Category: Australian News

The Greens have called on universities to take a zero tolerance approach to sexual violence and harassment on campuses, after the results of the latest National Student Safety Survey revealed that many university settings remain unsafe and unsupportive of student survivors, especially young women.

Greens deputy leader and spokesperson on women Senator Larissa Waters said:

“It’s shocking how little has changed since the 2017 survey that formed part of the Human Rights Commission’s Change the Course report.

“The findings of this latest survey reveal that students, particularly female students, remain unsafe and unsupported in many university settings.

“Students have been speaking out for years about sexual violence and harassment on campuses across the country, hoping that sharing their traumatic experiences would lead to universities taking action and being held accountable.

“Organisations like End Rape on Campus have worked tirelessly to keep these issues in the spotlight and get universities to ensure student safety.

“Today’s results show that not enough has been done.

“Universities must finally take this matter seriously. They need genuine zero tolerance policies; transparent, timely complaints procedures; and appropriate support to students from the moment they raise concerns. Universities must ensure residential colleges have professional, trauma-informed staff and clear accountability for enforcing sexual harassment policies. They must engage EROC and survivors in designing, implementing, and evaluating education programs, reporting mechanisms, and support services.

“The National Plan to End Violence Against Women should include specific indicators for university settings to hold universities to account and ensure students are safe and respected.”

Following an extraordinary day of testimony at the Senate inquiry into oil and gas exploration and production in the Beetaloo Basin, The Greens have today reiterated their support for Traditional Owners who continue to oppose the proposed ‘climate bomb’ fracking project.

At the Darwin hearing, chaired by Yamatji Noongar woman and Australian Greens Senator for WA Dorinda Cox, Traditional Owners expressed concerns at the continued absence of Free, Prior and Informed consent.

The Greens are also deeply concerned to hear testimony to the Inquiry that: 

• if fracking goes ahead in the Beetaloo,it will be impossible for the Government or Opposition to meet their Net Zero by 2050 targets 
• The promise to require all emissions to be offset as a condition of lifting the NT fracking moratorium in 2018 has now been abandoned. The NT government falsely claims they can’t require gas companies to force offsets and are relying on Angus Taylor to do it.
• Government bureaucrats and politicians are having more meetings with the gas industry than Traditional Owners and pastoralists combined.
• The head of the Department approving drilling wells came straight from the gas company and exploration permit holder, Santos.
• Pastoralists plead that gas companies and agriculture can’t coexist in the Territory. There is simply not enough water for Traditional Owners, Pastoralists and gas companies
• Fracking poses serious contamination risks to groundwater, soil and air
• The initial exploration of wells alone will use 2.2 billion litres of precious water, and release at least 1 million tonnes of emissions
• Santos and Sweetpea have not undertaken stakeholder engagement prior to the development of Environmental Plans.

“In the middle of the climate emergency, the Northern Territory Labor government supported by the Federal Liberal and Labor parties want to open up Australia’s biggest ever gas field for oil and gas fracking by big corporations,” Senator Dorinda Cox said today.

“Traditional Owners have been very clear – they don’t want this fracking to go ahead. They don’t want their lands and waters to be poisoned. They don’t want this climate bomb. There is no free, prior and informed consent – and this should be a necessity given the enormous scale of this potential climate disaster.”

Senator Thorpe added that, “Successive governments have undermined First Nations land rights and heritage protections to favour big corporations, who often make big donations to the Liberal and Labor parties. We need to balance the scales.”

Scott Morrison is doling out $50 million of public money to big gas companies to frack the Territory, including long-term Liberal allies like Empire Energy and just announced another $50 million more today to prepare studies for where the pipelines will go

The handful of companies and their owners involved in this proposed project have collectively donated $3.7 million to the two major parties over the decade.

Committee hearings remain ongoing. On Friday, the Senate Committee is expected to hear testimony from gas companies Origin Energy, Tamboran, Santos Limited as well as three federal Government Departments. 

To help get more local doctors trained in the specialties Australia needs, the Morrison Government is providing $708.6 million to continue the Specialist Training Program (STP) for four years from 2022.

Since 2010, more than $1.4 billion has been invested towards the program, which supports training positions outside of traditional metropolitan teaching hospitals.

The program allows participants to train in a multitude of medical environments, including private hospitals, specialist rooms, clinics and day surgeries, Aboriginal Medical Services and non-clinical settings.

