Category: NSW News

At-risk children are being prevented from slipping through the cracks when their families move interstate with a new database helping child protection authorities access critical information from interstate agencies.
Minister for Families, Communities and Disability Services Alister Henskens said NSW child protection workers used the landmark digital platform, Connect for Safety, more than 800 times in the last month alone.
“The simple act of sharing information across borders could be the difference between preventing child abuse or neglect, and having it go undetected,” Mr Henskens said.
“This world-leading platform has been developed in NSW and is creating a stronger safety net for at-risk kids, by enabling the exchange of data quickly, easily and securely between state and territory child protection agencies.”
Prior to the pandemic, on average about 330,000 Australians moved interstate each year. Vulnerable children are often at heightened risk of harm if their background in a previous jurisdiction is unknown, or not easily accessible to child protection authorities.
All state and territory jurisdictions, except Tasmania, are currently sharing information on Connect for Safety, with Tasmania to come onboard later this year.
Under the roll out, every statutory child protection officer in Australia will have access to Connect for Safety by July 2022.
Federal Minster for Social Services Anne Ruston said the ground-breaking project is about preventing children falling through the cracks.
“This national approach will make it easier for child protection caseworkers to get clarity around a child’s life story and provide an effective response,” Ms Ruston said.
“Our aim is to improve outcomes for children no matter where they live, with inter-jurisdictional information exchange a vital part of keeping kids safe.”
Connect for Safety aligns with the National Framework for Protecting Australia’s Children 2009-2020 and goes towards addressing recommendations made by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

A share of $139 million is up for grabs for eight Western Sydney councils as applications have opened for round two of the Accelerated Infrastructure Funding (AIF).
Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Rob Stokes said round two includes high-growth greenfield precincts in Blacktown, The Hills, Hawkesbury, Penrith, Liverpool, Camden, Campbelltown and Wollondilly local government areas (LGAs).
“We launched this funding to support our economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and in the first round more than $145 million was invested to deliver 14 projects,” Mr Stokes said.
“All of these projects are now underway and will support the development of up to 40,000 new homes, 115 hectares of employment land and create up to 1,000 new construction jobs.
“Delivering important infrastructure such as roads, stormwater drains and public space is key to our economic recovery and the second round of the AIF brings the NSW Government’s support to more than $210 million.”
Minister for Jobs, Investment, Tourism and Western Sydney Stuart Ayres said the AIF would also create thousands of jobs in the construction phase, helping to meet the future needs of Western Sydney.
“Western Sydney is ripe for growth and this funding will provide the necessary infrastructure to support an expected 20,000 plus new greenfield homes across these LGAs over the next five years,” Mr Ayres said.
“This is a great example of state and local government working together to accelerate projects that stimulate the economy and create jobs as we start to emerge from the pandemic.”
Councils will be allocated funding according to anticipated growth in each LGA, the amount of development the funding will support and the amount of co-funding that councils can provide. All projects must commence construction within two years to qualify for funding.
Project nominations are now open and councils will need to apply by 31 October 2021 to be considered.
For more information visit: www.https://www.planning.nsw.gov.au/accelerated-infrastructure-fund.

Detectives have charged a woman following an investigation into the alleged sexual abuse of three male students in Sydney’s east more than 40 years ago.
In May this year, detectives from Eastern Beaches Police Area Command established Strike Force Sportsground to investigate allegations of sexual abuse by a female teacher at a school in Sydney’s east in the 1970s and 1980s.
During the investigation, police received information that three boys – then aged 13, 14 and 15 – were sexually assaulted by a female teacher while at a school in Sydney’s east between 1977 and 1980.
Following extensive investigations, strike force detectives arrested a 67-year-old woman at a home at St Ives just before 8am today (Friday 17 September 2021).
The woman was taken to Hornsby Police Station and charged with 14 counts of indecent assault on male.
She was granted strict conditional bail to appear at Waverley Local Court on Wednesday 6 October 2021.
Investigations under Strike Force Sportsground are continuing.

