Category: MIL-OSI

The ACT Government is backing Canberran Olympic and Paralympic athletes with extra funding.

The Paris Olympic Games are in July, and the Paralympic Games are in August this year.

The extra funding will help local athletes prepare to qualify to represent Australia in the lead up to the games. “The funding to me and the whole rowing team allows us to be the best we can be,” Olympic athlete Jack Cleary said.

“At the games, it is an absolute whirlwind, and we need to keep ourselves central and not worry about the things you can’t control. They are being managed by the staff who come along to help us – which this funding helps to support,” he said.

The ACT has a history of supporting Olympic and Paralympic athletes. It was the first jurisdiction in Australia to fund the Olympic and Paralympic Teams equally.

Paralympic athlete Chad Perris says the timing of the funding is key.

“We have a lot of extra costs, whether travel, equipment, there are a lot of things that go into getting us over the line to get us to Paris,” he said.

“I’m really excited about this funding and to have it as equal funding with our Olympic counterparts is really exciting.”

“The Paralympic team funding from the ACT Government is huge,” Paralympic athlete Angela Ballard said.

“I know from behind the scenes how much it takes just to get our athletes over there and make sure we have the resources we need to perform.

“On a personal level, the ACT Government funding grants for individual ACT athletes will make a big difference. We still have a lot of work to do to keep up our training and to qualify between now and the Games, and this support will be of great help,” she said.

Canberra is home to elite athletes training at both the Australian Institute of Sport and ACT Academy of Sport. Despite being the smallest jurisdiction in Australia, ACT athletes have a strong presence at each Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.

The ACT Government will provide funding support through the Mid-Year Budget Review. This includes both direct financial assistance and in-kind training assistance through the ACT Academy of Sport.

The ACT Government is supporting free period products for Canberrans.

Students in ACT public schools can already access free period products.

Free period products are also available at some locations in Canberra including:

• some ACT public health services
• the Child and Family Centres located in Gungahlin, West Belconnen and Tuggeranong
• the Child Development Service in Holder.

The ACT Government will make period products in more locations in a staged approach over the coming months and years.

The government will provide regular updates about the availability of free period products. It will also provide age-appropriate information in languages other than English.

This is an important initiative to reduce period poverty. It will help people who menstruate to manage their periods in a safe and healthy way.

The ACT follows Scotland as only the second jurisdiction in the world to enshrine free period products in law. This aims to end period poverty and give people who menstruate the dignity they deserve.

The ACT Government remains committed to free period products for Canberrans.

In the 2023/24 mid- year budget, the ACT Government has committed to support the roll out of free period products, ahead of the start of the Period Products and Facilities (Access) Act 2023.

Canberra families are about to start another exciting school year.

This year there will be changes to term dates, policies and programs that may involve your family.

Here is everything you need to know for the year ahead.

Student-free days and start of term

From 2024, there will be four student-free days for ACT public schools. These are the first day of each school term.

Student-free days are for staff development, enabling teachers and schools to plan in a student-free environment.

Monday 29 January will be a student-free day.

On Tuesday 30 January, new students will start school. Continuing students will return to school on Wednesday 31 January.

Other term dates for the 2024 school year:

• Friday 12 April– Term 1 ends
• Tuesday 30 April – Term 2 begins (students start school)
• Friday 5 July – Term 2 ends
• Tuesday 23 July – Term 3 begins (students start school)
• Friday 27 September – Term 3 ends
• Tuesday 15 October – Term 4 begins (students start school)
• Tuesday 17 December – Term 4 ends.

Financial assistance

The Future of Education Equity Fund (Equity Fund) offers eligible families financial support to help with school essentials. It supports the more vulnerable families in our community.

Low-income families of students – from preschool through to year 12 – can receive  a one-off, annual payment. This is to help cover the costs of schooling, such as:

• uniforms
• sport equipment and activities
• tuition
• music lessons.

The Equity Fund payments are $400 (preschool), $500 (primary school), and $750 (high school and college level, including CIT Year 11 and 12).

Equity Fund applications  for the 2024 school year are now open.

Families can apply for all eligible students in their family in the one application, regardless of whether they attend different schools.

School staff are also able to help families to apply.

Applications close in November 2024.

Find out more about eligibility criteria and how to apply online.

Mobile phone policy

A new mobile phone policy for all ACT public schools starts in term 1 2024.

