Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced his intention to cut the number of migrants entering Australia to ease city congestion. If the changes are applied, this will lower the current annual immigration cap of 190,000. “The roads are clogged, the buses and trains are full. The schools are taking
Casuals are more likely to be getting paid less than permanent employees, according to a new research released by the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU). Casual workers are employees without access to leave entitlements, but instead receive a 25 per cent ‘causal loading’ on their hourly wage.
Ten minute grace period for parking fines will be given to motorists who pay for at least one hour of parking. This will apply from 31 January 2019 for physical ticketed and coupon parking. Meters that do not issue parking tickets will not be eligible. In addition, the grace period will also not app
1500 extra police will be delivered in NSW following the Government’s announcement to invest $583 million over the next four years. This will be the biggest increase for the NSW Police Force in more than 30 years. “This increase in police numbers will ensure the NSW Police Force has the resources it
Wages in Australia rose by 0.6 per cent in the September quarter 2018, according to the recent figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). In detail, private sector wages rose by 0.5 per cent and public sector wages rose by 0.6 per cent, from the June quarter 2018 to the September
62 per cent of employers who faced re-audits are now meeting their workplace obligations, according to the new National Compliance Monitoring report released by the Fair Work Ombudsman. With the 38 per cent of businesses who remained non-compliant, FWO issued 16 compliance notices, 56 infringement n
Only two in three people aged 15 to 34 years are satisfied with their General Practitioner (GP) experience, according to the new results released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). Through the Patient Experience Survey, it was found that among the 5.2 million people aged 15 to 34 years, o
The Justice of the Peace website will soon be upgraded for easier access of the details of the Justice of the Peace (JP) volunteer. From early 2019, people in NSW will be able to search the availabilities of a local JP who speaks their language. This will assist the culturally and linguistically div
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) has risen by 0.4 per cent in the September quarter 2018, according to latest figures released by Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). The recent figures followed the rise of 0.4 per cent in the June quarter 2018. The most significant positive contributor to the CPI i
The New South Wales Government has secured extra funding for NSW public schools, as it signed up to the new National School Reform agreement. As a result, NSW schools will receive an addition funding of $6.4 billion to 2027. This will bring the State’s total investment to $148 billion for both gover
Apprenticeship enrolments in NSW have increased by 16 per cent in the first half of 2018. Under the Smart and Skilled program which was introduced in 1 July 2018, vocational education students have taken advantage of the 100,000 fee-free apprenticeships and traineeships. The program has benefited em
Australians will be able to fast-track at Heathrow airport with their e-passports in the near future. The electronic gates at Heathrow are currently only available to European passport holders. However, from 2019, Australia, the United States, Canada, New Zealand and Japan passport holders will be a
The life expectancy gender gap for Australian men and women has continued to narrow, according to the latest figures released by Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). The new figures showed that Australian males born today have an estimated life expectancy of 80.5 years, while females have 84.9 yea
Trained pharmacists will be able to give measles and whooping cough injections from 2019. From January 2019, trained pharmacists who undertakes an approved course will be able to give diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (dTpa) shots, and measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) and flu shots. This is following a NS
A new scholarship program will offer free degrees to create more school counsellors across NSW schools as part of the ‘Supported Students, Successful Students’ program. The $6.2 million program will provide more opportunities for psychologists to enter the school counselling service. Successful appl
The value of Sydney and Melbourne houses are dropping by $1,000 a week, according to the latest quarterly Business Outlook from Deloitte Access Economics. However, despite the house prices falling, Australia’s growth has continued to accelerate with an estimate of 3.3 per cent GDP growth this financ
Trend unemployment rate has continued to decrease to 5.2 per cent in the month of September 2018, according to the latest figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). Comparatively, trend employment has increased by approximately 26,000 persons in the month of September 2018. Full-
Drug dealers will be held responsible for any deaths they cause at music festivals, with up to 25 years in jail. The NSW Government has announced this new law following the deaths of two young people at Defqon.1, a music festival at Penrith. In addition, on-the-spot fines of $400 to $500 will be iss
Fake charities or impersonations of real charities have been increasing steadily over the past four years. So far in 2018, Scamwatch has received 689 reports of fake charity scams, amounting to over $320,000 in losses. This has been an increase from 2017, with the total reported loss of $313,563. “A
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is more likely to be misdiagnosed for the youngest children in classrooms according to an international study published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. After researchers at Western Australia’s Curtin University reviewed 17 studies co