More than 250 schools across NSW will receive upgrades, including improvements to playgrounds, science facilities and canteens, providing hundreds of jobs for local businesses.
The $484 million Minor Capital Works program will upgrade and renew school facilities and security, as well as improve accessibility for students with additional needs.
Deputy Premier and Minister for Regional NSW John Barilaro said more than half the schools to benefit are in regional and rural NSW.
“This government is investing record amounts into our schools to ensure that every child, no matter where they live, has access to excellent schools and education facilities,” Mr Barilaro said.
“This investment will also provide a welcome boost for regional economies, by creating jobs and providing work for local tradespeople at a time when it is needed most.”
Minister for Education Sarah Mitchell said the program will be a boost for businesses as NSW exits lockdown, with $76 million going directly to local businesses.
“The NSW Government is investing record amounts into our schools, and as we begin our journey back to normal life schools will be central to our recovery. I’m thrilled this investment is a boost for both students and businesses,” Ms Mitchell said.
“These school improvement projects can have an incredible impact on the look and feel of our schools and through this government’s investment in programs such as this as well as Cooler Classrooms, LED Lighting Upgrade, Regional and Metro Renewal and Roof Replacement, schools right across NSW are experiencing the benefits.”
The Department of Education has more than 2,200 NSW public schools and delivery of these projects ensures that schools across the state have access to modern facilities to support learning outcomes.
Projects funded as part of the Minor Capital Works Program include an admin and staff upgrade at Dee Why Public School, a toilet upgrade at Millfield Public School, a science lab upgrade at Deniliquin High School and an integration project of access works at Heathcote High School.
The NSW Government is investing $7.9 billion over the next four years, continuing its program to deliver 215 new and upgraded schools to support communities across NSW. This is the largest investment in public education infrastructure in the history of NSW.

A new plan aimed at changing the way teachers work at school, giving them more quality time to spend preparing and teaching students, was released today.
Teachers and school staff are being called on to provide feedback on the NSW Government’s Quality Time Action Plan which sets an ambitious agenda for reducing duplicative, repetitive, and low-value administrative tasks in schools.
Minister for Education Sarah Mitchell said leveraging technology and digital tools to streamline teaching tasks is at the centre of the plan.
“We know that quality teachers have the biggest impact on student outcomes – by streamlining and simplifying the work done outside of the classroom we can enhance the experience and outcomes within the classroom,” Ms Mitchell said.
“The department needs to always support teachers to do their best work. This plan is about asking teachers to help shape the solutions they need from the system.
“While lesson planning, marking and reporting are core parts of the job, we can make these processes smarter, more intuitive and high-value rather than cumbersome, repetitive and wasteful.
“Not only will this give teachers back valuable time to focus on learning, it will enable us to scale best practice resources and teaching approaches in classrooms across NSW.”
Opportunities for reform identified in the Action Plan include an overhauled assessment system allowing teachers to generate individual student focused assessments in minutes; an online tool to allow teachers to easily store, find, share and tailor lesson plans and learning programs; and streamlined administration requirements for maintaining accreditation.
“The Action Plan represents the next phase of the work to create more time for teachers, which is a core component of the School Success Model. To date, this work has saved an estimated 105 hours per principal, 10 hours per teacher and 25 hours per school administration staff member each year,” said Ms Mitchell.
The Action Plan has been released for consultation and feedback from school staff and stakeholders, enabling schools to have direct input into the reform agenda.

