Source: Northern Territory Police and Fire Services
New nurses Ainslie and Shreejana are excited to get started on their clinical placements at Canberra Hospital.
Canberrans can expect to see many new faces in healthcare settings around the city.
A new cohort of over 360 graduate health professionals have joined Canberra Health Services (CHS) in recent weeks.
There are over 200 nurses and midwives, 96 junior medical officer interns and 59 allied health graduates starting their first year of supported practice in Canberra’s public health system.
These graduate programs help build and develop the city’s public health workforce.
Graduates will experience a broad range of specialities across their rotations which span Canberra Health Services.
Placements include:
Canberra Hospital
North Canberra Hospital
University of Canberra Hospital
justice health
outpatient clinics
community health care centres
Hospital in the Home
locations in south-east NSW.
Shreejana and Ainslie are two of the new graduates starting at Canberra Hospital this week.
Between them they will be rotating through the geriatrics, oncology, cardiology and orthopaedic wards.
For registered nurse Shreejana, this career was a childhood dream.
“I’m feeling very nervous, as well as excited,” she said.
“Seeing all the support and the guidance that I will be receiving from the CHS team, I’m very, very much looking forward to this journey.”
Enrolled nurse Ainslie completed her 18-month certification at CIT.
“I wanted to care for people and give back to my community,” she said.
“Honestly, it’s the little things. It’s when you ask someone “how can I help you?” It’s giving them a cup of tea, giving them coffee, giving them warm blanket. The little things that put a smile on someone’s face and just knowing that you’ve made them happy.”
In a Canberra Health Services first, three cohorts of graduate nurses are undergoing orientation at the same time.
This includes:
the graduate Transition to Practice Program
North Canberra Hospital’s existing graduate program
the Novice Nurse Consolidation Program, which offers an alternative pathway to join the nursing workforce for those who may only be able to work part-time or hold a working visa.
“The new starters bring a great amount of enthusiasm and energy into our services and teams, and it is hugely fulfilling for all our staff to support and guide these new health professionals at a critical time in their career,” Executive Director Nursing and Midwifery at North Canberra Hospital Judy Ryall said.
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Source: Northern Territory Police and Fire Services
Jodie Griffiths-Cook wants to help children and young people access information they can trust and understand.
ACT Children and Young People Commissioner Jodie Griffiths-Cook is on a mission to help Canberra’s children and young people understand their rights.
In her role – which is independent from government and part of the ACT Human Rights Commission – she consults and speaks with kids every day.
“My role principally involves being able to engage directly with children and young people and find out what is important to them, then using that to try to influence public policy and create change that will hopefully make Canberra a better place for children and young people generally,” Jodie said.
She does this in a variety of ways, including creating simply written resources that can be used in schools and more broadly.
She regularly updates a dedicated section of the commission’s website with targeted, trustworthy information for kids, teens and young people.
Jodie also distributes the monthly Rights in ACTion newsletter to further inform ACT children and young people about their rights and wellbeing.
From school visits to Instagram posts, finding ways to tailor sometimes complex information for different age groups is important.
“Children and young people have a right to access information they can trust and understand,” she said.
“It really humanises things when you’re able to speak in a language that is clearly understood by kids.”
The Covid lockdowns in 2020 and 2021 highlighted a particular need for this.
“We saw a lot of communications going out to adults but very little being targeted to children and young people. For us, that really started the process of thinking mindfully about what we can do to shift that, both in terms of direct communications and modelling – trying to encourage others to do the same,” she said.
“If we actually think about some of the decision-making that happens – so many of our decisions impact young people in ways that we perhaps don’t consider,” she said.
Having been Commissioner for eight years now, Jodie says the discussions she has with children and young people are most rewarding.
“Some of those conversations are just absolute gold when it comes to what young people already intrinsically understand about their rights and about those sometimes competing rights that we all grapple with,” she said.
“I can almost take off my own commissioner hat and give it to some of them!”
Particularly engaged young people can also get directly involved with the commission. This in turn provides important feedback.
“We started a new youth advisor role, pitched for young people aged 16–25 years who have left school. We bring young people in for six months where they are looking for opportunities that will help them decide and pursue their career direction. From them we get a lot of intel about the kind of language to use, and the kind of things that are of interest to young people. We also take in work experience students in years 9-12,” she said.
A range of child-friendly resources to help children and young people understand the Human Rights Act will be launched in March this year – on the Act’s 20th anniversary.
Source: Northern Territory Police and Fire Services
The grant programs support local climate change, environmental and sustainability projects.
Applications are now open for three grant programs that support local climate change, environmental and sustainability projects.
Canberrans can apply for grants of up to $75,000 per project to help turn their ideas into reality.