Minister for Regional Health, Dr David Gillespie said the extension of the program will mean 920 full-time equivalent places annually, with at least 50 per cent of training to occur in regional, rural and remote locations or private settings.

“This four-year extension of the Specialist Training Program allows specialist trainees to continue to take the opportunity to train in rural communities, which we know creates a higher likelihood they will remain or return after their training is completed,” Dr Gillespie said.

“Already the program has benefitted more than 190 regional, rural, and remote locations, and has seen an increase in rural training from 309 full-time equivalent places in 2018 to 380 places in 2020.

“This investment, coupled with our investment in rural GP and rural generalist training, is part of our deliberate strategy to grow our rural medical workforce.”

Minister for Health and Aged Care, Greg Hunt, said that an important focus for the program from 2022 will be to increase the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander specialist workforce, aligning the program with the recently released National Medical Workforce Strategy.

“Our Government is committed to improving access to quality health care for all Australians, regardless of where they live. This program is an important foundation for that,” Minister Hunt said.

“The program will help to deliver actions of the National Medical Workforce Strategy, including an increase in specialist training opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

“This ensures that Indigenous Australians and regional Australia more broadly will benefit from a redistribution of the program’s existing specialist workforce, ensuring more services and training can be delivered where it is needed most.”

The additional funding to extend the program is being provided to 13 non-GP specialist medical colleges already funded under the Specialist Training Program. The funded colleges are:

• Australasian College of Dermatologists (ACD)
• Australasian College of Emergency Medicine (ACEM)
• Australasian College of Sport and Exercise Physicians (ACSEP)
• Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (ANZCA)
• College of Intensive Care Medicine (CICM)
• Royal Australasian College of Medical Administrators (RACMA)
• Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP)
• Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS)
• Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RANZCOG)
• Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists (RANZCO)
• Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP)
• Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists (RANZCR)
• Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia (RCPA)

Further information about the program can be found on the Department of Health’s Specialist Training Program web page.

The Morrison Joyce Government is investing more than $4 million across country Australia to increase access to specialists for patients and encourage more specialists to undertake their training in regional, rural and remote areas.

The funding will be shared across eight projects that will support more specialists – such as dermatologists, emergency medicine specialists, sports and exercise physicians, surgeons and psychiatrists – to undertake rural and regional placements and training.

Federal Regional Health Minister, Dr David Gillespie said the investment through the Morrison Joyce Government’s Flexible Approach to Training in Expanded Settings (FATES) program will use innovative approaches to better support trainee specialists in locations with shortages of specialists.

“There is strong evidence that undertaking medical training in a regional or rural setting increases retention rates,” former regional doctor, Dr Gillespie said.

“The Morrison Joyce Government is rapidly expanding and innovating rural training opportunities not only for non-GP specialists such as this, but for GPs, nurses and allied health professionals.

“This investment will improve distribution and supply of specialist medical training in areas of undersupply that will also meet the needs of regional, rural and remote communities.”

Minister for Health and Aged Care, Greg Hunt, said several of the projects will trial new methods for supervising non-GP specialist trainees, including remote supervision, rotation of supervisors, and a hybrid model which blends on-site and remote supervision.

“One in particular will be delivered as a consortia approach in collaboration with the Australian Indigenous Doctors Association, to increase the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people trained as non-GP medical specialists across most specialities,” Minister Hunt said.

Dr Gillespie said he often heard dermatologists and psychiatrists are in short supply in country Australia, and three projects funded in today’s announcement would directly assist with getting more of these two specialities to the bush.

“The Australasian College of Dermatologists will roll out two programs that will boost training opportunities for this speciality in Townsville, Darwin and Katherine,” Dr Gillespie said.

“Psychiatrists are in undersupply nationally, especially in rural and remote areas. The funded project being ran by the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists will employ three specialists that will play a crucial role in implementing the national Rural Psychiatry Training Pathway.”

Projects are located in Queensland, Western Australia, the Northern Territory, with others focussed more broadly in rural and remote area across Australia so that all country patients can benefit from this investment.

The FATES program will run for four years from 2021-22, providing a total of $29.5 million for new and innovative approaches to non-GP medical specialist training, and support for trainee specialists to transition to rural practice.

