Category: MIL-OSI

Source: Northern Territory Police and Fire Services

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Source: Northern Territory Police and Fire Services

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Source: Mental Health Australia

The speed limit for southbound traffic on the Newell Highway on the southern outskirts of Dubbo will be reduced to 80 km/h for the safety of all road users.

Transport for NSW conducted a speed zone review of the Newell Highway near the Dubbo Zoo Town Information Bay Rest Area, south of Dubbo, where a large number of vehicles enter and exit daily, including heavy vehicles.

Transport for NSW Acting Executive Director Partnerships and Integration West Holly Davies said the review assessed a number of factors including location, crash history, road environment, the number of access points, road usage, traffic mix and traffic volumes and recommended a speed reduction for all users.

“Currently the speed limit past the rest area along the Newell Highway is 80 km/h for northbound traffic and 110 km/h for southbound traffic,” Ms Davies said.

“The review recommended a speed limit reduction from 110 km/h to 80 km/h for all southbound traffic. The 80 km/h speed limit will be extended for 1.2 kilometres south of Obley Road and ending 70 metres south of Blackbutt Road.

“The speed limit for northbound traffic will not change.”

The speed limit change will add about 12 seconds to the average journey, a minor change that will deliver significant improvements for safety with no major impact on commuter or tourist trips through Dubbo.

The reduced speed limit will come into effect on Thursday 25 September and new roadside signage will be installed to advise motorists of the change.

Members of the community can sign up here to receive the latest updates on speed limits changes in their nominated area and to have their say on speed limits.

Source:

Five CFA brigades in Melbourne’s outer northwest have taken to the football field to challenge local umpires to help fundraise and raise awareness in the annual Mental Health Cup.

Brigade members from Hoppers Crossing, Werribee, Truganina, Wyndham Vale and Point Cook swapped their yellows for guernseys at Avalon Airport Oval on Sunday (21 September).

As a long-standing tradition spanning 17 years, Hoppers Crossing Fire Brigade Captain Paul DiMartino said the proceeds from the last ten games have proudly gone toward a wide range of mental health organisations.

“As someone with hats in both camps, as a firefighter and an umpire in the Western Football League, I thought it would be a great opportunity to all come together,” Paul said.

“Once a footy season finishes, often the umpires themselves have a celebratory night which then flows into a mock game the next day for a bit of a fun run around.

“I started arranging and supporting that and thought why not get the firies involved. For those who are a firefighter and an umpire, it is not uncommon for your mental health to be impacted at some point in time.

“In both cases, it’s not easy and a lot of stress comes with it, so if we can support someone further, then great, and that extends beyond those professions too.”

Former Western Bulldogs AFL Premiership player Tom Boyd was a guest speaker on the day and spent his time mingling with the locals during the footy before chatting to them throughout a Q&A session post-game.

Tom put Paul in touch with Reclink as the lead foundation for the day, with all money raised going towards their programs that help to achieve better physical and mental health and greater social inclusion in Victorian communities.

Paul said while raising money is one thing for the chosen foundation, it is the awareness raised that they are most passionate about.

“There is obviously a stigma around mental health, and we want to help people feel comfortable to communicate their feelings,” Paul said.

“We know there are still a number of people in our community who know they can reach out for help but are not there yet.

“It’s just continuing to reiterate the importance of checking on people, and them knowing support is there, whether that is a friend, chaplain, psychologist, or counsellor, and that what they can offer is better than not talking to anybody. We’ve lost too many people too soon.”

Paul said the door is open for anyone over 16 to play, with no experience required and thanks all players, officials, supporters and sponsors for making this special day possible every year.

“Some firies are just pulling on the boots for the first time for the fun of it, while some have played before.” Paul said.

“In some games we’ve had both men and women play, and one of our best players in recent years was the daughter of one of the firefighters who was 17.

“This year, the umpires had the last laugh and took out the game by 20 points.”

Submitted by	CFA media

Source: Mental Health Australia

The Minns Labor Government has accepted every recommendation of the Independent Rail Review into Sydney Trains, announcing an overhaul to maintenance, incident management and passenger communications after the system’s failings caused two days of chaos for commuters in May.

Full media release here (PDF, 148.92 KB).

Source: Australian Ministers for Regional Development

The ACCC has instituted proceedings in the Federal Court against JustAnswer LLC for allegedly misleading consumers as to its affiliation with Australian Ombudsman or Government agencies and the cost of its online question and answer service, in breach of consumer laws.