The grants assist community groups, schools, organisations and individuals to deliver projects that:
promote sustainable living and emissions reduction
help make Canberra climate-ready
promote biodiversity and community participation in conservation projects.
The ACT Food Co-op is a community owned-and-run bulk grocery store and cafe, events venue and community hub.
Receiving a grant helped the Co-op reduce emissions and cut operating costs.
“Grants funding from the ACT Government has enabled us to convert from an expensive high-emissions gas kitchen to a cheaper zero-emissions electric kitchen. Our army of kitchen helpers are now safer, our bills are cheaper and our environmental footprint is smaller – a real win,” Chairperson Lucaya Rich said.
2024 ACT Environmental Grants Program
This program offers up to $350,000 in total funding.
Grant recipients have the opportunity to:
address environmental issues that concern them
restore and conserve natural places that are special to them
Source: Northern Territory Police and Fire Services
The new Lanyon Drive Interchange is the first of three upgrades planned for the Monaro Highway.
Construction has begun on the first of three interchanges planned for the Monaro Highway, south of Canberra.
Work on the new Lanyon Drive Interchange has begun which will improve safety and reduce congestion.
This consists of a southbound flyover for the highway over Lanyon Drive and three intersection upgrades including:
the removal of traffic lights at the Alexander Maconochie Centre (intersection of the Monaro Highway and David Warren Road)
a new roundabout at the intersection of the new Monaro Highway southbound off-ramp and David Warren Road extension
upgrading the signalised intersection at Lanyon Drive and Sheppard Street to include a direct connection to David Warren Road and the Monaro Highway southbound off-ramp.
The design aims to have a minimal impact on existing native plants.
The landscaping plans will focus on local and native species. They will prioritise tree planting, water sensitive urban design and biodiversity conservation.
Some of the construction work has already been completed or is underway. This includes:
major water mains and telecommunication networks were relocated for protection in 2022
two gas mains have been relocated
early preparatory works, including site clearing and earthworks, started last month. This involves large machinery, including excavators and trucks.
Preliminary design is also underway on future interchanges at the Hume industrial precinct and Isabella Drive.
There will be impacts to travel times during construction. This includes during peak periods, with reduced speed limits and temporary lane closures expected.
The ACT Government is encouraging motorists to rethink their travel plans where possible and consider taking public transport or travelling outside peak times where possible.
The government expects construction to take about three years to complete. The design and construction phases are estimated to create 700 jobs.
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Source: Northern Territory Police and Fire Services
Upcoming building demolition will make way for new a facility for pathology and other clinical services.
The Canberra Hospital Master Plan will reach a new phase with demolition work beginning on Building 23.
The demolition of Building 23 and the adjacent Building 6 will make way for a new state-of-the art facility for pathology and other clinical services.
The next step in delivering a modern, accessible Canberra Hospital campus, it is also an early priority of the Canberra Hospital Master Plan.
It is also just one of many significant changes taking place at the hospital.
The hospital’s new Critical Services Building will open later this year, featuring a new emergency department and additional operating rooms, treatment spaces and intensive care beds.
The hospital is also home to the recently completed expansion of the Centenary Hospital for Women and Children, and a new Cancer Research Centre to be completed in late 2024.
Multiplex will undertake the demolition work for Building 23 and will then progress to the demolition of Building 6.
Demolition work is expected to take several months and is projected to be completed in quarter three of 2024.
The Canberra Hospital Master Plan will continue to transform the campus over the next 20 years.
Planning work for Canberra’s new northside hospital and more community-based health centres also continue.
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Source: Northern Territory Police and Fire Services
It is planned that all ACT public schools will have access to Parent Portal in a gradual rollout by term 2, 2024.
A new parent portal will be rolled out across all ACT public schools this year, making it easier for parents and carers to engage with their school.
Parent Portal is a secure online platform for sharing student information between schools and parents and carers.
Key information – spanning preschool to year 12 – will be housed on the one system.
The portal has capacity for parents and carers to:
notify their school if their child is sick
book parent-teacher interviews
receive their child’s academic reports (including past reports)
receive their school newsletter
receive messages from their child’s teachers
see their child’s student timetable
get daily notices of school activities
update contact details
make payments.
The introduction of the portal will be phased. At first it will complement existing school communication channels. Eventually it will be the key online communication tool used by all ACT public schools.
In term 4 2023, the portal was successfully rolled out at nine northside schools in a pilot program.
More than 2000 parents at these schools are already using Parent Portal.
Parents and carers with children across multiple schools will not need to sign up to the system twice.
They can easily add a student to their account once those schools have access to Parent Portal.
