Expert comment – “How do we stop declining school attendance in remote Australia?”: MCERA
Recent research reveals that school attendance in our First Nations communities is declining despite the continuation of the remote schools attendance strategy ... MCERA has reached out to First Nations education experts to invite solutions towards a responsive education system that strengthens First Nations culture and student engagement in remote Australia.
North Central LLEN meets at the Rex
More than 50 board members, staff, partners, stakeholders, and community members attended the North Central LLEN Annual General Meeting and stakeholder event at the Rex Theatre in Charlton last week. Hosted by CEO Jane Hosking and fellow staff member Molly Meadows, the evening featured a range of elements including the AGM itself and a facilitated panel of young people about why they chose agriculture as a career pathway.
Queensland communities welcome first PNG aged care workers to Australia: Conroy, Wells
The first group of workers from Papua New Guinea to be employed in Australia’s aged care sector under the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme has arrived in regional Queensland. The eight workers from PNG provinces including Western Highlands, New Ireland and Morobe will be employed by Southern Cross Care at aged care facilities at Chinchilla, Murgon and Taroom in Southeast Queensland, where local aged care staff have been hard to find.
Teacher shortage
South Australia is facing a teacher shortage crisis that is “deeply affecting” schools in country towns like Naracoorte. Highlighting this, Australian Education Union (SA Branch) president Andrew Gohl says the government needs to provide improved conditions and incentives to hire and retain educators in rural areas ... He said teachers were burning out at rates never seen before, with half of them planning to leave in the next five years.
Grafton and Maclean hospitals 40 nurses short
Between Grafton and Maclean Hospitals another 40 nurses are needed to provide adequate staffing levels say the NSW Nurses and Midwives Association as the Local Health District tries to fill 180 nursing vacancies across the region. NSW Nurses and Midwives Association Clarence Valley branch secretary Thea Koval said without agency nursing staff being called in, who are paid significantly more than NSW Health nurses, Maclean and Grafton hospitals would struggle to operate.
Confusion over extra police commitment
The Minister for Police, Anthony Carbines, appears to be at odds with the Chief Commissioner of Police, Shane Patton, around the delivery of extra police officers. In Public Accounts and Estimates Committee hearings at the weekend, Mr Carbines claimed that Labor’s commitment to deliver 502 extra police officers would be met by 30 September, but failed to factor in the 800 current vacant positions across the state.
Bold changes
An education union has called for bold changes in the way the South Australian Education Department manages education across the state, particularly in country schools. Australian Education Union (SA Branch) president Andrew Gohl says for over a decade, governments have banked on the goodwill of educators to keep their system running ... the Department’s own Country Education Strategy highlighted several areas that needed improvement, including the attraction and retention of staff, incentives, access to student support services, country housing, and conditions.
Meat Business Women – Gender Representation in the Meat Industry 2023
The independent, global Gender Representation in the Meat Industry 2023 report draws on international data from more than 50 major meat organisations ... Australia's OBE Organic - whose MD Dalene Wray is herself a notable woman in the meat business - featured as a case study in the report ... ARR.News asked some questions about women in the meat business of Dalene and Laura Ryan, Founder and Global Chair of Meat Business Women.
Rudderless PALM on the road to ruin: NFF
The NFF Horticulture Council has rung the alarm bells loud and clear that the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme is now heading toward calamity ... Horticulture Council spokesperson Rachel Chambers said it was increasingly clear relevant ministers aren’t working together to ensure the scheme meets the long-terms interests of the Pacific and Australian industries it’s meant to serve.
Neglecting older Australians – A missed opportunity for workforce inclusion and economic progress: Hugh Christie, TFGA
Australia is now grappling with a labour shortage across multiple sectors including health, aged care and agriculture. And our policymakers seem to continue to overlook retirees as part of the solution to the crisis.
Not easy under Albanese for Australian farmers
The Nationals leader and Member for Maranoa David Littleproud said the first 12 months of an Albanese Labor government had been tough for Australian agriculture, with the full effect to be felt in the coming few years ... Mr Littleproud said farmers and processors were making investment decisions not to plant and not to invest, because the government could not provide them confidence of a stable workforce, which was driving down supply and consumer prices up.
