Category: MIL-OSI

Clement Chauvin, Head Chef and sole owner of Les Bistronomes, has taken out the Waste Minimisation Award at the 2024 Climate Choices Business Awards.

He has been acknowledged for his creative and community-minded sustainability initiatives.

The Awards recognise climate leaders in the business arena across eight categories.

Les Bistronomes was celebrated for making sustainable choices for everything from sourcing ingredients to disposing waste.

“It was wonderful to receive the award,” said Clement.

“As a chef, I’m aware that my produce comes from mother earth and the land we live on. It makes sense to be considerate of the earth that gives us the food that nurtures and feeds us all,” he said.

Some of the ideas Les Bistronomes was recognised for as part of the award came about during COVID.

“It was a difficult time, but it really created community around our restaurant, and led to some great ideas for sustainability and waste minimisation,” Clement said.

The idea to create a ‘green card’ came about from a woman who donated 80 kilograms of Jerusalem artichokes to Clement. She had an excess and didn’t know what to do with them.

“I wanted to repay her in some way, and that’s when the idea came,” he said.

“Local home growers in Canberra can bring in their raspberries, flowers, lemons, rhubarb or homegrown veggies in exchange for a 10 per cent discount at the restaurant.”

This initiative reduces food waste and grows community connection, as well as limiting food miles.

Les Bistronomes also gives growers food scraps for their compost.

This is a way of sequestering carbon and returning nutrients to the soil. Their approach is not only great for the business, but also gives back to the local community.

Clement has now established strong relationships with a number of locals who love growing fruits and vegetables and who regularly supply food for the restaurant.

“I now work with two local ladies, and we plan out crops so that the restaurant has a steady and seasonal supply of produce,” he said.

The Sustainable Business Program

Clement said the future for Les Bistronomes is to go all-electric and move to solar if he can.

He has reached out to the ACT Government’s Sustainable Business Program to help him.

The program has technical experts who can provide all ACT businesses with free advice on ways to improve their energy efficiency; including transitioning off gas with rebates of up to $10,000, installing solar panels and battery storage.

“The Sustainable Business Program helped me look at what options were available to improve sustainability, but from an infrastructure point of view,” Clement said.

“We’re looking to switch from gas to electric induction cooking and we’re investigating how we can use solar to offset electricity costs.”

Find out more about the Sustainable Business Program and the other Climate Choices Business Awards winners.

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The ACT Government will work with Telstra on a plan to redevelop and reopen Telstra Tower.

This will help reinstate it as an iconic Canberra visitor destination.

Features will likely include a café, retail space and observation deck.

It is too early to say if the tower’s renowned revolving restaurant will return.

Over the past two years, Telstra has carried out planning and engaged with the community about re-developing the building.

Telstra Tower has been part of the Canberra skyline for over 40 years.

The company recently approached the ACT Government to consider operating it as a visitor attraction.

“For many years it was a popular tourist attraction, and we believe this site can offer that again for Canberrans and visitors to our country’s capital,” Telstra CEO Vicki Brady said.

“Black Mountain also has ongoing cultural significance to the Ngunnawal people, and any new development of the Telstra Tower should also reflect and incorporate this as a key element.

“As a national telecommunications and infrastructure provider, Telstra does not have the expertise to develop or manage a tourist attraction, so we need a partner with the skills and local knowledge to help make that happen,” she said.

“That’s why we are pleased to be entering into a partnership with the ACT Government to leverage their local expertise in running world-class tourism venues, and hope this enables the Tower to once again be open to the public.”

The Government has signed a Letter of Intent with Telstra.

They will work together on commercial and financial arrangements before final decisions are made on the partnership.

Both will continue to engage with the Ngunnawal community and other families and stakeholders with an interest in the Tower, looking to incorporate local culture and stories.

Telstra has already begun working with national design firm Architectus to look at what a modern Telstra Tower may look like as a public venue.