• Students in preschool to year 10 at ACT public schools may not use or access personal communication devices at school. This includes recess and lunch, and during school authorised events.
• For year 11 and 12 students, mobile phones and other personal communication devices must be silenced and put away during class time.

Students can request an exemption if they need their device for medical or other specific reasons.

Schools will communicate their expectations about how and where to store devices at the beginning of the school year.

Healthy lunches

It includes a Grab and Go shopping list and tips for a waste-free lunchbox. You’ll also find tips on which food groups to include and how to swap for healthier options.

Wellbeing for students

A new school year can be tough for some students, whether they are:

• starting a new school
• moving into high school or college
• just dealing with any of the life changes thrown their way.

The ACT Government has online resources that could be helpful in starting conversations on finding ways to support them.

Asthma management

If your child has asthma, the start of the school year is a good time to make sure you’re managing it.

You may wish to:

• book an asthma review with your child’s GP
• update your child’s asthma action plan with their GP
• make sure the school has your child’s reliever medication and spacer
• talk to school staff
• book an appointment with one of the asthma nurse educators at Canberra Health Services.

Child development

Are you concerned about your child’s development? The start of a new year is a good time to contact the Child Development Service, to access free drop-in clinics and assessments.

Free three-year-old preschool

ACT three-year-olds can now benefit from 300 hours of free preschool at over 140 locations.

This will save the average family around $1,329 a year.

Read more and find where to access three-year-old preschool.

Public transport for students

From Monday 29 January dedicated school services will resume. This includes ‘S’ trips which divert into schools.

Please check your timetable so you are prepared and ready.

If your child is in primary school, you can refer to your school’s pack to plan your child’s travel. Find it on the Transport Canberra website.

If your child is new to school or changing schools, please check available school bus and light rail information on the Transport Canberra website.

Familiarise yourself and your child with their school routine. They should know which stop the bus will pick up from in the morning and where to get off at the end of the day.

Make sure your child has a MyWay card that is registered and topped up with sufficient funds. A MyWay card is easy to get and will save you time and money. Find out more about ticketing and MyWay.

School bus services are available to school students only. Under special circumstances, parents with young children may apply to travel on these services for a few weeks to help their child get used to bus travel.  Find out more about parents travelling on school bus services.

If you’re a student in college or tertiary education, check the Journey Planner for timings. Just enter your destination for the fastest, most convenient options.

To stay up-to-date with Transport Canberra updates, including changes to services and latest news, you can:

40 km/h school zones

Road safety is everyone’s responsibility. As students return to school, remember to slow down and stick to the 40 km/h limit around schools between 8am and 4pm.

Mobile speed vans and police regularly patrol school zones. Let’s all slow down and support kids’ safety.

Parking around schools

The start of the school year is a particularly busy time in Canberra’s school carparks and surrounding streets.

Unsafe and illegal parking reduces visibility for students and motorists. This creates a hazard when students cross the road.

Parking inspectors and license plate recognition vehicles will be out and about enforcing safe parking around schools.

The ACT Government will continue to fund the second Police, Ambulance and Clinician Early Response (PACER) team.

The PACER team works together to respond to, assess, and help Canberrans experiencing a mental health crisis.

The team includes a police officer, paramedic, and mental health clinician. They work together to assess and help people of all ages.

The team of experts provides timely and appropriate mental health support.

• The police officer helps to make sure that the person being assessed, the PACER team, and the community are safe.
• The paramedic helps to check and treat any physical health concerns.
• The mental health clinician assesses the person’s mental health concerns and provides support.

The program minimises both avoidable hospital presentations and contact with the justice system for people with mental health conditions.

The program is positively impacting individual lives as well as the ACT’s emergency systems. Since it began in 2019, PACER has attended 6,510 incidents.

Over 70 per cent of people PACER respond to receive the support and care they need outside of the hospital.

PACER is available for people in Canberra who have been referred through ACT Policing and the ACT Ambulance Service. The PACER team visits people at their homes or wherever they are in the community.

The people supported by PACER, their families, carers and the teams have provided feedback on how the program can be improved.

The ACT Government will look in future to strengthen the PACER model of care to better support the wellbeing and mental health needs of Canberrans in crisis, their family and carers.

The ACT Government is committing to an additional $8 million for additional fit-out components and equipment at the new CIT Campus in Woden.

