CONCERNS about the perceived decline in Australia's skills and knowledge sets in the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics - referred to by educators as STEM - has prompted the national Chief Scientist, Professor Ian Chubb, to take action.

Ian Chubb (centre) wants Australia to embrace greater knowledge in science technology, engineering and mathematics.

The concerns about Australia's shift away from STEM expertise have recently been heightened by declining secondary and tertiary enrolments in areas such as higher level mathematics, which forms the foundation for these areas.

Australian business has for some time imported staff in certain sectors in which local STEM skills sets have been increasingly difficult to find - and this has manifested as a quiet sector of the 457 Work Visa debate in recent years.

Prof. Chubb has appointed a group to advise on strategies and priorities regarding science, technology, engineering and mathematics education, skills in the workplace and literacy for the community.

Interestingly, a head engineer from Google, an astrophysicist, a secondary school science teacher and a university chancellor are included in a diverse mix of advisers who will present a range of perspectives from academia, education, industry and research.

The STEM Industry and Education Advisory Group, appointed for a three-year term will advise the Chief Scientist on the mechanisms to develop a strong STEM base in the workforce as well as across the Australian community.

A major focus of the STEM Industry and Education Advisory Group will be to assist the Chief Scientist to enhance awareness in the community of the importance of STEM education and skills to Australia's economic and social development.

Members are:

Chair: Professor Ian Chubb AC - Australia's Chief Scientist.

Dr Alan Finkel AM - Monash University Chancellor, Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering president, and Stile Education CEO.

Dr Terry Lyons - University of New England Science Education.

Dr Brendan Nelson - Australian War Memorial director and former Federal Minister.

Alan Noble - Google Australia and New Zealand head engineer.

Dr Roslyn Prinsley - Office of the Chief Scientist, Science and Mathematics Industry and Education national adviser.

Robert Randall - Assessment and Reporting Authority, Australian Curriculum CEO.

Dr Deborah Rathjen - Bionomics CEO and managing director.

Prof. Brian Schmidt AC - Australian Research Council Laureate Fellow and astrophysicist, Mount Stromlo Observatory and Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics, ANU College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, The Australian National University.

Anita Trenwith - Science teacher, Salisbury School, Adelaide, winner of 2012 Prime Minister's Prize for Excellence in Science Teaching in Secondary Schools.

http://www.chiefscientist.gov.au/

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Australia has welcomed the new financial year with a 15 percent drop in executive positions, according to the latest EL Executive Demand Index.

Finance and IT executive roles saw worst decline.

According to the index, a conjunction between rising inflation and falling economic growth is choking off the number of Australian executive jobs on offer. Plus, the new corporate conservatism is likely to continue for some time.

The E.L Executive Demand Index fell 15 percent in the month of July compared with the prior month as a number of poor economic growth indicators coincided with the release of inflation figures above the Reserve Bank of Australia's favoured 2-3 percent band range.

Grant Montgomery, managing director of the executive search firm E.L Consult which researches and publishes the E.L Index, said, "Consequently, it is obvious the Reserve Bank had no choice but to leave official rates on hold again this month.  The inflation created by the resource sector is not affected and will not change with local interest rates.  Any rise will only impact the local non-resource sector which is already on its knees.

"We are in a stagflationary environment of sorts, where both inflation is rising and growth is falling. The RBA is stuck in the middle, having to slow the resource rich economy which is feeding demand-pull inflation, while not choking off the anaemic growth profile of the larger states such as New South Wales and Victoria and their non-resource sector industries.

"Nobody wants to say it, it is the worst possible of all economic scenarios,  stagflation, which looks increasingly likely, particularly given the continuing rise of the Australian dollar and the still sickly growth in the US and Europe," Mr Montgomery said.

"The June upturn last month now seems to have been a seasonal anomaly and this month's fall has pretty much averaged out the last two months into the now typical decline in new executive level positions.  

"As we said last month when the E.L Index rose 11 percent, the spending on executive positions in the final month of the financial year clearly showed the conservatism of the market.

"Corporate players have waited until the last possible month to spend their budget rather than spreading it throughout the year because the enormous uncertainty they have on the business environment outlook.

"No wonder that Glenn Stevens, the Reserve Bank governor, spoke recently of a ‘new conservatism' that saw most householders more interested in saving than shopping. He also said there were those in the manufacturing, retail and tourism sectors that where experiencing cost pressures.  He said ,  ‘you've got product prices under downward pressure and costs under upward pressure'.

"The reduction in July at the start of the new financial year would tend to confirm this," Mr Montgomery said.

"The losses in July were virtually across the board. We've seen a significant decrease, mostly in the public sector, probably as the NSW Government attempts to reduce the bureaucracy in that state.

"In some ways we are playing chicken with the local economy. Rates are among the highest in the world, the Australian dollar is at its highest level since being floated in 1983, choking off exports.

"Consumer spending is low, corporate confidence is low. About the only that is keeping up confidence levels is the general gross domestic product numbers and they are covering up significant structural income disparities.

