Category: NSW News

NSW Veterans and Wholly Dependent Partners will no longer need to attend a Service NSW centre to re-establish their eligibility for a vehicle registration and licence concession.

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For over a decade, veterans under the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004 had to continually obtain documentation from Department of Veteran Affairs and verify their eligibility for a concession in person. This placed undue burden and stress on them.

From Saturday 1 July 2023, eligible veterans will receive a concession on registration and licence products by simply providing Service NSW their file number. Additionally, as a pensioner their vehicle registration will be automatically renewed, provided their file number is recorded, and green slip and pink slip (if required) are received.

Minister for Roads John Graham said:

“The previous process was inefficient and at times distressing, with NSW Veterans continually attending Service NSW service centres to re-establish their eligibility for a concession.

“This change will see their Department of Veteran Affairs Gold Card validate automatically, with eligible concessions applied to licence and vehicle registration products.”

Minister for Veterans David Harris said:

“This initiative will have significant benefits for our Veterans and Wholly Dependent Partners. We’re going to improve the customer experience for our veterans by automatically validating their Gold Card and remove the burden of visiting a service centre to re-establish their pensioner status, every year.”

Member for Campbelltown Greg Warren said:

“This is a sensible and necessary step forward for veterans, removing the unnecessary red tape and burden from having to continually attend a Service NSW centre, to re-establish their eligibility for concessions.

This is an issue that has been raised regularly with me by fellow veterans. We had a commitment in opposition to address this issue and I am delighted to see this happen now.”

NSW Veterans and eligible concession holders can also now renew their licencelaunch online if they meet the required criteria.

For more information, see Registration concessions and automatic renewal for pensioners.

Toll increases on some of Sydney’s motorways take effect from Saturday, July 1 as the NSW Government renews its call for the public to take part in the independent Tolling Review underway.

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Quarterly toll increases start on Saturday on the M7, M2, M5 South West, NorthConnex, Lane Cove Tunnel, Eastern Distributor and the Cross City Tunnel. Regular toll increases are set in long-term contracts between the NSW Government and motorway owner Transurban.

Tolls on WestConnex M4, M4- M5 Link, M8 and M5 East, will not change on July 1 as they are subject to annual increases each January.

Tolls on the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Sydney Harbour Tunnel, owned by the NSW Government, have remained unchanged since 2009.

The NSW Government’s independent tolling review, led by Professor Allan Fels AO and Dr David Cousins AM, is engaging with the public in its task to recommend a safer, fairer and more efficient tolling system.

Options include moving all motorways to a common pricing structure, a geographic motorway zone system, and time-of-day pricing.

Public hearings scheduled for July 11 (Sydney CBD), July 12 (Parramatta) and 13 July (Penrith) will hear from members of the public, businesses and industry stakeholders about the impacts of tolls and ideas for reform. 

People are urged to help shape the Government’s future tolling strategy by making a submission to the Tolling Review or signing up to attend public hearings via Have Your Say: Tolling Review.

The NSW Government is set to introduce a $60 a week toll cap for private motorists from January 1, and a reduction in the truck toll multiplier for heavy vehicles on the M5 East and M8 corridors from the start of next year, for 2 years.

Minister for Roads John Graham said: 

“This latest toll price rise arrives at a time when the cost of living continues to bite hard at families and individuals across NSW.

“Currently the details dictating how and when these toll increases are applied are tied up in opaque tolling contracts that we want to share with the public.

“We are committed to creating a better system and a fairer deal with less confusion for Sydney’s motorists and I urge members of the public to take part in the Fels review to help shape a fairer system for all.”

Motorway (Class A)	Current Maximum	July 2023	Change	How frequent
WCX M4	$9.41	$9.41	0	annually
M5 East	$7.98	$7.98	0	annually
M4 M8 link	Flat rate $5.65	$5.65	0	annually
WestConnex	Cap $11.11	$11.11	0	annually
M8	$7.98	$7.98	0	annually
Cross City Tunnel	$6.62	$6.71	0.09	quarterly
M7	$9.38	$9.51	0.13	quarterly
M2	$9:23	$9.35	0.12	quarterly
Lane Cove Tunnel	$3.84	$3.90	0.06	quarterly
NorthConnex	Flat rate $9.23	$9.35	0.12	quarterly
Eastern Distributor	Flat rate $9.09	$9.19	0.10	quarterly
M5 South-West	Flat rate $5.41	$5.49	0.08	quarterly
Sydney Harbour Bridge and Sydney Harbour Tunnel	$2.50–$4	$2.50–$4	0	N/A

Minister for Agriculture Tara Moriarty has today announced the appointment of Dr Joanne Coombe as the NSW Chief Veterinary Officer, within the NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI).

