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Premier’s Sustainability Awards – call for sustainability success stories

Sustainability Victoria is calling on manufacturers to showcase their sustainability success stories by entering this year’s Premier’s Sustainability Awards. The influential awards program has been celebrating sustainability for 21 years, unearthing remarkable advancements and achievements along the way. At last year’s awards, packaging made from mushroom mycelium and the revegetation of land in Euroa received the two Premier’s Recognition Awards, demonstrating the diversity of entries in this long-standing program. The Premier’s Sustainability Awards features six categories aligned to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) – a globally accepted, robust and comprehensive sustainability framework. Two awards within each of the six categories will be presented: the Community Champion Award for individuals and small organisations, and the Industry Leader Award for medium and large organisations. In addition, the Premier will select two overall winners to be presented at the award ceremony: The Premier’s Recognition Award, a stand-out submission from the 12 award winners, and The Premier’s Regional Recognition Award, a stand-out regional organisation/project from all qualifying finalists. These two awards cannot be entered. Sustainability Victoria’s Interim CEO Matt Genever said: “Now more than ever is the time to showcase Victoria’s sustainability success stories so we can learn from each other, share this knowledge and bring about greater change collectively. “The Premier’s Sustainability Awards provides the platform to acknowledge the tremendous work going on right across the state and I look forward to celebrating the achievements of the many organisations, community groups and individuals leading the way to a sustainable future.” Entries for the Premier’s Sustainability Awards close on Friday 30 June 2023 at 5pm. The judging panel will include a broad range of independent environmental experts selected for their sustainability and industry expertise. Visit Premier’s Sustainability Awards – call for sustainability success stories http://www.sustainabilityawards.vic.gov.au for further information.

PCI Pharma Services announces new sterile fill-finish capabilities

New equipment added to Melbourne and San Diego facilities will help with clinical scale and globa global capacity shortages PCI Pharma Services (PCI), a leading global contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO), has announced the operational launch of three new state-of-the-art automated sterile fill-finish machines at its Melbourne and San Diego facilities. “As the capacity for CDMOs worldwide to take on new projects shrinks, we’re excited to be able to offer integrated sterile fill-finish capabilities, alongside our clinical packaging facilities, to new and existing clients in Melbourne and San Diego,” said Brad Payne, Chief Operating Officer, PCI Pharma Services. “Our increased capacity, stockpile of standardised components, including glass, and technical expertise means we can start running batches as soon as needed. This will cut down on the wait times many local biotech and pharmaceutical companies are facing and begin to help alleviate the global capacity shortage for sterile drug product and downstream packaging.” The new innovative machinery from Cytiva can be used to fill various sterile medications into vials and syringes for small-to-mid scale client needs. The equipment, paired with PCI’s end-to-end services, accelerates company’s drug proof of concept studies, and drastically decreases the average turnaround time from proposal signing to the injectable product’s distribution. The Microcell Vial Filler at Melbourne further enhances the early-stage services offered and brings additional capacity to Australia—the world’s leading Phase I environment. These advanced machines expedite the filling process with automation and remove the need for human intervention in a sterile environment, creating compliance advantages over standard equipment. Additionally, the Microcell Vial Filler and SA25 Aseptic Filling Workcell at PCI’s San Diego facility ensures the delivery of medicines from phase I through phase III, supporting local and global Clinical client needs. “There are less barriers to entry to start a clinical trial in Australia, as […]

SmartSat commits AU$1M+ to research ects for NSW’s Space Qualification Mission Waratah Seed

It is an historic project to help establish foundational capabilities in the NSW space sector and the Australian space industry as a whole.

National indigenous space academy takes off

The National Indigenous Space Academy (NISA) will see up to five students studying in STEM fields travel to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (NASA JPL) in California for a 10 week full time summer internship program.

Capital expenditure investments at foodpro 23-26 July

The poll, run by leading food manufacturing event foodpro, also indicated that over a third of are looking to invest in processing and packaging in the same period (37 per cent of respondents).