“Our proposed design will respectfully acknowledge the significant stories of place and history bringing new life to this Canberra icon,” Architectus Principal, Sophie Cleland, said.

Design concepts: Architectus

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The ACT Government is continuing to invest in the nursing and midwifery workforce to support staff safety and wellbeing and improve patient care.

More than $86 million will be allocated in the 2024–25 ACT Budget to recruit more than 137 new full-time equivalent nurses and midwives.

Nurse-to-patient ratios

The ACT Government is committed to ensuring safe nurse and midwife to patient ratios – something the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation has advocated for on behalf of its ACT members.

These are being implemented in a phased approach, with this investment supporting the Government’s commitment to implementing phase two of Mandated Minimum Nurse/Midwife-to-patient ratios.

Nurse and midwife to patient ratios are mandated minimum staffing levels.

These are necessary to support safe nursing and midwifery care and improve working conditions for nurses and midwives.

The implementation of phase two will see both minimum staffing levels on each ward and additional team leaders or support nurses and midwives.

This will ensure there are even more nurses and midwives across frontline hospital services and an appropriate skill mix on each shift to provide the best possible care for patients, including women and babies in maternity services.

In 2022, the ACT Government delivered the first phase of nurse-to-patient ratios across general medical and general surgical medical wards and acute aged care and mental health. This occurred through an investment of $50 million through the 2021–22 Budget.

Phase two ratios will be implemented across Canberra’s public hospitals and Clare Holland House, including:

• maternity services
• neonatal intensive care unit and special care nurseries
• critical care, including intensive care units and emergency departments
• perioperative areas
• subacute mental health units
• cancer services
• rehabilitation units
• palliative care services.

By including ratios across maternity services, including postnatal wards, the ACT will be the second jurisdiction in Australia to implement ratios that count the baby in the ratio as part of minimum staffing levels.

Further support for nurses and midwives

This investment follows the more than $21 million allocated in the mid-year Budget Review to support other elements of the proposed ACT Public Sector Nursing and Midwifery Enterprise Agreement, which is currently being considered by public health system nurses and midwives.

This includes a $2000 education and development boost, an annual $750 professional development allowance, an increase in pay, and a comprehensive review of rostering in nursing and midwifery to improve work patterns and health and wellbeing.

This will help to ensure Canberra has a health workforce that is highly skilled and supported, to continue to deliver great care to the community.

The ACT Government will continue to invest in the nursing and midwifery workforce to ensure staff are supported to deliver the best care to the Canberra community.

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Applications are now open for the 2024–25 Community Garden Grants program.

This year’s Community Garden Grants program provides up to $100,000 in funding for projects that:

• build healthier communities
• demonstrate best-practice sustainability
• have strong community support.

Over the past nine years, the program has helped establish 87 community gardens across Canberra.

One of these is in Charnwood. There, local gardeners have shown how a community garden can offer refuge in a changing climate.

The group used their funding to build a shelter to protect gardeners in extreme weather events.

“In recent years, we’ve had a lot of hailstorms,” Charnwood Community Garden Convenor Teresa Rose said.

“One time, two gardeners got caught in a hailstorm and there wasn’t anywhere to shelter. They really got pelted. They were quite upset and very afraid. That’s when we decided to apply for a Community Garden Grant to construct a shelter.

“We were pleased to receive about $4,500 in Community Garden Grant funding. We got matched funding from the Canberra Organic Growers Society. We also matched the funding with nearly $5,000 raised by our gardeners at Bunnings barbecues,” she said.

Once they had finished, it was time for celebration. However, Teresa doesn’t think the shelter would be complete, without the grant.

“We wouldn’t have made that extra effort to go ‘okay, we’ve got the money from the government, now we’ve got to do it,’” she said.

Under the shelter, it is several degrees cooler than outside.

“People come down after a stressful day at work and come and dig in the garden. Even on a hot day you can come here and it’s so much cooler with all the grass and the gardens,” Teresa said.

