Category: Australian News

Leaked documents from Equinor’s own oil spill data that show oil could reach Sydney beaches are a wake-up call to all Australians, the Greens say.
“This internal report shows oil and sludge would devastate Australia’s southern coastline, all the way up to Sydney’s beaches. It must be stopped,” Greens environment spokesperson Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.
“This alarming new data must put to bed any consideration for allowing oil and gas drilling in the Great Australian Bight. It has serious dangers for almost all Australian states.
“Equinor has identified the risk but refuses to do the right thing and back out of the Bight. BP and Chevron got the message, it’s time for Equinor to pack up their bags and go home. It’s time the community prevailed over corporate profits.
“Our entire southern coastline, right up to Sydney beaches, is at risk of an oil spill in the Bight. South Australians have been passionately fighting this; the new report is a clarion call for other states to join the fight.
“We must not risk a devastating oil spill that could wipe species out, as well as jobs in tourism and fisheries around the country. On top of all of this, we know that the profits – and the oil – would be sent off-shore while we carry the risk.
“Not only is the risk of an oil spill too great, but drilling in the Bight locks us into burning fossil fuels at a time when we need to phase out dirty energy to help arrest climate change.
“This will be a key issue leading up to the next federal election. The Greens stand with the passionate community who want drilling in the Bight banned.
“South Australians overwhelmingly support World Heritage protection for the Great Australian Bight. We should be proud of this beautiful marine wilderness, not turning it into an oil field.”

The Greens have ensured that the LGBTQ+ schools inquiry will report in two weeks and will include teachers and school staff.
The Greens successfully amended the Terms of Reference for the inquiry so that it will report on the legislative changes needed to remove discrimination against both students and teachers this year.
“Removing discrimination against both students and staff is urgent. It must happen this year,” said Senator Janet Rice, Australian Greens LGBTIQ+ spokesperson.
“Labor’s original dates would have informed legislation regarding only students this year, leaving teachers hanging out to dry until next year.”
“The Greens have a bill already being debated in the senate that would remove discrimination against LGBTQ+ students and staff. We could have continued debate and voted on it this week, but debate was blocked by both Labor and Liberal. The next best option is an inquiry, but one that reports quickly.”
“The Greens amendment means the inquiry will be quick and we can get on with the job of removing discrimination in schools before parliament and schools rise for the summer break.”
“74% of Australians want discrimination against LGBTQ+ students and staff removed. No ifs, no buts. Labor and Liberal need to stop dragging their feet and join the Greens to ensure schools are safe places for all LGBTQ+ people.”

The people of north-west Victoria are a step closer to having real-time weather information at their disposal following today’s announcement of the site for a brand new weather radar in the Wimmera.
The site for the new installation, near the town of Rainbow, 105km north of Horsham, was chosen after an extensive and detailed process to identify a location that would best serve both the Wimmera region and the wider Australian weather radar network.
The Bureau of Meteorology’s Victorian State Manager, Dr Andrew Tupper, said getting the project to this stage has been the result of great cooperation between the local community and the Victorian State government.
“The Australian Government, through the Bureau of Meteorology and the Victorian Government, represented by the Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources, have been working closely with the Wimmera Development Association on this important infrastructure project for the region,” Dr Tupper said.
“As the radar is such a significant project, it has been vital for all parties to get the details right to ensure that it provides the maximum benefit, particularly for the region’s primary producers who depend so much on accurate rainfall forecasts,” he said.
“The data available through the radar will help growers to make informed choices about harvesting, tillage and the use of chemicals and fertilisers.”
Other benefits of the radar include enhanced short-term rainfall forecasts and the provision of additional information to Bureau of Meteorology experts during severe weather events.
Dual polarised doppler radars provide one of the best tools for observing real-time rainfall, storms and even debris in the atmosphere, across large areas.
Radars use electromagnetic waves similar to wireless computer networks and mobile phones to detect rain drops, hail or snow; Doppler radars can also measure wind by detecting the speed of movement of the water that they encounter.
The state-of-the-art dual polarised doppler radar is now under construction in Germany and is due to begin operating in mid-2020, if not sooner.

Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) today called for submissions on an application to permit a new processing aid.
Chief Executive Officer Mark Booth said the applicant was seeking to use the processing aid (an enzyme) to produce syrups.
“This particular enzyme (lysophospholipase) breaks down lysophospholipids in starch, which effect the filtration rate and clarity of the starch hydrolysates (syrups),” Mr Booth said.
“FSANZ has conducted a thorough safety assessment and concluded there are no public health or safety issues associated with the use of this enzyme to produce syrups.”
The period for comment closes at 6pm (Canberra time) 18 December 2018.
All FSANZ decisions on applications are notified to ministers responsible for food regulation who can ask for a review or agree that the standard should become law.

PDF printable version of More mental health support for new and expectant parents – PDF 192 KB
The Morrison Government will provide $300,000 to the Gidget Foundation to support expectant and new parents experiencing perinatal depression and anxiety.
Funding will help the not-for-profit parent support organisation to expand its services to help more people in regional, rural and remote locations across Australia.
The Gidget Foundation provides up to 10 free counselling sessions for parents experiencing perinatal depression and anxiety, and is the only dedicated perinatal psychological telehealth counselling service available in Australia.
The announcement coincides with Perinatal Depression and Anxiety Awareness Week (PNDA Awareness Week), which aims to drive awareness of an illness that affects around 100,000 Australians every year.
Up to one in 10 women experiences depression while pregnant, and one in seven women in the year after birth.
Around one in 20 men experiences depression during their partner’s pregnancy and up to one in 10 new fathers struggle with depression following the birth of their child.
Asking for help is the first and most difficult step, and many expectant and new parents do not seek the help they need.
Early intervention is the key to minimising the impact perinatal anxiety and depression can have on a mother, father, baby and wider family.
With the right support, people experiencing perinatal mental health issues can get better – allowing them to experience the joy of parenthood and lead happy, fulfilled lives.
Improving mental health services is a key pillar of the Government’s long term national health reform plan and this announcement builds on the Government’s record levels of investment in mental health, including an additional $338 million announced in the 2018–19 Budget.
The funding complements the $2.61 million in grants provided by the Morrison Government in 2018–19 through the Maternity Peer Support Program.
We’re committed to ensuring Australians of all ages have access to the support they need to face life’s challenges.
The Liberal National Government is prioritising better mental health for all Australians with $4.7 billion expected to be spent on mental health this financial year.
Our Government’s strong economic management ensures we continue to invest record amounts of funding into vital health initiatives including mental health, life-saving medicines, Medicare and hospitals.

Almost 4.5 million residents now have an NBN broadband connection at home, and nearly half of them are on fast plans with speeds of 50Mbps or more, the latest ACCC quarterly Wholesale Market Indicators Report shows.
The ACCC’s report for the September quarter shows the number of NBN residential broadband connections rose from about 4.1 million last quarter (up almost 8.6 per cent).
More than 2.2 million consumers are now on these high-speed plans, an increase of 20 per cent on the previous quarter. Of these, there are now 1.8 million services on the 50Mbps speed tier, a more than a ten-fold increase compared to about 159,000 residential customers on 50Mbps plans in December 2017.
This reflects NBN Co’s pricing strategies to encourage Retail Service Providers (RSPs) and their customers to higher speed plans, as well as various other initiatives including the ACCC’s advertising speed guidance project.
“The NBN Co’s Focus on 50 promotion has demonstrated that RSPs and their customers are willing to move to higher speed plans if the incentives are right,” ACCC Chair Rod Sims said.
“We expect these incentives will continue to operate as NBN Co transitions to longer term bundled pricing for the higher speed plans.”
However, at the same time, the number of customers choosing the most basic NBN services also continues to rise. Just over 1.2 million consumers are on the lowest 12Mbps speed plan (up by 4.3 per cent).
“Consumers on 12/1 plans still represent more than a quarter of all NBN services. It is important that NBN Co recognises the needs of this significant cohort of consumers for an affordable and reliable service,” Mr Sims said.
Average CVC per user also continued to rise this quarter, up by 2.9 per cent, from 1.66Mbps in June 2018 to 1.71Mbps in September 2018. In March 2017 it was 1.00Mbps.
“It is important RSPs maintain sufficient CVC capacity to ensure consumers get the service they have paid for, particularly in the busy period,” Mr Sims said.
“The ACCC will continue to monitor CVC utilisation under its record-keeping powers. The ACCC’s Monitoring Broadband Australia Program will also continue to rank RSPs by whether they are providing the speeds expected by consumers.”
This quarter’s report also includes, for the first time, the number of services provided over Fibre to the Curb (FTTC) technology, with 39,204 FTTC services in operation at the end of September.
Overall market shares remained relatively stable; smaller RSPs increased their market share slightly from 6.1 per cent to 6.3 per cent (adding about 27,000 more services).
All 121 POIs had at least six access seeker groups (including Telstra, Optus, TPG, Vocus and Aussie Broadband) acquiring NBN services directly from NBN Co. There were seven access seeker groups at 118 of the 121 POIs.
The ACCC will continue to monitor the evolution of the NBN broadband market to help consumers make an informed choices about broadband plans.
Key points from the September 2018 report:

• The number of 50Mbps services continued to increase, reaching more than 1.8m services at the end of September, a 26 per cent increase on the June quarter.
• Plans with speeds of 50Mbps services or more now account for just under 50 per cent of all NBN residential broadband services.
• At the end of September 2018, NBN Co was supplying a total of 4,488,295 wholesale residential broadband access services (up from 4,133,791 in the June quarter).
• FTTC services were reported by NBN for the first time. Over 39,000 services provided over this new technology were in operation at the end of the quarter.
• There were at least six access seeker groups present at all 121 POIs.
• The average CVC per customer increased an additional 2.9 per cent.

Further information, including time series data, is available at September quarter 2018 report

This International Product Safety Week (12-16 November) the ACCC, along with the European Commission and 24 other countries, is focused on reducing the number of unsafe consumer products being sold online.
Cross-border transactions are becoming more common, and in 2017, Australians bought an estimated $21.3 billion worth of products online. All products sold in Australia must comply with Australian product safety laws whether bought in a local store or online from overseas. The global OECD campaign aims to highlight the importance of suppliers and online retailers being aware of the product safety rules and regulations in different countries.
“Under Australian Consumer Law, anyone selling products to Australian consumers must ensure their products aren’t banned here and that they meet Australia’s 42 mandatory safety standards, no matter where they are located in the world,” ACCC Deputy Chair Delia Rickard said.
Ms Rickard urged consumers to do their research before purchasing items online.
“Online shoppers are particularly exposed to injury or illness risks because they cannot physically examine products and their labelling as they would when shopping in store,” Ms Rickard said.
“People should check online ratings and reviews, which may indicate any safety issues other consumers have experienced.
“Always read safety warnings and follow instructions. People can also report unsafe products to the ACCC or their consumer protection agency,” she said.
The ACCC has been working proactively with a number of online selling platforms such as eBay, Etsy, AliExpress, Gumtree, and Catch.com.au to improve product safety compliance in the online marketplace.
These platforms are undertaking a range of activities to improve awareness of unsafe products, including sending tailored compliance alerts and information to sellers about Australian regulations, and putting processes in place that enable swifter removal of listings that include unsafe products.
Some platforms have been stronger than others on managing product safety compliance. The ACCC encourages other platforms to adopt proactive processes such as requiring product safety compliance certificates, to help ensure only compliant products can be listed on their sites.
“It’s essential that sellers provide product safety information such as labels, warnings and descriptions in their listings,” Ms Rickard said.
“All platforms open to consumers also need to emphasise to their sellers the importance of product safety compliance, and work swiftly with regulators to remove listings of unsafe products. Ideally they should also have systems that automatically search for and remove non-complying goods.
“If any products don’t comply with Australian regulations, we expect online suppliers and marketplaces to stop them being sold in Australia.”
The ACCC also is pushing for the introduction of a General Safety Provision, which would place a clear obligation on business to not sell unsafe products, and bring Australia in line with international safety regimes like Canada, Brazil, the United Kingdom and the European Union.
Follow the hashtag #SafeProductsOnline for tips and information throughout International Product Safety Week. More information is also available at www.productsafety.gov.au/safeproductsonline(link is external).
Background

• The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) works to improve the well-being of people around the world and has made product safety risks and challenges in e-commerce its product safety priority for 2018.
• The ACCC and the European Commission are co-leading the campaign during Product Safety Week 2018, with around 23 other OECD jurisdictions participating.
• In 2018 the ACCC’s Compliance and Enforcement priorities for consumer protection include ensuring better product safety outcomes for consumers in the online marketplace.
• In 2017 an estimated 1.66 billion people globally purchased goods online with total sales totalling USD $2.3 trillion.
• Online marketplace sales account for 50% of global online retail sales with USD $1.55 trillion spent globally on the top 75 online marketplaces in 2017.
• Among OECD member countries(link is external), more than half of the population purchased goods online in 2016, up from 36% in 2010.
• Tips for consumers, online sellers and online selling platforms are available online(link is external).