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“The NSW Chief Veterinary Officer is a critical part of our ongoing efforts to ensure the protection and prosperity of our livestock industry, our rural and regional economies and our environment,” Ms Moriarty said.

“All 5 of the most significant emergency animal diseases – including foot and mouth disease – have been detected in or near Australia in the past 5 years, meaning the Chief Veterinary Officer role has never been more important than it is right now.

“Dr Coombe brings significant experience and expertise to the role at a critical time.”

Dr Coombe moved to Australia from her country of birth, Wales, in 2001, completed undergraduate, doctoral and post-doctoral studies at Melbourne University and worked for several years as a dairy vet in rural Victoria.

She has held roles within Dairy Australia, has consulted to various universities and animal industries and is an invited member of the Australian Strategic and Technical Advisory Group on antimicrobial resistance.

Dr Coombe said she was looking forward to working with government, industry and the community to strengthen and protect NSW primary industries.

“I am honoured to accept the position of Chief Veterinary Officer for NSW and I’m looking forward to working with the team at NSW DPI and our stakeholders for the benefit of everyone in the state,” she said.

Minister Moriarty also thanked outgoing Chief Veterinary Officer Dr Sarah Britton for her service over the past 5 years.

“Dr Britton has been a strong advocate for animal biosecurity in NSW, having led the state through a number of significant emergency animal disease responses, including outbreaks of salmonella enteritidis, Japanese encephalitis virus and white spot in prawns,” Ms Moriarty said.

“Alongside these responses, Dr Britton has also been instrumental in improving our preparedness for emergency animal diseases such as foot and mouth disease and lumpy skin disease.”

Dr Coombe commenced with NSW DPI on Wednesday 21 June 2023.

The NSW Government is investing $1.85 million to give a strong start to the next generation of planners, with dozens of councils receiving a share of the funding to help pay the tuition fees for young planners.

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Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Paul Scully welcomed the overwhelming response from councils for the Strong Start Cadetship Program.

“After receiving a whopping 115 applications from 74 councils, we decided to boost the program with $250,000 in additional funding and provide $25,000 to each council that applied.

“This will help more councils invest in future planners to help address a workforce shortage and tackle the housing crisis across the state.”

“It was only a month ago that we put the call out to Councils seeking applications for the program, which had 64 grants available to help cover some or all of a student planner’s university fees,” Mr Scully said.

The Strong Start Cadetship Program was launched in response to the planning skills shortage, which is being felt particularly in regional NSW, with the grants to provide council-employed students a free or discounted degree and practical work experience, while boosting council planners.

Mr Scully said out of the 74 councils that applied, 60 were from regional areas.

“Local government has been crying out for planners, especially in some of our regional areas, where some positions have remained vacant for some time,” he said.

“We’re addressing the skills shortage from the ground up, by helping councils build a pipeline of young planning talent aimed at setting up the state’s planning future for success.

“This funding will bring a fresh wave of new planners to councils, giving them a helping hand to clear their development application backlogs and speed up assessment times, which will drive better outcomes for our communities.”

The $25,000 grant can be used to fund tuition fees for an undergraduate certificate, graduate certificate, diploma, bachelor’s degree or master’s degree in planning.

Visit Strong Startlaunch for more information.

Local Government NSW (LGNSW) President Darriea Turley said:

“Councils and communities across NSW are suffering from the impacts of skills and labour shortages.

“I want to congratulate the government on this initiative, investing in the next generation of planning specialists in local governments across NSW.

“One of our key Local Government NSW priorities has been to call for the NSW Government to commit to incentives such as cadetships to address skills shortages in the local government sector.”

Wagga Wagga City Council Mayor Dallas Tout said:

“Wagga City Council congratulates the NSW Government on the establishment of the Strong Start Cadetship Program. Our council immediately applied for participation in the program. 

“We are absolutely confident that this initiative will be an amazing and positive step in promoting careers in planning for anyone looking to build a career and lifestyle in regional NSW.  

“This program will establish a whole new generation of planners who grew up in regional NSW and will now be employed in planning the future of their own communities – as start to a new career there will be few opportunities which are any better.”

Hornsby Shire Council Director of Planning and Compliance James Farrington said:

“Hornsby Shire Council is pleased to have been successful in obtaining a grant under the Strong Start Cadetship Program.

This funding represents a great opportunity, not only for students to learn on the job skills, but also for us as a local council to help us attract and develop a new planner at a time when we are experiencing a skills shortage.

