Archived News for Professionals in Federal Government

The Productivity Commission and the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) have released a joint research paper into the state of competition, innovation and productivity in Australian businesses.

The Federal Government is set to conduct a wide-ranging inquiry into media practices and ownership throughout Australia after criticism of News Limited continues to escalate.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard has introduced the Federal Government’s carbon tax legislation to Parliament, saying that the legislation will lead to reducing the country’s carbon production while stimulating the economy and creating jobs.

The Federal Government has announced plans to permanently lower the level of insurance it will offer from $1 million to $250,000.

Over 90 per cent of million students that participated in the national literacy and numeracy tests this year achieved the national standard according to preliminary results published by the Federal Government.

The Federal Government’s new Illawarra Stakeholder Taskforce has held its first meeting. The taskforce, which was formed to help coordinate the Government’s services for the workers impacted by Bluescope’s restructure, will investigate the future of the region.

Poor governmental communication is at fault for the breakdown of good policy, according to Commonwealth Ombudsman Allan Asher.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has published its Reconnecting the Customer enquiry into the telecommunications industry.

The Federal Government has announced the first $150 million round of the $1 billion Regional Development Australia Fund.

Latest Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) figures show that GDP, in seasonally adjusted volume terms, grew 1.2% in the June quarter 2011, after a revised fall of 0.9% in the March quarter. Growth for the 2010-11 financial year is 1.8%.

The growth for the quarter was driven by a 0.8% contribution to growth from changes in inventories and a 0.7% contribution from final consumption expenditure. These increases were partially offset by a -0.5% contribution from net exports.

On the back of this GDP growth and a 5.4% increase in the Terms of Trade, Real gross domestic income grew 2.6% for the quarter.

The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) has released its two-year outlook for the adequacy of power systems across Australia, together with a report of Electrical Statement of Opportunities (ESOO), which looks at power production for the longer term over three to ten years.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has released a discussion paper inviting comment from industry stakeholders and consumers in relation to Telstra’s structural separation undertaking and draft migration plan.

The New South Wales Government has announced it will follow Western Australia's example and move to increase mining royalties.

The Chief Executive of Austrade, Peter Grey, has announced Austrade’s new Senior Executive Group which will form the key body behind Austrade’s trade, investment and international education efforts.

The joint Western Australian and Federal Government Drought Pilot panel has published its drought policy platform into adapting and dealing with future droughts in the country.

The Federal Government has announced the release of four new, independent research reports that will form part of the government's review into school funding.

The Federal Government has announced the invitation list, program and facilitators for the Tax Forum to be held in Canberra on 4 and 5 October.

Treasury has released an exposure draft legislation for the extension of the Petroleum Resource Rent Tax (PRRT) for public comment.

The Federal Government has announced three new appointments to the Commonwealth Grants Commission (CGC).

The Federal Government has announced the formation of the National Skills Standards Council (NSSC), which will act as a standards setting body for the vocational education and training (VET) sector with an aim to improve quality and consistency of VET regulation throughout the country.