Category: NSW News

Vulnerable children in out-of-home care will be provided permanent and loving homes sooner and with more support, as part of a plan to turbocharge the open adoption and guardianship process.
Treasurer Dominic Perrottet said the 2021-22 NSW Budget would include $12 million to scale up initiatives aimed at increasing the number of adoptions and guardianships, including through the establishment of a Permanency Taskforce.
“A permanent and loving home is the foundation for a happy and healthy life and this investment will help make open adoption or guardianship a reality for more kids,” Mr Perrottet said.
“The NSW Government has made providing permanency for vulnerable kids a priority, and this funding will enable a significant increase in promotion of open adoption and guardianship, raising awareness of the life-changing benefits of a permanent home.”
NSW is leading the nation in providing permanency for children in out-of-home care, accounting for almost 99 per cent of all open adoptions from care in Australia in 2019-20. NSW is also providing permanency through guardianship, with 3,267 children currently on guardianship orders.
Minister for Families, Communities and Disability Services Alister Henskens said the dedicated Permanency Taskforce will change lives for the better, cementing NSW as the leading light when it comes to providing permanency for kids in care.
“The Taskforce aims to fast-track the number of matters progressing through the open adoption and guardianship pipeline and in doing so, boosting the number of children exiting out-of-home care into permanent homes,” Mr Henskens said.
“The NSW Government will also enhance support for prospective adoptive parents and guardians by establishing a new information hotline, providing free online courses, face-to-face training and counselling services.”
The investment aligns with the Premier’s Priority of increasing permanency for children in out-of-home care.

The 2021 HART Senior State Titles concluded at the Liverpool City and Bankstown City Netball Associations yesterday with State Champions crowned.
The Senior State Titles is the principal state competition for athletes across NSW aged from 15 years. Talented athletes, coaches, umpires and officials come together and enjoy the challenge of intra-state competition.
Liverpool City hosted players from the Opens Championship Division, the 17/U and 15/U Championships and Division 2, while Bankstown hosted Opens Division 2 and the 17U and 15U Divisions 3 & 4.
Winners of the Championship Division in each age group were State Champions with Manly Warringah (Opens), Liverpool City (17U) and Penrith District (15U) the winners after three days of action.
Netball NSW would like to thank HART Sport, naming rights partner of the Senior State Titles, for their support of the competition and the game across the state.
Below is a list of the winners and runners-up from each division. For full fixtures and results please visit the MyNetball Page and use the navigation menu at the top to select Divisions.
Opens Championship
Winners: Manly Warringah*
Runners-up: Newcastle
Opens Division 2
Winners: Bellingen
Runners-up: Singleton
17U Championship
Winners: Liverpool City*
Runners-up: Baulkham Hills Shire
17U Division 2
Winners: Wagga Wagga
Runners-up: Bathurst
17U Division 3
Winners: Southern Highlands
Runners-up: Lismore & District
17U Division 4
Winners: Leeton
Runners-up: Brunswick & Byron
15U Championship
Winners: Penrith District*
Runners-up: Liverpool City
15U Division 2
Winners: Wagga Wagga
Runners-up: Eastwood Ryde
15U Division 3
Winners: Coffs Harbour
Runners-up: Cessnock
15U Division 4
Winners: Casino
Runners-up: Quirindi
*denotes State Champions