Project details:

Specialist medical college	Project title	Location	Funding amount
Australasian College of Dermatologists	An innovative and collaborative model of hybrid supervision for specialist dermatology training in Townsville.	Townsville, QLD	$455,731
Australasian College of Dermatologists	NT Supervisory Rotational System	Darwin/Katherine, NT	$612,128
Australasian College of Emergency Medicine	Blended Remote Trainee Supervision Pilot	South West Victoria (Warrnambool) and Townsville, QLD	$324,000
Australasian College of Sports and Exercise Physicians	Remote Supervision Pilot	Broome, WA	$205,607
The College of Intensive Care Medicine	WA Training Pathway Project	Western Australia	$418,026
Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists	Rural Director of Training Pilot Program	To be determined	$830,366
Royal Australasian College of Surgeons	Rural Accreditation – Addressing Barriers to Rural Specialist Training	National	$848,196
Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists	Australian Indigenous Doctors’ Association Specialist Trainee Support Program (AIDA STSP)	National	$501,977

The Morrison-Joyce Government has locked in $5.4 billion to build the Hells Gates Dam in North Queensland that will create thousands of jobs while delivering water security for the region, particularly for the agriculture sector.

Through the 2022–23 Budget, the Government will guarantee funding to build the dam, subject to the completion of the final stage of the business case, expected in June this year.

Hells Gates is anticipated to open up as much as 60,000 hectares of irrigation across three agricultural zones in the Burdekin, supported through a 2,100-gigalitre dam and bolstered by three downstream irrigation weirs.

The project is expected to create more than 7,000 jobs and inject up to $1.3 billion of Gross Regional Product (GRP) into North Queensland’s economy during construction alone.

During operations, new and expanded agricultural opportunities are expected to support more than 3,000 regional jobs and generate up to $6 billion in GRP.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said delivering water infrastructure in North Queensland was vital to securing a strong economy while supporting farmers and industry.

“We need to build more dams in Australia. Building dams makes our economy stronger by supporting our agricultural industries to realise their true potential,” the Prime Minister said.

“Water is a precious resource and we need more dams to better use that resource.

“We’ve done the homework on Hells Gates Dam and it’s now time to get on and build it. We have put our money on the table, so let’s cut the green tape, get the approvals and get it done.

“This dam will help turn the Burdekin region into an agricultural powerhouse, helping our farmers to stock supermarkets and feed Australia while also securing North Queensland’s water supply and security.

“This investment will kick off a jobs boom across North Queensland for years to come, creating thousands of jobs while generating work for small businesses across the entire north, including in Townsville.”

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development Barnaby Joyce said the Government’s investment would help North Queensland realise its full potential.

“North Queensland holds enormous agricultural opportunity and this funding for Hells Gates is part of our plan to unlock this major irrigation expansion,” the Deputy Prime Minister said.

“Irrigating the regional soils of the Burdekin will help the region realise its full potential as a producer of the food Australians and the world needs, driving us closer to taking agricultural production to over $100 billion a year by 2030. This will create more jobs and generate more wealth for our nation.

“The sooner water flows in the west, the sooner we can sell more products to the world and earn the money that will help make Australia as strong as possible as quickly as possible.

“We have put the money to build Hells Gates in the bank and we are ready to get on with the job.”

Federal Member for Herbert Phillip Thompson said the project would have a significant flow-on effect for Townsville.

“We’ve backed this project right from the start because it is something that will create jobs and drive the economy forward,” Mr Thompson said.

“The Townsville Port is well-placed to handle exports from the region, especially after our forward planning and investment into the channel widening project.”

Special Envoy for Northern Australia and Senator for Queensland Susan McDonald said the Morrison-Joyce Government is serious about big-ticket projects in Northern Australia, not only to store water but to drive industry, agriculture, renewable energy and provide jobs to grow regional populations.

“The focus on our north has never been greater, and this focus has been backed by real action and a renewed vigour in how we provide the funding and regulatory framework needed to drive mining, grow business confidence, boost primary production and increase Indigenous involvement,” Senator McDonald said.

“We’re building roads, streamlining environmental approvals processes, and encouraging our mineral sector, making it easier for business to recruit workers and ensuring communities can thrive.

“The Northern Australia agenda is a significant undertaking that we are committed to seeing through.”

Today’s announcement builds on the suite of dams and water infrastructure projects the Coalition is already investing in and delivering across Queensland, including:

• $600 million towards the restoration of Paradise Dam;
• $505.65 towards the delivery and construction of Urannah Dam;
• $183.6 million towards the Rookwood Weir;
• $180 million towards the Hughenden Irrigation Scheme; and
• $30 million towards the Big Rocks Weir.