We look forward to embarking on this program with the department’s support and assistance.”

Thousands of first home buyers will no longer pay stamp duty from tomorrow, when a fairer, simpler First Home Buyers Assistance Scheme (FHBS) begins.

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On Saturday 1 July, the threshold for stamp duty exemptions will increase from $650,000 to $800,000 and the threshold for stamp duty concessions will rise from $800,000 to $1 million.

It means first home buyers purchasing a property up to $800,00 will pay no stamp duty, saving up to $30,735 under the changes.

Based on the current housing market, NSW Treasury expects about 8600 first home buyers in the $650,000 to $800,000 range to pay no stamp duty over the next year, and about 4400 first home buyers in the $800,000 to $1 million range to pay a concessional rate of stamp duty.

The former government’s unfair “forever” land tax scheme gave people paying between $1 million and $1.5 million much larger stamp duty reductions than those able to afford homes up to $1 million.

The former scheme closes on Friday 30 June 2023.  Buyers who opted in will continue to pay property tax until they sell that property.

Purchase price	Stamp duty without FHBAS	New stamp duty with FHBAS	Savings
$650,000	$23,985	$0	$23,985
$750,000	$28,485	$0	$28,485
$800,000	$30,735	$0	$30,735
$850,000	$32,985	$9,934	$23,051
$900,000	$35,235	$19,868	$15,367
$950,000	$37,485	$29,801	$7,684
$990,000	$39,285	$37,748	$1,537

Suburbs where the house price median is between $650,000 and $800,000 include: Colyton, Hassal Grove, Cambridge Park, North St Marys, Richmond, Werrington, Rosemeadow, Warragamba, Leumeah and Whalan.

Suburbs where the apartment price median is between $650,000 and $800,000 include: Waitara, Ashfield, Padstow, Arncliffe, Kogarah, Petersham, Epping, Hillsdale, Sutherland and Wolli Creek.

Suburbs where the house price median is between $800,000 and $1 million include: Guildford, Smithfield, Casula, Liverpool, Ashcroft, Prestons, Fairfield Heights, Merrylands West, Seven Hills and Prospect.

Suburbs where the apartment median price is between $800,000 and $1 million include: Waterloo, Maroubra, Surry Hills, Ultimo, Lewisham, Leichhardt, Oatlands, Castle Hill and Baulkham Hills

Regional centres where the median house price is between $650,000 and $800,000 include: Valla Beach, Bellingen, Sandy Beach, North Arm Cove, Coffs Harbour, Batemans Bay, Queanbeyan West, Albury, Eden and Braidwood.

Treasurer Daniel Mookhey said:

“July 1 will be a great day for thousands of extra first home buyers who will now pay zero stamp duty on their first home purchase. 

“These changes will help 5 out of every 6 first home buyers pay no stamp duty, or a concessional rate, and deliver a key election commitment.

“The changes implemented ensure first home buyer assistance in NSW is simpler and fairer, helping those who most need support.

“We know stamp duty can be a considerable barrier for first home buyers. The changes starting today will allow thousands of first home buyers to enter the market sooner and give them a boost when competing with other buyers.”

NSW coastal communities have been betrayed by the Member for Sydney, the Labor government and the Greens, as they try to derail and delay the Bill to ban offshore drilling in NSW Waters (PEP-11).

Shadow Environment Minister Kellie Sloane said the Labor and accomplices now must answer to the community for this terrible decision.

“Labor MPs said time and time again, before the election, that they were opposed to PEP-11 and would ban it,” said Ms Sloane. “They’ve had a chance to do so, and instead chose to break their promise to our coastal communities.”

“Protecting our environment and marine estate from the risks posed by offshore drilling is vitally important and there is no time for delay.”

Shadow Minister for Energy and Climate Change James Griffin said that this set back would not deter the Coalition, who will continue to work on making this Bill come to fruition.

“Let there be no doubt. Today we had an opportunity to legislate against offshore drilling,” Mr Griffin said. “That opportunity no longer exists thanks to a vote by Labor, Greens and the Member for Sydney. However, we’re not discouraged and will continue to work on bringing this important legislation to a vote.”

“It’s up to each MP who voted against proceeding with this Bill to explain themselves to their communities.”

Member for Pittwater, Rory Amon called out the Government’s decision to not support the Bill as more evidence of their inability to deliver for the people of NSW.

