Ballet took Leanne Benjamin out of country Queensland all the way to Covent Garden. A little girl stands on the edge of a stage, wearing ballet slippers with white socks neatly folded, a puff-sleeved dress covered in printed animals and curled hair in ribbons.
There's no hint in the photograph that this four-year-old from Rockhampton will one day perform for royalty and celebrities as an acclaimed ballerina. It was taken at the Rockhampton Eisteddfod in 1968 and was published in the local newspaper with the headline: The Tiniest Competitor. That tiny dancer was Leanne Benjamin. Twelve years later, at the age of 16, she left central Queensland for London's Royal Ballet School, carrying a single black suitcase full of "a lot of badly fitting corduroy" and a fur coat, to prepare for an English winter.
Now retired from performing and training future prima ballerinas, Benjamin has relived those early memories in her recently published autobiography Built for Ballet. A talented family "She knew everything about the art of ballet," Benjamin said. COVID vaccination mandate for Queensland educators won't prevent crisis in childcare with staff 'leaving in droves', advocate warns.
Parents have been warned to prepare for another COVID-disrupted year at school and childcare in 2022, despite a state government vaccine mandate for staff.
Key points: Childcare sector advocate Georgie Dent says staff departures and infected children could cause major disruptionsUQ infectious disease expert Paul Griffin says schools need to adopt rapid antigen testingThe Queensland Teachers Union says it supports any measures that keep its members safe From December 17, all staff and volunteers in schools and early childhood centres will be required to have received a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced the mandate in parliament, saying it would bring the state's education sector into line with other states and territories. But with the Omicron COVID variant now confirmed in New South Wales and plans unclear on vaccinating children under 12, stakeholders are concerned that disruption could continue in the new year, despite staff vaccinations. After losing her mother, this grandmother retrained in aged care and went back to work at 74. Starting fresh is a familiar process for grandmother Leonora Brown.
The single mother of three has multiple degrees, has worked in at least three different industries, and suffered the loss of a parent after years of being their carer. So when she was left with the realisation, in her early 70s, that she would need to get herself a job, Ms Brown knew she would have to find a way. Twelve years as a carer Ms Brown, 74, was living in Braidwood, just outside Canberra, and working in horticulture when her mother was diagnosed with macular degeneration and dementia. As the eldest child in the family, she decided to take on the responsibility of her mother's care.
For 12 years she was tied to the Sydney residence the pair shared, unable to work or travel as her mother's health deteriorated. Author Matthew Reilly goes from books to big screen in Interceptor directing debut. While the other kids of the neighbourhood were playing with Lego, Matthew Reilly was in his bedroom building movie sets for his action figures.
He loved behind-the-scenes videos about how films were made. "I wanted to be a film director. I wanted to make big action movies," Reilly says. "I loved movies like Die Hard, Predator, Aliens, Raiders of the Lost Ark. Movies which were escapist, which took people away from the real world. " How Sam Richardson went from a tinny on Coffin Bay to working aboard RSV Nuyina. Sam Richardson first took to the ocean as a 10-year-old, exploring the sheltered waters of the Coffin Bay estuary in South Australia, meandering the bays in a tinny his dad gave him.
Key points: The RSV Nuyina is Australia's research and cargo vessel to service AntarcticaIt has capacity for four helicopters, six smaller vessels, 32 crew and 117 scientistsFormer Coffin Bay resident Sam Richardson is one of the crew members taking the ship from the Netherlands to Hobart Next week, he'll dock in Hobart aboard the world's leading polar research vessel, the RSV Nuyina, Australia's replacement ice breaker for the iconic Antarctic explorer Aurora Australis, which was decommissioned last year. The RSV Nuyina was built in shipyards in Romania and the Netherlands for the Australian government's Antarctic Division.
The word "nuyina" means southern lights in palawa kani, the language of Tasmanian Aborigines. Jenny Kee and Linda Jackson reflect on 50 years of fashion, friendship and famous fans in ABC documentary, Step Into Paradise. "That was a beautiful moment," says Jenny Kee as she recalls seeing a photograph in 1982 of Princess Diana wearing one of her jumpers.
