Australian infrastructure audit

Examines the drivers of future infrastructure demand, particularly population and economic growth. Summary The Australian Infrastructure Audit takes a strategic approach to assessing our nation\u27s infrastructure needs. It examines the drivers of future infrastructure demand, particularly population and economic growth. The Audit provides a top-down assessment of the value-add, or Direct Economic Contribution of infrastructure; considers the future demand for infrastructure over the next 15 years, and delivers an evidence base for further gap analysis, long term planning and future investment priorities. The Australian Infrastructure Audit has found that without action Australia\u27s productivity and quality of life will be tested, with population and economic growth set to cause increasing congestion and bottlenecks. Major reforms are needed to improve the way we plan, finance, construct, maintain and operate infrastructure to ensure it can underpin gains in Australia\u27s productivity in the decades ahead, and contribute to economic growth

Anglicare Australia rental affordability snapshot 2015

This report surveys private rental housing available across Australia; and tests its suitability – the cost and size – for different low income household types: couples, single parents and children, young people, pensioners, job seekers and people on the minimum wage. This time members of the Anglicare Australia network surveyed over 65,600 properties on a weekend in early April, and once again there were almost no dwellings that were affordable for people on the lowest incomes, such as Newstart and Youth Allowance, as the attached media release and report testify. The report itself also provides a breakdown of regional and metropolitan totals and a number of location based mini-reports, which are prepared by participating Anglicare network members. The survey also includes an analysis of the impact of housing unaffordability, the consequences of living with housing stress, and Anglicare Australia’s key recommendations to resolve the problem. In essence, we are calling for secure and affordable housing for people living on low incomes being made a priority. It requires a national plan that involves governments, industry and the community sector working together

National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cancer framework 2015

Overview The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cancer Framework (the Framework) provides high-level guidance and direction for the many individuals, communities, organisations and governments whose combined efforts are required to address disparities and improve cancer outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. This Framework is designed to complement and enhance national, jurisdictional, regional and local efforts to improve Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cancer outcomes, including cancer plans and related policies, frameworks and action plans. It sets out priority areas for action, and allows the flexibility for jurisdictions, communities and organisations to address those priorities in ways that suit their local context and local needs. This Framework encompasses the full continuum of cancer control, including cancer prevention, screening and early detection, diagnosis and treatment, palliative care and survivorship; and the policy, systems, research and infrastructure that surround these service areas

The national standards for volunteer involvement: 2015

Volunteering Australia’s new national standards for volunteer involvement update standards produced in 1998 and 2001 and provide a sound framework for supporting the volunteer sector in Australia. Introduction Volunteer involvement is a critical part of Australian society. It contributes to civil society and active participation in building strong, inclusive, and resilient communities. It underlies innovation and social change, our responses to community need and community challenges, and it brings together and supports the local strengths and assets of communities. There are important benefits to both organisations and to volunteers when volunteers become involved in organisations. Volunteer involvement can contribute to, and extend the capacity of, organisations to meet aims and goals. Volunteers can provide the time, skills, expertise and points of view that enable an organisation to pursue programs and activities that benefit the community. For individuals, volunteering provides an opportunity to be involved in activities reflecting their interests and using their skills. Meaningful activity in turn promotes a sense of belonging and general wellbeing. Volunteering can also be a way to develop skills, potential pathways to employment, or a way to contribute existing skills for the common good. Volunteer involvement is a two-way relationship, providing an opportunity for organisations to achieve their goals by involving volunteers in their activities, and for volunteers to make meaningful use of their time and skills, contributing to social and community outcomes. The National Standards allow organisations to make use of simple, practical criteria across a broad range of volunteering situations. There are 8 standards addressing the key areas of volunteer involvement: 1. Leadership and management 2. Commitment to volunteer involvement 3. Volunteer roles 4. Recruitment and selection 5. Support and development 6. Workplace safety and wellbeing 7. Volunteer recognition 8. Quality management and continuous improvemen

