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Veterans and their partners will have access to free training to broaden their career opportunities and help transition to civilian life after service.
As part of the landmark Veterans Skills Program, eligible learners can study any course offered under the Government’s Smart and Skilled program from a Certificate II to Advanced Diplomas, including all apprenticeships and selected traineeships.
Veterans and their partners can choose between more than 450 Registered Training Organisations including NSW TAFE.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the free training was part of the NSW Government’s Veterans Strategy to support more than 200,000 former Australian Defence Force personnel across the State.
“The NSW Government understands it can be hard for some former Defence Force Personnel to navigate life and find work after their service,” Ms Berejiklian said.
“We want to ensure our veterans enjoy a smooth transition from military service to civilian life, with opportunities to continue developing their skills and participate fully in society.”
Minister for Skills and Tertiary Education Geoff Lee said Skills NSW was working with employers, industry and veterans groups to provide targeted training to assist veterans into jobs.
“A key area of the Veterans Strategy is Education and Employment, which aims to ensure our veterans find the right job or training post-service.
“In addition to our fee-free training for veterans, our NSW Veterans Employment Program has helped 1,094 veterans find new and meaningful roles in the public sector 18 months ahead of our target date.
“With fee-free training, we can now help even more veterans reskill in order to take advantage of jobs available in the market including in industries experiencing skills shortages.”
For more information on Veteran Skills, visit: https://education.nsw.gov.au/skills-nsw/veterans

MASS VACCINATION CENTRE NOW ADMINISTERING ASTRAZENECA VACCINE

• The mass vaccination centre at Sydney Olympic Park has started to administer the AstraZeneca vaccine, providing a major boost to the vaccine rollout in NSW as the state surges past a million people protected.
• The mass vaccination centre joins the other 26 NSW Health hubs that are giving the AstraZeneca vaccine to over 50s, including 17 in regional and rural NSW.
• There are also more than 100 outreach locations that NSW Health vaccination clinics visit, primarily in rural and regional communities, to ensure people in these locations have access to a COVID-19 vaccination.
• To book a vaccine and for more information go to: nsw.gov.au/

RELIGIOUS AND MULTICULTURAL LEADERS RECEIVE COVID-19 VACCINE

• More than 30 NSW religious and community leaders have come together to encourage all eligible individuals from diverse faith and cultural communities to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
• The leaders met with Premier Gladys Berejiklian, Minister for Health Brad Hazzard and Minister for Multiculturalism Geoff Lee at the mass vaccination centre at Sydney Olympic Park.
• More than 1.1 million COVID-19 vaccines have now been administered across the state, including more than 360,000 by NSW Health and more than 760,000 by GPs and related providers.

STATE FUNERAL FOR BOB FULTON AM

• The family of Australian rugby league immortal Bob Fulton AM will be offered a State Funeral by the NSW Government.

CONSENT LAW REFORM

• Sexual consent laws will be strengthened and simplified under NSW Government reforms designed to protect victim-survivors and educate the community.
• Attorney General Mark Speakman acknowledged the growing calls across the community for reforms to respond more effectively to the scourge of sexual violence in this country.

***A fact sheet outlining the proposed reforms in greater detail is also attached. ***
VIVID SYDNEY 2021 PROGRAM TO TRANSFORM HARBOUR CITY

• Vivid Sydney 2021 will invigorate the Harbour City this August, with an innovative floating light walk, widespread celebration of Aboriginal culture and themes of resilience and diversity throughout.
• Sydneysiders and visitors are invited to join the celebration of creativity, innovation and technology as one COVID-safe community from 6 to 28 August.
• The 2021 program features more than 50 dazzling light installations and 3D projection artworks, over 50 eclectic music events and 90+ thought-provoking ideas talks and workshops across Barangaroo, Sydney CBD, Circular Quay, Darling Harbour, Luna Park and The Rocks.
• For information about the event and to see the full program, go to vividsydney.com.

MICE PLAGUE REBATES BACKDATED

• Households and small businesses impacted by high numbers of mice across regional NSW will be able to claim rebates for purchasing mouse bait from 1 February 2021, with the NSW Government announcing the rebate program will be backdated.
• Deputy Premier John Barilaro said backdating the program will help regional families that were impacted by mice earlier this year and will ease the financial pressure farmers and small businesses are currently facing due to the mice plague.
• For further details about the mouse rebate program, including eligiblity and the claims process, go to: www.nsw.gov.au/mice

RECONCILIATION WEEK 2021

• Reconciliation Week marks a significant period of the year where we come together as a nation to learn about our shared histories and the value of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures for all Australians.
• Minister for Aboriginal Affairs Don Harwin said that Reconciliation Week 2021 marked twenty years since the 2001 Sydney Harbour Bridge Walk, and importantly recognises the anniversary of the 1967 Referendum on 27 June and Mabo Day on 3 June.

