Exploring planning, engineering, and construction standards to strengthen road resiliency across Australia was the focus of the opening public hearing on February 16, 2023, with Austroads, the member association of Australian and New Zealand transport agencies.
Chair of the Committee, Luke Gosling OAM, MP, said, "The hearing is an opportunity to hear from Austroads about the effects of climate change and natural disasters on the national road network, and the role of the Austroads Guides in promoting a national approach to best practice road design to enhance infrastructure resiliency and support our communities and industries."
The committee intends to hold further public hearings and interested parties are encouraged to make a written submission to this inquiry relating to any or all of the inquiry terms of reference by February 28, 2023.
Further information about the inquiry, including published submissions and hearing transcripts, will be available on the inquiry web page.
Professor Brendan Crabb AC, the Burnet Institute’s director and chief executive, will appear to further unpack what medical researchers know so far about long COVID and repeated COVID infections.
The public hearing will also hear from peak bodies, other medical researchers and ventilation experts about the effects of long COVID and repeated COVID infections on patients, health workers and schools.
Chair of the Committee, Mike Freelander MP said, "The committee is looking forward to travelling to Melbourne to hear from organisations and researchers who have played central roles throughout the COVID pandemic.
"The committee is interested in hearing about how we may be able to reduce the risk of COVID in highly social settings such as schools, including by investigating the role of ventilation," Dr Freelander said. "We are also looking forward to speaking to peak bodies to better understand how long COVID and repeated COVID infections are impacting Australia’s primary care capability."
Deputy Chair of the Committee, Melissa McIntosh MP said, "COVID is serious, and the committee is asking for expert evidence on preventative measures and issues with multiple reinfection.
"Throughout our inquiry we have repeatedly heard about the importance of preventative strategies such as mask wearing, social distancing and ventilation. We intend to canvass these measures in more detail at this public hearing."
Further information about the inquiry, including the terms of reference and published submissions are available on the Committee’s website.
Public hearing details
Date: Monday, 20 February 2023 Time: 8.30am–5pm AEDT Location: Cabrini Hospital Education and Training facility, 154 Wattle Road, Malvern, Victoria
Program
8.30am–9.10am: Professor Brendan Crabb AC, Director and CEO, Burnet Institute 9.10am–9.50am: Public Health Association of Australia (PHAA) 9.50am–10.30am: Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) 10.30am–11am: Break 11am–11.40am: Associate Professor Robyn Schofield, University of Melbourne 11.40am–12:20pm: Professor Lidia Morawska, Queensland University of Technology (by videoconference) 12.20pm–1.20pm: Break 1.20pm–2pm: Professor Geoff Hanmer, Director, OzSAGE 2pm–2.40pm: Professor Jeremy Nicholson, Director, Australian Phenome Centre 2.40pm–3.40pm: Break 3.40pm–4.20pm: COVID Safe Schools Inc (by videoconference) 4.20pm–5pm: Australian Education Union 5pm: Close
Audio of the hearing will be broadcast live at aph.gov.au/live.
THIS YEAR'S Federal Budget must make meaningful and long-term commitments to fund apprentice and trainee recruitment, retention and support initiatives. That’s the advice from the Independent Tertiary Education Council Australia (ITECA), the peak body representing independent providers in the skills training, higher education, and international education sectors.
“A decade ago, the then Australian Government slashed apprentice and trainee incentives directed to both commencement and completion in critical skill areas for the economy," ITECA chief executive Troy Williams said. "This saw recruitment levels crash by around 59 percent by 2019 on 2012 levels, despite efforts of some states and territories.
"This decline was only arrested with the introduction of Covid-era employment subsidies,” Mr Williams said..
With apprenticeship and traineeship numbers having grown in recent years, ITECA is calling for the Australian Government to commit to long-term incentives to ensure that employers are able to keep apprentices and trainees on throughout the course of their training.
“The duration of an apprenticeship is often four years from commencement to completion. Government incentives that last for a year or two do not provide potential apprentices, trainees, employers or training organisations with the confidence to engage meaningfully and long-term in the ways needed,” Mr Williams said.
Consistent with ITECA’s established reputation for member-driven policy leadership, the independent skills training sector has provided recommendations to the Australian Government as part of the consultations to support the development of this year’s federal budget.