The Berejiklian Government has today launched the NSW Water Strategy, a 20-year blueprint to deliver resilient and sustainable water resources to communities across the state ensuring NSW is leading the charge when it comes to innovation.
The strategy coincides with the launch of the Water Project Map, a new tool for people to access information about all water infrastructure projects across NSW.
Minister for Water, Property and Housing Melinda Pavey said the Strategy is NSW’s first-ever platform for the long-term management of water, which will guide future water planning and policy, and how, where and when water infrastructure investments are made.
“This strategy, underpinned by cutting-edge climate modelling, will help our state work towards becoming a world leader in water innovation and efficiency,” Mrs Pavey said.
“In the next 12 months we’ll refocus our efforts on water conservation and leakage reduction in our cities, towns and regional centers, and deliver a state-wide water efficiency framework.
“We’ll also look for opportunities to invest in research and development, and new technologies, including recycled water opportunities for industrial and agricultural uses.”
The Government will investigate and invest in supply options including stormwater harvesting and water re-use, and look at developing a consistent approach to water restrictions.
“We’re exploring a range of options, including boosting water recycling across communities for watering crops and gardens, fighting fires, flushing toilets and reducing pollution in our waterways,” Mrs Pavey said.
Already, about 70 percent of local water utilities recycle water. Treated stormwater is being used to provide up to 25 per cent of Orange’s supply.”
These initiatives and projects are key opportunities laid out in the NSW Water Strategy, as Government prepares for future challenges – including more demand for water and a more variable climate – and sets the strategic direction for the state’s water sector over the long term.
“People living in NSW make up more than a third of Australia’s population, and over the next 20 years, our state will grow by 2.8 million. We need the right infrastructure in place to enable this growth, knowing the challenges we face with a changing climate,” Mrs Pavey said.
“The recent drought was one of the worst and most extreme on record, and it hit our communities hard. Our water supplies were stretched to their limits..
“But the drought also brought about creative and innovative ideas about infrastructure investment, with many communities having to source different means of increasing their supply.
“While many of our dams are now full or starting to spill, we know drought will come again, so now is the time to make decisions to ensure our communities, industries and environment thrive, now and into the future.”
The NSW Water Strategy sets the overarching vision for 12 regional and two metropolitan water strategies also being developed, tailored to the individual needs of each region in the state.
In addition, the new online map shows where the record investment for critical water infrastructure projects are, details of the projects and how they are helping communities.
For more information and to read the NSW Water Strategy, visit here. To view the online map visit here.

Curfews in Sydney’s Local Government Areas (LGAs) of concern have now been lifted, as the state hits the milestone of 80 per cent of the adult population with one dose of the COVID vaccine.
Curfews have been lifted in the LGAs of concern:

• Bayside
• Blacktown
• Burwood
• Campbelltown
• Canterbury-Bankstown
• Cumberland
• Fairfield
• Georges River
• Liverpool
• Parramatta
• Strathfield
• Penrith for the following suburbs: Caddens, Claremont Meadows, Colyton, Erskine Park, Kemps Creek, Kingswood, Mount Vernon, North St Marys, Orchard Hills, Oxley Park, St Clair and St Marys.

This is a whole-of-government decision based on the advice of our health and police experts.
While the NSW community has achieved this fantastic milestone, it is critical that we do not let our guard down.
We continue to ask the community to follow the stay-at-home rules, limit their movement and do all they can to keep everyone safe.
NSW Health continues to urge everyone in these LGAs, and throughout NSW, to get vaccinated, get tested immediately if they have even the mildest of symptoms and isolate until they receive a negative result.
High rates of testing are critical to detecting transmission and preventing further spread of COVID-19 in the community.
For the latest information or to book a vaccination appointment visit nsw.gov.au/covid-19

The NSW Government today announced an additional $287.5 million in COVID-19 financial support to assist workers and vulnerable communities in metropolitan, regional and rural NSW.
The additional funding will see the COVID-19 emergency hardship payments, test and isolate support payments and community empowerment grants expanded across all of NSW.
Deputy Premier John Barilaro said the funds will assist workers and vulnerable people under financial strain due to the COVID-19 restrictions across the State.
“The expansion and extension of the emergency hardship payment will provide assistance to people across all of NSW who are under severe financial strain but are not eligible for other support payments and grants,” Mr Barilaro said.
“The test and isolate payment will help people to test early and isolate if they have COVID symptoms. This payment will help take the pressure off if an individual does not have access to leave entitlements or other support payments.
“Grants for culturally and linguistically diverse groups have also been expanded to connect multicultural communities with essential services throughout the pandemic.”
NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet said the new $287.5 million funding commitment is in addition to the NSW Government’s existing commitment of $7.7 billion in COVID-19 support measures.
“As lockdown continues, we want to make sure support is provided where it’s needed and no communities are forgotten,” Mr Perrottet said.
“We’re providing those under severe financial strainmoney in their bank accounts to help them through the lockdown and we’re supporting workers to test early and isolate so we can save lives and livelihoods across the State.
“We’re also supporting multicultural organisations which are best placed to connect migrant communities with vital health services to ensure our vaccination rate keeps climbing – as that’s really key to our State’s recovery.”
The NSW Government’s additional $287.5 million funding commitment includes;