After the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in their cancellation last year Netball NSW’s HART Senior State Titles are back in 2021, taking centre stage this weekend at the Liverpool City and Bankstown City Netball Associations.
The three-day tournament showcases the strength of grassroots netball with players from all over the state coming together to play the game they love.
Liverpool City will welcome players from the Opens Championship Division, the 17/U and 15/U Championships and Division 2, while Bankstown hosts Opens Division 2 and 17U and 15U Divisions 3 & 4.
To meet the current Public Health Order requirement in NSW, capacity at the venues will be limited (more information HERE).
The games start on Saturday 14 June and continue through until Monday afternoon.
Netball NSW President Louise Sullivan said she was delighted to see the State Titles return in 2021 and was looking forward to a festival of netball in Western Sydney.
“Everyone involved with each team and Association over the next three days should be extremely proud of their efforts in getting here, and I know the very best will still be standing on Monday afternoon,” she said.
“This illustrates our grassroots are every bit as healthy as our elite game, which currently sees the Giants and Swifts at the top of the Suncorp Super Netball ladder.
“Having made the heart-breaking decision to cancel the 2020 Senior State Titles as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, how wonderful is it to be back?
“Netball, at its core, is a game founded in community. It hasn’t become Australia’s most popular team sport by accident. Across every region, across every state, across every city and town (big and small) you will find a netball court at its centre.
“The HART Senior State Titles in Liverpool and Bankstown are a coming together of those communities. I, like you, cannot wait to see the sea of colour, competitiveness, skill and passion that awaits us over the next three days.
“I would like to thank HART Sport, our naming rights partner for this event, for all of their wonderful support across all levels of the game and thank again the fantastic volunteers in Liverpool and Bankstown who have worked hand-in-hand with Netball NSW to make this weekend a reality.”

Palliative care services across the state will receive a further $82.8 million over the next four years, to improve support for people with a life-limiting or terminal illness.
Treasurer Dominic Perrottet said the 2021-22 Budget funding boost is on top of more than $220 million that the NSW Government invests each year in palliative care services and support.
“We know in Australia only a small proportion of people die suddenly. Most people experience a prolonged period of disability, frailty and illness,” Mr Perrottet said.
“This funding will help thousands of families across the state, particularly in regional NSW and Western Sydney, to provide dignity to people at the end of life’s journey.”
As part of this investment, Western Sydney Local Health District will receive funding to enhance its hospital-based palliative care services with additional inpatient beds.
Health Minister Brad Hazzard said the $82.8 million funding would provide:

• a workforce boost of up to 120 full time equivalent staff including additional nurses, allied health and medical staff;
• multidisciplinary care to maintain patient wellbeing and independence at home;
• additional consumer information and support for patients, families and carers

“On top of workforce boosts, increased end-of-life support packages and enhanced bereavement services, additional virtual care services will ensure regional patients get the support they need from the comfort of their home,” Mr Hazzard said.
“The additional funding will also support dedicated inpatient beds at cancer hospital and cancer treatment centre Chris O’Brien Lifehouse.”
The funding includes $2 million (recurrent) for Manly Adolescent and Young Adult Hospice, Australia’s first dedicated hospice for young people due to open in July 2022.
The funding boost comes in addition to the NSW Government’s recent palliative care commitments including $100 million in 2017, $45 million in 2019 and $56 million in 2020, and is a clear statement of the commitment the Government has to supporting patients at the end of life.

Innovative ideas have been brought to life following the second R&D Innovation Districts Challenge. Some of projects include optimising logistics for rapid vaccine distribution, mobile apps and games to teach STEM to students, and a business tool to support the wellbeing of customer service workforces.
Economic resilience was the focus of the second R&D Innovation Districts Challenge, which brings together universities, local businesses and Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO to accelerate new products and services to market, and equip the NSW economy to bounce back from COVID-19.
Minister for Jobs, Investment, Tourism and Western Sydney Stuart Ayres said the second Challenge was designed to find R&D solutions that fostered economic resilience, which is vital following the economic and business disruption caused by the pandemic.
“By backing businesses and driving innovation all across NSW, we’re helping to stimulate the economy, grow industries and create jobs,” Mr Ayres said.
“It’s exciting that in addition to many female-run businesses, there are initiatives to address the needs of the most economically vulnerable in our communities, including people with a disability and those experiencing financial distress.”
“Some very interesting ideas came out of rural and regional areas, including a world-first approach to heat-free milk pasteurisation, and a data aggregation platform for farmers.”
The challenge winners sharing $500,000 in seed funding are:

• $250,000 – Adiona, nominated by CSIRO develop a fast, powerful domestic logistics optimisation and simulation engine that can also be applied to rapid vaccine distribution
• $100,000 – Arludo, collaborating with the University of NSW on a suite of mobile apps and games to teach STEM and allow students to collate science data and collaborate in real time
• $30,000 – Kleu Australia, teaming up with the University of Wollongong on a business tool to support the wellbeing and performance of large-scale customer service workforces
• $10,000 to local winners of each Innovation District: Bundlfresh, Good360 Australia, Medulla, PeepsRide, Pairtree Intelligence, Young Henrys Brewing Company, Steber International, Maxiem, New England Cheese, Studymove, HRDS Technologies, and Tribal Warrior Aboriginal Corporation.