Workers skilling up for Industry 4.0 takeover

Workers in a range of industries have been training in critical Industry 4.0 skills to prepare themselves and their employers for the rapidly increasing rollout of inter-connected technology in industry. TAFE Queensland are leaders in providing such training to students in the sunshine state with courses for students starting, enhancing, and changing their careers. Key offerings from Queensland’s largest training provider include its class-leading high-school Industry 4.0 program that forms part of the Queensland Future Skills Partnership, a three-way partnership between BHP Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA), TAFE Queensland and CQUniversity. Consisting of the Certificate II in Autonomous Technologies (10935NAT), the program sees Year 10 and 11 students across the state complete an 18 month course that gives them a leg up on their career, says TAFE Queensland CEO Mary Campbell. “A certificate II level qualification will give the students a good taste of what kind of work goes into autonomous technologies, and with the backing of BMA we have a major employer demonstrating their interest in developing this pathway,” Mrs Campbell said. “Understanding the key concepts and gaining some familiarity of how equipment and software can make a complicated task easier or keep workers safe will help to attract young people to pursue careers in this field,” she said. The Queensland Future Skills Partnership commenced delivery to four Central Queensland high schools from Semester 2, 2020 including Moranbah, Dysart and Blackwater State High Schools. The pilot has since been expanded with wider intakes to other priority areas of the state including Brisbane, Bundaberg, Mackay, Rockhampton, and Gladstone which was facilitated through the QFS Partnership along with the Queensland Minerals and Energy Academy (QMEA). Participant Samuel Kirkman from Dysart State High School said he has always been interested in technology and thanks to this opportunity he is now gaining valuable skills for […]

Australia a living testament to the benefits of productivity growth

-Professor Stephen King, Monash University An average worker today puts in 14 fewer hours per week and takes home a real wage six times that of the average worker in 1901 – all because we are producing more per hour worked. And yet in the past decade that rate of improvement has slowed. Over the 60 years to 2019-20, labour productivity (production per hour worked) grew at an average of 1.8% per year, which sounds small but compounds each year. In the most recent of those decades, the decade to 2020, growth fell to just 1.1% – a drop of one-third. If it remains that low we will be much worse off in decades to come than we would be if we could get back to the kind of growth we had. That’s one of the reasons I was excited to work on the Productivity Commission’s second five-yearly productivity report, released by Treasurer Jim Chalmers. Victims of our own success In some ways, Australia has been a victim of its success. It has a robust and highly productive economy, especially in mining and agriculture where it is among the world’s leaders. But, as productivity growth in mining and agriculture has made us wealthier, we have demanded more services, such as holidays, housecleaning, childcare and after-school care, gyms and home-delivered food. Now employing 90% of our workers and accounting for 80% of our economy, services are harder to make more productive, and as our population ages they are likely to account for an even greater share of what we do. In government-funded non-market services such as health, education and public administration, measured labour productivity growth has been close to zero since the turn of the century. If we want to continue to improve our standard of living, we are going to have […]

Australia announces world first responsible AI Network to uplift industry

The Responsible Artificial Intelligence (AI) Network, is a world-first cross-ecosystem program to support Australian companies in using and creating AI ethically and safely. AI is expected to be worth $22.17 trillion to the global economy by 2030, but poorly developed AI solutions can have serious consequences, from data and privacy breaches to ethical issues. The network will be the gateway for Australia’s industries to uplift its practice of responsible AI. Bringing together a national community of practice, guided by world leading expert partners, and enabling Australian businesses with best practice guidance, tools and learning modules, the network is centred around six core pillars: Law, Standards, Principles, Governance, Leadership and Technology. Established by the National AI Centre, initial Knowledge Partners of the Responsible AI Network include the Australian Industry Group, Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA), CEDA, CSIRO’s Data61, Standards Australia, The Ethics Centre, The Gradient Institute, The Human Technology Institute, and the Tech Council of Australia. National AI Centre Director Stela Solar said the Responsible AI Network would help Australian businesses make the most of the trillion-dollar opportunity presented by AI technologies. “No country in the world has yet worked out responsible AI, but Australia is taking a big step forward by collaborating across the ecosystem to share best practice and respond to an evolving regulatory landscape,” Ms Solar said. “We have a sliding doors moment here to build a competitive advantage in responsible AI, and to take it to the world by equipping Australian businesses with the toolkit to build and deploy safe and ethical AI solutions,” she said. The announcement comes at a time when the world is racing to build guardrails for AI development and deployment to ensure responsible AI practices are developed in parallel with a rapidly accelerating AI landscape. “We know from speaking to hundreds of […]

