Archived News for Professionals in Federal Government - GovernmentCareer

The Australian unemployment rate stood unchanged at 5.0 per cent seasonally adjusted in February, as announced by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) today.

The ABS reported the number of people employed decreased by 10,100 to 11.413 million in February. The decrease in employment was driven by a decrease in part-time employment, down 57,700 people to 3.344 million that was partially offset by an increase in full-time employment, up 47,600 people to 8.068 million.

The number of people unemployed decreased by 500 people to 604,800 in February.

The ABS monthly aggregate hours worked series showed an increase in February, up 17.9 million hours to 1,602.0 million hours.

The ABS reported labour force participation in February of 65.7 per cent, a decrease of 0.1 percentage points from January.

No significant operational difficulties were experienced in conducting the Labour Force Survey in February 2011. A small number of households from the sample were not able to be enumerated due to either flood or cyclone damage to the dwelling, or road closures preventing access to the dwelling. The small amount of sample loss has not had a statistically significant impact on the estimates and, unlike January, there was no need to apply corrections to any of the trend estimates this month.

More details are available in the February 2011 issue of Labour Force, Australia (cat. no. 6202.0).

FoI guidance material for government agencies released

The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) released new guidance material to assist government agencies to implement changes to the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth).

New reforms to drive gender equality in Australian workplaces

The Federal Government has outlined a suite of reforms to the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency to improve its effectiveness and relevance, including an additional $11.2 million over 4 years would be provided to give the Agency the powers it needs to drive gender equality in Australian workplaces.

National Partnership for disaster reconstruction signed

Acting Prime Minister and Treasurer Wayne Swan and Queensland Premier Anna Bligh have signed the National Partnership for Natural Disaster Reconstruction and Recovery.

Report finds unemployment low across country

The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has just released a report 'A different perspective on the "two-speed" economy' which found during the first stages of the resources boom, unemployment was actually very low across the entire country.

Discussion paper to reform the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman Scheme released

The Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy has released a discussion paper examining opportunities to reform the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) Scheme.

National security telecommunications amendment bill passed

The Telecommunications Interception and Intelligence Services Legislation Amendment Bill 2010 has been passed through Federal Parliament.

Former IBM chief appointed to head communications and media review

Former IBM Australia chief Glenn Boreham has been appointed to as the chairman of the Convergence Review Committee, which will review of Australia’s communications and media regulatory environment.

New head of ANSTO appointed

Esteemed academic Professor Paul Greenfield AO has been appointed to head the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) board.

Auditor General releases Digital Education Revolution Program report

The Auditor General has released its report into the Digital Education Revolution (DER) Program.

Federal Government releases skills shortages summary

New research shows Australia’s skills supply and demand picture remains patchy.

Grants Commission releases GST revenue distribution assessment

The Commonwealth Grants Commission has released its advice to the Australian, State, and Territory Governments on how GST revenue should be distributed among the States and Territories in 2011-12.

Chief Scientist resigns

Professor Penny Sackett, Australia’s Chief Scientist, has resigned after two and a half years in the job, citing personal and professional reasons for her decision.

Bureau of Resources and Energy Economics to be established

The Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism (DRET) has announce the decision to create a new professionally independent unit, to be known as the Bureau of Resources and Energy Economics (BREE).

Department of Defence to revamp health records

The Australian Department of Defence plans to revamp its health records with a $5 million dollar electronic system.

Defence has chosen global service provider CSC for a five-year IT contract to develop and implement an electronic health (eHealth) information system.

After winning the contract through a tender process, CSC will deliver a centralised, web-accessible, military specific, primary care solution known as EMIS into the Defence’s IT environment.

The system will be known as the Joint eHealth Data and Information (JeHDI) system.

Along with selected partners, CSC will also provide application hosting, IT support services, organisational change, communication, training and project management.

Defence commander Joint Health, major general Paul Alexander said the JeHDI system will hep provide high-quality healthcare that supports ADF members within Australia.

“The JeHDI system will not only provide an eHealth record for all personnel, but also give the Department of Defence the ability to map health related trends of the ADF and derive financial reports on its healthcare costs,” he said.

JeHDI represents one of the first comprehensive eHealth record projects across Australia and will support the needs of modernising the Defence organisation.

Climate Commission announced

The Federal Minister for Climate Change, Greg Combet has announced an independent Climate Commission, appointing a leading science communicator, Professor Tim Flannery, as Chief Commissioner.