Month: February 2022

A researcher at Charles Darwin University (CDU), Gavin Trewella, has been working to improve the conservation outlook for an iconic Australian native animal, the northern quoll.

Once a common mammal in Northern Australia and a relative of the Tasmanian Devil, quolls have been facing rapidly declining populations due to cane toad invasion, extensive fires, grazing, and predation by feral cats.

Northern quolls are now classified as critically endangered in the Northern Territory and facing many immediate threats.

Northern quolls, the smallest among all quolls, are currently dotted around Australia’s northern coastlines, including in the Northern Territory, Far North Queensland and northern Western Australia.

Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihoods (RIEL) PhD candidate Mr Trewella has been collecting field data about a northern quoll population in the Cape York Peninsula through many long, hot field trips to Far North Queensland supported by Rio Tinto.

Mr Trewella deploys camera traps and uses GPS transmitters to track these elusive, agile nocturnal mammals in the savannas of Weipa, Cape York.

Mr Trewella’s research has found the northern quoll population there is restricted to a small number of specific bauxite plateaus that act as natural fire breaks and create ideal vegetation and hollows that provide a haven for quolls.

Separate research from CDU in the Territory has found feral cattle, horses may degrade habitat, with such habitat degradation then further increasing risks of predation by feral cats pose.

“My work is focused on identifying how the northern quoll’s population is influenced by the quality of their habitat,” Mr Trewella said.

“I hope to apply lessons learned to other quoll populations in Australia by working on creating habitats ideal for quolls.”

As quolls are also carnivorous, their feeding on poisonous cane toads has been a main factor in the dwindling quoll population.

“In the Northern Territory and the Kimberley region, quolls face the immediate effect of the cane toad invasion. I want to work out what the quolls need to persist with the current situation of cane toads,” he said.

“The Northern Quoll population is at its lowest across Australia. Using the data and finding from my research, I hope to help the northern quolls bounce back and repopulate.”

CDU ecologist and Northern Territory mammal expert, Professor John Woinarski, said the northern quoll had suffered a “catastrophic decline” over the years.

“There are not many spots in the Northern Territory where quolls can still be seen. Twenty years ago, you would often see quolls while out camping, but such happy sights are no longer the case,” Professor Woinarski said.

“It’s really important to try to understand how the quoll population can persist with cane toads, and we also need more information on fire regimes to protect quolls.”

The Keep Corporations Honest campaign to save Australian class actions has welcomed statements by Attorney-General Michaelia Cash that the government will not pursue its agenda of weakening access to class to actions ahead of this year’s federal election.

Ms Cash had been under pressure from class action members and legal experts to drop her government’s proposed changes, which would have seen funding sources for class actions dry up making many potential actions unviable.

However, Keep Corporations Honest is now urging the Minister to go a step further and permanently discard the proposal.

“The legislation proposed by Ms Cash was nothing more than scrappy vandalism against class actions,” said KCH spokesperson Jan Saddler.

“Small wonder that a broad spectrum of legal experts and community members vigorously opposed the proposals. Ms Cash’s attempts to vilify those taking part in class actions as either dupes or vexatious irritants was particularly offensive.

“Our campaign is extremely pleased to see that the Minister has been spooked off her destructive course of action — albeit temporarily.

“Class actions are overwhelmingly a force for good and any responsible government should support them. Not only do they help everyday Australians to obtain justice when they have been ripped off by corporations and governments, they also keep the powerful looking over their shoulders. That’s a good thing, not a hindrance.

“We now call on Ms Cash to formally and permanently remove her government’s support for these shambolic proposed class action changes.”

Hundreds of women with a passion for sport will be supported to further their careers under Sport Australia’s 2022 Women Leaders in Sport (WLIS) program.

In all, 489 women across 34 sports will benefit from the initiative, which has helped strengthen the role of women leaders in sport for more than two decades.

Minister for Women Marise Payne said increasing the number of women leaders in sport was a priority for the Morrison Government.

“We are pleased to support a program that empowers women in sport and helps organisations create more diverse and inclusive workplaces,” Minister Payne said.

Minister for Sport Richard Colbeck said the program provides valuable leadership development opportunities for women on and off the field.

“Through the WLIS program we are supporting the next generation of women sports leaders,” Minister Colbeck said. “By assisting women leaders, coaches and match officials with their career development and creating more leadership pathways for women we are taking important steps towards achieving gender equity in sport.”

Sport Australia Acting CEO Rob Dalton said the program, which began in 2002, continues to receive strong interest from the sector.

“This financial year saw a record number of individuals apply for funding which is testament to the program’s reputation and success in developing women leaders in sport.”