The shelter now serves as a central meeting spot for Charnwood Community Garden committee meetings and community-building events. It also protects fresh produce from wilting in the sun and offers respite for gardeners during working bees.

Grant applications

This year, there is $100,000 of Community Garden Grant funding available, split across two streams.

• Stream One includes $40,000 (up to $8,000 per project) to fund minor improvements or expansion of existing gardens and establishing new, small low-impact gardens.
• Stream Two includes $60,000 (up to $30,000 per project) to establish new large-scale food production community gardens, and significant garden infrastructure to increase food production in existing gardens.

Not-for-profit community organisations, schools, churches and owners’ corporations are eligible to apply.

Community gardens have many benefits, including:

• creating opportunities for people to grow and consume local food
• offering a place for people to meet with others and connect with nature
• providing opportunities for movement and recreation
• helping people to develop skills and knowledge, and much more.

For more information, please visit the Community Garden Grants webpage.

Applications close 5:00pm on Thursday 11 July 2024.

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Eight local First Nations artists will receive a share in over $100,000 in funding to support their creative work.

The ACT Government’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural Arts Program helps fund self-determined activities led by local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists and communities.

Launched last year, it helps develop creative works that reflect Canberra’s culture and identity.

It also aims to help build artistic and cultural leadership.

Self-determined projects

Self-determined projects eligible for funding can include:

• creating arts and cultural works
• presenting or performing arts and cultural works
• artistic professional or skills development
• arts mentoring and artists’ residencies
• community arts and cultural development
• marketing and promotion of arts activities.

Among the recipients

Senior Ngunnawal Elder Aunty Violet Sheridan will receive $15,000 to write an autobiographical manuscript.

She will work with the support of a professional writer to draft Roots Reclaimed: A Journey of Identity, Family and Ngunnawal Heritage.

Aidan Hartshorn will receive $15,000 for glass mentorship. His work will focus on Walgalu Country and cultural objects for his project Water Futures.

Emma Laverty will receive $15,000 to explore cultural identity and collaboration through dance.

She will develop Project Dust, a cultural dance group performance.

“This grant will mean we can continue to provide pathways in the arts for our young people. Pathways that directly relate to our culture and link to building strength and confidence in our next generations,” Emma said.

“We can build on what we have developed and now open new doors, realising our dreams to be behind the theatre curtain and provide our first performance season to the community.”

Aunty Dr Tjanara Goreng Goreng and Uncle Dr Paul Collis will receive $10,000 in funding.

This will help them carry out two community cultural development sessions on poetry writing.

They will also produce a showcase of poetry through performance at two venues.

Stronger partnerships

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural Arts Program launched last year.

It is designed to empower, inspire and foster ACT First Nations creatives to pursue their art, explore their culture and present their works to the community.

The ACT Government is committed to building stronger partnerships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists.

The program helps to do this through shared culture and arts practices.

“Opportunities such as these are unique and the positive flow-on effects to other aspects of our Project Dust community cannot be understated. We are building a confident and connected community that we are proud of,” Emma said.

“With the assistance of the ACT Government, we look forward to seeing our young mob reach new heights and further develop with our local arts community.”

Find details about the program and the other successful applicants on the artsACT website.

Senior Ngunnawal Elder,  Aunty Violet Sheridan, will use her funding to write Roots Reclaimed: A Journey of Identity, Family and Ngunnawal Heritage.

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From 27 August, drivers caught committing road offences by the ACT road safety camera network will also have their vehicle checked to see if registration is current.

The entire road safety camera network will check registrations. This includes:

• speed cameras
• mobile device detection cameras
• red-light cameras.

Vehicle registration is a legal requirement and crucial for maintaining road safety. Without registration and insurance, the driver of the vehicle may be personally liable for any injuries caused to themselves and others.

Access Canberra will check registration details when processing other traffic infringements caught on camera.

The fine for driving an unregistered vehicle is $700.