It is alleged that from about 1 November 2022, JustAnswer made false or misleading representations via a chat widget on its website that consumers could use the online question and answer service for just AUD$2. However, in addition to paying the $2 joining fee, consumers were signed up to an ongoing subscription costing between around $50 and $90 per month.

The ACCC alleges that consumers were not adequately informed of the ongoing subscription fee and suffered financial harm as a result.

“Had consumers been aware that the total price of the JustAnswer online service cost at least 25 times more per month than the promoted joining fee, they may have chosen not to use it,” ACCC Deputy Chair Catriona Lowe said.

“Through its chat widget, JustAnswer offered to connect consumers to ‘experts’ in particular subject areas for a one-off fee of $2. The chat widget didn’t disclose any other charges, and the substantially higher ongoing monthly fee was not mentioned until consumers were directed to a payment screen.”

“The monthly subscription fee was shown in a way that we believe many consumers would not have seen,” Ms Lowe said.

“Manipulative online design practices which guide consumers to sign up for subscriptions they do not want or did not intend to buy can cause distress and financial loss.”

In addition to the alleged price misrepresentations, the ACCC alleges JustAnswer misled consumers by purporting that it or its services were sponsored or approved by, or otherwise affiliated with, the Fair Work Ombudsman, an Australian Ombudsman, or an Australian Government department. 

“We consider some consumers may have engaged with JustAnswer on the mistaken belief that their questions would be answered by an independent ombudsman, such as the Fair Work Ombudsman,” Ms Lowe said.

“The ACCC commenced this investigation after receiving large numbers of complaints from consumers who claimed they were not aware of the ongoing subscription charges or who thought they were dealing with an Australian government body.”

The ACCC is seeking compensation orders for affected consumers, injunctions, civil pecuniary penalties, publication orders, and costs, as well as declarations that JustAnswer contravened consumer laws and the implementation of a compliance program.

Background

JustAnswer is registered and based in the United States and operates its business in 196 countries, with more than 700 employees.

It provides a service connecting consumers to subject matter ‘experts’ in areas such as medicine, law, accounting and technology, who are available to answer consumers’ questions. This service can be accessed via JustAnswer’s website or its Android/iOS app, the latter of which is not subject to allegations in this proceeding.

Consumers who use a search engine to find information on a particular topic may come across search results with links to JustAnswer’s website. This included search ads sponsored by JustAnswer.

In June, the ACCC published the tenth and final report of its Digital Platform Services Inquiry, which found consumers continue to face harms from unfair trading practices including manipulative design operations, such as using interfaces that direct consumers to more expensive subscriptions or purchase options, as well as undisclosed sponsorships and subscription traps. A subscription trap is when a business misleads a consumer into signing up for a subscription by representing that they are making a one-off purchase, or by making cancellation of a subscription difficult.

Consumer issues in the digital economy are one of the ACCC’s current enforcement priorities. This includes work in addressing unfair subscription-related practices, including subscription traps.

Concise Statement

This document contains the ACCC’s initiating court document in relation to this matter. We will not be uploading further documents in the event these initial documents are subsequently amended.

ACCC v JustAnswer LLC – Concise Statement ( PDF 626.58 KB )

Source: New South Wales Ministerial News

The City of Greater Bendigo is undertaking a Goornong Flood Study and is inviting residents who live in the Goornong and surrounding districts to have input into its development.

The study will cover the township of Goornong and surrounding areas including North Huntly, Bagshot, North Bagshot, Fosterville, Wellsford and Avonmore.  It will also include Bendigo Creek, Crabhole Creek, Reedy Creek, Sandy Creek, Yankee Creek, Five Mile Creek and Gunyah Creek.

City of Greater Bendigo Climate Change and Environment Manager, Michelle Wyatt said the aim of the Goornong Flood Study is to assess, model, and map areas at risk of flooding in and around the Goornong township and consider local mitigation options.

“The focus of the study is to understand the problems and look at possible solutions,” Ms Wyatt said.

“The study will update mapping, taking into account past floods in 2011, 2022, and 2024 to help ensure the maps are as accurate as possible. It will also look at how climate change might affect future floods, find out which areas are most at risk, including homes, roads, and train lines and study different ways to reduce flooding, including ideas from the community.

“It will include recommendations for flood planning overlays to guide future development and will help inform the development of the Goornong Structure Plan.

“The project is being supported with co-funding from the Australian Government’s Disaster Ready Fund.”

Flood experts, Cumulus Engineering have been engaged by the City to complete the study over the next twelve months.

The City has written to Goornong and district residents to invite them to speak with a flood expert about their experience with flooding, what they know and any other information they think is important.