"Overall we are currently at 50 percent of the peak level of executive employment hit before the global financial crisis. Australia outside of the China led mineral boom is highly depressed and doesn't look like changing back any time soon."

All sectors fell during the month. The losses were led by the financial and information technology sectors.
Among the large states, Victoria slumped followed by New South Wales.

As could perhaps be expected, the resource-rich state of Western Australia was the only state to post a positive result, up 7 percent on the prior month.

The government the sector was the largest contributor to new demand as non-resource industries continue to batten down the hatches.

Both print-based and web-based advertising fell sharply against the prior month.

http://www.elconsult.com/

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When La Trobe University launched its first tertiary courses on iTunes this week it was also rewarded with its three millionth podcast downloaded from more than 150 countries.

University on your iPad? No problem says La Trobe Uni.

La Trobe University became the first Australian university to launch courses on iTunes U this week.

Since its launch in October 2009, La Trobe University on iTunes U has established itself as an important member of the iTunes U community, with more than 600 podcasts and videos covering the spread of the University's wealth of knowledge.

La Trobe is the first Australian university on iTunes to release iTunes U courses, a new delivery method from Apple Corporation which allows a worldwide audience to access freely available course teaching material at the same time as students, regardless of location or enrolment.

Two courses History of Children's Literature and The European Union in the New Millennium are now available, with more to follow as the semester progresses.

La Trobe lecturer Stefan Auer, who teaches on the European Union, said he was excited by the prospect of a huge worldwide audience for his teaching.

"This is a very exciting time to study contemporary European politics and I am thrilled about this new platform, which we can use to reach students well beyond our campus," Dr Auer said. "The EU is global, and so is our subject"

Since 2009 La Trobe University has been providing a wide range of free material including lectures, interviews, and videos, reaching thousands of new listeners and potential students on a daily basis. 

Notable interviews include former Prime Minister of Australia Malcolm Fraser, Nobel Prize winner in medicine Professor Harald zur Hausen, human rights and refugee advocate Julian Burnside, former Australian of the Year Prof. Patrick McGorry, and many respected La Trobe University academics.

"I'm delighted that La Trobe University continues to be at the forefront of developments in online digital education," said senior deputy vice-chancellor John Rosenberg.

"iTunes U courses bring all relevant material together to make it simple for anyone who wants to study a subject, however complex or challenging it might be.

"This is an idea that fits perfectly with La Trobe University's founding philosophy to make education available to everyone," he said.

http://itunes.apple.com/au/institution/la-trobe-university/id380435656

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The needs of the current Indigenous labour market have become a number one priority for a number of government departments and organisations, representing the Southern Queensland region.

The goal is to raise the participation of Indigenous Australians in the agri-food industries.

Some eight stakeholders, including Agforce, the Queensland Rural Industry Training Council (QRITC), the Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries (DPI&F), the Department of Education, Training and the Arts, (DETA) the Department of Employment and Industrial Relations, (DEIR) the Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, (DEEWR), WCW Consultancy & Training and the Department of Tourism, Regional Development and Industry (DTRDI) have recently held discussions to identify the needs of Indigenous people in South West Queensland, in respect to their current employment situation.

Indigenous representative for the Steering Committee, Charlie Waters, said the discussions, which were made up of two parts, identifying the labour shortages within industry and skills needed for industry, along with examining the unemployment and participation rate of Indigenous Australians within the region.

“We looked at the participation of Indigenous people within the agri-food sector and agri-businesses and how they can come together with employers from the industry,” Mr Waters said.

“The discussions of the committee were an environment of openness, flexibility and responsiveness with actions formulated in regard to matching the Indigenous community and the industry together.

“Participation of Indigenous people within the agri-food sector isn’t high, and unemployed indigenous people could be a major contributor to the labour shortages issue affecting the agri-foods industries,” Mr Waters said.

“In 2009, the Community Development Employment Programs (CDEP) will be disbanded across some of the major communities of the South West, which will result in a large number of Indigenous people seeking further employment.

“We all know that it is may times the most disadvantaged that are affected during times of economic crisis. It is important that at times like these that we build up a good reliable service along with the agri-food sector to capture this human resource and ensure that the industry and the Aboriginal community create a buffer against the crisis” he said.

“There are already a couple of Indigenous employment businesses operating and we hope we can provide and gain further support from government and industry to support these programs. These employment operations could be implemented across the whole sector.”

The result of the discussion – the Scoping Analysis – which was facilitated by Queensland Rural Industry Training Council, and undertaken by consultants Peter and Rochelle Jesser identified that:

1. Agriculture is a historical employer of choice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the South Western region;

2. That rural areas present the most difficulties to policy makers in tackling the issue of Aboriginal inequality in economic participation;

3. The current economic situation of Aboriginal people is closely related to economic changes in the rural economy.

The Scoping Analysis report will be launched at All Seasons Function Centre, Toowoomba on February 12.

Contact Yvon Wigley on 1800623946 or e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Contact Charlie Waters on 0429976860 or e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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