New research shows that besides using the right species for the local environment, their social acceptability, economic use and Indigenous significance need to be carefully considered. “There are many benefits of bringing nature back into urban areas,” says Dr Luis Mata from RMIT’s Interdisciplinary Conservation Science Research Group. “Nature in all its forms provides a […]
3 December, 2017
South Australia’s Department of Primary Industries and Regions (PIRSA) has won the top prize at this year’s Prime Minister’s Awards for Excellence in Public Sector Management. The Gold award was given for PIRSA’s South Australian River Murray Sustainability (SARMS), a $265 million program funded by the Australian Government under a National Partnership Agreement, which is […]
15 November, 2017
Australia’s major cities fare badly in a recently released global ranking of mobility – how well they allow their citizens to move around. The ranking of 100 global cities, the ‘Sustainable Cities Mobility Index 2017: Bold Moves’, was published by Arcadis, a major Dutch engineering and management consultancy. Each city is rated on three factors: […]
30 October, 2017
Two separate announcements this week have shown a glimpse of Melbourne’s future. The city is evolving rapidly and will soon regain its former position as Australia’s largest city. In the 19th century, fuelled by money from the gold rushes, the city was called ‘Marvellous Melbourne’. In just 40 years it grew from a village on […]
25 October, 2017
The Productivity Commission has released its first ever five-year productivity review, called ‘Shifting the Dial’. It was released in conjunction with the Commission’s annual report. It is “a look out across the landscape of factors and influences that may affect Australia’s economic performance over the medium term, in order to offer advice on where our […]
24 October, 2017
Australia is blessed – and cursed – with a federal system of government. It allows greater diversity, and also causes problems when it comes to the coordination of service delivery.
20 October, 2017
The NSW Government has released an online tool that shows graphically key demographic attributes of the state’s regions. The People and Places Dashboard shows data such as population age groups, household composition, and land usage. The data is projected 20 years into the future. The website was launched by Minister for Planning and Housing Anthony […]
16 October, 2017
Australia’s big cities often rate well on international ‘liveability’ indexes. But all is not as it seems. Life for many residents in Australia’s cities isn’t nearly as good as we would like to believe, a new report from RMIT University has found. The new ‘Creating Liveable Cities in Australia’ study is the culmination of five […]
15 October, 2017
State based affordable housing schemes only work if supported by strong political leadership. That’s the key finding of a major new report, ‘Government led innovations in affordable housing delivery’. The report, by the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI) analysed the affordable housing market in Australia. It found that effective strategies and programs: rely […]
12 October, 2017
A leaked report to the NSW Government has recommended that cruise ships be permitted to use the Royal Australian Navy dockyard at Garden Island. At present cruise ships use the Overseas Passenger Terminal at Circular Quay and a secondary terminal at White Bay, 3km west of the CBD. But to use White Bay they must […]
11 October, 2017
Local Government NSW and four major NSW councils will hold a forum on the Night Time Economy.. They have formalised the term into an acronym – NTE. The forum will be held in the Parkroyal Parramatta hotel on 12 October (during the daytime). Details here. The forum is the first tangible result of a work […]
10 October, 2017
Sydney’s Barangaroo Reserve has won the prestigious best landscape design of the year award in the 2017 international American Architecture Prize. The 22-hectare headland park was designed by Australian landscape architects Johnson Pilton Walker in association with PWP Landscape Architecture, a firm based in Berkeley near San Francisco, and built by Lend Lease. It opened […]
10 October, 2017
The Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE) has published a report on ‘Measuring infrastructure asset performance and customer satisfaction: A review of existing frameworks’. “Well-managed, modern and functioning infrastructure underpins much of Australia’s economic prosperity, “ said BITRE’s head Dr Gary Dolman, releasing the report. “Services provided by roads, rail, ports, telecommunications networks […]
8 October, 2017
Sydney’s new Inner West Council has voted to assign an officer dedicated “to assist local activist groups with their advocacy and local residents with complaints” about the giant WestConnex tollway project. Some Sydney councils were amalgamated before the Berejiklian Government reversed its stance on amalgamations. Inner West Council is one of them, formed by […]
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