CSIRO Chief Executive Dr Larry Marshall congratulated Adiona, a former resident of CSIRO’s Lindfield Collaboration Hub, where small businesses can work alongside the national science agency to accelerate their growth with tailored commercialisation and engineering support.
“CSIRO’s commitment to NSW includes working with government, research and business partners across the state to turn more world-class science into real-world solutions that create jobs and benefit for all of NSW, driving our recovery from COVID-19 and building back better for the future,” Dr Marshall said.
Parliamentary Secretary to the Premier Gabrielle Upton said, “Commercialising more R&D is the central priority of the NSW R&D Action Plan. The Challenge strongly supports that outcome, solving problems while helping to grow jobs and new industries.”
The NSW Government Innovation Districts Challenges program is part of a $11 million innovation scaleup commitment, designed to support business communities across NSW to develop innovations to tackle the many challenges of COVID-19.

International students are expected to be welcomed back under a NSW Government pilot plan for their safe return over the second half of the year, to help kick-start the billion-dollar industry.
Treasurer Dominic Perrottet said international students are a vital missing piece in the State’s economic recovery, with the sector worth $14.6 billion in 2019.
This will benefit tens of thousands of NSW residents whose jobs rely on this industry across retail, hospitality and many other fields.
The pilot plan will initially see a limited number of students from a range of countries in purpose-built student accommodation adhering to the same quarantine requirements as all incoming travellers.
“International education is our second most valuable export and we need to do what we can to help students return and revive this sector as quickly as possible,” Mr Perrottet said.
“Typically, we have more than 250,000 international students studying in NSW each year and they directly supported over 95,000 local jobs prior to the pandemic. If we don’t act fast, students will turn to other overseas destinations and it could take the sector decades to recover.
“That’s why we’ve developed a pilot plan supported by NSW Health and NSW Police that enables 250 international students to come to Sydney per fortnight from mid-year, in a gradual approach that will enable us to closely manage the process and ensure community health is not compromised.”
The international student allocation will be in addition to the current number of returning Australians allowed into NSW each week.
“This won’t come at the expense of returning Aussies. We will continue to bring back 3,000 people per week – well more than any other state,” Mr. Perrottet said.
NSW Health would triage arriving students and direct them to quarantine at specially approved student accommodation at no cost to taxpayers. The first of these sites has been chosen, with contract negotiations well advanced.
It is estimated that the combined impact of closed international borders, including on students and tourism, could be as high as $1.5 billion per month for NSW. This is a major contributing factor to the CBD’s slower economic recovery rate.
“This is a crucial sector for NSW and Australia, and we will work with the Commonwealth and education sector to achieve the best outcome,” Mr Perrottet said.
Professor Barney Glover AO, on behalf of the NSW Vice-Chancellors’ Committee, welcomed the State’s approval of the Program after working collaboratively for several months to commence the safe return of international students to NSW.
“As at May this year, there were many higher education students diligently studying offshore – many of whom expect to return to our campuses to finish their studies. This Program has carefully considered the personal, social and academic aspects of our students, to ensure they successfully resume their studies and re-join NSW’s vibrant, multicultural community as soon as possible,” Professor Glover said.
“We are excited to finally welcome back international students to experience the world-class education, training and research that makes NSW such an attractive destination for education.”
Council of International Students President, Belle Lim was extremely encouraged to learn that the NSW Plan had been submitted for review.
“We are so happy to see that international students will be welcomed back to NSW. This sends a great message to international students studying online offshore that there is hope that things will return to normal again,” Ms Lim said.
“We are pleased to see the cautious approach but are hopeful the numbers of students arriving will scale over time. CISA strongly supports the detailed planning that has been done by NSW.”
The NSW plan has been submitted to the Federal Government for final review.