"What a beautiful model I had. She was seven months pregnant and wearing a koala on her tummy and it captured the eyes of the world. " The jumper and another Kee design with a kangaroo motif were given to the royal couple as a wedding present by Kim Wran, daughter of NSW premier Neville Wran. The photograph made headlines around the world, orders for Kee's knits went "stratospheric", as she puts it, and led to an invitation a year later to a small dinner with the royal couple during their Australian tour. "I actually talked a lot to her because she was real fashionista. Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. While this was a huge career milestone for Jenny Kee, she and fellow pioneering Australian designer Linda Jackson had long been making clothes that caught the eye of the rich and famous. Charles Darwin University unveils plans for local medical school to support the NT's health workforce.
The Northern Territory could have its own locally-run medical school by early 2023, with Charles Darwin University (CDU) calling it part of the solution to the Top End's health workforce shortages.
Key points: CDU vice-chancellor Professor Scott Bowman says Darwin is the only capital city without a medical schoolProfessor Bowman says the CDU program would equip students for the NT's unique local context The plan hinges on federal funding through allocation of Commonwealth-supported student places. Former Illawarra student turned Canva executive reflects on global tech company's success.
Growing up, Zach Kitschke always had an interest in media and communications, and, after a one-day contract with then-fledgling start-up Canva, he's now leading the graphic design giant's marketing strategy.
Key points: Zach Kitschke grew up in the Illawarra and started working for online graphic design platform Canva in 2013Canva is now worth $55 billion making it one of Australia's most valuable companiesThe company has more than 60 million users worldwide After graduating from high school in Wollongong in 2009 he undertook an internship with the ABC before landing a position with Wollongong City Council where he spent time working with the media team. Then, at the age of 22, he began exploring the world of tech start-ups. 'Depressing, a continual fight': Three aged care workers on what it's really like in the industry.
Registered nurse Jocelyn Hofman starts crying when she describes what it is like to work in aged care.
Key points: Nurses can only provide basic care to aged care residentsCalls for federal government to fund mandated nursing ratios Economist argues caring sectors are 'critical infrastructure' "It upsets me because I have dedicated my life to aged care but my work is being devalued," she says. Central Victoria's last gravedigger Alan Graham is hanging up his pick and shovel. In 42 years as a gravedigger, Alan Graham has never known the weather to delay a funeral.
When he gets the call, no matter how bad it is outside, he takes his pick and shovel and goes to work. Key points: Aged-care industry aims to attract workers with job security and personal satisfaction. It is an industry crying out for employees to fill growing demand, but Australians must first change the way they think about it, an aged care educator says. Key points: The aged care sector will need 1 million extra workers by 2050, which is a quadrupling of the current workforceLow pay has been one of the major challenges to attracting people to work in aged careAged care educator Tracey Newcombe said people need to stop thinking about ageing as a period of decline and disability The aged care sector is in the midst of a skills shortage and a damning royal commission showing weak regulation and poor wages, but attracting the workforce in the first place remains a major challenge.
"It's a lot more than assisting old people to have a shower or get dressed," said TAFE NSW aged care teacher Tracey Newcombe. "The fact you can make such a difference to people is what most of us find the most rewarding thing. " From Matt Damon to Zac Efron, Hollywood stars are decamping for Australia. So are their lucrative film projects. If the history of Hollywood were a film, 2020 would be the dark night of the soul — the moment when all hope appeared lost. In North America, last year saw the lowest number of cinema tickets sold per capita in at least 40 years, if not a century. And as the coronavirus situation steadily worsened, it made it difficult not just to screen movies but to shoot them. That raised concerns about a lack of content in the pipeline right when demand from homebound consumers was highest.
Shearer shortage due to COVID restrictions sparks 'unofficial auction' for workers. A worker shortage crisis has kicked off a bidding war between farmers and contractors for shearing crews. Key points: Farmers face lengthy, and potentially costly, delays in getting their sheep shornCOVID-19 border restrictions and drought-breaking rains combine to create a skills "crisis" in the sheep industryShearing delays can cause animal welfare issues for sheep Shearing Contractors Association of Australia secretary Jason Letchford said some producers were paying shearers premiums of between 20 and 50 per cent per sheep in an "unofficial auction system".