Residents can also contribute information via an interactive map or by undertaking a short survey on the City’s community engagement website Let’s Talk Greater Bendigo.

To provide information, please visit:

Source: New South Wales Ministerial News

The City of Greater Bendigo is inviting community feedback on the draft findings from Stage 1 of the Quarry Hill Heritage Study project.

The draft Quarry Hill Heritage Study Stage 1 Volume 1: Findings and Recommendations identifies places that may be significant to Quarry Hill’s history.

The study also reviews existing Heritage Overlay areas, with a focus on identifying potential ‘post-Edwardian’ and post-war sites that may have been overlooked in previous studies that tended to focus on earlier history.

A draft Quarry Hill Heritage Study Stage 1 Volume 2: Chronological History, has also been developed and released. This report details the history of Quarry Hill and highlights key events, buildings, and places that have shaped the area.

Both draft reports have been developed with community input, including shared stories, photos, and documents that explore the Quarry Hill’s rich heritage, character, mining history, community spirit, and settlement.

Manager Strategic Planning Anthony Petherbridge said both draft documents were now open for public comment.

“Thank you to everyone who has contributed to Stage 1 of this project so far to help us better understand Quarry Hill’s rich history, character, and heritage,” Mr Petherbridge said.

“These draft documents outline potential places of heritage significance and incorporate information shared by the community to help fill historical gaps.

“You are now invited to review the draft reports and provide feedback on both before they are finalised and considered for adoption at a future Council meeting. This is to ensure the content captures the key findings that reflect Quarry Hill’s unique heritage.

“These documents are important as they will help guide the development of stage 2 of the heritage study for Quarry Hill to protect and celebrate significant places for future generations.

“Feedback on the draft documents can be provided via the City’s Let’s Talk Greater Bendigo website.”

Feedback is open until Monday October 20. 

To provide feedback, please visit:

Source: Australian Attorney General’s Agencies

This week I will travel to Malaysia, for the annual Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Economic Ministers’ Meeting, where I will meet my counterparts to deepen Australia’s economic ties, and reiterate our strong support for a peaceful, stable and prosperous region.

Our trade and investment relationship with ASEAN is critical for Australia’s economy. In 2024, Australia’s two-way trade with Southeast Asia reached $195 billion, supporting half a million Australian jobs. ASEAN countries account for around 15% per cent of Australia’s total two-way trade.

The ASEAN Economic Ministers’ Meeting is an opportunity for Australia to build on our longstanding economic ties with the region, and support our aim to increase two-way trade and investment through the Albanese Labor Government’s Invested: Australia’s Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040.

During my visit, I will also hold bilateral discussions, including with my Malaysian counterpart. Malaysia is our seventh largest goods trading partner and second largest in ASEAN.

As co-chair of the ASEAN Economic Ministers’ Closer Economic Relations Consultations, I will highlight the benefits of our recently upgraded ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement.

I will also reiterate Australia’s long-standing support for open, rules-based trade, and advocate for Australian businesses operating in Southeast Asia.

In line with our Invested strategy, Australia is pursuing further investment opportunities with our ASEAN partners in clean energy and critical minerals, education, healthcare services, and advanced manufacturing.

For further information on Australia’s economic relationship with ASEAN and its members please visit ASEAN and Australia.

Media note: Imagery is also / will be available via: DFAT Media Library

Source:

In our ‘Two of us’ series we ask two people who know each other well to share insights about each other.

In early 2024, Helen Henderson accompanied her teenage daughter Scarlett to a Wandin Fire Brigade open day to support Scarlett’s future dream of pursuing a career with Forest Fire Management Victoria. But Helen felt so welcomed and encouraged by brigade members that she joined as well. 

Scarlett Henderson
Wandin Fire Brigade had an open day on Australia Day last year. Mum and I went down and the members were showing everybody around. We told them I was interested in firefighting as a career. They set us on the pathway of how to put it in an expression of interest and what to expect in the next couple of months. The brigade was really helpful and welcoming with everything.

Obviously, with me being 15 or 16, I was very nervous and the brigade members were all adults so I was a bit scared. Initially, I think mum was going to come with me for the first few months and then she was going to just kind of fade away, but instead she turned out to love it and she joined up too. So, we’ve just continued on together.

It’s been really good to have someone to talk about everything. We have our own little briefings after meetings and after training sessions. Being able to talk through incidents and sharing our different experiences has been good too.