The first locally manufactured electric buses will roll out in Sydney later this year, as the NSW Government charges ahead with its plan to electrify the bus fleet by 2030.
Minister for Transport and Roads Andrew Constance said the Element electric bus, built by Custom Denning, will be the first electric bus entirely manufactured in NSW.
“We are another step closer to creating a greener, cleaner and healthier future for the people of NSW, thanks to Custom Denning manufacturing electric buses at its factory in St Marys,” Mr Constance said.
“Custom’s Element electric bus has undergone a thorough assessment and I am excited to see it now included on a list of electric buses available to Transport for NSW’s bus operators.”
“Busways has already placed an order for six new electric buses from Custom, and I look forward to many more local bus companies taking up the opportunity to support local manufacturing and local jobs.”
Custom Bus Group Managing Director Scott Dunn said Custom has been building buses in Sydney for more than 65 years, and has built more than 700 diesel buses for the NSW Government over the past 10 years.
There are currently 12 people working on the electric bus project. However, we have the capacity to build around 400 buses each year in our current factory and this could create more than 300 jobs,” said Mr Dunn.
“The Element electric bus will be able to operate for around 22 hours on a single four-hour charge, and are cheaper to maintain and operate than their diesel counterparts.”
“Busways was Custom Denning’s first non-government customer and we have been buying high quality, reliable buses from them since 1958. We’ve been trialling the Element bus in the Penrith area for the last month and we are excited to be receiving our first order in the coming months,” said Busways Managing Director, Byron Rowe.
More than 60 new electric buses will be introduced on bus routes operated on behalf of the NSW Government this year. Electric buses are already operating in Sydney’s inner west and south west, as well as in the Hornsby and Sutherland regions.

The Berejiklian Government’s Dine & Discover initiative will be extended by a month to give people more time to use all of their vouchers eating out or trying a new activity this winter, including in the upcoming school holidays.
The latest data shows more than 4.23 million people have downloaded the vouchers since they were launched in March spending a combined total of more than $357 million with registered businesses when adding in the additional spend on top of the voucher amount.
Treasurer Dominic Perrottet said the stimulus had proved popular and played a valuable role supporting businesses as well as reviving consumer confidence.
“This is helping to fire-up our economy. It’s not just boosting revenue for businesses, it’s bringing a fresh clientele through their doors eager to try a new eatery or exciting activity,” Mr Perrottet said.
“People of all ages and walks of life are giving them a go and we don’t want anyone to miss out. This extension will ensure everyone has a chance to use all four of their vouchers, which I’m sure will be particularly handy in the school holidays.”
Every adult in NSW is eligible for four $25 vouchers worth $100 in total, to spend across the 14,000 participating businesses.
Dining out has been particularly popular, with patrons spending on average $41 for every $25 voucher used.
This increased spending at hospitality venues will have broader positive flow-on effects to the economy, through employment and purchases from upstream suppliers.
Adventure businesses have also benefited, along with cultural institutions such as galleries and museums.
Minister for Digital and Customer Service Victor Dominello said the enthusiastic take up of the vouchers showed digital initiatives were the way of the future.
“Targeted stimulus, is smart stimulus when helping communities and citizens battle back from a pandemic and Dine & Discover has been able to support a wide range of businesses and industries,” Mr Dominello said.
“With about two in every three adults across NSW having now registered for the vouchers, having such a large portion of the NSW population on board means we can get money back into the community quickly.
“More than $105 million has been spent directly in registered business regionally compared to almost $200 million in establishments in Sydney.”
It’s not too late for businesses to register and customers are encouraged to sign up and spend their vouchers before they expire on July 31, 2021.
“We’re giving people more time to take full advantage of these vouchers, so make sure you sign up and use them before you lose them,” Mr Perrottet said.
The vouchers had been due to expire on June 30.
The vouchers can only be used at eligible businesses that have implemented a COVID Safety Plan and are registered as COVID Safe.