• The emergency hardship, one-off payment of $400 administered by the Red Cross which has been expanded to temporary visa/no visa holders in NSW who are facing severe financial hardship and are not eligible for other government income. To apply visit: https://www.redcross.org.au/get-help/help-for-migrants-in-transition/help-for-migrants-in-transition/nsw-relief
• The test and isolate payment of $320 which has now been expanded state-wide. It is available for eligible workers aged 17 and over, who have symptoms of COVID-19, to get tested and isolate until a negative result is returned. The payment is available to NSW workers who do not have sick, carer’s or pandemic leave. To apply visit: https://www.service.nsw.gov.au/transaction/apply-test-and-isolate-support-payment
• Community supports grants which have been expanded across NSW to help organisations deliver emergency food relief, promote vaccination and testing services, and provide culturally appropriate support and care to diverse communities.

Contracts worth around $100 million will deliver important upgrades to Sydney’s rail network between Erskineville and Bondi Junction, on the T4 Eastern Suburbs line.
The new digital system upgrade will allow trains to run more frequently and ensure a faster network recovery after incidents.
Minister for Transport and Roads Andrew Constance said the upgrade will mean signalling information is directly transmitted into the train cab, removing the need for drivers to rely on fixed “traffic light” signals outside the train.
“While traditional signals have served Sydney well for many decades, they are fixed at set locations and limit the railway from operating at its full potential,” Mr Constance said.
“The installation of digital signalling will mean when an incident happens, the network can recover more quickly with reduced delays, which is great news for customers.”
“The new technology allows continual electronic communication between the track and train, ensuring network controllers can build in extra network capacity. Trains can therefore safely run closer together and, once installed across the network, additional services will be able to meet projected future demand.”
Member for Vaucluse Gabrielle Upton said the upgrades will deliver more frequent services for train customers in the Eastern Suburbs.
“This mulit-million dollar investment today ensures our train network can cope with the increasing demands of the future, especially on the busy Eastern Suburbs line.”
Construction between Erskineville and Bondi Junction will begin later this year, with the new system expected to be begin operations in early 2024.
The works are part of the Digital Systems Program that will progressively replace legacy signalling and train control technologies with modern, internationally proven, intelligent systems to boost safety, capacity and reliability on the network.
Earlier this year, the NSW Government signed contracts worth around $110 million to deliver digital signalling on the T4 Sutherland to Cronulla line.

The NSW Government has made it clear that Parliament will resume on October 12, to  help restrict the spread of COVID-19.
As the Premier has indicated, the NSW Government is looking forward to resuming Parliament sitting in October as we move towards higher vaccination rates and safe sittings.
I formally notified the President of the Legislative Council on Friday, 10 September 2021, that no Government Minister or Parliamentary Secretary would attend the Legislative Council sitting this week, given the clear risks.
I further requested that the President of the Legislative Council postpone this week’s sitting of the House to help protect the health of Members, Parliamentary staff and the families of Parliamentary staff who would be required to attend Parliament unnecessarily, as no business of the House can be conducted without a Minister or Parliamentary Secretary present.
Instead of putting local communities and the health of Parliamentary staff and their families first, Labor and the Crossbench joined forces to ensure the Legislative Council has resumed sitting today, even in circumstances where no formal business can be conducted.
This is a political and selfish stunt, a move which only satisfies their own agenda and as a result puts Parliamentary staff, their families and our communities at risk of transmitting COVID-19.
I call on the Leader of the Opposition Chris Minns to maintain his bipartisan support for the NSW Government’s focus on the health and safety of the people of NSW. Mr Minns should direct the Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council and all Labor MLCs and their staff to stay at home.
It should be noted a Legislative Assembly cross-party committee agreed to follow the health advice and postpone the scheduled sitting period in September.
Mr Minns and Labor cannot have one policy for the Legislative Assembly and a different policy for the Legislative Council.
Background
During COVID-19 restrictions, the NSW Parliament has conducted eight Budget Estimates hearings and three Public Accountability Committee Hearings.
Currently, there are 24 inquiries open, all of which the Government is cooperating with.
Members of the Legislative Council are still able to ask questions on notice on any weekday.
The NSW Government has made it clear it would make up the lost sitting days.