You can renew the registration of most vehicles online, if it has been unregistered for less than 12 months.

If your vehicle has been unregistered for more than 12 months, it will require a roadworthy inspection. You will also need to visit an Access Canberra Service Centre to register the vehicle.

To check your registration status, renew your registration online, or to find out more about what to do if your registration expired more than 12 months ago, visit www.accesscanberra.act.gov.au.

From the homepage, choose ‘Renew rego’ under ‘Popular pages’.

The key focus of infringements in the first few months will be for driving unregistered, with additional infringements for also driving uninsured to then be implemented.

Road safety camera relocation

The existing fixed camera on the Northbourne Avenue and London Circuit intersection was relocated in June due to construction activity in the area.

It is now located at the intersection of Northbourne Avenue and Bunda Street and will continue monitoring for speed and red-light offences heading south.

The location was chosen for several reasons, including its closeness to the bus interchange and light rail stop, where there is more vehicle and pedestrian movement.

ACT Government-operated cameras operate in addition to police. ACT Policing will continue to target those who choose to speed and put road users at risk.

For more information on the ACT Road Safety Camera program visit the Access Canberra website.

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Two popular cafés are among the four recipients of the Nature in the City: Cooling Your Suburb grants.

Each receives a share of $150,000 for projects that protect against climate change.

The four projects aim to show how living infrastructure can improve Canberra’s resilience to the heat impacts of climate change.

Healthy living infrastructure includes trees, plants, soils, and water systems. These are essential to a city’s success in adapting to the risks of a changing climate.

The four funded projects will tackle the ‘heat island effect’. Heat islands are a result of too much concrete and not enough plant life, bushland and tree canopy coverage in an urban area.

This year’s successful recipients are:

• Three Mills Bakery – Will transform an urban heat island in Woden from an expanse of concrete into an urban oasis near their new café.
• The Climate Factory – Will grow a native micro-forest in an urban heat island in Dunlop using the Miyawaki method of dense planting to ensure rapid growth.
• The Woodlands and Wetlands Trust – Will install native species trellis walls, a rainwater irrigation system for an existing green wall, and permeable paving to increase water retention on site.
• Café Stepping Stone, Dickson – Will conduct a feasibility study to gather valuable insights and data to inform the long-term sustainability and maintenance of a green wall and assess how well such a project might mitigate urban heat.

From trees to planter boxes to garden beds, simple projects can cool the local climate and make the most of rainwater, also reducing the risk of flooding.

As well as being great for the natural environment, projects like this can help reinvigorate public spaces.

“Stepping Stone Social Enterprise aims to create a welcoming and inclusive community space for our employees and customers,” Café Stepping Stone CEO and Founder Vanessa Brettell said.

“This grant will enable us to improve the comfort of our space, especially in the heat of the afternoon sun and make the most of our Dickson cafe space, both indoors and outdoors through sustainable and green building methods.”

All grant recipients engaged with the local community and stakeholders to inform their projects.

Find out more about the Nature in the City: Cooling Your Suburb grants on the Everyday Climate Choices website.

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Calwell High School student Amelia Kolano has always been inspired by her building certifier dad.

She knew she wanted to follow in his footsteps, and now, thanks to her school’s involvement in a groundbreaking program, the year 10 student has sampled a career in construction.

The Understanding Building and Construction Program (UBCP) is designed to remove barriers preventing young women and gender-diverse students from safely, equitably and fully participating in the building and construction industry.

The program does this through targeted, careers-focused learning in schools, to help students discover this career pathway.

A rewarding work experience placement

As part of the program, Amelia completed a week’s work experience with commercial construction company Kane Constructions.

There, she was mentored by ACT Operations Manager Philippa Seldon.

Amelia says the experience – and Philippa’s guidance – has filled her with knowledge and confidence.

“Before, I didn’t know about all the opportunities in the industry. I thought it would be very difficult to get into the industry as a woman,” she said.