Over a weekend in September, more than 1,250 people gathered at 26 locations across the country to take part in GovHack — Australia’s largest open data hackathon.
This isn’t the first time we’ve been involved in GovHack. Over the years, our staff have participated as competitors and organisers. This year, we came on board as the lead agency sponsor.
We wanted to support and showcase the value of open data, particularly for government. We are the custodians of data.gov.au. Not only it is the main source of open data for GovHack teams, it is Australia’s largest repository of open government data. data.gov.au contains over 70,000 datasets on everything from registers of baby names and native title claims through to science and research data such as phytoplankton monitoring of the River Murray.
We believe that quality open data has the power to build connections between government, private and research sectors and support evidence-based decision making.
As part of our sponsorship, we were given the opportunity to present one challenge and one bounty award to the participants.

Challenge: help government decide with data

Local, state and federal governments make decisions every day so our challenge was focused around decision-making. We wanted to see projects that used data to help government make evidence-based, informed decisions to deliver better services.
Crashboard
The winner of this challenge was Crashboard. The Crashboard team designed an interactive dashboard to help local and state governments decide how to invest into road safety upgrades. Using transport, crash, weather and population datasets, the dashboard ranks local areas in Victoria based on a ‘road safety’ score. The team proposed that these scores could be used by local councils to identify areas in need of road infrastructure upgrades and decide on potential solutions to reduce the crash-incidence rate and save the lives of Victorians.
Read more about Crashboard and watch the team’s video
Safer Evacuations
The runner up for this challenge was Safer Evacuations. The Safer Evacuations team developed a simulation tool to allow emergency management planners to model evacuation situations in urban environments. Using population, map and location data, the tool can test for building or environmental changes and plan for different emergency scenarios. The team imagined that these plans could be communicated in real-time for organisations like schools and embassies.
Read more about Safer Evacuations and view the team’s video

Bounty award: mix and mashup

We were looking for the best use of two or more data sets that might seem completely unrelated to each other, but can be brought together to inform great solutions.
Bubbles
The winner of our bounty award was Bubbles. The Bubbles team created a website of ‘empathy bubbles’ designed to build understanding between different demographics of people. They connected census, aged care, mental health and insolvency data to find unexpected similarities between different groups like young and old Australians.
Read more about Bubbles and watch the team’s video
Congratulations to everyone who took part in GovHack this year. The innovative and creative uses of open data were inspiring.
If you are an open data enthusiast like us, visit data.gov.au to join our online community.

Digital identity will make it easier for people to prove who they are when using government services online.
The Trusted Digital Identity Framework sets out the rules and standards which must be followed by every organisation providing digital identity services.
This includes government agencies such as the Australian Taxation Office, which will operate the myGovID identity provider, the Department of Human Services, which operate the identity exchange, as well as any private sector suppliers who join the program later on.
Protection of privacy has been a key consideration at all points during the development of the program, from the first policy documents to the technology we are testing with real people and businesses.
The framework builds on, and has requirements as least as strong as the:

• Australian Privacy Principles and the Privacy Code
• Information Security Registered Assessors Program
• Australian Government Protective Security Policy Framework and Information Security Manual
• Australian Signals Directorate’s Essential 8 cyber security mitigations

It also requires participants to undertake independent security testing and assessments.

Privacy Impact Assessments (PIAs)

Another way we are making sure digital identities are safe, secure and protect the privacy of their users is through independent assessments of the framework.
We have commissioned a multi-phase PIA process to help identify, assess and minimise privacy risks in the framework.
PIAs are an important step in the protection of privacy for projects that involve the handling of personal information.
These assessments provide an opportunity to make sure projects follow privacy laws and also help to identify potential impacts and mitigations that will address the expectations of the community.
Every part of the digital identity system will undergo its own PIA including myGovID and the identity exchange.