It is planned that all ACT public schools will have access to Parent Portal in a gradual rollout by term 2, 2024.
“Council’s P&C delegates were really impressed to see a recent demonstration of the Parent Portal, and its capabilities. Parents are looking forward to the roll-out of the portal to their local schools, it will make it easier for them to keep track of what’s happening, from explaining absences, excursions and making payments. Parents will be cheering to not have to dig through school bags for lost notes,” said Executive Officer ACT Council of Parents & Citizens Associations Veronica Elliott.
As Parent Portal becomes available at each school, information will be provided to explain the benefits and how families can access the platform.
School front office staff can assist parents and carers who can’t access the online tool, or who may need assistance.
Source: Northern Territory Police and Fire Services
Mel Couper is part of the team managing the Libraries ACT collection.
The Libraries ACT collection offers hundreds of thousands of items for Canberrans to borrow. But have you ever wondered how new items are added to it?
Libraries ACT collects a wide range of quality resources in both existing and emerging formats.
This ensures their collection has broad appeal while enhancing learning opportunities and informing, entertaining and connecting people, groups and communities.
There are over 350,000 physical items available. And that’s not even counting the ebooks and eaudiobooks that can be downloaded, or movies and music that can be streamed for free!
The Libraries ACT collections team has overall responsibility for selecting new library materials and resources. The team is always guided by community needs, analysis of collection use and customer and staff suggestions.
“Suggestions from library customers for materials not already in the collection are a valuable way for the libraries team to connect with the community and acquire materials users want and need,” collection librarian Mel Couper said.
The team also liaises with key ACT community groups and cultural organisations to develop collections of relevance and interest to these communities.
“Standing orders with suppliers are also used to ensure rapid acquisition of known popular authors or series that are usually in high demand, with standing order plans reviewed each year,” Mel said.
Libraries ACT aims to have a current, vibrant and attractive collection, with approximately half the collection less than five years old.
The team actively removes items from the collection by reviewing the use and physical condition of items and taking into account storage capacity at libraries across the ACT and the currency and accuracy of the information.
If an item you’d like to access isn’t in the collection (or on order) you can submit a suggestion to add it to the collection.
Libraries ACT just ask that you read the guidelines for suggestions and limit your suggestions to two items per week.
Libraries ACT aims to meet the needs and expectations of Canberra’s library users.
Careful selection and management of material by professional, experienced staff, along with the input from the community, ensures the wide-ranging educational, cultural, recreational and information needs of library users are met.
To search the collection, view the standing orders or suggest an item to add to the collection visit the Libraries ACT website.
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Source: Northern Territory Police and Fire Services
Teresa Wojcik has created an Australian-first website, Your Season.
An ICON grant from the Canberra Innovation Network (CBRIN) helped Teresa Wojcik create an Australian-first website.
The point of difference for her fashion site, Your Season, is its organisation by seasonal colour palettes.
After having her colours done professionally, Teresa quickly identified a huge gap in the market.
“Shopping by colour palette wasn’t accessible in real life,” she said.
“The majority of stores were off limits because clothes weren’t in my colours.
“I’d go online but would spend hours and have hundreds of tabs open trying to find clothes I liked, and were in my palette,” Teresa said.
Her partner told her about CBRIN’s Innovation Connect (ICON) grants, and that’s when Teresa’s idea for Your Season came to life.
ICON grants are currently open and close 16 April 2024.
CBRIN receives funding from the ACT Government to support entrepreneurs, innovators and start-ups – like Your Season – in Canberra.
It offers business support, programs, grants and access to networks of other entrepreneurs.
“I got matched funding from the ICON grant for $30,000. It helped me build the Your Season website and work on the complex algorithm that feeds it.”
Teresa has already secured birdsnest.com.au, petalandpup.com.au, stfrock.com.au and Amazon Australia to list their clothes on her site.
She has ASOS and The Iconic in her sights for 2024. She’s also working on improving website functionality and getting other well-known brands on board.
“And there will always be work to do on the algorithm, it’s extremely complex and I want it to be the best it can be, even if my eyes are bleeding colours,” she said.
When asked what advice she had for anyone wanting to start a business in Canberra, she gave three tips:
Lean into it – Go with your idea and seek out support, it’s there. The Canberra business community is very generous and you don’t have to do it by yourself.
Understand things take longer than you expect– There can be pressure on you to go fast, to be first to market, but use the resources and support there are in Canberra to get you going.
It’ll cost more than you expect– I’m not paying myself so I can build what I believe is a good product. But in the 10 years of working as a musician, I’ve received about $10,000 in funding, in one year in business I’ve received $75,000 in total. Look for funding to support your dreams.