16 News

The Sydney Metro – Western Sydney Airport project has reached new heights with the completion of the 3.2-kilometres of viaduct (bridge), linking the Warragamba viaduct to the future Luddenham Station.

The new 23-kilometre metro line which once complete, will mean it’ll take passengers five minutes to travel from the airport to Bradfield, approximately 15 minutes from the airport to St Marys and approximately 20 minutes from Bradfield to St Marys where passengers can connect to the rest of Sydney’s rail network. 

The impressive viaduct structure is a critical part of the metro alignment between Orchard Hills and Luddenham and has been constructed to take metro services over key locations including the Warragamba pipelines, Blaxland Creek, and Luddenham Road. 

This viaduct will be part of a mix of underground tunnels, ground level railway and elevated railway. 

A total of 1,101 precast concrete segments (sections of the bridge) were used to construct the viaduct, with each segment measuring 10.85 metres wide, up to 3.2 metres long and 2.4 metres high, and weighs up to 65 tonnes, with more than 52,000 tonnes of concrete used to cast the segments.

In a boost for local jobs, all 1,101 precast concrete segments, which were pieced together to build the structure of this viaduct, were manufactured in Buchanan, 20 minutes outside of Newcastle.  

Supporting the impressive structure are 84 piers, each weighing between 80 and 160 tonnes and towering up to 15.3 metres high. The piers were made using 96,250 tonnes of concrete.

To build the viaduct, more than 2,500 people worked over 16 months with huge machinery to manoeuvre the heavy segments.

The Sydney Metro – Western Sydney Airport project itself has engaged more than 8,868 workers, 54 per cent of whom live in Western Sydney.

Completing the viaduct also included completing the base of Luddenham Station, the only station located on a viaduct 13.5 metres above ground. 

Luddenham Station is one of six new stations for the metro railway line that will become a crucial connection for travellers visiting the new international airport.

It will also open up housing and business opportunities here in Sydney’s west, as we link up this part of our city to a rail line for the first time ever. 

The next stage of this project will include laying track along the entire 23-kilometre alignment.

This new Sydney Metro railway will become the transport spine for Greater Western Sydney, connecting communities and travellers with the new Western Sydney International (Nancy-Bird Walton) Airport and the growing region. 

The project is a jointly funded infrastructure project between the Australian Federal and NSW governments.    

For more information about the project, visit sydneymetro.info/westernsydneyairportline.  

Premier of New South Wales Chris Minns said:

“We are committed to building better communities in Western Sydney, and public transport projects like will create new jobs and connect people to the airport and the rest of Sydney.”

“This project will also deliver major economic stimulus for Western Sydney, supporting more than 14,000 jobs.

“There’s more to do, but it’s great to see the progress being made on this world class infrastructure project, which will benefit our great city for generations to come.”

Minister for Transport Jo Haylen said:

“With huge milestones ticked off both below and above ground, we can now start to prepare for tracklaying.”

“This above-ground megastructure is a true engineering feat, built safely and with precision to ensure passengers have fast and reliable journeys in Sydney’s Greater West.

“As we reach this important stage, we are closer than ever to delivering a modern, reliable, and efficient metro system that will drive growth and support the region’s long-term development.

“Once open, Western Sydney Airport line will service the new international airport and connect communities between St Marys and Bradfield to wider Sydney, with the capacity to carry 7,740 passengers an hour in each direction on their new metro service.

The Minns Labor Government is today marking an important milestone in its reform of the foster care system with the release of a landmark report that calls for sweeping changes.

The ‘System review into out-of-home care,’ commissioned by the Minister for Families and Communities, Kate Washington MP, examined the outsourced foster care system, and investigated how taxpayer money is being spent by non-government providers.

The report found that the $2 billion out-of-home care (OOHC) system, created under the former coalition government, is:

• not fit for purpose and fails to meet the needs of children and young people at an efficient cost
• characterised by a profound lack of accountability and ineffective oversight
• overly complex, fragmented, and slow to respond in the best interests of children and young people
• largely devoid of robust evidence-based practices

The review’s authors were often unable to follow the dollar to determine if taxpayer funds were being used to meaningfully support vulnerable children and young people.

