AS PART of a Federal Parliament inquiry into the destruction of the Indigenous heritage sites at Juukan Gorge, the Northern Australia Committee is tomorrow holding a public hearing by teleconference with key stakeholders including Rio Tinto, the Australian Government and the Government of Western Australia.

Committee Chair, Warren Entsch, said it was important to find out what happened at Juukan Gorge and find ways to prevent such incidents occurring again.

"We will be holding extensive consultations with Indigenous stakeholders during the course of the inquiry, and expect to visit the affected sites. To open the inquiry, however, we will be talking to the government and industry stakeholders most concerned with what happened at Juukan Gorge," Mr Entsch said.

In its submission, Rio Tinto acknowledged that "the destruction of the Juukan rockshelters should not have occurred". Looking at the need for legislative change, the company observed:

"In considering possible changes that should be made to legislative frameworks, contractual agreements and new standards and ways of working, there is a critical and ongoing balance to be struck. On the one hand, it is essential to find more effective and flexible means to escalate and manage concerns regarding the preservation of the unique cultural heritage of Indigenous Australians. On the other, there needs to be a clear and predictable framework to enable long-term investment in, and the efficient operation of, mining projects that contribute so significantly to Australia. In meeting that challenge, governments, as well as the mining industry, Traditional Owners and the wider community all have a vital contribution to make."

The Government of Western Australia said, "The recent destruction of the rock shelters in the Juukan Gorge of the Pilbara region is devastating for all parties involved and was clearly avoidable."

Its submission focussed on the shortcomings of the current Aboriginal Heritage Act 1972 (WA) and the proposed reforms to that Act currently being developed.

"In order to achieve protection, conservation and management of Aboriginal cultural heritage in Western Australia, and to provide a clear framework that enables land users to manage Aboriginal heritage, a fundamental shift away from the current Act is required," The WA Government said.

Programs are available on the Committee’s website.

Public hearing details

Date: Friday, 7 August 2020
Time: 9am to 2pm AEDT
Location: By teleconference 

The hearings will be broadcast live at aph.gov.au/live.

Further details of the inquiry, including terms of reference, can be found on the Committee’s website.

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AUSTRALIA’s peak workplace health and safety body is calling for immediate government action to stop the spread of COVID-19 among healthcare workers.

An examination of current health and safety standards in healthcare by the Australian Institute of Health and Safety has found they are inadequate for the current crisis.

This comes as over 1200 Victorian healthcare workers have now tested positive to coronavirus.

AIHS chairwoman Naomi Kemp said the failure to provide adequate workplace health and safety standards in hospitals and aged care centres has contributed to the state’s devastating second wave.

“The current infection rate is unacceptable,” she said.

“But more tragically, it is preventable.”

Ms Kemp said that current health and safety practice rebuked the assumption that hospitals were some of Australia’s safest workplaces.

“Workers on many building sites currently have better protection than our healthcare workers when it comes to personal protective equipment, protocols around common work and recreation areas and transmission management,” she said.

“Despite months of preparation, hospitals and aged care centres don’t have the health and safety practices to prevent the spread of COVID-19 amongst their frontline workers.

“The rate of infection of frontline workers is putting additional pressure on the sector to be able to deliver services.”

Australia’s National Guidance on personal protective equipment use in hospitals does not require staff to wear P2/N95’s masks in all activities with confirmed or potential COVID-19 patients, even though it is an airborne virus. Surgical masks are not designed to protect the wearer.

Ms Kemp said that urgently needed to change.

“We’re not saying that individual hospitals and aged care centres aren’t trying, but many are only implementing the minimum health and safety standards, and those requirements are dangerously inadequate for frontline workers,” she said.

The AIHS is calling on the federal and state governments to implement the following:

• · Immediately upgrade federal and state infection control guidelines and standards.
• · Hospitals and aged care centres to upgrade their health and safety management plans and practices to the appropriate standard. 
• · Immediate increased surveillance and enforcement by government workplace health and safety regulatory authorities in hospitals and aged care centres.
• · Mandate the use of approved P2/N95 masks for all tasks healthcare workers perform dealing with patients suspected or confirmed to have COVID-19
• · Provide training and fit-testing in the use of masks provided to staff.

Ms Kemp said unless these five areas were addressed as a matter of urgency, infection rates in hospitals and aged care centres would continue to escalate. 

“The Victorian experience will simply be repeated in other states unless we act urgently to introduce better protocols across Australia,” she said. “No worker should have to go to work and contract COVID-19.”

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AT A PUBLIC  hearing tomorrow, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Works will scrutinise a proposal from the Department of Defence to commence Phase 1 of the AIR555 facilities project at RAAF Bases in Edinburgh, Darwin, and Townsville, as well as the Territory of Cocos (Keeling) Islands.

The inquiry into the AIR 555 Phase 1 Airborne Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance Electronic Warfare Capability Facilities Works  will examine the need for and cost effectiveness of the project, along with how the project will support the incoming Peregrine capability.

Public hearing details

Date: Friday, 7 August 2020
Time: 2.15pm to 3.15pm (AEST)
Location: via teleconference

The hearing will be broadcast live at aph.gov.au/live.

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THIS WEEK the House Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs will hear from representatives from Tasmania, Western Australia, and the Australian Capital Territory as part of its inquiry into homelessness in Australia.

Chair of the Committee, Andrew Wallace MP, said the Committee was looking forward to hearing more from state and territory governments as they have primary responsibility for housing and homelessness.

"Throughout the inquiry, the Committee has heard evidence about the central role of state and territory governments in supporting those in our community who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. Last week we heard from the Northern Territory government, and this week’s hearing will be an opportunity to hear from other states and territories about their strategies to address homelessness, and how they are working with the Commonwealth under the National Housing and Homelessness Agreement," Mr Wallace said.

"The Committee will also be interested to hear more about measures implemented by state and territory governments to assist the homeless during the COVID-19 pandemic."

The Committee will also hear from community organisations including the Sacred Heart Mission and the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency.

In order to ensure public safety during the COVID-19 situation, witnesses will participate in the hearing remotely, via teleconference. Interested members of the public are invited to listen to the live broadcast, available at aph.gov.au/live.

Further information, including hearing programs and submissions to the inquiry, is available on the Committee’s website.

Public hearing details

Date: Friday, 7 August 2020
Time: 8.45am to 3pm
Location: Via teleconference

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