Primary producers experiencing financial hardship due to the mice plague will be able to claim rebates for the purchase of the mouse control chemical zinc phosphide, as part of an extension of the NSW Government’s Mouse Control Program.
Deputy Premier John Barilaro said this new funding would offer primary producers a rebate of 50 per cent on zinc phosphide purchases, up to $10,000, to provide financial relief, cash flow and confidence to place advance orders on zinc phosphide ahead of spring.
“When the mouse bait and treated grain programs were announced I said there would be more support to come and today I’m pleased to confirm we will extend the program to include primary producer rebates for zinc phosphide,” Mr Barilaro said.
“Zinc phosphide is already a tax deductible expense for primary producers and while many are now seeing more promising business activity following the drought, I know the mice plague is stinging the hip pocket, which is why we are providing this rebate.”
Minister for Agriculture Adam Marshall said the NSW Government was working with manufacturers to help shore up supplies of zinc phosphide to ensure the State’s farmers were prepared to stamp out a possible spring surge in the mouse population.
“We are working to ensure there will be an appropriate supply of zinc phosphide active ingredient by providing $5 million to assist with the costs of transporting it to Australia,” Mr Marshall said.
“We will make sure zinc phosphide baits produced as part of this arrangement are earmarked for sale to NSW producers first, and we will continue to work to connect manufacturers with Commonwealth support such as the International Freight Assistance Mechanism.”
The Department of Regional NSW and the Rural Assistance Authority will develop the zinc phosphide rebate framework, including how primary producers will be able to claim the rebate and the eligibility criteria.
The $100 million primary producer zinc phosphide rebate scheme is in addition to the $50 million package designed for households and small businesses announced last month.
Primary producers who live where they work are already able to claim rebates of up to $1,000 for mouse bait, traps and cleaning products used to protect their homes.
Free grain treatment with bromadiolone for perimeter baiting is awaiting approval from the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority.
For more information please visit www.nsw.gov.au/mice

The Berejiklian Government’s popular Cost of Living Service is being expanded as part of the 2021-22 NSW Budget.
$6.6 million in funding will help customers right across the state to access the full range of benefits available to them from the service and a further $7.6 million from the Department of Customer Service will be redirected towards upgrading the service.
Service NSW will also hire extra staff, which will allow for up to 500 customers a day to benefit from the service.
This means that potentially every minute someone will save up to $600 per appointment.
This support will make it easier for customers to find and apply for government rebates and savings, access personalised support with face-to-face appointments gradually resuming from 1 July.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian said easing the cost of living for households remains a top priority for the Government in the 2021-22 NSW Budget.
“There are up to 70 savings offered by the Government, and more than $4 billion has been collectively saved by families since the program commenced in July 2017,” Ms Berejiklian said.
“Service NSW is a one-stop shop that takes the hassle out of finding savings by putting all the relevant information under the one roof.”
Treasurer Dominic Perrottet said this year’s Budget would continue to drive our economic recovery from COVID by ensuring more people had money in their pockets to spend on the things that matter most to them.
“This increased investment will give more people the support they need to help them create a better future for themselves and their families,” Mr Perrottet said.
“A simple appointment could potentially save you hundreds of dollars. Whether it is Active Kids vouchers, energy rebates or Toll Relief, there are hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars’ worth of savings out there to help make life that little bit easier.”
Minister for Digital and Minister for Customer Service Victor Dominello said specialised staff are on hand to do the heavy lifting for customers.
“Gone are the days of having to visit multiple websites and waste time calling different agencies. Our specialised one-stop shop staff can help customers identify their eligibility for savings and help them claim them,” Mr Dominello said.
“There have been 70,000 cost of living appointments since July 2018, with the average saving per appointment almost $600, which means more money being spent on the things that matter most.
“As the popularity of this program continues to grow, Service NSW will ensure more staff are made available to best support NSW residents.”
Examples of other savings available include pensioner travel vouchers, Low Income Household Rebate and the Regional seniors travel card.