estimated that approximately 1,700 women were diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Tragically, 1,000 died from the disease. While ovarian cancer is most commonly diagnosed in women over the age of 50, it can occur at any age.

This additional funding will ensure Ovarian Cancer Australia can continue providing vital psychosocial telehealth support services through its Teal Support Program until 2023–24.

The Teal Support Program employs specialist nurses who use telehealth to provide psychosocial care and support to people with ovarian cancer, from diagnosis through to post-treatment.

Women diagnosed with ovarian cancer face daunting challenges. It has a low 5-year survival rate (47%) with a recurrence rate of up to 70%. As a result, around 40% of women diagnosed with ovarian cancer experience clinical levels of anxiety or depression.

While caring for patients and their families is important, research remains our best hope of defeating ovarian cancer and developing more effective treatments.

Since 2012, the Government has provided $62.5 million through the National Health and Medical Research Council for ovarian cancer research. The Medical Research Future Fund has committed almost $21 million to ovarian cancer research projects since 2015.

The Government also supports women with ovarian cancer and their families by listing life‑saving and life-changing medications on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. In
2020–21, our expenditure on PBS medicines to treat ovarian cancer was over $30 million.

In November 2020 Lynparza (olaparib) was extended to include more patients with ovarian cancer, making it accessible to around 300 patients per year who might otherwise pay more than $140,500 per course of treatment.

Today, at the annual Teal Ribbon Breakfast, the Government reaffirms its commitment to supporting Australian women with ovarian cancer to get the treatment, information and support they need.

The Morrison Government has awarded a job-creating $2.13 million contract to a Hawkesbury-based engineering consultancy to continue its development of a unique lightweight armour for the C-130J Hercules airlifter aircraft.

The contract with Aerospace & Mechanical Consulting Engineers, in partnership with fellow NSW company Armor Composite Engineering, will use a cutting-edge amour solution to provide the in-service aircraft with stronger protection.

The innovation could reduce aircraft fatigue and the risk of injury to Australian Defence Force personnel.

Minister for Defence Industry Melissa Price said the Government’s investment had created jobs at both companies and was further evidence of the Government’s determination to back defence industry to supply the ADF with the very best capability.

“This contract will strengthen ADF capabilities and provide an opportunity to maximise Australian industry participation,” Minister Price said.

“By investing in the innovative ideas of Australian small and medium businesses, we are delivering more opportunities for those businesses to participate in Defence projects and directly contribute to ADF capability.

“The Morrison Government is committed to supporting innovative small businesses within the Australian defence industry to develop technologies that present opportunities for Defence and for international export markets.”

Liberal Senator for Western Sydney, Senator the Hon Marise Payne, said the important contract was a vote of confidence in local capabilities.

“The awarding of this contract shows that Hawkesbury businesses are more than capable of competing in this highly specialised field,” Senator Payne said.

The Director of Aerospace & Mechanical Consulting Engineers, John Eldridge, said the contract was an opportunity for the small business to export the armour solution to Australia’s allies and grow its workforce.

“To support this contract, Aerospace & Mechanical Consulting Engineers has employed an additional four engineering staff and Armor Composite Engineering has increased its manufacturing staff by two, with a further two staff to be employed in the next 12 months,” Mr Eldridge said.

Industry and research organisations can submit innovation proposals through the Defence Innovation Portal at: www.innovationhub.defence.gov.au .

A researcher at Charles Darwin University (CDU), Gavin Trewella, has been working to improve the conservation outlook for an iconic Australian native animal, the northern quoll.

Once a common mammal in Northern Australia and a relative of the Tasmanian Devil, quolls have been facing rapidly declining populations due to cane toad invasion, extensive fires, grazing, and predation by feral cats.

Northern quolls are now classified as critically endangered in the Northern Territory and facing many immediate threats.

Northern quolls, the smallest among all quolls, are currently dotted around Australia’s northern coastlines, including in the Northern Territory, Far North Queensland and northern Western Australia.

Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihoods (RIEL) PhD candidate Mr Trewella has been collecting field data about a northern quoll population in the Cape York Peninsula through many long, hot field trips to Far North Queensland supported by Rio Tinto.

Mr Trewella deploys camera traps and uses GPS transmitters to track these elusive, agile nocturnal mammals in the savannas of Weipa, Cape York.

Mr Trewella’s research has found the northern quoll population there is restricted to a small number of specific bauxite plateaus that act as natural fire breaks and create ideal vegetation and hollows that provide a haven for quolls.

Separate research from CDU in the Territory has found feral cattle, horses may degrade habitat, with such habitat degradation then further increasing risks of predation by feral cats pose.

“My work is focused on identifying how the northern quoll’s population is influenced by the quality of their habitat,” Mr Trewella said.

“I hope to apply lessons learned to other quoll populations in Australia by working on creating habitats ideal for quolls.”

As quolls are also carnivorous, their feeding on poisonous cane toads has been a main factor in the dwindling quoll population.