Anderson ramps up push to bring local control back to TAFE
Member for Tamworth Kevin Anderson is continuing his push for greater local control and decision making in TAFE campuses across the New England Northwest. Mr Anderson said the community and local teachers had raised concerns with the lack of local control and the local decision-making process in our region, with local businesses expressing frustration with the disconnect between class offerings and the needs of the business community.
Pam van Kempen clocks off for the final time after 57 years of nursing
From the days when smoking in the hospital room was the norm, and becoming a nurse saw you trade in much of your freedom to live full time in nurses' quarters at the hospital, to advances in technology, a COVID pandemic and everything in between, Pam van Kempen has been through it all, and she’s here to share her tale ahead of her well-deserved retirement.
Don’t try this at home – blades fly as Casino’s best boners put on a display
It was about speed and presentation (that’s where the parsley comes in) in the Great Boning Wars that took place on the back of a truck in the middle of roundabout turned cattle ring in Walker St, Casino. It was Beef Week Saturday, May 27, and the art of de-boning meat was a spectator sport.
End of native forestry – Victorian Government fails to see the forest for the trees: Timber Towns
The State Government’s decision earlier this week to end the native forestry industry effective January 2024 came as a shock to the whole sector, clearly with zero consultation with any forestry industry representatives. Timber Towns Victoria calls the decision ‘reckless’ and ‘irresponsible’, condemning the decision.
Deadly Hair Dude opens salon in Tennant
There is no more excuse for split ends in Tennant Creek any more, with the new opening of the Deadly Hair Dude's new salon in town. Hairdresser Gary Strachan has been working hard with RN Employment to open the salon for two weeks each month both as a training opportunity for locals and a service to the community with the aim it will eventually become a sustainable local business.
Helping with housing rural workers
The Queensland Rural and Industry Development Authority is offering loans to help growers build small-scale rural workers’ accommodation. QRIDA Regional Area Manager for South East Queensland Brian Coe said providing accommodation for workers could give farm businesses a competitive edge with Australia’s low unemployment rate and rural housing shortage.
Timber industry chopped
The Andrews Government has announced the cessation of native forestry at the end of 2023, despite promises in 2019 to phase out native timber logging by 2030. The native timber industry represents a large segment of the state’s overall timber industry, creating 2,500 jobs and generating more than $770 million in revenue annually ... The Government will establish an advisory panel to consider and make recommendations on which forests to lock up as National Parks.
Livelihoods destroyed at the hands of the Victorian Premier: Wellington Shire Council
"In three years, we haven’t seen any evidence or sign that the Premier ever had plans to deliver on his promises to support the native timber industry with new pine plantations or any form of alternative supply. Now the livelihoods of hundreds of locals are shattered in an instant without a single word from the Premier or his government": Cr Ian Bye, Wellington Shire Council Mayor
A budget for the ages – Grim, dark and deceptive: Bev McArthur
On 23 May 2023, the Premier Daniel Andrews said: “We’re doing everything we promised Victorians we’d do – and we’re not wasting a moment getting on with it”. What he perhaps should have said was: “We promised some things – we even promised to govern for all Victorians – but we will deliver only some things, dump plenty of others, and govern for a few.” For me there’s only one headline from this budget: Victoria is broke.
More jobs than people in regions – New report by Regional Australia Institute reveals demand highest for doctors and nurses
Regional job advertisements grew three times faster than in metropolitan Australia at the end of 2022, with demand for doctors and nurses skyrocketing, according to new research by the Regional Australia Institute (RAI) ... “Medical Practitioner and Nurse vacancies in regions represented almost half the total national vacancies for this occupation grouping, despite regional Australia representing only one third of the population”: Liz Ritchie, RAI CEO.
Native forestry announcement a massive blow for regional Victorian families: FWCA
Today’s announcement to bring forward the end of native forestry by six years is a devastating blow for thousands of regional Victorian families. It is estimated that native forestry provides 5000 direct jobs and many more indirect jobs providing the lifeblood for regional communities such as Orbost, which stands to lose 37 per cent of its workers.
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