December 15, 2005

Neighbourhood House &; Adult Learning Centres – the need, the hours & the funding

Centre coordinators work many hours unpaid overtime as government funding fails to keep pace with ballooning demand and award wages, says Clare Corbet of Victoria’s Association of Neighbourhood House & Learning Centres (ANHLC). Half of Victoria’s 360 Neighbourhood Houses are […]
December 15, 2005

Australia’s legendary ‘Ghan’ to double its service in 2006

The Ghan has recently been voted Australia’s best innovative tourism experience by readers of ‘The Australian’ and this legendary Adelaide-Darwin train service, covering 2,979 kms, will double its service from March 2006. Guests have two nights aboard the Ghan. They […]
December 15, 2005

SASSIC – Services, Assistance, Skills, Swap, Incentive & Community

SASSIC – Services, Assistance, Skills, Swap, Incentive & Community – is a new grassroots local community group online set up just recently at http://au.groups.yahoo.com/group/sassic/ It is a place to advertise a need or to offer assistance to someone in need […]
December 15, 2005

Conflict between Tasmanian Tourism and Tasmanian Greens

Another Green ‘anti forestry’ protest, this time against the Tahune Air-Walk in Tassie’s Huon region, in front of delegates at the recent Ecotourism Conference, has angered the Tourism Council of Tasmania (TCT). The Greens argue the need to preserve forest […]
December 15, 2005

SA’s ‘Blessed Cheese’ wine & cheese self-drive trails & Cellar Door ‘Smart Card Package’

Two years ago biochemist turned cheesemaker, Mark Potter, took the gamble and opened ‘Blessed Cheese’ in the McLarenvale wine region. The bright orange cafe offering local produce, local, national and international cheeses plus hands-on cheesemaking courses and do-it-yourself wine and […]
December 15, 2005

Indigenous campaigner Michael Long says the 2005 Long Walk was “about empathy not sympathy”

Following Michael Long’s spontaneous and gutsy 658km walk from his lounge room to the Hume Highway and to Canberra last year ‘to see the Prime Minister and talk about indigenous issues’ a whole movement has grown and the symbolism of […]
December 15, 2005

Victoria’s 100 km East Gippsland Rail Trail to open 5 years ‘ahead of schedule’

In September 2004 Victoria’s East Gippsland Rail Trail received a $660,000 Regional Partnerships grant to extend the trail 28 kms east from Nowa Nowa to Orbost on the Snowy River. The 100 km long trail will open on Saturday 28 […]
December 15, 2005

Meet Leah of BYO Kids – an idea and a website taking off!

Leah and Paul Squire are clearly adventurers. They and their two kids love to travel……everywhere! Currently living and working in Dampier, WA, amongst many other ‘adventures’ they have spent 8 months on the east cast of Oz wwoofing (see next […]
December 15, 2005

WWOOFING – it’s not just for dogs

If your family loves to travel, enjoys meeting people, and doesn’t mind a little bit of hard yakka, perhaps you should give wwoofing a go. Wwoofing stands for Willing Workers on Organic farms. The concept originated in England and has […]
December 15, 2005

A bus service for Mallacoota residents in Victoria’s remote far east

A new bus service, running three days a week between Mallacoota in far east Gippsland, and Genoa, on the Princes Highway, will commence today, 15 December. Mallacoota has no public transport so this is a big win for residents of […]
December 15, 2005

Shortlist of eleven in Australia’s Solar City quest

Up to four ‘solar cities’- a $75 million pioneering concept to create more energy sustainable communities – will be established in Adelaide and up to three other grid-connected urban areas around Australia. Senator Ian Campbell, Minister for Environment & Heritage […]
December 15, 2005

Quality staff and skilled worker shortage concerns for small business

THE SENSIS BUSINESS INDEX for Small / Medium Enterprises in November 2005 shows: 1)Business confidence is unchanged at 55 per cent (68 per cent confident versus 13 per cent worried). 2)Businesses feeling less confident mostly said it was because of […]