In an article featured in Crikey today, the downfalls to the ‘efficiency dividend’ announced in December by Finance Minister Penny Wong are discussed. While the cuts were only from 1.5% to 4%, as the online questionnaire sent to 1000 Community and Public Sector Union delegates shows, a little goes a long way.
An online questionnaire [...]

The focus of a media release by the ACT Territory and Municipal Services Directorate is, fittingly, the upcoming ANZAC Day. According to the release, Yarralumla Nursery have plants for sale with ties to Gallipoli- the Lone Pine, Gallipoli Rosemary and Gallipoli Rose.
The Lone Pine, which the Yarralumla Nursery has grown since 1950, has a [...]

According to the ACT Supreme Court Edited Extract of Proceedings, Joseph Patrick Ennis, who assaulted and broke the arm of his de facto wife Lisa Shelton on 24 October 2010, has received his sentence. A two years good behaviour order and 100 hours community service.
This isn’t the first time he has assaulted Ms Shelton, the [...]

Congratulations to Marie-Alice McLean-Dreyfus (second from the left). ANU has announced that she has been selected to attend the G20 Youth Summit in Washington. Marie-Alice is a fourth year Bachelor of Arts and Asia-Pacific Studies undergraduate who will be joining five other young Australians attending the Summit this June. They will be making up the [...]

According to ANU News, Eleanor Gates-Stuart, a PhD student from the Centre for the Public Awareness of Science, has been commissioned to produce her winning concept StellrScope as part of the Centenary of Canberra Celebrations.
Eleanor’s winning concept is StellrScope, a visual arts production that will explore the Canberra region’s connection to the Australian wheat [...]

The name of the man to have committed seven sexual offences against a twelve year old boy (four acts of indecency, two sex acts and one count of using the internet to deprave young people) has been released in an article by ABC News today.
Michael David Watt, a 25 year old youth worker from Conder, [...]

The UC Monitor has a story on their student Jeremy Woodhill who has won a Australian Innovation Challenge award in the ‘backyard’ category.
His invention, the Smart GPO, came about when he looking to make power points safer. However he got a lot more than he originally bargained for.
“The Smart GPO works to significantly reduce [...]

In a media statement released by Katy Gallagher today, she said that by 30 June of this year, 80% of ACTION buses will have bike racks.
“The ACT Government is committed to providing bike and ride options for Canberrans as an easy, environmentally friendly and healthy means for people to use their bike to access public [...]

I thought this was pretty cute, brought to us by the magic of YouTube
If this video has inspired you to learn some more about Dachshunds, wikipedia is always a good information source.

I went down at lunch to see the Youth Homelessness Matters Day event at Garema Place for myself. It was like all of the usual Garema Place events- bands that do Blink 182 and Greenday covers; a coffee van; some BBQ sausages; as well as stalls from organisations relevant to this issue.
Once there, I had [...]

It seems that the University of Canberra just can’t keep itself out of trouble, particularly in regards to their journalism school. After recent controversy about Lynne Minion being asked by course convenor Crispin Hull to pass failing international students, one would think that they would want to lie low for a while.
However, when five journalism [...]

If you’re wandering around Garema Place at noon today, you might want to check out the Youth Coalition’s Youth Homelessness Matters Day (YHMD) event. There will be competitions, performances and stalls- all the usual Garema Place event type shenanigans.
Considering that nearly half of the 105,000 people who are homeless (in Australia) on any given [...]

Katy Gallagher released a statement last night about the progress of MyWay.
She says MyWay went live on 11 April last year with minimal difficulties; Canberrans finding it easy to adjust to the new ticketing technology.
“MyWay makes it easier and cheaper for the vast majority of bus travellers to enjoy bus travel”, the Chief [...]

I just went to check out what is new at the Canberra Museum And Gallery, and I have to say, I’m impressed.
The two exhibitions introduced on 24 March; Look! The Art of Australian Picture Books Today, and Mirror by Jeannie Baker are both fantastic.
As I’m not someone who ever goes out of their [...]

A media statement released by the Territory and Municipal Services today discusses the proposed plan for the Yarralumla Creek cycle path.
The Yarralumla Creek cycle bridge was washed away in December 2011 and is beyond repair. Currently a detour is set up that sends cyclists to Carruthers and then back to Yarra Glen.
Tony Gill outlines [...]

The ABC tells us the University of Canberra will be home to a new super clinic that will offer a variety of services including radiology, pathology, pharmacy and psychology services.
As well as giving students access to a wide range of medical care at their doorstep, Frances Shannon, acting Vice-Chancellor, believes it will also benefit [...]

The Targeted Assistance Strategy is part of the ACT Government’s bid to better support those experiencing financial hardship. What is unique about this report is that it is focusing on those who don’t normally qualify for or access government help.
Reverend Ramsay led the Targeted Assistance Strategy Panel, which was formed after the 2011 Community Roundtable, [...]

The Community Heritage Grants (CHG) program provides grants of up to $15,000 to community organisations such as libraries, archives, museums, genealogical and historical societies, multicultural and Indigenous groups. The grants are provided to assist with the preservation of locally owned, but nationally significant collections of materials that are publicly accessible including artifacts, letters, diaries, maps, [...]

In a release sent out today by ACT Minister for Ageing Joy Burch, it was announced that the Australian Capital Territory’s very first Grandparents Day will be happening 28 October. As with the NSW Grandparents Day, it will be held on the last Sunday of October every year.
The change has come about due to an [...]

When the government pledged $3.8 million for a capital works project in conjunction with the earlier decision to move Megalo Print Studio to the Fitters’ Workshop, they probably weren’t expecting the backlash they received.
The Standard Committee on Education, Training and Youth Affairs have just published a report about, as the title plainly states, ‘Future Use [...]

Serving us well since 1941, the Australian War Memorial is set to get a $27 million refurbishment (announced by the Prime Minister). With that kind of cash you would expect a complete overhaul, but only the First World War galleries are reaping the benefits this time.
These galleries are of particular importance right now as the [...]

This might be stating the obvious but the ACT Labor Government’s solar plan is receiving plenty of interest from the renewable energy industry, as Simon Corbell announced yesterday. Forty nine separate prequalification proposals were received, showing that the nation’s capital is keen to get started on a large scale solar facility.
“This level of interest [...]