The campus will be Canberra’s largest new education facility enabled by smart technology. The equipment and digital learning tools will allow students to learn online and in person.

The campus will have:

• augmented hearing systems
• camera tracking capability
• video conferencing equipment
• LED wall displays
• smart screens
• microphones
• amplifiers
• speakers.

Other features will include:

• modern commercial workstations
• appliances
• a demountable stage
• creative art equipment.

This equipment will give students an enhanced learning experience. Smart classrooms, simulated learning environments and hands-on training spaces will help them gain skills in areas such as IT, cybersecurity, hospitality and business.

The new digitally enabled campus will give students the opportunity to collaborate with local industry in a real-world commercial environment. This will help them be job ready.

The campus will open in 2025 and will welcome 6,500 students each year. It will include a new light rail ready public transport interchange. This will create more business, employment and education opportunities in the Woden Town Centre.

The campus buildings are also some of Canberra’s more sustainable buildings. A cross-laminated timber frame is being installed in the main building, contributing to the project’s 6 Green Star Rating. The timber materials in the buildings will lead to a 59 per cent reduction in carbon emissions.

A second crane has also now been assembled, as construction ramps up across the new campus site. The crane was named ‘Moon Lifter’ by Woden school children and joins first crane, ‘Sir Lifts a Lot’.

Canberrans can expect to see the main building ‘top out’ in the second half of this year.

The ACT Government will increase the number of frontline paramedics employed by implementing a new ACT Ambulance Service (ACTAS) roster.

These changes mean an additional 11 paramedic crews will be rostered on over a 24-hour period.

This will improve fatigue management practices and create a better work-life balance for paramedics.  The change will also mean that ACTAS will be even better placed to meet community demands for ambulance services.

In addition, training and development requirements will be covered by rostered resources and operational resourcing flexibility will be increased. Meal breaks will also be accessed more regularly and there would be less need for paramedics to work past their shift times.

As part of the 2023-24 Budget Review, the government is investing $19.7 million over four years to enable the implementation of the new roster.

To achieve the new roster, changes need to be made to the ACTAS enterprise agreement. This agreement has been in negotiation for several months and is in the final stages of negotiation between the ACT Government and the Transport Workers Union.

Paramedics and the ambulance service perform a vital role in the Canberra community, responding to those in need when and where they need help most. This improved roster will better enable paramedics to meet those needs – while also supporting their wellbeing and professional development.

“Investing in staffing will mean paramedics will continue to enjoy rewarding careers in the ACT Ambulance Service, with improved rostering leading to better outcomes for all,” ACTAS Chief Officer Howard Wren said.

The Federal Parliament has approved the installation of a sculpture to honour the late Senator Susan Ryan AO FAICD (1942-2020) in the Parliamentary Zone.

Senator Ryan dedicated her life to public service through many different roles.

She held public office as a Senator in the ACT and Minister in the Hawke government.

Senator Ryan also worked in senior roles across the private and public sectors.

Her distinguished career included many firsts. She was the first Senator for the Australian Capital Territory. She was also the first woman appointed to a Labor frontbench position and the first Age Discrimination Commissioner.

The life-size bronze sculpture of Susan Ryan will be adjacent to the Senate Rose Gardens eastern central entry.

The location is near where she once had an office in Old Parliament House. The art work will be in an area featuring a curved bench seat, new paving, and interpretive signage.

The ACT Government commissioned the sculpture which recognises the contribution that Susan Ryan made to Australian public life.

It acknowledges her advancement of women’s rights as a Minister and her role in creating the Sex Discrimination Act – an enduring reform that changed Australia.

Artist Lis Johnson has completed several life-size bronze sculptures. These include those of Dame Enid Lyons and Dame Dorothy Tangney, who stand adjacent to Old Parliament House, and Sir John Gorton (with Suzie Q) in Parkes.

Lis has been working closely with Susan Ryan’s family, ensuring they are involved at every stage  of the work.

“We are so thrilled that the sculpture of our mother Susan Ryan will be located in the Senate Rose Gardens at the Old Parliament House,” Justine Butler, Susan’s daughter,  said.

“For my brother Ben and I, this was the parliament house. We spent a lot of time there, with our mother, and we have happy memories of those gardens, so close to her office.

“My mother and her colleagues played social tennis games there in the summer, and all year round, the beautiful gardens provided an important place for Susan to think and work,” she said.