“ITECA members have advised the Australian Government that a subsidy of 30 percent be provided in the first year of apprenticeships and traineeships, without limitation by any list. Further, ITECA members have also advised that the completion incentives be reinstated at a minimum of $5,000 to the apprentice or trainee on the completion of their training,” Mr Williams said.
The emphasis on the completion incentive is a critical component of the support mechanism, according to the ITECA membership.
“Without the completion incentive, the initial incentives are a disservice to employers in the first instance, as well as to the apprentices and trainee. We need the Australian Government to support apprentices, trainees and employers for the duration of their training,” Mr Williams said.
To provide employers and the skills training sector with confidence, ITECA members recommend that the new arrangements be implemented over the medium-term.
“As they consider taking on an apprentice and trainee, employers need confidence that the policy settings of today will provide, as a minimum, the support available over the term of the apprenticeship and traineeship,” Mr Williams said.
Government data referenced in the ITECA State Of The Sector Report shows that over the past four years, the number of apprentices and trainees with independent Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) has grown by more than 60,000. The report shows that there were 182,220 apprentices and trainees with independent providers, that’s 52.2 percent of all apprentices and trainees in the skills system.
Founded in 1992, the Independent Tertiary Education Council Australia (ITECA) is the peak body representing independent Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) and higher education providers. Independent RTOs support more than 87 percent of the 4.3 million students in skills training and around 10 percent of the 1.6 million students in a higher education awards program.
Committee Chair, Daniel Mulino MP, said, "Since the committee’s last public hearing in September last year, the RBA has raised the cash rate one percent — a cumulative rise of 3.25 percent since the RBA started hiking rates in May 2022. Right now, inflation is the primary challenge to Australia’s economy, with the latest CPI inflation figures reaching 7.8 percent over the year to the December quarter.
"This sharp increase in rates, unprecedented in recent times, has been creating pressure across households and the economy. While the RBA’s view is that inflation is likely to have peaked around the end of 2022, there is still considerable uncertainty in the economic outlook with further interest rate increases expected in the months ahead," Dr Mulino said.
"The committee takes its scrutiny of the RBA very seriously and will continue to examine how the challenges of tackling high inflation are evolving. The RBA’s mandate of returning inflation to the 2 to 3 percent range over time is vital, and there are many domestic and global factors that will need to be addressed."
THE House Standing Committee on Health, Aged Care and Sport will hear from Australians living with long COVID and other post-viral illness at a public hearing on February 17, 2023 at Parliament House in Canberra.
The Chair of the Committee, Mike Freelander MP, said, "Listening to Australians living with long COVID about their experiences, journey to diagnosis and treatment is a key role of this inquiry.
"The committee appreciates the time taken by many people with long COVID who wrote to us to share how the condition has deeply impacted many aspects of their lives. Our next public hearing will unpack some of the issues raised in these submissions in more detail so we can consider how to better support long COVID patients now and in the future."
The committee will also hear from the Australian Department of Health and Aged Care, the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisation (NACCHO) and a roundtable of experts jointly organised by the Australian Academy of Science and the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences.
Deputy Chair of the Committee, Melissa McIntosh MP, said, "The roundtable convened by the Australian Academy of Science and the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences will bring together experts in areas such as infectious diseases, epidemiology, immunology, mental health and public health. This is a great opportunity for the Committee to hear from individuals at the forefront of COVID research and treatment."
The committee will hear from the Department of Health and Aged Care about what the Government is doing to respond to the new challenges for Australia’s healthcare system presented by long COVID and repeated COVID infections and is also looking forward to hearing from NACCHO with its valuable insights into the primary care response to COVID-19 in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
Further information about the inquiry, including the terms of reference and published submissions are available on the Committee’s website.
8am–8.30am: National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO) 8.30am–9.20am: Department of Health and Aged Care 9.20am–9.50am: Mr Bruce Sedgwick and Ms Sophie Sedgwick, private capacity 9.50am–10.20am: Associate Professor Nada Hamad, person with lived experience of long COVID (by videoconference) 10.20am–10.50am: Break 10.50am–11.30am: Australian Long COVID Community Facebook Group 11.30am–12.10pm: Session on lived experience of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) (by videoconference) 12.10pm–1pm: Break 1pm–5.00pm: Roundtable with experts organised jointly by the Australian Academy of Science and the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences 5pm: Public hearing close
The public hearing will be broadcast live at aph.gov.au/live.
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