HALF OF DRIVERS USING A DIGITAL DRIVER LICENCE

• NSW Drivers have voted with their smartphones and embraced the Digital Driver Licence (DDL), with new data showing three million drivers have downloaded the technology.
• Minister for Digital and Minister for Customer Service Victor Dominello said the figure represents 53 per cent of all licence holders, with almost 95 per cent giving the DDL the thumbs up.

BIG BATTERY TO HELP POWER NSW SCHOOLS AND HOSPITALS

• A 100-megawatt battery will help to power schools, hospitals and Government buildings across NSW under the state’s new electricity supply contract.
• As part of the $3.2 billion 10 year contract, awarded to Shell Energy and Edify, a 100-megawatt battery will be built alongside the Darlington Point Solar Farm in the Riverina, providing critical dispatchable electricity prior to the closure of the Liddell Power Station.
• The new contract will commence from July 2022, when existing contracts expire.

162 MUSIC VENUES TO RECEIVE BOOST THROUGH $24 MILLION LIVE MUSIC SUPPORT PACKAGE

• New South Wales remains the home of live music with 162 live music venues in Sydney and NSW receiving an injection of funds through the NSW Government’s $24 million Live Music Support Package.
• The program will help assist 85 Sydney venues and 77 regional NSW venues that have been significantly impacted by COVID-19 related restrictions over the past year to survive through the pandemic.
• For more information, go to www.nsw.gov.au/living-nsw/tourism-support-package.

100 DAYS TO GO UNTIL VOTERS HAVE A SAY ON THEIR LOCAL COUNCIL

• The power to change their local community will be in the hands of the state’s voters when they head to the polls in just 100 days to vote for their council representatives in the NSW Local Government Elections.
• Minister for Local Government Shelley Hancock said the council elections, held on Saturday 4 September, give both residents and candidates an opportunity to shape their local community for the next three years.

The NSW local defence industry will connect with potential customers as 24 co-exhibitors prepare to shine at the 2021 LAND FORCES International Land Defence Exposition with the support of the NSW Government.
The fourth biennial international industry expo will showcase equipment, technology, and services for the defence forces of Australia and the Indo-Asia-Pacific next week, between 1 – 3 June at the Brisbane Convention Centre.
Minister for Jobs, Investment, Tourism and Western Sydney Stuart Ayres said creating new defence industry opportunities which enhance the State’s contribution to national security was a key priority of Investment NSW.
“Our job as a government is to support the defence industry to develop and enhance its partnerships across the sector, between the Australian Defence Force, SMEs, Australian primes and research institutions,” Mr Ayres said.
“We are home to the largest number of defence bases of any state or territory in Australia. NSW also boasts the largest number of workers, with defence industry skills and world-leading universities and research institutions ready to support the development of defence technology and innovation.
“LAND FORCES is an opportunity for NSW-based defence businesses to pitch to supply chain managers, meet Commonwealth officials, partner with Austrade to create international opportunities and connect with Australian primes.”
Winslow Tam, Defence Program Manager for radio frequency communications business GME, said the business was looking forward to showcasing its manufacturing and radio frequency engineering capability.
“We’re excited to participate in LAND FORCES and take advantage of the opportunity to prove our ability to collaborate with SMEs to manufacture MANET mesh radios in-house and establish a robust Australian supply chain so we can scale our capacity to meet the requirements of the Australian Army,” Mr Tam said.
“GME is also working on developing of a narrow band portable very high frequency radio which is designed and manufactured in NSW.”
The NSW Government will showcase these defence industry innovators and demonstrate the leading edge and talent within NSW to the Australian Defence Force and primes. Growing the entirety of defence industry across NSW will enhance and build upon our already strong contribution to National security interests.
The co-exhibitors on the NSW Government stand are:

• Adroita
• Advanced Navigation
• Air Affairs Australia
• Austest
• Australian Aerospace Engineering
• Bisalloy Steels
• Burwell Technologies
• Carbonix
• Defence Innovation Network
• DroneShield Corporation
• EnerSys Australia
• Global Defence Solutions
• GME
• Hunter Defence & Hunter Net
• Invest Wollongong
• Jenkins Engineering Defence Systems
• Mellori Solutions
• Nupress Tools
• Phoenx PLM
• Rojone
• Shoalhaven Defence Industry Group
• The Whiskey Project
• Thomas Global Systems