“So far more than 26,000 women and over 800 local, state and national sporting organisations have benefitted from this program and we look forward to supporting even more women in the future as we strive for a greater balance of men and women in senior positions in sport.”

WLIS is delivered by Sport Australia with the support of the Office for Women with individuals and organisations sharing in more than $526,000 in grants this financial year.

Seventy women will share $296,000 in funding for professional development opportunities.

They include Cheryl Kostich from Riding for the Disabled Association of Australia (RDAA) who will use her grant funding to undertake a Diploma of Human Resources Management at Swinburne University.

“I am excited by the opportunity to gain new skills and adapt them to my role,” Kostich said.

“This course will help me gain a greater understanding of HR management which I can use to provide qualified guidance and support to RDAA staff and the wider Riding for the Disabled community.”

Co-founder of not-for-profit organisation Siren Sport, Kirby Fenwick, will use her grant funding to study content design.

“It’s wonderful to get this kind of support to upskill and extend my knowledge in a really practical way. The skills and knowledge I will gain through this course will not only help me to build on my own work in sports media but will equip me with tools and tips that I can share with colleagues and interns.”

Thirteen sporting organisations will also share in $230,000 in funding to deliver leadership programs in their workplaces.

Surf Life Saving Tasmania (SLST) will establish a leadership and development program to support women who work in volunteer managerial positions.

“This program will allow us to develop the individual professional skills of participants to ensure diversity of leadership for SLST at all levels,” SLST Director Joanne Stolp said.

“Our aim is to create a legacy of participants that are ready to mentor, coach and support our future female leaders.”

Paddle Australia will use its funding to create an inclusive culture and support more women in their organisation.

“We will work with our high performance staff and selected athletes to develop their leadership skills including how to communicate, negotiate and manage conflict – whether that’s in the high performance or executive environment or as a National Coach,” Athlete Wellbeing and Engagement National Manager Matt Murphy said.

A full list of 2022 recipients is available on the Women Leaders in Sport website.

Australia will host up to 1000 international athletes and officials for the inaugural Virtus Oceania Asia Games after a Morrison Government investment of almost $2 million. 

Competitors with an intellectual impairment from more than 25 nations across Asia and the Pacific are expected to compete in the OAGames 2022.

Sport Inclusion Australia in conjunction with National and State Sporting organisations will host the event in Brisbane from 5 to 11 November.

Minister for Sport Richard Colbeck said the OAGames reinforced the impressive line-up of major sporting events to be held in Australia in the next decade.

“Australia keeps attracting major sporting events because of our well-justified reputation as an excellent host of world class international sporting competitions,” Minister Colbeck said.

“OAGames 2022 is a great addition to huge line-up of major competitions ahead of the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

“The Morrison Government supported the successful INAS Global Games in 2019, also hosted by Sport Inclusion Australia, which at the time was the world’s largest sporting event for elite athletes with intellectual impairment.

“OAGames 2022 will build on that success and raise awareness of inclusive sport to a new level, with a clear focus on engagement and participation of our Pacific neighbours, as we head to the 2032 summer Paralympics in Brisbane.”

OAGames 2022 is a multi-sport event which includes international sanctioning and classification for the sports of athletics, swimming, and table tennis, leading to the Virtus Global Games 2023 in Vichy France, and the summer Paralympics in Paris 2024.

Other sports on the program include basketball, cycling, rowing, taekwondo and tennis; and for the first time, OAGames will also include badminton, judo and triathlon, providing more opportunities for athlete participation.

The Games will also host the inaugural World Para Sailing Championship as part of its program.

Sport Inclusion Australia Chief Executive Officer Robyn Smith said the Games marked an important opportunity to showcase the abilities of those who live with an intellectual impairment.

“With an estimated 2 to 3 per cent of the world’s population having an intellectual impairment, the OAGames highlights the immense ability of the athletes and the power of sport to change attitudes, challenge perceptions, and strengthen communities locally and globally” Ms Smith said.

Active engagement in sport has a positive impact on an individual’s health and wellbeing and on community connection.

Find out more about the work of Sport Inclusion Australia here and follow updates on the OAGames 2022 via Facebook.

Australia will reopen to all fully vaccinated visa holders, welcoming the return of tourists, business travellers, and other visitors from 21 February.

These changes will ensure we protect the health of Australians, while we continue to secure our economic recovery.

Australia’s health system has demonstrated its resilience throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, including though the recent Omicron wave. With improving health conditions, including a recent 23 per cent decline in hospitalisations due to COVID, the National Security Committee of Cabinet today agreed Australia is ready to further progress the staged reopening of our international border.

Visa holders who are not fully vaccinated will still require a valid travel exemption to enter Australia, and will be subject to state and territory quarantine requirements.