University research: policy considerations to drive Australia’s competitiveness

Universities are integral to Australia’s research effort and provide the foundation of skills and knowledge required for the nation’s long-term success. Research and innovation have been consistently identified as essential ingredients for improving productivity and quality of life. If Australia is to continue to compete internationally, we must critically look at our performance and identify ways of strengthening all elements of the system. Australia’s research performance compares well internationally, both in productivity and research excellence. In terms of academic impact, there are clear areas of strength across the breadth of disciplines and Australia’s researchers are highly regarded. There is, however, room for improvement, especially relative to the best-performing nations. Knowledge exchange and the ease of translation of research into the broader economy and community are Australia’s main areas requiring substantial attention. An examination of the countries chosen for comparison—Switzerland, Denmark, the Netherlands, Singapore, South Korea, Malaysia, the United Kingdom and Canada—brings to light several similarities in their approaches that should be considered for Australia’s future approach: Long-term strategies and plans have been implemented, including targets and priority areas, accompanied by significant and ongoing support. The strategies focus on areas of national interest and comparative advantage and take into account the country’s industrial structure and location. The unique role of universities is recognised, as is the need to support a balance of investigator-led and mission-led research. If we are to improve Australia’s performance and achieve the broader aims for research, a range of matters needs to be considered by the university sector and government: Australia needs a long-term plan that outlines national priority areas and secures ongoing and reliable support for the fundamentals of the research system. Reward and recognition mechanisms at the researcher and university levels should be critically examined. We need to support a balance of basic and applied and investigator-led and mission-led research, maintaining the strong focus on research excellence. Australia must increase its efforts in both domestic and international collaboration, especially in the priority areas identified. The career path for researchers in all sectors must be improved. We must ensure our best and brightest can move freely between industry and academia. Holistic, ongoing funding for national research infrastructure is imperative. A transactional view of university–industry collaboration will not deliver the deep and productive relationships required to improve the translation of research. In view of accelerating investment in research and innovation by our Asian neighbours and traditional competitors, Australia could be close to the proverbial ‘tipping point’, whereby we are not able to achieve our goal of a high-wage, high-growth economy. A national strategy that addresses all facets of the system, targets both supply and demand, and includes long-term financial commitments is needed in order to bring about cultural change and improve Australia’s research and innovation performance. Universities Australia has prepared this paper to inform current and future debate about university research and its role in driving Australia’s competitiveness

Civil Law and Justice Legislation Amendment Bill 2014

This bill, passed by both houses on 25 June 2015, concerns bankruptcy, family law, and defining National Library material as part of the legal deposit scheme including the protection of movable cultural heritage. Purpose of the Bill As an omnibus Bill, the Civil Law and Justice Legislation Amendment Bill 2014 (the Bill) has a number of purposes. These include: amending the Bankruptcy Act 19661 to: – allow the Official Trustee in Bankruptcy (Official Trustee) to act as a special trustee for a wider range of government agencies – provide that support (in the form of property or cash) provided by the National Disability Insurance Scheme is not divisible in bankruptcy – expand the offence of concealment to include electronic financial transactions – clarify the demarcation between indictable and summary offences (in line with the Crimes Act 1914 (Cth)) and – clarify the locus or place where certain offences occur. amend the International Arbitration Act 19742 (the Arbitration Act) to clarify the retrospective application of that Act to certain arbitral agreements prior to 6 July 2010 amend the Family Law Act 19753 (the FLA) to: – enable information provided as part of proceedings (in particular, experts reports) to be shared with state/territory child welfare authorities and – provide appeal rights in relation to court security orders. amend the Court Security Act 20134 (the CSA) to allow for applications to vary or revoke court security orders amend the Evidence Act 19955 (the Commonwealth Evidence Act) in relation to self-incrimination certificates, as well as making minor amendments that mirror provisions in the Model Uniform Evidence Bill amend the Protection of Movable Cultural Heritage Act 19866 (the PMCH Act) to allow the continued functioning of the National Cultural Heritage Committee despite falls in membership numbers amend the Copyright Act 19687 to extend the existing legal deposit scheme to electronic format

