1. This week 10 years ago, Prime Minister, Julia Gillard announced the establishment of the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) in Canberra, saying it would draw on the skills of the nation’s best cybersecurity experts to help ensure Australian networks were among the hardest to compromise in the world.
Ms Gillard said cyberspace was an increasingly strategic asset for Australia and the ACSC would be responsible for analysing the nature and extent of cyber threats while also leading the response to cyber incidents.
“Securing and protecting our networks, and ensuring confidence in the online environment, is pivotal to Australia’s economy,” Ms Gillard said.
“The ACSC will be the hub of the government’s cybersecurity efforts.”
2. The Minister for Early Childhood and Child Care, Kate Ellis called for urgent national action to address the shortage of childcare places, which she said was a huge issue for families and was stopping parents from returning to work.
Ms Ellis said outdated, nonsensical planning barriers at the State and Local Government levels were preventing the growth of new childcare services.
“What we want the States to do is immediately put in place a plan to support childcare growth, identify and release more land where it is needed, and remove barriers to support the development of new services,” Ms Ellis said.
3. Transport for NSW introduced changes to rail safety legislation, reducing the permissible blood alcohol concentration for rail safety workers, including drivers, to zero.
The changes brought the limit down from 0.02 to align with the permissible blood alcohol level of zero in place nationally.
The Department said the laws also allowed the State to maintain its current approach to drug and alcohol management, which required 25 per cent of rail safety workers to be tested.
It said the changes aimed to send a strong message to NSW transport workers that risking the safety of train passengers and the wider community by working with drugs or alcohol in their system would not be tolerated.
4. The creation of a new Commissioner for Senior Victorians was announced by Minister for Ageing, David Davis in an effort to boost the community participation of seniors and develop an age-friendly society.
Mr Davis said it was projected that, by 2051, 22 per cent of the Victorian population would be people aged 65 and over, and 8 per cent would be aged over 80, which was why the State Government was establishing a new part-time Commissioner to chair a Ministerial Advisory Committee for Senior Victorians.
“This will ensure better understanding of the needs of older people and better coordination of effort across government,” Mr Davis said.
5. The Victoria–Gulf States Engagement Strategy was launched as part of that State’s International Engagement Strategy, with Minister for Innovation, Services and Small Business, Louise Asher saying the six Gulf Cooperation Council countries — the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain — were a key priority for Victoria’s international engagement.
“The Gulf Cooperation Council trade bloc is one of the largest destinations for Victoria’s commodities exports,” Ms Asher said.
“Victoria has a well-established presence in the Gulf, with a Victorian Government Business Office operating in Dubai since 1997.”
6. And a decade ago Western Australia announced it had returned resources sales of $106 billion over the previous year, with Minister for Mines and Petroleum, Norman Moore saying the latest figures could be attributed to not only the sheer wealth of resources, but also the State’s position as a destination of choice for responsible resource exploration and development.
“One of the Government’s major aims is to attract investment through initiatives such as the Exploration Incentive Scheme’s Co-Funded Drilling Program, supported by the Royalties for Regions program,” Mr Moore said.
