APPLICATIONS are now open for the Festivals Australia program.

Funding is given to activities which can include but are not limited to a parade, performance, workshop, installation, or exhibition held as part of a festival or a significant one-off community.

$1.2 million is given each financial year for high-quality arts and cultural projects in regional and remote Australia that support community participation and audience engagement.

Applications close on Friday March 24 at 5pm AEDST.

The guidelines and application form are available on the Festivals Australia page arts.gov.au/Festivals

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AN INDEPENDENT review of the banking code of conduct has reinforced the findings of Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman (ASBFEO) Kate Carnell’s recent bank inquiry report, which highlighted the need for a code with ‘teeth’, including greater emphasis on small business lending.

The independent review conducted by Phil Khoury, into the Australian Bankers’ Association’s (ABA) Code of Banking Practice, gathered feedback from the sector – including from the ASBFEO – and recommended a variety of changes to ensure greater coverage in the Code for small business customers.

“As a result of our inquiry into small business lending, we are of the view that the Code in its current state, does not provide an adequate framework for the cultivation of a balanced relationship between banks and their small business customers,” Ms Carnell said.

“In our report, released earlier this year, we recommended the Code be revised to include a dedicated section on small businesses; that the revised Code be administered by ASIC; and that it be written in plain English.

“Consistent with our report, Mr Khoury’s review has reinforced these recommendations, along with our proposal to change the definition of small business loans to include facilities worth under $5 million.

“These recommendations – if implemented – will go a long way in addressing the issues highlighted in our report, particularly in relation to access to justice, non-monetary defaults, improved standard form contracts, and more reasonable notice periods.

“The ABA’s current advertising campaign promises to make “banking better” however the proof is in the pudding; it’s now up to the ABA – and the individual banks – to take the recommendations of this review – and of the ASBFEO report – and start putting them into practice.

“Until we see the banks implementing meaningful changes to the way they interact with small business customers, “making banking better” will only ever amount to a catchy marketing slogan,” Ms Carnell said.

www.asbfeo.gov.au

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Business and philanthropists are invited to partner with the Federal Government in an innovative approach to saving our threatened species with the launch of a new prospectus.

The Prospectus is an invitation to business, industry and the philanthropic sector, both big and small, to join us in protecting species such as the platypus, bilby, cassowary and numbat.

The Prospectus includes more than 50 community-based projects that are ready to be put into action.

The project proposals are backed by the science and the passionate local communities who are already on the ground across Australia working hard to save our species.

The prospectus builds on the Government’s links to Australian businesses through the Threatened Species Strategy.

Already BHP Billiton is investing $5.4 million to help save the world’s biggest green turtle hatchery on Raine Island in the Great Barrier Reef, while companies like Google have contributed by building and launching a new mobile app to support citizen scientists to record and track platypuses.

In 2014 the Coalition Government appointed Australia’s first Threatened Species Commissioner and a year later launched the Threatened Species Strategy, a national science-based plan to save our native plants and animals.

Our approach has mobilised more than $210 million in support of threatened species and thanks to almost 1,000 projects across Australia under the Threatened Species Strategy, the futures of many of our animals and plants are more secure.

Trajectories of species like our endangered mountain pygmy possum and critically endangered helmeted honeyeater are already turning around.

Today’s announcement also coincides with an agreement between our very own Taronga Zoo and the San Diego Zoo to exchange two remarkable animals – the Australian platypus and the African Okapi.

San Diego Zoo already has custodianship of four Tasmanian Devils which are raising awareness in the US of this very iconic species plight and Australia’s fight to save them.

A copy of the Prospectus is available via: www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/threatened/publications/threatened-species-prospectus

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ASSISTANT  Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment Keith Pitt will host a seminar in Kununurra on Monday February 20 to help local businesses make the most of Australia’s free trade agreements (FTAs) with Korea, Japan and China.

Local business people are being invited to the free information seminar at the Kununurra Country Club Resort, 47 Coolibah Drive, Kununurra, from 7am to 10am.

Attendees will get the opportunity to hear directly from Australian Government representatives about how FTAs can help them succeed in international markets, and special guest speaker Jim Engelke, General Manager for Kimberley Agricultural Investment (KAI), will share his experience in exporting under the North Asia FTAs.

KAI employs about 70 people in Kununurra and produces grains such as chia, sorghum, corn and quinoa for the Chinese market.

“The Australian Government has secured unprecedented access to more than a billion potential customers for Australian goods and services through our free-trade agreements with Korea, Japan and China,” Mr Pitt said.

“Our North Asia FTAs give Australian exporters a competitive edge in these key markets, boosting opportunities for more sales abroad and more jobs here in Australia. They also lay the foundation for stronger flows of two-way investment.

“I strongly encourage small and medium-business owners in the Kimberley region to attend this FTA seminar and hear first-hand how they can make the most of these landmark agreements.

“The Australian Government is determined to support exporters in regional Australia through these important seminars.”

Attendees can register for the free FTA seminar, which is relevant to all industries, at http://www.austrade.gov.au/ftaseminars or find out more by contacting Austrade (13 28 78 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).

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