Business bulletin: 11 July 2019

Territorians are invited to have their say and share ideas on the future use of the Howard Springs Accommodation Village.

The village precinct is approximately 67 hectares in size, and was constructed to accommodate up to 3,500 fly-in fly-out employees required to construct the US$34 billion LNG facility at Bladin Point.

The infrastructure and assets constructed by the project have the potential to support a range of uses which will benefit the Territory. These could include commercial, tourism, sporting or education and training related activities.

The Territory Government is seeking suggestions for the future use of the village whilst currently considering various commercial future uses of the Village.

There will be guided public tours of the Village on Saturday 27 July 2019.

You must register to tour the facility, walk ups registrations on the day will not be accepted.

Positions are limited and will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. Registration for the tours closes COB Tuesday 23 July 2019.

You can have your say on the future use of the Howard Springs Accommodation Village by completing the online survey on the Have Your Say website.

To find out more or to register for a guided tour of the facility please go to the Have Your Say website.

Territory Businesses can now apply for Infrastructure Grants through the Local Jobs Fund.

The Local Jobs Fund is an $89 million co-investment fund to support economic projects and help high growth potential Territory business to increase exports nationally and internationally.

The Infrastructure Grants are one of five products and services available through the Local Jobs Fund.

$20 million is available to deliver Infrastructure Grants of up to $10 million each.

Infrastructure Grants will be targeted at transformational projects that will deliver Territory jobs and economic growth.

The new Investment Territory team that began on 1 July to attract and secure private investment in the Territory administers the fund.

Applications will be sourced through an open competitive process, which opens today and close at 4pm (AEST) on 27 September 2019.

For more information and to apply go to the Local Jobs Fund website.

2018 Australian Trainee of the Year, Kimberly Brewster

The Territory’s vocational education and training (VET) top individuals and organisations have been recognised, with the finalists of the Northern Territory (NT) Training Awards revealed.

The NT Training Awards put the training sector in the spotlight by highlighting the achievements of apprentices, trainees, VET students, training organisations and employers.

The 33 outstanding individual finalists and 15 organisational finalists are now part of an elite group that will now go on to represent the Territory’s vocational education and training sector in 2019.

Winners of the NT Training Awards have the chance to benchmark themselves at the peak, national awards for the VET sector, the Australian Training Awards later this year.

Last year’s finalists went on to make a splash on the national stage - with Kimberly Brewster, who studied Certificate III in Business Administration while working at Conoco Phillips taking out Australian Trainee of the Year Award.

The Territory was also well represented in the organisation categories with NEC a finalist in the Medium Employer of the Year.

The 2019 NT Training Awards winners will be announced at the presentation dinner on 21 September at the Darwin Convention Centre.

Congratulations to the 2019 NT Training Award finalist:

International Student of the Year

• Sunday Mishu
• Joanne Ung
• Sharon Wu.

Trainee of the Year

• Jack Short
• Jordan Owen
• Anita Jones
• Ashley Ferguson.

VET Teacher / Trainer of the Year

• Mark Fudge
• Patricia Sweeney Fawcett
• Scott Berry
• Teresa Raines
• Danielle Brown.

VET in Schools Student of the Year

• Laurent de Biaso
• Olivia Holland-Crowe
• Courtney Canavan
• Shanae Graham.

Vocational Student of the Year

• Justin McKey
• Mark Edwards
• Jacqui Culgan
• Despina Rossides.

Austin Asche Apprentice of the Year

• Cameron Davidson
• Rory Milner
• Callum DiFrancesco
• Benjamin Martin.

Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander of the Year

• Meredith Garrawurra
• Raelene Collins
• Dione Kelly
• Kenny Lechleitner.

School Based Trainee / Apprentice of the Year

• Claudia Kretschmer
• Catherine Ralph
• Makeah Lind
• Ashlee Gilder.

Training Provider of the Year

• MacKillop Catholic College RTO
• Charles Darwin University
• Alana Kaye College Training Provider.

Industry Collaboration

• Training Steps for Capability
• William Angliss Institute and Voyages Indigenous Tourism Australia
• Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education and Northern Territory Correctional Services
• Gulkula Regional Training Centre Program.

Medium Employer of the Year

• Hasting Deering (Australia) Ltd
• Kinetic IT
• Danila Dilba Health Service
• NEC IT Solutions Pty Ltd.

Small Employer of the Year

• Gold Medal Services
• Mitchell Street Childcare Centre
• Fannie Bay Gourmet Meats
• FORWAARD Aboriginal Corporation.

A Territory company is striving to innovate more efficient and affordable surveying solutions.

Graphic information systems and innovation manager Jonathan Piper-Green is leading a team at Darwin-based Cross Solutions to develop a new reasonably-priced mobile laser mapping system.

The systems cost between $100,000 and $1 million each at the moment.

Components have come down in price markedly in the past years, opening the way for a much less expensive system.

But the innovation doesn’t stop there.

Jonathan and his team don’t just want to develop a more affordable laser mapping system - they are also trying to make it as small and light as possible, adapting it so that it can be sold to surveying companies.

“We want to produce a lightweight system that can be attached to drones.”

Cross Solutions, a surveying and spatial consultancy company based in Darwin, used a Northern Territory Government Business Innovation Support Initiatives (BISI) grant to build the first working prototype.

“The BISI grant process has been straight forward due to the assistance of the staff at the Department of Trade, Business and Innovation,” says Jonathan.

“The time invested in developing our application will be greatly outweighed by the benefit the grant will provide to getting this product off the ground.

“I believe enticing development in new technologies in the Northern Territory is an important step in supporting and growing the economy and, hopefully, our products development will do just that.

“Our hope is that by having this technology developed and operated in Territory, it will provide cost-effective mapping and survey services to a range of local industries, government and businesses.”

The BISI program helps Territory businesses undertake research and development that could lead to new products, processes or services.

Territory employers are reminded that the Working Holiday Maker Visa program has been updated.

A series of changes that will benefit Territory businesses and the local workforce came into effect on 1 July, this includes:

• Greece and Ecuador have now been added to Work and Holiday subclass 462 visa program
• the maximum age for French applicants applying for Working Holiday subclass 417 visa has been raised to 35 years bringing in line with Canadian and Irish applicants
• employees can now extend their Working Holiday Maker Visa (subclass 417 and subclass 462) from six to 12 months if they work with the same agricultural employer
• Territory businesses can now also employ a Working Holiday Maker for up to three years, however this will be dependent on their business activities
• Working Holiday Makers (subclass 417 and subclass 462) that have completed at least six months of regional work on their second year visa may be eligible for a third year visa. The six months of work must all be carried out on or after 1 July 2019, with applications eligible to be lodged from January 2020.

Territory businesses can now access our new online application forms for endorsement under the Northern Territory Designated Area Migration Agreement (NT DAMA).

The new forms provide a clearer and more streamlined application process and are available on the how to apply page.

Employers are urged to make sure they use the updated application forms when applying for endorsement under NT DAMA.