Digital radio report

In common with other industrialised countries, the radio industry in Australia is in the midst of a significant transformation. Traditional analogue radio services, broadcasting on AM and FM frequencies, remain popular and continue to attract substantial audiences and revenue. However, the analogue platform is very mature, offering only limited capacity for technical change and development, and FM spectrum is now largely fully occupied in population dense areas. In addition, AM transmissions face growing pressure from urban development and related increasing signal interference. The Australian radio industry therefore retains a strong interest in the opportunities presented by digital radio for service innovation and future growth. To date, digital terrestrial radio services have been licensed for the five mainland state capital cities,1 and trials involving such services are underway in Canberra and Darwin. Within the mainland state capital cities, take up of digital terrestrial radio services continues to grow slowly but steadily with listenership reaching almost 25 per cent in the first quarter of 2015.2 Listenership has benefitted from increased availability of digital radio receivers in motor vehicles (a primary source of listening) and the recent additional rollout of in-fill transmitters increasing coverage of the services in Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney. The cost and complexity of rolling out Digital Audio Broadcasting Plus (DAB+)-based digital terrestrial radio services across regional Australia3 present major challenges for the industry. The need to cover large geographic areas with small and dispersed populations offers unique challenges which have not been faced in many international markets. At the same time, Australians are rapidly adopting new types of technology with the growth of online audio platforms such as Spotify and Pandora. These services are complementing the move by traditional radio businesses—most notably the national broadcasters—to deliver radio services online or through mobile apps. The announcement by Apple of a move into the streamed audio market will only increase the choices available to audiences. These services may herald a generational change in listening habits with significant implications for traditional platforms over time. That said, there are ongoing challenges with the bandwidth and data transmission requirements of these services being delivered to large audiences over mobile and wireless platforms. The digital terrestrial radio industry is subject to a range of regulatory requirements in the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 (the BSA) and the Radiocommunications Act 1992 (the Radiocommunications Act), which govern matters such as the planning and start up of services, and the sharing of and access to the transmission multiplex in each area. Against the background of changes in the radio industry, this review considers whether changes are required to this framework to provide greater flexibility to the industry and the Australian Communications and Media Authority (the ACMA) to plan for change and ensure that the radio industry is well placed to determine its future strategies for digital services. Key issues examined by the review included: the current state of digital terrestrial radio in Australia, and the impacts of alternative technologies on the industry and listeners; whether Australia should set a digital switchover date for analogue commercial, national, community or other terrestrially transmitted radio services; what legislative/regulatory arrangements should be in place to assist the rollout of digital terrestrial radio services in regional areas; and whether changes are required to the legislative regime for digital radio, including to reduce the regulatory burden on industry

Banking Fees in Australia

The Reserve Bank has conducted a survey on bank fees each year since 1997. In 2009 growth in fee income increased slightly from recent years though it was again slower than growth in banks’ balance sheets. Growth in fee income was higher for businesses than for households. Banks reacted to the financial crisis by competing more aggressively for deposit funding which resulted in total fee income from deposit accounts falling, and repricing loan products which contributed to an increase in fee income from lending.bank; fees; Australia; exception; deposits; loans

Banking Fees in Australia

The Reserve Bank has conducted a survey on bank fees each year since 1997. The results of the latest survey show that banks’ aggregate fee income was unchanged in 2010. Fee income from households declined as exception fee income and ATM revenue fell sharply, while fee income from businesses grew.banking, fees, fee income, exception, ATM, survey

Review of the National Survey of Research Commercialisation (NSRC)

A review of the NSRC (the Review) is currently being undertaken to ensure future collections are relevant, align with current and emerging priorities for research commercialisation in Australia, are targeted to sector priorities and comparable with international data sources. Consideration of new metrics including options to introduce research/industry engagement measures will be included in the scope of the review. Australia’s publicly funded research community includes universities, publicly funded research agencies, medical research institutes and other research organisations. By international standards Australia performs well in terms of research excellence and output, but poorly in translating publicly funded research into commercial outcomes . A key reason for this is the insufficient transfer of knowledge between researchers and business. Australia ranks 29th and 30th out of 30 OECD countries on the proportion of large businesses and small to medium enterprises (SMEs) collaborating with higher education and public research institutions on innovation. The Australian Government is actively implementing policy incentives that will improve the translation of publicly funded research into commercial and broader public benefits. This includes 2014 budget measures such as the Entrepreneurs Infrastructure Programme and proposals announced as part of the Industry Innovation and Competitiveness Agenda and the Boosting the Commercial Returns from Research Discussion Paper . Consistent with the policy objective to improve research industry collaboration and commercialisation and thereby lift Australia’s productivity, prosperity and international competitiveness, the Government will refocus the NSRC. This includes capturing new and robust data that will provide a comprehensive picture of research commercialisation in Australia including pathways to commercialisation. &nbsp