“Labor, Greens and the Member for Sydney talked big about protecting our oceans, but instead of taking action they chose instead to gad debate in Parliament on this Bill,” said Mr Amon. “This is either an attempt to see offshore gas mining and exploration proceed, or cynical politics to try and introduce a copy-cat Bill.”

“However, their ploy has real costs, as this delays any action on offshore gas projects until well into 2024 and leaves communities at risk.”

The NSW Government will introduce new legislation to parliament that prohibits vilification on the grounds of religious belief, affiliation or activity.

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The NSW Labor Government committed to amending the NSW Anti-Discrimination Act 1977 to prohibit religious vilification within its first 100 days in office. This bill follows through on that commitment.

The bill amends the Anti-Discrimination Act to make it unlawful to, by a public act, incite hatred towards, serious contempt for, or severe ridicule of, a person or group of persons, because of their religious belief, affiliation or activity.

A public act includes any form of communication to the public, verbal and non-verbal.

The amendments in the bill are modelled on the existing provisions that make vilification unlawful on the grounds of race, sexuality, transgender status and HIV/AIDS status.

This new law will also protect people who do not hold religious beliefs or affiliations or who do not engage in religious activity, in recognition that these are also beliefs about religious matters that should be protected.

The government consulted closely on the proposed amendments with a broad range of stakeholder groups, including religious faith and religious advocacy organisations and community advocacy organisations, legal stakeholders and NSW Government agencies.

NSW Attorney General Michael Daley said:

“No one should have to encounter public hate due to their religious beliefs, and it is high time the Anti-Discrimination Act 1977 was changed to reflect this.

“For the most part, we are a tolerant society, and we welcome people to NSW from all over the world. However, we need to have laws that protect people of faith from public actions that incite hatred, serious contempt for, or severe ridicule for religious beliefs.

“We committed, as an election promise, to introduce legislation making religious vilification unlawful within our first 100 days in office. We are here to make good on our promises and get things done by making this change to the Anti-Discrimination Act.”

NSW Minister for Multiculturalism Steve Kamper said:

“The unfortunate reality is that certain forms of religious vilification are on the rise. No matter your personal beliefs, this is unacceptable.

“Members of the Jewish, Muslim, Hindu and Sikh faiths have all raised concerns about the growing levels of intolerance towards members of their communities.

“This much needed legislation will provide our faith communities with similar protections provided to members of diverse and multicultural communities.”

Communities with high levels of housing growth will soon have access to funding of $1 billion over the forward estimates, and up to $700 million per year beyond that, to invest in and speed up the delivery of vital infrastructure to support homes and jobs.

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New housing growth in NSW will now come with more closely connected infrastructure for community needs as the Minns Government’s Environmental Planning and Assessment (Housing and Productivity) Contributions Bill passed the NSW Legislative Council last night.

Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Paul Scully said the reforms aim to address housing supply shortages by dealing with a key bottleneck – infrastructure.

“The former Government left us with the biggest housing crisis this state has ever seen, so we’re taking action to get new home builds moving and supporting infrastructure funding.

“These reforms lock in infrastructure contributions of up to $700 million each year into the future helping to create great places around new housing.

“Our infrastructure contribution reforms set up a stronger system with a fair and consistent charge applied across Greater Sydney, Lower Hunter, Central Coast and the Illawarra-Shoalhaven, to help pay for the infrastructure needed to support growing communities.

“It includes $1 billion over 10 years for grants to local councils for regionally significant facilities like sporting complexes and open spaces.”

The Bill passed both Houses today, despite being opposed by the Liberal and National Parties despite them taking a similar plan to the last election.

“After 12 years of inaction on housing and effectively creating our current housing crisis, the Liberals and Nationals cynically voted against these reforms to better connect homes, jobs and infrastructure,” said Minister Scully.

“They voted against it despite taking a very similar plan to the election only a matter of months ago.”

The new infrastructure contributions scheme replaces the ad-hoc Special Infrastructure Contribution system with a new broad-based charge, called the Housing and Productivity Contribution. The new scheme will not affect the local infrastructure contributions currently paid to councils.

It is intended that the new system will come into effect from 1 October 2023.

More information can be found on the Department of Planning and Environment’s website.launch

Twelve tech startups have been given a unique opportunity to set their companies up for future success after being selected for an accelerator program run by leading global investment business Techstars.

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The 3-month program at Sydney’s Tech Central district starting in July provides startup founders with seed funding, training and access to a network of mentors to build their entrepreneurial skills.

The selected startups work across a range of sectors including AI, climate tech, fintech and healthtech.

Minister for Industry and Trade, Anoulack Chanthivong, confirmed the successful startups today and said it was an incredible opportunity for the companies involved. 