“In the Northern Territory and the Kimberley region, quolls face the immediate effect of the cane toad invasion. I want to work out what the quolls need to persist with the current situation of cane toads,” he said.

“The Northern Quoll population is at its lowest across Australia. Using the data and finding from my research, I hope to help the northern quolls bounce back and repopulate.”

CDU ecologist and Northern Territory mammal expert, Professor John Woinarski, said the northern quoll had suffered a “catastrophic decline” over the years.

“There are not many spots in the Northern Territory where quolls can still be seen. Twenty years ago, you would often see quolls while out camping, but such happy sights are no longer the case,” Professor Woinarski said.

“It’s really important to try to understand how the quoll population can persist with cane toads, and we also need more information on fire regimes to protect quolls.”

The Keep Corporations Honest campaign to save Australian class actions has welcomed statements by Attorney-General Michaelia Cash that the government will not pursue its agenda of weakening access to class to actions ahead of this year’s federal election.

Ms Cash had been under pressure from class action members and legal experts to drop her government’s proposed changes, which would have seen funding sources for class actions dry up making many potential actions unviable.

However, Keep Corporations Honest is now urging the Minister to go a step further and permanently discard the proposal.

“The legislation proposed by Ms Cash was nothing more than scrappy vandalism against class actions,” said KCH spokesperson Jan Saddler.

“Small wonder that a broad spectrum of legal experts and community members vigorously opposed the proposals. Ms Cash’s attempts to vilify those taking part in class actions as either dupes or vexatious irritants was particularly offensive.

“Our campaign is extremely pleased to see that the Minister has been spooked off her destructive course of action — albeit temporarily.

“Class actions are overwhelmingly a force for good and any responsible government should support them. Not only do they help everyday Australians to obtain justice when they have been ripped off by corporations and governments, they also keep the powerful looking over their shoulders. That’s a good thing, not a hindrance.

“We now call on Ms Cash to formally and permanently remove her government’s support for these shambolic proposed class action changes.”

Hundreds of women with a passion for sport will be supported to further their careers under Sport Australia’s 2022 Women Leaders in Sport (WLIS) program.

In all, 489 women across 34 sports will benefit from the initiative, which has helped strengthen the role of women leaders in sport for more than two decades.

Minister for Women Marise Payne said increasing the number of women leaders in sport was a priority for the Morrison Government.

“We are pleased to support a program that empowers women in sport and helps organisations create more diverse and inclusive workplaces,” Minister Payne said.

Minister for Sport Richard Colbeck said the program provides valuable leadership development opportunities for women on and off the field.

“Through the WLIS program we are supporting the next generation of women sports leaders,” Minister Colbeck said. “By assisting women leaders, coaches and match officials with their career development and creating more leadership pathways for women we are taking important steps towards achieving gender equity in sport.”

Sport Australia Acting CEO Rob Dalton said the program, which began in 2002, continues to receive strong interest from the sector.

“This financial year saw a record number of individuals apply for funding which is testament to the program’s reputation and success in developing women leaders in sport.”

“So far more than 26,000 women and over 800 local, state and national sporting organisations have benefitted from this program and we look forward to supporting even more women in the future as we strive for a greater balance of men and women in senior positions in sport.”

WLIS is delivered by Sport Australia with the support of the Office for Women with individuals and organisations sharing in more than $526,000 in grants this financial year.

Seventy women will share $296,000 in funding for professional development opportunities.

They include Cheryl Kostich from Riding for the Disabled Association of Australia (RDAA) who will use her grant funding to undertake a Diploma of Human Resources Management at Swinburne University.

“I am excited by the opportunity to gain new skills and adapt them to my role,” Kostich said.

“This course will help me gain a greater understanding of HR management which I can use to provide qualified guidance and support to RDAA staff and the wider Riding for the Disabled community.”

Co-founder of not-for-profit organisation Siren Sport, Kirby Fenwick, will use her grant funding to study content design.

“It’s wonderful to get this kind of support to upskill and extend my knowledge in a really practical way. The skills and knowledge I will gain through this course will not only help me to build on my own work in sports media but will equip me with tools and tips that I can share with colleagues and interns.”

Thirteen sporting organisations will also share in $230,000 in funding to deliver leadership programs in their workplaces.

Surf Life Saving Tasmania (SLST) will establish a leadership and development program to support women who work in volunteer managerial positions.

“This program will allow us to develop the individual professional skills of participants to ensure diversity of leadership for SLST at all levels,” SLST Director Joanne Stolp said.

“Our aim is to create a legacy of participants that are ready to mentor, coach and support our future female leaders.”

Paddle Australia will use its funding to create an inclusive culture and support more women in their organisation.

“We will work with our high performance staff and selected athletes to develop their leadership skills including how to communicate, negotiate and manage conflict – whether that’s in the high performance or executive environment or as a National Coach,” Athlete Wellbeing and Engagement National Manager Matt Murphy said.

A full list of 2022 recipients is available on the Women Leaders in Sport website.