Recommendations to support Australia’s newspaper services in rural, regional and remote areas will be laid out in a report released today by the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Communications and the Arts.

Committee Chair, Dr Anne Webster MP said, ‘Regional newspapers in Australia represent a large and diverse industry, which has experienced significant challenges over the past decade. With the transition to digital news and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, assessing the health of our regional newspapers is more important than ever before.’

The Committee made 12 recommendations aimed at addressing core sector issues, and implementing alternative and sustainable business practices, to ensure the longevity of local newspapers across Australia.

The Committee also recommended a multi-pronged approach to support the long-term viability of the sector, particularly for small and independent newspapers based in regional and remote Australian communities. The approach includes the funding and development of a project to gather and analyse core longitudinal data on regional newspapers in Australia.

‘For people in regional, rural, or remote communities, regional newspapers are the main source of local information. It also plays an important role in maintaining an interconnected community, and a healthy democracy. A diversity of opinion from all sides of the political spectrum and coverage of local, as well as national issues, is essential to public debate. It is important we ensure the sector remains viable in the long-term’, said Dr Webster.

The report can be accessed from the Committee’s website https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/House/Communications/Arts

An expert in the science behind the Australian Defence Force’s command and control systems has been recognised for his outstanding contribution to Defence, winning the 2021 Minister’s Award for Achievement in Defence Science.

Dr Alex Kalloniatis, a senior Operations Analyst with the Department of Defence, was awarded the honour by Minister for Defence Industry Melissa Price.

“Dr Kalloniatis is a standard bearer for outstanding scientific leadership,” Minister Price said.

“He has conceived and been the driving force behind the future Command and Control concepts that are now at the heart of the ADF’s approach,” Minister Price said.

The Command and Control system is a critical warfighting system in the ADF. It turns individual capability elements into a coordinated, coherent force.

“As our ADF encounters increasingly complex and contested environments, they need to be able to bring together capabilities across all domains of warfare; air, maritime, land, space, information and cyber, to achieve complementary and coordinated effects,” Minister Price said.

“Dr Kalloniatis’ work is critical to enabling the ADF to synchronise its efforts across all domains and operational levels.”

The annual Minister’s Award for Achievement in Defence Science was introduced in 1988 to recognise original and outstanding contributions capable of enhancing Australia’s defence effectiveness and efficiency.

The awarding of the 2021 Minister’s award was delayed due to COVID.

The 2022 award will be presented at the Australian Defence Science Technology and Research Summit, (ADSTAR) in July this year.

Details of previous winners are available at https://www.dst.defence.gov.au/award-groups/ministers-achievement-award .

Australian Greens Education spokesperson Senator Mehreen Faruqi has said that Government and Labor Senators have teamed up to produce highly flawed and misleading findings in a Senate Inquiry report into her private member’s bill that would remove the ministerial veto power over Australian Research Council grant funding decisions.

While the vast majority of evidence received from witnesses and submitters through the Inquiry supported removing the ministerial veto, the Committee recommends that the bill not be passed.

Senator Faruqi said:

“Despite an overwhelming majority of contributors supporting the removal of the veto, the committee majority have relied selectively on evidence provided by a very small number of witnesses.

“Politics has trumped good policy-making as both the Government and Labor have refused to concede their political power to interfere with individual research grants.

“This is a shameless attempt to retain unnecessary power over research funding despite enormous evidence provided about the harm that it does to our research and researchers.

“The Government and Labor’s contribution to this inquiry has been nothing short of insulting to the dozens of universities, researchers and peak bodies who provided evidence for the need to remove the veto power.

“Ministerial vetoes have been hugely damaging for academic freedom, research independence, peer-review and Australia’s global research reputation. They have been particularly harmful for early career researchers and for the humanities and social sciences. Yet the Government and Labor ignored these impacts when they teamed up to oppose the bill and disregard overwhelming evidence in support of it.

“The good news is that both major parties have now been put on notice: you are at odds with the Australian university and research communities who want to see this power gone. This is an untenable situation going forward. Politicians will have to come to the table sooner or later.”

Australian Greens Dissenting Report available here: https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Education_and_Employment/ARCBill/Report/section?id=committees%2freportsen%2f024901%2f79507

Greens SA Senator, Sarah Hanson-Young, has joined with Greens Senate Candidate for SA in calling for Labor to reverse their support for the Morrison government’s dismantling of Australia’s progressive taxation system.

Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said:

“The Liberals and Labor are on a joint ticket when it comes to giving federal politicians a $9,000 tax cut, while minimum-wage workers – like those in aged care – get nothing.”

“Why should we give a huge, permanent tax cut to Bank CEOs and Federal politicians, while low paid workers get nothing?”

Barbara Pocock, Greens Senate Candidate for SA and Emeritus Professor of Economics said:

“It doesn’t pass the pub test or a 101 economics class.”

“The Greens will oppose the Stage 3 tax cuts and we call on the opposition to do their job and join us.

“You don’t need to be a professor of economics to realize that low paid workers are more likely than the wealthy to spend their tax cut back into the economy.

“But as a Professor of Economics it is obvious to me that this isn’t fair and doesn’t stack up. And I think  that a lot of South Australians who care about a fair go, would agree with me.”

“The extreme changes as part of the Stage 3 tax shake up will take us closer to a flat-tax society like the US and undermine the ‘fair go’ that we expect in Australia.”

“If I’m elected to the Senate for SA, I’ll vote to block and reverse these cuts as one step towards a fairer go in our tax system.”

Barbara Pocock is the Greens Senate candidate for South Australia and an Emeritus Professor of Economics in the  Business School at UniSA.

A multidisciplinary teaching hub at a Tasmanian aged care facility will secure greater opportunities for health students and better access to services for older Tasmanians across the region.

The Morrison Joyce Government will invest $1.5 million through the University of Tasmania (UTAS) to establish the training centre at Corumbene Care at New Norfolk.

In New Norfolk today to announce the funding, Minister for Senior Australians and Aged Care Services, Richard Colbeck said the investment underlines the Morrison Joyce Government’s commitment to older and vulnerable Australians across regional Australia.

The facility is set to offer nursing, exercise physiology, pharmacy, psychology, social work, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, speech pathology and podiatry training.

“We know how important it is for older Australians to receive the care they need, particularly in regions where access to services can sometimes be restricted,” Minister Colbeck said.

“The surrounding areas of the Derwent Valley, Central Highlands and the Southern Midlands will benefit enormously under this initiative aimed at strengthening future careers in the sector while prioritising the health and wellbeing of older Tasmanians.”

Minister Colbeck said students will learn how to deliver culturally responsible services including bereavement support, health promotion, exercise and nutrition.

Minister for Regional Health, Dr David Gillespie said though the Rural Health Multidisciplinary Training (RHMT) program, the Morrison Joyce Government is investing $48.3 million to increase rural health training opportunities to deliver health, aged care, and disability services in regional, rural, and remote communities.

“More than $18 million of the funding was allocated to establish up to 7 health training demonstration sites in aged care services in country Australia,” Dr Gillespie said.

Students from UTAS and interstate universities across nursing and allied health disciplines will undertake their scheduled Professional Experience Placements (PEP) at Corumbene.

UTAS aims to deliver training to 44 students in 2022, and 50 students in 2023, with an average placement being approximately 5 weeks long. UTAS will work to increase that to more than 5 weeks for each student.

Importantly, UTAS will directly target students from rural areas and work with Aboriginal health organisations to incorporate cultural safety for supervisors and students.

“There is growing evidence that health students who undertake extended training in a rural area, and those from a rural background, are more likely to take up rural practice upon graduation,” Dr Gillespie said.

“The Morrison Joyce Government is investing in and supporting high-quality rural health training because it’s a proven and effective way for us to address gaps in the rural and remote health workforce now and in the future.”

More broadly, Minister Colbeck said the Morrison Joyce Government had invested more than $652 million to grow the aged care workforce as it continues to respond to the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety.

This includes a $91.8 million investment to support providers to attract, train and retain 13, 000 new personal care workers as soon as possible, with a focus on home care through the new Home Care Worker Support Program.

Funding has also been provided for workforce planning as part of the existing Business Advisory Service, which will include tools to support recruitment, training and retention of workers.

Additionally, the Morrison Joyce Government announced $135.6 million in financial support for registered nurses who work for the same aged care provider over a 12 month period.  Nurses will be eligible for an additional payment if they work in a rural or remote area or have a formal postgraduate qualifications or take on further training responsibilities. This funding will be rolled out over two years, and will put money straight into the pockets of aged care nurses.

The Aged Care Transition to Practice Program, has also provided support and guidance to newly graduated nurses since its commencement in August 2021.