The final report provides a roadmap for rebuilding system accountability and oversight; improving contractual and financial management; collaborating with and elevating the voices of children, families and carers; and building a stronger workforce.

The 13 recommendations include:

• ceasing the current practice of outsourcing case management to non-government providers before final orders are made by the Children’s Court
• mandating greater financial transparency between OOHC providers and foster carers (including relative and kinship carers), so that carers are aware of the significant taxpayer funding being provided to their case management agency
• requiring OOHC providers to clearly identify the direct services and supports provided to children and young people as a result of taxpayer funding
• boosting accountability in the outsourced sector through key performance indicators, comparative analyses, and regular financial and performance audits
• ensuring all OOHC placement types are evidence-informed, reducing the reliance on High-Cost Emergency Arrangements (HCEAs)

The review was commissioned following a harrowing report by the Advocate for Children and Young People that details the first-hand experiences of the state’s most vulnerable young people in emergency accommodation. This type of accommodation can cost upwards of $2 million a year for each child, costing taxpayers more than $38,000 a week.

The system review was led by former Assistant Commissioner with NSW Police, Gelina Talbot, and former executive director of the Department of Communities and Justice, Lauren Dean. Their report sets out a blueprint for change and provides important insights into a system that often fails to meet the needs of children and young people. 

While considering the report in its entirety, the NSW Government is already getting on with the job of implementing many of the recommendations, including:

• Announcing a total ban on Alternative Care Arrangements (ACAs) by March 2025
• Reducing the number of children placed in ACAs by 81 per cent since November 2023, down to just 27 children
• Reducing the number of children placed in all types of HCEAs by 33 per cent since November 2023
• Opening the Waratah Care Cottages to better support children and sibling groups who are currently stuck in HCEAs
• Implementing Active Efforts legislation, meaning DCJ must do everything practical to ensure children are safe and connected to their family, culture and community; as well as undertake extensive family finding processes if a child is removed
• Finding safe homes for 849 children by commencing recruitment of more than 200 emergency foster carers after the former government stopped recruiting
• Signing an historic deal to increase caseworker pay to attract and retain more caseworkers
• Increasing workforce capability by redeploying casework specialists back to the frontline, so more families are seen by highly skilled caseworkers

The NSW Government acknowledges the important contributions of the hundreds of stakeholders, caseworkers, foster carers, families, and children and young people whose valuable contributions made this report possible.

The NSW Government is closely reviewing the findings and recommendations of the report and will formally respond in the coming months.  

Read the ‘System review into out-of-home-care.’

Minister for Families and Communities and Minister for Disability Inclusion, Kate Washington said:

“I thank Gelina Talbot and Lauren Dean for their clear and decisive report that lays out a significant roadmap for reform.

“The Minns Labor Government has been open and honest about the spiralling out-of-home care system we inherited. Now we have the evidence and the recommendations we need to start turning the ship around so that vulnerable children and young people get the supports they need.

“It’s shocking that some out-of-home care providers are failing to provide basic supports to children, despite being paid hundreds of thousands, and in some cases, millions, of taxpayer dollars to do so.

“Right now, we know taxpayer money is not always flowing to the children who need it.

“As a government, we are committed to ensuring every dollar invested in the child protection system goes to the vulnerable children who need it.

“Over the past 18 months, the Minns Labor Government has been stabilising the system, now we will begin rebuilding the foundations so that we can invest in better outcomes.

“We have a lot of work ahead of us to ensure increased accountability and transparency translates to better outcomes for children and young people.

Private health insurers will resume paying single room rates when their members use the public system.

Following months of negotiations with the NSW Government, all 53 private health funds in NSW will pay single room rates from January 1, 2025.

The successful resolution means the NSW Government will not need to increase the Health Insurance Levy (HIL) in order to recover costs.