“Just from watching and observing I have been able to absorb a lot of information. Even little things such as the names of construction tools, how they are used and the different jobs and roles involved in a project, such as site manager.

“Everyone was friendly, supportive, and happy to answer my questions. It’s really good and they are engaging and supportive of seeing more women working with each other, advocating for equality.”

Clarifying a path forward

Philippa was keen to facilitate Amelia’s introduction to a construction career.

“Women make up more than 50 per cent of our population and to include women in construction brings diversity of thought, it brings diversity of approach to situations. It positively influences our culture,” she said.

Amelia feels the experience has helped her work out her next steps.

“I did start off with wanting to become a building certifier because of my dad, but I’ve realised I want to be more hands-on, onsite, building and creating and productive in this way,” she said.

“I’m really wanting to do more work experience in carpentry, and then do an ASbA in carpentry. I want to start my Cert III in building and construction as soon as possible, next year (year 11). My aim is by end of year 12 to have all my certificates and qualifications completed to start working in the industry full time.”

Advocating for women in construction

Alongside Philippa, the company’s ACT General Manager Joanne Farrell is a champion for women in the industry.

Joanne is the founder and Director of not-for-profit Build Like a Girl, the 2024 ACT Australian of the Year and the 2024 ACT Woman of the Year.

She regularly assists with programs, initiatives and services aimed at improving the participation rate of women in trades, which is currently just 2 per cent.

The Understanding Building and Construction Program

The ACT Government is committed to a target of 10 per cent female employment in the ACT construction industry, with the UBCP an important part of this.

Calwell High School began offering the curriculum-based UBCP in 2022 as part of a pilot program.

This was developed in a partnership between the ACT Government and the National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC), and partly funded by a National Careers Institute (NCI) Partnership Grant.

The 2024 program is offered at four ACT public schools:

• Calwell High School
• Harrison Public School
• Mount Stromlo High School
• Melba-Copland Secondary School.

Increasing women’s participation in the construction industry and other traditionally male-dominated industries is a key focus of the ACT Women’s Plan 2016–26.

It also aligns with the Future of Education Strategy in partnering with industry to bring real-life learning into the classroom and take learning into the broader community.

Learn more about the Understanding Building and Construction Program.

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A new ACT Government funding package will give a one-off financial boost to non-government health sector organisations.

This will help community organisations that face financial pressures. These may be because of increased costs or service demand.

The extra funding will support these organisations to deliver vital services over the next year.

Organisations receiving funding include:

• Arthritis ACT
• Asthma ACT
• Australian Breastfeeding organisation
• Capital Region Cancer Relief
• Companion House
• Diabetes Australia
• Directions Health Care
• Epilepsy ACT
• Gugan Gulwan Youth Aboriginal Corporation
• Haemophilia Foundation
• Interchange Health Co-op
• KidSafe ACT
• MSI Australia
• Palliative Care ACT
• RSI Overuse Foundation
• Women’s Health Matters.

Community Assistance and Temporary Supports program

This package also includes more funding for the Community Assistance and Temporary Supports (CATS) program.

The program provides support for people experiencing difficulties with daily living. These could be due to a short-term health issue, illness or injury.

Organisations included in funding for CATS include:

• ADACAS
• Anglicare
• Capital Region Community Services
• Carers ACT
• Community Services #1
• Life without Barriers
• Northside Community Services.

Chifley Health and Wellbeing Centre

More funding will help ensure gym services to continue at the Chifley Health and Wellbeing Centre.

The gym closed in April 2024. Since then, the government has worked to find a new service provider to ensure this valued service can continue.

The government is speaking with the preferred providers and expects to announce a new service provider soon.

With this funding, the new provider will be able to re-establish the service as quickly as possible.

The ACT Government will continue to engage with the wider sector on the findings of previous reports and recommendations.

It continues to seek better understanding of community needs, the costs involved in delivering services to the community, and the cost pressures non-government organisations face in the ACT.

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