I have three siblings and mum is always doing something with each of them. So to be able to have this as our own little thing has been really good. Every Wednesday we’re up there together. It helps us spend a bit more time together in the busy life of school, work, football and different hobbies. It just gives us our own little personal time. 

The whole of General Firefighter training was memorable. Being able to go through the course and actually doing our final assessment together; that was a really good day. We even had one of our members volunteer to drive us down for the assessment. That whole day was pretty memorable. I loved doing the whole course with my mum.

Mum definitely pushes me to step out of my comfort zone, as they all do at Wandin. She’s always encouraging me to sign up for things, try different things and different versions, so that’s been really handy to have someone to actually push me like that.

And when we’re driving to a callout, I’m always first out of the car. Mum is always saying, ‘Now, you’re getting on the truck, this is your turn to go on the truck.’ So, she’s always pushing me.

I really admire mum’s will to push on and learn new things at her age. Being able to start a whole new skill set in emergency response and helping people and fitting it into her busy schedule is pretty impressive.

I also admire mum’s resilience and courage. She’s just a great mum and it’s so impressive that she’s been able to learn all of these new skills. 
I definitely see us sharing this experience in the long term. I think we’ll be in this for probably the rest of our lives. Apart from the actual firefighting side of things, I just love having that community and being able to go there together with mum.

Even if we were not operational, I think we’ll still be there for a long time. If my career takes off as a park ranger or in forest fire management, I think I would definitely still be at Wandin with mum when I can, just to be able to share that experience with her.

Helen Henderson
Scarlett had been very interested in becoming a park ranger. We didn’t really know much about Forest Fire Management Victoria (FFMVic) at that point. It was more all about being a park ranger and she did some work experience. That’s when she learned that perhaps she was more interested in the hands-on part of it, which was FFMVic.

They were the ones that suggested that being a CFA volunteer would get her a lot of recognition on her resumé. It’s just a really good knowledge base when it comes to fire behaviour. So we went along to the local open day at Wandin Fire Station.

We’ve got a lot of neighbours that are long-term members. The station has always been there, and we’ve always supported them, but we’d never thought that we would ever be a part of it.

You will not hear me say a bad word about this brigade. From the very first day every single person welcomed us with open arms, and they just couldn’t wait to share their knowledge. They were incredibly encouraging and I just found it exciting.

At that point I was still just mum, pushing my daughter out of her comfort zone, heading towards something that she was keen on for a career. That’s how it all got started. The brigade gave us all the information for the expression of interest and it rolled from there.

Volunteering together has brought us closer by having that common interest. All through life we’ve had common interests as well. I have with that with all my kids. I’ve been a single mum of four for 15 years, so you just try to spend that individual time with each one. Scarlett’s three siblings are so supportive of our volunteering. They get very excited when we receive a callout and are really in awe of the knowledge and commitment required to be a CFA volunteer. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see some more Hendersons joining in the future.

I didn’t realise what was missing from my life. I didn’t feel like I had a void that needed filling until I went along and met all these beautiful people. It just brought back this spark for me.

I would never have considered becoming a firefighter. I was literally just there to support Scarlett. But signing up myself, I put that down to the encouragement from the brigade. They are the ones who have encouraged me and in turn I’ve encouraged Scarlett.

We had a fire in our local area that was quite large. On this particular night, we got a callout and I was in my pyjamas, so I dropped Scarlett at the station. Then I got home and we got another callout and I thought ‘Oh my God, I have to go now’.

We ended up being at the same fire. Scarlett was hands-on and I was down in the control point doing the scribing. I remember Scarlett walking past me at one stage, I’m getting emotional just thinking about it… it’s just the pride, seeing her there with our members, and we were both so busy. It was very surreal to think that we were at this major incident together. I was just so incredibly proud and just thought, ‘You go girl’.

I find I learn a lot from Scarlett. She picks up a lot of things that I perhaps don’t. Then there are other times she’ll say to me, ‘Mum, I don’t understand this or that’, and I’ll say, ‘Oh really? I took that one in’. We really do bounce off each other.

It might be age-related, but Scarlett can sometimes lack a bit of confidence. I think she’s come out of her shell an awful lot. I have that little bit more confidence, and am able to talk to anyone, anywhere; I’ve done volunteering in the past. I’ve seen Scarlett grow a lot in that area, so I think perhaps I complement her in that regard, encouraging her to step out of her comfort zone.

As much as I love volunteering, I don’t think I would get as much out of it without Scarlett. I think it’s the fact we’re doing it together and it’s something that I can share with her, and I’m incredibly proud of her for doing it. I think that’s what I get out of it the most. 

Submitted by	News and Media