Turning rubbish into cash

10/08/2014 by
Cash for cans

6  August 2014 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… In Australia, an estimated 8 billion bottles and cans are landfilled or littered every year  - that's 900,000 an hour. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………   Mega drinks companies, such as Coca Cola Amatil,  vehemently oppose conatiner deposit legislation such exists in Southe Australia.  In 2023, they  won a legal challenge to Northern Territorylegislation, which the government said had encouraged people to recycle 35.5 million containers since it commenced in January 2012.  The scheme, called Cash For Containers, forced bottlers to pay a 10 cent refund to customers who returned containers to approved depots. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Government, Life & stuff, Society, The Scan Tagged With: ,

Infographic: Metadata and data retention explained

09/08/2014 by

The Conversation    |     8 August 2014   This article by Helen Westerman,  and Emil Jeyaratnam, was originally published on The Conversation. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Government, Life & stuff, Zeitgeist Tagged With: ,

The Scan | Edition # 159

08/08/2014 by
Mindfulness

8  August 2014 ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Thought bubble on patents not such a bright idea 8 August 2014    |    A suggestion by industry minister Ian Macfarlane – which he admitted to be a kind of “thought bubble” - that research funding should be linked to how many patents universities register would only encourage the filing of “junk” patents as the system is gamed, according to research consultant and Howard-government science adviser Thomas Barlow. Macfarlane said that using patent activity could better align university research with industry needs. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Australian Academy of Science, Australian Research Council, Budget, Government, Higher education policy, International, Life & stuff, National Tertiary Education Union, NMIT, Notices, Research, Science, Society, TAFE, The Scan, universities, Universities Australia, University of Canberra, University reform, VET, Vocational education & training Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Budget cuts of over $1.5b per year give universities “no choice” – NTEU

07/08/2014 by
NTEU Funding graph

NTEU   |   6 August 2014 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… The impact of the Federal Budget’s 20% per student funding cut leaves universities with a massive funding black hole amounting to more than $1.5 billion a year from 2019 onwards, argues the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) in its latest budget analysis briefing paper. ……………………………………………………………………………………………….......…  The impact  is heavier upon regional and outer metropolitan universities that are traditionally more reliant on Commonwealth Grant Scheme funding as a source of income. The NTEU calculates that universities will have to increase their fees by about 30% on average … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Budget, Government, Group of 8, Higher education policy, Regional Universities Network, The Scan, universities, University budgets, University reform Tagged With: , , , , , ,

An inconvenient truth

06/08/2014 by
tafe-cover-small

Auditor-General     |    5 August 2014 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… Auditor-general warns on stability of Vic TAFE Against all the evidence, the Victorian government insists that, despite a few local difficulties, Victoria's TAFE system is in fine fettle.  The Victorian minister recently told a conference  the apparent troubles besetting TAFE are the invention of a “misinformed media”.  But according to the the State's auditor-general, the troubles are very real:  TAFEs are facing a "significant decline" in financial stability due, in part, to State Government funding cuts. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… A report tabled in the Victorian  Parliament found … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Coalition policies, Government, NMIT, TAFE, The Scan Tagged With: , , , ,

TDA Newsletter 4 August 2014

04/08/2014 by

Forrest review says TAFE funding and courses should be decided by employers TAFE Directors Australia has labeled proposals to bypass TAFE and universities with TAFE divisions under the Forest Review of Indigenous employment as “missing the mark” and likely to result in hundreds of millions of dollars in duplication. Martin Riordan, CEO of TDA, said while the approach by Mr Forest was commendable to improve the capacity for indigenous communities to enter employment, it ignored the demand-led industry system of VET training being implemented by the states and territories. In its report, Creating Parity, the Forrest Review recommends that all publically funded vocational education and … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Budget, Business Council of Australia, Commonwealth policies, Government, Notices, TAFE, TAFE Directors Australia, VET, Vocational education & training Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

The Scan’s top ten reads – July 2014

02/08/2014 by

1 August 2014 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… In July, The Scan published 56 posts, somewhat down on the longterm average of about 20 a week. An issue that continues to resonate with Scan readers is the impact of "skills reform" on the future of the TAFE system, with three posts on that issue making the top ten reads list in July.  Posts dealing with the issue of university fee deregulation have also been attracting significant interest. ……………………………………………………………………………………………….......… TAFE becoming “residualised” 4 July 2014     |       Analysis by Leesa Wheelahan (University of Toronto and LH Martin Institute) of recent VET statistics shows that TAFE’s share of publicly funded … [Read more...]

Filed Under: ACPET, ASQA, Budget, Commonwealth policies, Government, Grattan Institute, Higher Education Standards Panel, L a Trobe University, LH Martin Institute, RMIT, TAFE, The Scan, universities, University budgets, VET, Vocational education & training Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Go8 leader urges senators to enable fee deregulation but ease up on interest rates

01/08/2014 by
PROF IAN YOUNG PRESS CLUB

The Conversation   |   30 July 2014 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… ANU vice-chancellor and chair of the Group of Eight Ian Young has urged the Senate to pass fee deregulation, proposed in May’s budget, but stopped short of supporting the government’s plans to impose an interest rate on HECS. ……………………………………………………………………………………………….......…     ANU Vice-Chancellor Ian Young has urged the Senate to pass fee deregulation, proposed in May’s budget, but stopped short of supporting the government’s plans to impose an interest rate on HECS. In a speech at the Press Club in Canberra today, Young, who is also Chair of the Group of Eight, said Australia had no outstanding … [Read more...]

Filed Under: ANU, Budget, Commonwealth policies, Government, Group of 8, Higher education policy, The Scan Tagged With: , , ,

Govt likely to modify HECS repayment proposal

01/08/2014 by
Photo: Andrew Taylor

The Age    |   1 August 2014 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… The federal government is expected to ditch one of its most controversial budget measures - the plan to apply real interest rates to student debts - following advice from the architect of the HECS repayment scheme that it is unfair to poor graduates. ……………………………………………………………………………………………….......… Modelling by education economist Bruce Chapman and Timothy Higgins  has found poor graduates could pay 30% more for a degree than their high-income counterparts if the government indexes student debts at the government bond rate rather than inflation. Women who take time off work to have children would be among the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: ANU, Budget, Government, Higher education policy, The Scan, universities, Universities Australia Tagged With: , ,

ACPET National Monday Update | 28 July 2014

29/07/2014 by

In Focus I want to provide some commentary on the following three areas: higher education, VET regulation and international education. 1. Higher Education It is really important for all private Higher Education providers to provide whatever support is possible to the proposed changes to Higher Education. I am aware that we will not all agree with some of the details but that debate is clearly secondary to the need to support the thrust of the reforms. Extension of choice to the private sector is a fundamental shift in higher education funding and is long overdue. Governments of all persuasions are happy to support choice between the public and private provision of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: ACPET, Budget, Government, Higher education policy, Notices, Professional Development, TAFE, University reform Tagged With: , ,
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