First assessment

We commissioned an independent privacy company to run a multi-phase PIA process, involving engagements with privacy commissioners, consumer groups and privacy advocates.
The initial PIA focused on the overall concept and design of the framework and made 23 recommendations.
We published the PIA and responded to its recommendations in May 2017.

Second assessment

Today we’re releasing the second PIA along with our responses to its recommendations.
This assessment focused on strengthening the privacy requirements of the framework, ensuring data quality and making sure users have a consistent experience.
A summary of the recommendations of the second PIA and our responses are included below.
The TDIF’s privacy requirements should be mandated
We agree that the TDIF could be strengthened through legal backing and we’re looking into this.
The identity exchange should only keep metadata for a short period of time
The identity exchange needs to keep metadata related to transactions:

• to allow people to use the system
• for evidence in investigations of complaints and fraud

We agree that there needs to be a time limit on how long metadata is kept for evidence in investigations of complaints and fraud. We’re looking into use cases to work out what a reasonable time limit should be.
The identity exchange and identity providers need to develop their own privacy policies
We agree and we will make this a requirement in the next iteration of the TDIF’s privacy requirements.
The TDIF’s restrictions on the use of biometrics should be mandated
We agree that the TDIF could be strengthened through legal backing and we’re looking into this.
The TDIF should outline a time period for the validity and renewal of identity credentials
We agree and we will include a time period in a future iteration of the TDIF’s proofing requirements.
Complaints should be responded to within 30 days
We agree that this would help to ensure a consistent experience for our users.
A committee of key stakeholder representatives should be able to participate in the development and implementation of the TDIF
We’ve consulted across privacy and community groups in the development of the TDIF and will be releasing the next part of the framework for consultation soon. We will make sure these groups are represented in the oversight of the TDIF.
The TDIF should be reviewed after 3 years
We’re planning to review the TDIF within 2 years after the first public beta service – issuing a tax file number using myGovID.

Moving forward

The governance and legal framework which supports digital identity will always include strong privacy protections embedded in robust rules or legislation.
Before they can join the identity federation, all identity service providers must complete their own PIAs and prove they are meeting privacy requirements.
As the digital identity pilot programs roll out, our user research continues. As part of that, we are focusing on how we can make it easier for users to understand how their identity information is used and make informed decision about how their information is used, and how we can improve privacy notices to make them more informative and effective.

The Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) today released today which shows that over the last five years, employer action is improving workplace gender equality. The Agency’s Director, Libby Lyons, is launching the 2017-18 WGEA data at the National Press Club in Canberra today.
The WGEA data records a steady increase in the number of women in management roles and strong growth in employer action in areas such as overall gender equality policies and strategies, pay equity and flexible work.
The gender pay gap has declined every year and this year has seen the biggest single-year drop (down 1.1pp) in the average full-time total remuneration gender pay gap.
However, the data confirms that we still have a long way to go. There are pay gaps favouring men in every industry and occupation and women earn, on average, just 79% of men’s full-time total remuneration salaries.
The five-year data trends also show virtually no movement in gender segregation across Australian industries and little improvement in either access to paid parental leave or the representation of women at CEO level or on boards.
Ms Lyons said the Agency’s dataset shows that employer action has delivered real outcomes but that women still face considerable barriers in Australia’s workplaces.
“The five years of data collection demonstrates the value of measuring workplace gender equality. We have clear evidence that employer action delivers real results and we should recognise the great work many employers have done in addressing issues such as pay equity. As employers have taken action, the gender pay gap has declined and gender equality outcomes for women and men across Australia have improved.
“Another positive result is that women have increased their presence in management over the past five years. Women now comprise almost 40% of the managers in our dataset and almost a third of key management personnel, which is just under the CEO level, are now women.
“However, our data also highlights areas for improvement. Although the gender pay gap has narrowed every year, progress is too slow. Access to parental leave has not improved, with the provision of paid primary carer’s leave actually going backwards. The glass walls persist in industry segregation, which remains deeply entrenched in Australia. The glass ceiling is still a barrier for women at the CEO and board levels.
“The first five years of data shows where we are seeing positive change and where we need to make more effort. We now need even more employers to take action so that we can accelerate the momentum for gender equality in Australian workplaces,” said Ms Lyons.