THE FEDERAL Parliament is currently considering changes to Australia’s copyright laws to extend the safe harbour scheme to the education, cultural and disability sector.

The changes aim to ensure these sectors are protected from legal liability where they can demonstrate they have taken reasonable steps to deal with copyright infringement by users of their online platforms.

To ensure the new sectors can comply with the scheme, the Parliament is seeking views on the Copyright Amendment (Service Providers) Regulations 2018.

The amendments aim to ensure the current safe harbour procedures and forms are fit for purpose for the new sectors.

The changes aim to compliment the Copyright Amendment (Service Providers) Bill by not seeking to deviate substantially from how the scheme currently operates.

Comments are being sought on whether the amendments will help the applicable institutions comply with the safe harbour scheme.

Submissions close on June 29, 2018 at 5pm AEDT.

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MORE THAN 1200 seed industry professionals from 64 countries are in Brisbane this week to negotiate trade agreements and to address key issues facing the global seed industry.

The 69^th World Seed Congress, hosted by The International Seed Federation (ISF) and the Australian Seed Federation (ASF) is being held in Australia for the first time in 19 years at the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre (BCEC).
 
The World Seed Congress comes hard on the heels of the 2018 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation for a record 3,000 delegates, just two of 140 conferences on the BCEC calendar this year.
 
During the three day event at the BCEC, delegates from the Asia Pacific and across the world will debate opportunities and challenges facing the seed industry with a strong focus on innovation in industry in order to better feed the world.
 
With agricultural products accounting for more than 15% of Australia’s total exports, the strong business trading component of this event will take centre stage alongside other policy driven discussions and activities around agricultural technology, food security and the future face of the seed sector.
 
There was strong interest for this event with delegates from 16 international organisations attending, the strongest host country delegation on record  with Australians making up 10% of delegates, the highest ever number of exhibition booths and a full allocation of the 203 trading tables.
 
The Congress is significant for the seed and agriculture industry in Australia, and for Australian Seed Federation members it is a chance to showcase their product and conduct business on an international level in all areas of the seed sector worldwide.
 
Organisers said international delegates, many of whom were first time visitors to Australia, were enjoying experiencing Brisbane as a destination with many taking the opportunity to combine business with pleasure to plan some pre and post touring opportunities in Queensland and throughout Australia.
 
The Queensland Government, via Tourism and Events Queensland, is proud to support the 69^th World Seed Congress. Business events are vital to Queensland's tourism industry, attracting visitors and promoting our destinations to domestic and international visitors.
 
BCEC director of sales, Alison Gardiner said the centre was delighted to support the Australian Seed Federation in their bid to bring this key sector conference to Brisbane.
 
“Queensland has the highest proportion of land area in Australia dedicated to agriculture and attracting conferences in industries that are key to Queensland and Australia is fundamental to what we do as a venue to support our city and our State.”
 
Lord Mayor Graham Quirk said hosting the World Seed Congress for the first time in nearly two decades came at a time when Brisbane was growing its profile as an Asia Pacific hub for food and agriculture.
 
“Growing Brisbane’s food and agribusiness industry is a priority of the Brisbane 2022 New World City Action Plan for economic growth. I’m certain that with our city’s strong capabilities in agriculture technology, innovation and research, coupled with our offerings as a world-class conventions city, delegates have enjoyed every aspect of their time at this congress in Brisbane," Cr Quirk said.

www.bcec.com.au

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THE Australian Industry and Skills Committee (AISC) recently launched a new online resource to help ensure vocational education and training (VET) qualifications and skills are evidence based and meeting the needs of industry.

The National Industry Insights Report combines industry intelligence from the AISC’s network of 64 Industry Reference Committees (IRCs) with broader labour market and training data.

“We need a workforce that can adapt to and take advantage of new opportunities as the nature of work changes. This resource is part of the AISC’s focus on creating a strong evidence base to inform VET training package development and ensure qualifications meet skills needs,” said AISC chair, John Pollaers.

“It draws on the skills forecasts from IRCs, providing valuable grassroots intelligence from employers, employees and industry peaks about future skills and training needs,” Prof. Pollaers said.

The National Industry Insights Report provides information on both an industry and national scale and includes economic and employment trends, skills forecasts and the factors that affect the demand for skills.

The Report was developed for the AISC by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) and highlights a strong demand in many industries for workers with digital skills, cross-industry skills and technical knowledge.

“We all know increased digitalisation and automation of the workforce is already affecting the way we work. The National Industry Insights Report is a fantastic resource to help IRCs in their work to ensure Australian qualifications are relevant, up-to-date, and meet the changing needs and priorities of employers and the economy,” Prof. Pollaers said.

The report is available on the National Industry Insights Report website, or via the hyperlink on the AISC website.

About the Australian Industry and Skills Committee (AISC)

The AISC provides industry advice to Commonwealth, State, and Territory Skills Ministers on the implementation of national vocational education and training policies, and approves nationally recognised training packages.

The AISC draws on advice from its network of IRCs, which are made up of people with experience, skills and knowledge of their particular sector. They work across their industry to ensure the needs of employers and the modern economy are addressed in vocational education and training qualifications. IRCs are supported in their work by professional service organisations called Skills Service Organisations.

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