“Taking part in an accelerator program like this can be a game-change. It will provide startup founders with the tools and knowledge they need to grow their business, Mr Chanthivong said.

“This is also an opportunity that gives founders access to an investor community that secure the investment needed to take them to exciting new heights,” Mr Chanthivong said. 

“As the largest pre-seed investor in the world, we’re delighted to have Techstars onboard at our growing innovation hub at Tech Central, where they’ll continue to support the next generation of cutting-edge companies.”

Techstars Managing Director, Kirstin Hunter, said they received strong interest in the Sydney accelerator program with almost 500 applications received.

“We’re pleased to have such a diverse group of unstoppable founders on board for our accelerator. These 12 companies stood out to us for their passion and their innovative approach to solving some of society’s biggest problems,” Ms Hunter said.

“At Techstars, we believe anyone anywhere can be a world changing entrepreneur, and from our new base at Tech Central in Sydney, we’re looking forward to using our global network to accelerate the next wave of innovators that can make a lasting impact across the community.”

Nikki Tugano, founder of SeenCulture, said of being selected:

“What excites me most is the global opportunities that come with being in Techstars’ world-class accelerator program. I’m personally also super grateful to be working with Kirstin Hunter and Program Manager Lauren Fong because they’re so purpose led and really care about diversity, equity and inclusion. For SeenCulture, we want to achieve product market fit ASAP, so that’s going to be a huge focus for us in this program.”

The first Techstars Accelerator Program in Sydney will commence on July 10.

Get more information on Techstarslaunch.

The 12 companies selected for the Techstars Accelerator Program are:

• DogBase – An online platform for working dog handlers to track and measure performance.
• Femtek – The first menstrual health focused smart ring built exclusively for women to improve body literacy during sleep.
• Gecko – A booking system customised for event rental businesses.
• GoTradie – A purpose-built messaging app that simplifies the way tradies and worksites connect, communicate and collaborate.
• LARKI – A web portal providing 3D laser scan surveys to assist early-stage architecture projects.
• Mantaray Climate – A procurement platform that provides companies with data and tools to make more climate-friendly supply chain decisions.
• Outread – An AI-powered platform that provides short summaries of research articles from top journals.
• Pico – A platform that makes learning coding simpler for high school students.
• SeenCulture – A software solution that helps business leaders stabilise and optimise their existing workforce.
• some.place – An immersive commerce platform for retail brands to connect with their customers.
• Latent Knowledge – A platform that helps institutions accelerate research performance.
• Violet – A not-for-profit organisation that provides tools and support for people caring for others in the last stages of life.

The NSW Government will introduce new laws to improve workers compensation governance by appointing an employer and employee nominee to the icare Board.

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The Minister for Work Health and Safety Sophie Cotsis said it was critical that injured workers and premium-paying businesses were given a seat at the board table to support ongoing reform.

Two suitably qualified employer and employee directors will be nominated by employer and employee bodies and will also replace two non-executive directors, leaving the size and cost of the icare Board unchanged with 9 directors.

Employers and Unions NSW will have a formal say in the process, with both groups nominating a non-executive director.

Legislation to amend the State Insurance and Care Governance Act 2015 for the board changes will be introduced to NSW Parliament on Wednesday 28 June.

icare provides workers compensation for about 330,000 business and 3.4 million workers in NSW, managing about 60,000 new claims each year.

Under the former government’s oversight a $140 million IT contract was awarded in a 7-day tender and an $18 million contract was awarded without tender to the Liberal Party’s printer and a major donor.

In 2018, icare launched a model where new claims were largely managed by a single claims service provider – a move which injured workers and businesses have agreed was a disaster. icare is now moving away from this model.

Minister for Industrial Relations and Work Health and Safety Sophie Cotsis said:

“Return-to-work rates and the dissatisfaction felt by many injured workers highlight the need for a diversity of views and more robust decision-making on the icare Board.”

“It will take years to fix a decade of neglect of the workers compensation system, but this bill marks the beginning of our wider reform plans in this space.”

“Appointing employer and employee nominees to the icare Board will ensure these important perspectives are heard in the icare boardroom.”

“I made it clear that the new government had different expectations and the board plays a critical role in working together to ensure fiscally sustainable schemes, better claims management, timely medical diagnosis and treatment to support recovery and improved return to work outcomes.”

“icare knows that this improvement and reform journey is ongoing. There will be more steps to come.”

Related information

• Independent review of icare and SICG Acteast
• iCare (Insurance and Care NSW)launcheast