The decision of some funds to stop paying the single room rate had been costing the public health system $140 million a year. 

By resuming the payment, the sector is ensuring that the state’s world class public hospitals and the people who rely on them, will no longer miss out on critical funding.

The Minns Labor Government passed legislation in October, mirroring the approach taken by then-Treasurer Mike Baird when private health funds first stopped paying the correct room rate in 2013.

The legislation allowed for the government to cost recover through an increase to the HIL, which could be enacted if funds did not resume paying the single room rate.

The NSW Opposition refused to support the reintroduction of this bill, with the Opposition Leader, Shadow Treasurer and Member for Vaucluse instead backing ongoing taxpayer funded subsidies to private insurers.

The NSW Government commends the private health insurance sector for reaching a resolution to this issue. 

The government will continue working with insurers on improved data sharing to increase transparency for private patients who use single rooms in the public system.

Treasurer Daniel Mookhey said:

“Over months of negotiations, the NSW Government kept the door open to reaching a resolution with private health insurers.

“We now have an agreement that’s good for our public hospitals and the millions of people who rely on them every day.

“The NSW Liberal Party will be recorded as being on the wrong side of this issue – backing subsidies for private health insurers instead of fighting for the public system.”

Health Minister Ryan Park said:

“This agreement means private funds resume paying their fair share and our public hospitals are better off.

“This is welcome news for patients and public hospitals and I am grateful we’ve been able to reach an outcome.

“We said we’d work with funds to resolve this and that’s what we did.”

The Minns Labor Government has confirmed, on Saturday December 7^th, Penrith Beach will be reopen for summer, providing access to a swimming spot for locals and visitors to cool down, relax and swim.

After it was kept locked up and out of reach under the former Liberal-National Government for twelve years, the beach’s second season since it was established by the Minns Labor Government is less than a week away

More than 215,000 people visited Penrith Beach from 19 December 2023 to Anzac Day 2024, and this summer’s swim season promises to be bigger and better with upgraded accessible facilities for beachgoers.

The Minns Labor Government invested $2.5 million to fund amenities and staffing for a second year, to make sure locals and visitors can soak up stunning views of the Blue Mountains while enjoying a dip at this unique Western Sydney swimming spot.

Beachgoers travelling to Penrith Beach will not need to book parking with more than 300 parking spaces available this year.

Penrith Beach operating hours will be from 10am to 7pm, commencing Saturday, 7 December and will be open every day including Christmas through to Sunday, 27 April 2025.

Water safety remains the top priority this summer with trained lifeguards from Surf Life Saving Australia on duty to patrol the beach and offer first aid services to visitors. The Royal Life Saving Society will also patrol the beach and lead community education and learn-to-swim opportunities.

In addition to reopening as a swim spot there will be further activations at the site over the course of the summer.

For more information, including hours of operation and available programs, visit Penrith Beach | NSW Government

Deputy Premier and Minister for Western Sydney Prue Car said:

“It is fantastic to see Penrith Beach will open its gates again in one week’s time, so our community has somewhere to relax and cool off in our local area.

“The Liberals and the Nationals left this site locked behind gates for more than a decade, making empty promises and achieving nothing for the people of Western Sydney.

“This is about equity. A place like Penrith Beach is critical for the people of Western Sydney. Hundreds of thousands of Western Sydney locals showed up and enjoyed Penrith Beach last year, and I cannot wait to join them for another summer season.”

Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Paul Scully said:

“Penrith residents previously needed to travel 40km to swim in Lake Parramatta, 63km to get to Bondi Beach, or 75km to get to either Cronulla or Manly.

“Bringing back this beach for another summer shows that our Government remains committed to providing access to great places to swim.

“We had huge numbers visit Penrith Beach last season and we look forward to welcoming even more people this summer.”

Member for Penrith Karen McKeown said:

“New and improved facilities are exactly what locals and visitors to our beach deserve.

“That is why we have taken the time to make this site special for our community and families with plenty of new fun and free activities.”