Australia hasn’t figured out low-level nuclear waste storage yet – let alone high-level waste from submarines

Ian Lowe, Emeritus Professor, School of Science, Griffith University Within ten years, Australia could be in possession of three American-made Virginia-class nuclear submarines under the AUKUS agreement with the United States and United Kingdom. The following decade, we plan to build five next-generation nuclear submarines. To date, criticism of the deal has largely focused on whether our unstable geopolitical environment and China’s military investment means it’s worth spending up to A$368 billion on eight submarines as a deterrent. But nuclear submarines mean nuclear waste. And for decades, Australia has failed to find a suitable place for the long-term storage of our small quantities of low and intermediate level nuclear waste from medical isotopes and the Lucas Heights research reactor. With this deal, we have committed ourselves to managing highly radioactive reactor waste when these submarines are decommissioned – and guarding it, given the fuel for these submarines is weapons-grade uranium. Where will it be stored? The government says it will be on defence land, making the most likely site Woomera in South Australia. What nuclear waste will we have to deal with? Under this deal, Australia will not manufacture nuclear reactors. The US and later the UK will give Australia “complete, welded power units” which do not require refuelling over the lifetime of the submarine. In this, we’re following the US model, where each submarine is powered by a reactor with fuel built in. When nuclear subs are decommissioned, the reactor is pulled out as a complete unit and treated as waste. An official fact sheet about this deal states Australia “has committed to managing all radioactive waste generated through its nuclear-powered submarine program, including spent nuclear fuel, in Australia”. What does this waste look like? When Virginia-class submarines are decommissioned, you have to pull out the “small” reactor and dispose of it. Small, in this context, is relative. […]

Integrated space and spatial industry key to securing Australia’s future

Industry-led Report A national coalition of leading space and geospatial industry experts have today launched the 2030 Space+Spatial Industry Growth Roadmap, an industry document designed to inform government policymakers to commit to an integrated space and spatial industry to safeguard Australia’s future economic success, societal well-being, and national security. The 2030 Space+Spatial Industry Growth Roadmap lists nine key objectives that must be met to future-proof the nation’s sovereign capabilities in these two vitally important industries – with wide-ranging consequences for tackling climate change, enhancing disaster resilience, strengthening defence, and safeguarding our most critical infrastructure. The Roadmap was developed from extensive industry-wide consultation over 18 months under the leadership of the late Dr Peter Woodgate. It was officially handed over to the Australian Space Agency today as input to its 2040 Vision Roadmap. Acting Chair of the 2030 Space+Spatial Steering Committee, Glenn Cockerton, said the simultaneous growth of the space and spatial industries would profoundly impact the nation’s well-being over the next decade and beyond. “The 2030 Space+Spatial Roadmap represents the lasting legacy of Dr Peter Woodgate and aims to help Australia take advantage of a golden opportunity to bring our national space and spatial industries closer together. The businesses at the intersection of space and spatial have a fundamental role in helping Australia navigate its response to catastrophic bushfires, the impacts of climate change, and the development of recovery plans for the economy following the global pandemic and its impact on our society and the economy.” “This work was conducted under Dr Woodgate’s leadership and was the culmination of over the last few years working across the space, spatial and research sectors. We are proud to be handing over these recommendations to the Australian Space Agency today and hope that the roadmap inspires government at all levels to take immediate […]

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