BRISBANE will be a hub for the latest research and debate on world politics and governance with more than 2400 political science experts gathering for a five-day congress.

In an Australian first, Brisbane will host the 25^th IPSA World Congress of Political Science from July 21-25 at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre (BCEC), delivering an economic boost of $7.7 million for the local economy.

The congress was secured through a competitive Team Brisbane bid involving Tourism and Events Queensland, BCEC and the city’s economic development board Brisbane Marketing, in partnership with local and national universities, and professional conference organiser ICMS Australasia.

Brisbane Lord Mayor Graham Quirk said the congress had attracted nearly 1,000 more delegates than projected, with 80 percent of delegates visiting from international destinations.

“Hosting a congress of this scale demonstrates Brisbane’s appeal as a business, research and leisure destination, and contributes to employment and economic benefits across our accommodation, venue, tourism and service sectors,” Cr Quirk said.

The Queensland Government said it was proud to support the IPSA World Congress of Political Science through Tourism and Events Queensland as part of the It’s Live! in Queensland events calendar.

BCEC general manager Bob O’Keefe said the centre was honoured to be selected as the venue for the world’s most prestigious international meeting for political science scholars. Such events, he said, demonstrated the world-class capabilities and expertise of BCEC.

“Securing conferences of this nature reflects the close collegiate relationship the Centre shares with Brisbane’s universities and academic community,” Mr O’Keefe said.

The impact of information technologies on global borders, the future of human rights and the rise of global populism are a few of the topics to be explored under the congress theme ‘borders and margins’.

Guy Lachapelle, International Political Science Association (IPSA) secretary general and professor of political science at Canada’s Concordia University, said the 25^th IPSA World Congress would bring together over 2400 delegates from 85 countries.

“An IPSA World Congress is always a moment to look over the state of our discipline but also to look upon what IPSA has accomplished after 25 IPSA World Congresses. Today, our Association is certainly stronger, the collective membership has increased since 1949 (from four to 57) and has become a reference for debating world issues,” Mr Lachapelle said.

www.brisbanemarketing.com.au

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NATIONAL Farm Safety Week is held each year to raise awareness of farm safety issues across Australia. In 2018, National Farm Safety Week runs from Monday July 16 to Sunday July 22. and the teme is ‘Innovative, Safe and Healthy’.

The 2018 National Farm Safety Week theme highlights the importance of business and industry continuing to work together to increase the well-being of Australian farmers through innovation and improved attention to health and safety outcomes.

PEAK bodies representing thousands of businesses across Australia are apprehensive about a government proposal that may cause serious damage to the lighting sector.

The National Electrical and Communications Association (NECA), which represents 5,200-member organisations that in turn employ 125,000 Australians, has joined a growing group of industry bodies concerned about the new draft National Construction Code. 

The other bodies include Lighting Council Australia, the Illuminating Engineering Society and the International Association of Lighting Designers (Australia New Zealand).

The changes relate to significant reductions in allowances for architectural and decorative lighting.

“While energy efficiency is an important objective in the development of policy, we worry that the government has not sufficiently and comprehensively consulted with industry on these changes," NECA CEO Suresh Manickam said in reference to the proposed draft of the National Construction Code.

The new regulations are slated to take effect from July 2019 and will apply to all commercial buildings across Australia, both newly built and redeveloped, that require development approval.

The concerns of NECA are shared by the peak bodies representing manufacturers, suppliers, designers and engineers in the lighting market.

Lighting Council Australia, which represents 100 Australian manufacturers and suppliers of lighting equipment, suggests that it is not a question of whether jobs will be lost, but of how many.

“Our industry provides about 5,000 manufacturing jobs.  There are a further 1,000 lighting designers and engineers in the sector," Lighting Council Australia’s David Crossley said.

“This proposal has not been properly evaluated and the consultation process was inadequate.”

www.lightingcouncil.com.au

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THE SDA, the union for workers in retail and fast food, is launching a new drive to recruit young workers starting their first job and to talk to them about their rights where they are, on social media.

SDA national secretary Gerard Dwyer said new recruitment drive, which would be rolled out over social media was a response to research which found young workers had very limited knowledge of their rights or the role of unions.

“Young people entering the workforce for the first time have very little knowledge of their rights or the role unions can play in helping them with their workplace problems," Mr Dwyer said.

“Its safe to say that a large number of young people barely know unions exist, let alone how they can help, or why they should join one.

“Additionally, research from the University of Sydney found that 25 percent of student retail workers were being underpaid, and 35 percent were not receiving the correct weekend rates.

“We decided that we really needed to take a ‘back to basics’ approach, providing simple, easy to understand information about workplace rights, what unions are and what they do.

“That’s why our first video answers the basic question of ‘what is a union?'

“Further videos explain basic workplace concepts like wages, weekends, annual and equal pay and are designed to speak with young workers at their level," Mr Dwyer said.

“In addition to providing accessible and straightforward information we also wanted to reach young workers where they currently were, and that’s on Snapchat, Instagram and to a lesser degree Facebook.”

Mr Dwyer said that in addition to the videos, which will be advertised across several social media platforms over the coming weeks, the SDA has also developed a young worker hub called 100% Pay to provide reliable information on workplace rights and how the union could assist.

“We developed 100% Pay as a place where young retail and fast food workers can go for simple and clear information about their basic rights at work," he said. 

“To get them started, we’ve provided a quick quiz on their six basic rights at work. If a young worker finds they are not receiving what they’re entitled to, they can get in contact with the union.”

Mr Dwyer said that the SDA’s new focus was consistent with the ACTU’s drive to recruit and assist young workers, which was to be discussed at the ACTU triennial Congress in Brisbane this week.

The 100% Pay videos can be found here or visit the 100% Pay website here.

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