Further details about Defence NSW are available at www.defence.nsw.gov.au

NSW Far North Coast public school students are benefitting from more new and upgraded schools than ever before.
More than $409 million is finding its way to local students, with new and upgraded classrooms, playgrounds, canteens, roofing and lights.
Minister for Education Sarah Mitchell visited the recently upgraded Byron Bay Public School, one of the latest schools to benefit from this record investment.
“Schools across this region are benefitting from an ongoing multi-million dollar investment in education by the NSW Government,” Ms Mitchell said
“Byron Bay Public School is the latest to benefit from our history-making $7 billion school building program, and I’m delighted to be officially opening the $10 million upgrade today.”
“It’s great to meet students and teachers at Byron Bay Public School, and it’s fantastic to be here to see the wonderful new two storey building.
“This is one of the 11 new or upgraded schools being delivered in the region, bringing a total investment of more than $398 million.”
The Byron Bay Public School upgrade delivered a two storey building creating ten additional learning spaces taking the total number of permanent learning spaces to 28 and accommodating up to 650 students.
North Coast based MLC Ben Franklin said it’s great to see the school community benefitting from modern facilities and additional teaching spaces.
“The new facilities and learning spaces, like these at Byron Bay Public School, are putting local students at the forefront of technology and education, as well as allowing teachers to offer more learning opportunities to students,” Mr Franklin said.
“On top of these new and upgraded schools, we are also investing in our existing schools through improvement projects nominated by the school, ranging from playgrounds to canteens, along with a roof and lights program.
“Over 100 schools in the area have benefitted from this $11 million investment which also uses local tradies, helping to stimulate the economy.
“The NSW Government is creating a safer and stronger regional NSW by investing record amounts of funding to help support local jobs, and the wonderful schools in the Far North Coast.”
The NSW Government is investing $7 billion in four years to deliver more than 200 new and upgraded schools to support communities across NSW. This is the largest investment in public education infrastructure in the history of NSW.

Sydney’s most-loved CBD entertainment precincts will come to life with dedicated alfresco dining, fireworks, live music and an outdoor cinema to ensure the CBD is this winter season’s hottest spot.
The NSW Government has committed almost $850,000 to support a range of activities in The Rocks and Darling Harbour as part of the CBD Revitalisation Program – which received a $20 million boost as part of the second successful CBD Summit.
Treasurer Dominic Perrottet said revamping these initiatives for the winter months was vital to build on the success of the September CBD Summit and would ensure the economic recovery continues.
“I said at the second CBD summit in April that we would pull out all the stops to bring crowds into the city – and we’re making it happen,” Mr Perrottet said.
“Sydney has the best restaurants, shopping, cultural institutions and lifestyle in the country and this exciting series of initiatives will encourage people to spend more time in Australia’s best CBD, with more events and activities than ever before.
“This program we’re rolling out will give both The Rocks and Darling Harbour much needed boosts over the cooler months, keeping more businesses in business and people in jobs.”
The Rocks Hidden in Plain Sight program includes a new pop-up speakeasy, art installations, weekend street games and a dinner series which showcases the best of The Rocks dining.
In Darling Harbour, people can enjoy socially distanced lunchtime picnics with live music and $10 lunch deals right through until July, with evening fireworks and light shows from 8 June as part of the Sydney Solstice celebrations.
Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Rob Stokes said as The Rocks was NSW Government land, new agency Placemaking NSW was embarking on a program to revitalise hidden courtyards and laneways that have been forgotten for decades.
“Thanks to the pandemic, The Rocks is ripe for reinvention,” Mr Stokes said.
“It’s been really encouraging to see foot traffic at The Rocks hit 75 per cent of pre[1]pandemic numbers but we’re keen to draw more people back to this part of Sydney which is one of the most historic and beautiful parts of the CBD.”
“We have started a program to upgrade all courtyards and laneways in The Rocks, such as the Nurses Walk, Unwins Courtyard, Well Courtyard and the La Renaissance courtyard.
“While Melbourne has already done their laneways, we will do ours better.” For more details on The Rocks Hidden In Plain Sight program and the Darling Harbour picnic and fireworks events visit www.therocks.com and www.darlingharbour.com