Rex Corbett Hughes made the chairs in WA's Parliament House, but that's just part of his story. A Pilbara man learned the classic art of deep-button upholstery from some of the masters, leading him to make the chairs in Western Australia's Parliament House. Key points: Rex Corbett Hughes learned deep button upholstery from Italian and English mastersHe now teaches the craft through the Ashburton Aboriginal CorporationHe urges others not to let fear prevent them pursuing their goals Now, after years of battling alcohol addiction, Rex Corbett Hughes has his own business and is passing on his knowledge.
Talking to the ABC, he still felt comfortable in one of the Legislative Assembly chairs he made more than a decade ago. "Still the same. "My quality lasts that long. Mr Corbett Hughes was partly inspired by photos of chairs on the Titanic, and a desire to "bring them back to life". He remembered the Parliament House job in Perth was a big one in 2007, when he was head of upholstery at the company that employed him. Outback sewage truckers — an essential service, but not for the faint-hearted. It's exhilarating, as a passenger on a 36-metre pink road train, watching the world whiz by from up high in the cab of this gigantic truck.
Only, I'm trying not to think about how this will all end. In roughly 1,260 kilometres we'll be surrounded by sewage, as far as the eye can see. Asylum seekers put their hands up to fill labour shortage in regional Victoria. Where to look for job opportunities in 2021 after a year of record unemployment. "Tech heads, Geo Junkies and Supercomputer Heroes please apply! " Labour shortage during NT mango harvest gives Congolese refugees first job opportunity.
The shortage of labour on the Northern Territory's mango orchards has given some Congolese refugees their first job opportunity. Vegetarian taxidermists are challenging stereotypes about the art of animal preservation - ABC News. Taxidermist Jo Bain has worked with dead animals for 40 years, but the idea of consuming meat fills him with horror.
Key points: Visas approved in days for 'world's most highly skilled migrants', raising concerns of fraud - ABC News. Young leaders in emerging sectors are being approached out of the blue to provide nominations for a new visa at the heart of the Government's migration revolution. They deliver your mail, but Australia's postal workers play a much bigger role in suburban life - ABC News. Wool scour's resurrection could save the industry, from fibre to fabric, in face of China trade tensions - ABC News. Blackall in western Queensland has a population of fewer than 1,500 people, but the little town is positioning itself as the big solution to Australia's wool industry woes. Key points: Mothballed NT iron ore mines reopen amid soaring demand for steel in China - ABC News.
New platforms are making the artist-fan connection more intimate — and more lucrative - ABC News. Hospitality jobs go unfilled around the country as COVID-19 backpacker exodus starts to bite - ABC News. Australia can no longer ignore need to move away from coal as customers commit to reducing emissions - ABC News. Regional Australia has 45,000 job vacancies, with more available in some places than before coronavirus, data shows - ABC News. Farmers and workers both claim to lose out in changes to horticultural labour rules - ABC Rural - ABC News. New roads and other major projects face delays thanks to a lack of skilled workers and resources - Politics. Insiders editor Huw Parkinson started making videos to entertain his friends, they've now been viewed by millions - Television - ABC News. Bush pilots pull off risky remote aeroplane rescue near Derby, WA.
Are there really 54,000 people employed in thermal coal mining? - Fact Check. The cattle-mustering queen of the North, running a contract crew in the remote outback. Signing off from South-East Asia after fulfilling a 20-year dream - News coverage - ABC News. Melbourne Theatre Company tour takes mainstage theatre to young people in regional Victoria and Tasmania. Human cannonball Warren Brophy is a circus performer keeping his family dream alive. Overwatch composer Adam Burgess still loves performing — even with a billion-dollar game in the can. IT jobs boom sees TAFE struggle to meet demand for networking specialists. I'm a career cleaner and I'm sick of the lack of respect for my profession.
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'Image problem' hampering IT industry's ability to attract people to profession, Computer Association says. Nicknames for professions. Welcome to the Discover Hospitality website where you can discover more about one of Australia's most dynamic and fast growing industries – Hospitality! Restaurant & Catering - Home. RIM Career Information Kit (2) Skillshortagelistnt 2. Automotive Industry careers. GTNT - Now Recruiting. Apprenticeships Jobs in Darwin NT. 2015 Occupational Projections five years to November 2019. DEEWR Regional projections to November 2017.