Today’s announcement will give certainty to our vital tourism industry, and allow them to start planning, hiring and preparing for our reopening. In 2018-19, tourism generated more than $60 billion for the Australian economy, with more than 660,000 jobs dependent on the industry.

Since the Morrison Government commenced Australia’s staged international border reopening on 1 November 2021 we have seen almost 580,000 arrivals come to Australia including to reunite with loved ones, work or study.

The Commonwealth continues to work with States and Territories on the safe resumption of the cruise industry and looks forward to further announcements on this in due course.

A new $1.6 billion economic accelerator will turn Australia’s leading research into world-beating businesses as part of the Morrison Government’s focus on building the country’s resilience.

Australia’s Economic Accelerator (AEA) features as part of a $2.2 billion package to focus the commercialisation of the six national manufacturing priority areas – resources and critical minerals, food and beverage, medical products, recycling and clean energy, defence and space – bringing the country’s brightest business and academic minds together.

Together with a new $150 million expansion of CSIRO’s Main Sequence Ventures, the AEA will reshape research funding to emphasise projects with high potential for commercialisation that are directed at National Manufacturing Priorities and industry engagement.

The Prime Minister said the AEA would invest in projects as they progressed through the stages of their development.

“Stronger commercialisation of research and ideas will mean a stronger economy and a stronger future for Australia,” the Prime Minister said.

“This is about funding projects to bridge the ‘valley of death’ where early-stage research is often not progressed due to higher levels of risk and uncertainty.

“The AEA will drive our universities and businesses to work hand-in-glove through the stages to prove projects’ viability and potential.

“Expanding the CSIRO’s Main Sequence Ventures program then takes this further, incentivising the additional venture capital investment support needed to progress innovative new products and technologies through to market to become the new businesses and employers of the future.”

Acting Minister for Education and Youth Stuart Robert said the AEA would boost investment in two critical stages of experimental development: proof of concept and proof of scale.

“The AEA will become a critical source of competitive funding support for innovating new projects with high commercial potential, and will take a lot of the risk and uncertainty for universities out of the equation,” Minister Robert said.

“We will start with a big range of contenders – a contest of ideas.

“But as we progress to stage two, the number of applicants will diminish and the value of the funding to each will increase.

“For example, stage one will involve nearly 100 grants a year of up to $500,000. Recipients will be required to engage industry through in-kind support or even co-location.

“In order to be one of the 36 recipients attracting up to $5 million in funding as part of ‘stage two’ projects, industry will need to put more skin in the game with a 50 per cent co-investment.

“At stage three, up to 50 companies will be supported through the Main Sequence Venture, where we are providing $150 million in two successive co-investment funds.

“This investment is about new jobs, increased wages, and creating products that make life easier, more efficient or even more interesting,” Minister Robert said.

Minister for Industry, Energy and Emissions Reduction Angus Taylor said the grants were an investment in Australia’s future industries and smart manufacturing within the Morrison Government’s National Manufacturing Priorities.

“By working with industry and researchers, the government is helping to ensure our economy benefits from our world-class research, both now and well into the future,” Minister Taylor said.

Minister for Science and Technology Melissa Price said the $150 million expansion of the CSIRO Main Sequence Ventures program would back start-up companies and help create commercial opportunities from Australian research.

“The Morrison Government is prioritising investment in research and action to turn Australia’s best ideas into new industries and strengthen our future prosperity,” Minister Price said.

“The expansion of the Main Sequence Ventures will further support the development of spin-off and start-up companies with high commercial potential arising from local research.

“Over the past four years, Main Sequence Ventures has invested in 39 companies that are commercialising deep tech opportunities that have created more than 1,200 technology-related jobs.

“Our new investment in this program will ensure it can play a bigger role in our economy and help develop the next generation of great Aussie companies and products.”

Minister Robert said the Morrison Government would also invest $296 million in industry focused PhDs and fellowships to support its research commercialisation goals and drive greater university-industry collaboration.

“This new scheme will generate 1,800 industry PhDs and over 800 industry fellows over 10 years to fundamentally reshape the workforce of Australia’s universities,” Minister Robert said.

“PhD students will benefit from the experience of undertaking research within industry settings, creating employment pathways beyond academic roles.

“Industry will benefit from the opportunities to host PhD students, bolstering their ability to harness ideas and concepts for innovation, as well as to open the pathway to the recruitment of high-calibre graduates. This will be further enhanced by a new suite of ARC Fellowships that will recognise and reward our academics who collaborate with industry, helping to drive the translation of their research, creating new pathways for their work.

“These initiatives will change the culture and the focus of research across Australia’s universities – building greater engagement with industry and ensuring that innovation is at the core of our economic future as a nation.”