Australian Blogs Blog

The 2012 BRW Entrepreneur of the Year is one of the pre-eminent Australian business awards designed to discover Australians who are building and leading successful, innovative businesses and inspiring others with their vision and personal commitment.

If you believe you have what it takes to be Australia’s leading Entrepreneur and want the recognition you deserve, click on the hyperlink to give it go!

Good luck!

NBN Co is an Australian government-owned corporation tasked to design, build and operate Australia’s National Broadband Network (NBN). But how does Australia compare to other countries when it comes to Internet speed and cost?

As the illustration below shows, there’s some good news (lost cost) and bad news (low speeds)…

The Australian First Home Buyer’s Grant is intended to help individuals, especially young couples to easily purchase their first home. Grants are given to these people so they can have a jump start in their burgeoning careers.

Because of the high cost of real estate today, many people, especially those who are just starting their careers are deterred to buy their own home. Some are content to rent because it fits their current financial capability.

This is the purpose of the First Home Buyer’s Grant – to help these people start their life and move them a step forward toward independence.

The First Home Buyer’s Grant was first instituted in Australia last July 1, 2000. From 2000 until 2011 the grant stayed at $7,000, by the coming of 2012, the Australian government has announced that the grant will remain at $7,000, though some expect an increase due to the increase of home costs.

First Home Buyer’s Grant is made available to those who purchase a home that is worth at least $600,000. The purpose of this condition is to help invigorate the building of houses and boost the construction industry.

Though the First Home Buyer’s Grant should help first time buyers to more easily purchase their new home, some in the real estate market tend to think that many house prices are artificially increased to meet this minimum threshold. Because of this, some argue that first time home buyers seem to be disadvantaged.

Many potential first time home buyers will be dismayed by the current status of real estate prices. Because of the minimum threshold price increase, many argue that it would be better to purchase a house without the grant at a lower price, than to avail it and acquire a higher level of debt.

Addressing this issue, on January 1, 2012, the house price limit to be eligible for the grant was set at $500,000 to $600,000. This can help people get a discount due to the increase of the grant and the increase of the coverage. An average person can have benefits up to $24,000 due to the First Home Buyer’s Grant.

You can consult a home loan calculator to see detailed information about loans so you can decide if you should apply for a grant and get your dream home now or wait a little longer.

In many areas, the real estate market is softening and many are taking advantage of the situation as an opportunity to buy. With the First Home Buyer’s Grant and falling prices of houses these days, the timing might just be right for you. To own your own home and live the Australian dream.

What a headline – I took it straight from the Channel 7 website.

Unfortunately not enough kids are reading these stories, understanding that graffiti can kill.

Graffiti is vandalism, costing companies, property owners or the public a fortune pure and simple.

What’s sad about these stories is that graffiti deaths are preventable – they can just stop vandalising property.

Hopefully this and other blog posts like it will save at least one future death.

It’s just not worth it.

A safety warning courtesy of the Australian Bureau of Statistics:

• 31 Australians have died since 1996 by watering their Christmas tree while the fairy lights were plugged in.
• 19 Australians  have died in the last 3 years by eating Christmas decorations they believed were  chocolate.
• Hospitals reported 4 broken arms last year after cracker pulling incidents.
• 101 Australians since 1997 have had to have broken parts of plastic toys pulled out of the soles of their feet.
• 18 Australians had serious burns in 1998 trying on a new jumper with a lit cigarette in their mouth.
• A massive 543 Australians were admitted to casualty in the last two years after opening bottles of beer with  their teeth or eye socket.
• 5 Australians were injured last year in accidents involving out of control slot cars.
• 3 Australians  die each year testing if a 9V battery works on their tongue.
• 142 Australians were injured in 1998 by not removing all the pins from new shirts.
• 58 Australians are injured each year by using sharp knives instead of screwdrivers and finally:
• 8 Australians cracked their skull in 1997 after falling asleep (passing out) while throwing up into the toilet.

Today’s post is based on an article that was published in the Sydney Morning Herald on July 23, 2011 forwarded to us by The Gourmet Guardian, an Australian Food Safety Specialist who helps food service companies avoid food poisoning.

Bob Hawke said it best in September 1983 after watching Alan Bond’s 12-metre yacht, the Australia II, sail to victory in the America’s Cup: ”I tell you what, any boss who sacks anyone for not turning up today is a bum.” And a stellar moment in the Australian tradition of ”chucking a sickie” was born.

Australian workers took an average of 10 days each in unplanned leave last year, including sick leave, carers leave and personal leave, according to a survey by Direct Health Solutions. Sick leave is estimated to account for three-quarters of this time, or 7.5 days a year.

So are we really sick one week in the year? It’s clear employers don’t think so. According to the survey, almost three-quarters of employers surveyed believe between 10 to 25 per cent of absences are ”non-genuine”. Employers also report two in three Australian workers regard paid personal and sick leave as an entitlement.

Employers estimate this loss of work time comes at a cost to the economy of $20 to $30 billion a year and have introduced all manner of ways to control it, including requiring medical certificates and employing the services of companies such as Direct Health Solutions whereby workers must ring a registered nurse to present their ailment before taking the day off.

So are we really a nation of layabouts? Or is the tradition of the ”sickie”, like our legendary relaxed, beachside persona, more myth than reality?

Three decades on since Hawke effectively declared his national holiday, the Australian workforce is transformed. We work longer hours, the longest in the developed world on some measures.

The invention of emails, smartphones and iPads mean we are ”plugged in” to the office for more hours of the day, while the number of hours spent at physical work, but unpaid, has also risen.

A study by the Australia Institute for its inaugural national ”go home on time day” last November estimated Australians put in more than two billion hours of unpaid overtime a year. This translates to a $72 billion gift to employers each year in unpaid work, eclipsing the $30 billion employers estimate they lose from workers claiming their sick leave and personal leave entitlements.

Perhaps Australians are just stealing back what time has been stolen from them.

But then again, maybe we really are sick. And maybe we’re so sick because we work so hard.

Almost half of Australians surveyed by the Australia Institute said work commitments prevented them from doing exercise. One in four said they were ”too busy” to see a doctor.

Indeed, a separate survey by the economic modellers Econtech for the health insurer Medibank Private has looked into the problem of ”presenteeism” – the opposite of ”absenteeism”.

Econtech estimates a $26 billion hit to the Australian economy from lost productivity from workers turning up to work while really sick.

Health experts this week revealed a fourfold increase in the number of Australians suffering the flu this month compared to last year. Baffled, they speculate it could be due to more people spending more time together indoors.

Some days it really is worth staying in bed.

I teach clients presentation skills in a variety of programs and events. I often explain that it’s best to tell it like it is… But this example takes the cake.

Major General Peter Cosgrove was interviewed on the radio recently.

Read his reply to the lady who interviewed him concerning guns and children.

Regardless of how you feel about gun laws you have to love this! This is one of the best comeback lines of all time.

In a portion of an ABC radio interview between a female broadcaster and General Cosgrove who was about to sponsor a Boy Scout Troop visiting his military Headquarters.

FEMALE INTERVIEWER:
So, General Cosgrove, what things are you going to teach these young boys when they visit your base?

GENERAL COSGROVE:
We’re going to teach them climbing, canoeing, archery and shooting.

FEMALE INTERVIEWER:
Shooting! That’s a bit irresponsible, isn’t it?

GENERAL COSGROVE:
I don’t see why, they’ll be properly supervised on the rifle range.

FEMALE INTERVIEWER:
Don’t you admit that this is a terribly dangerous activity to be teaching children?

GENERAL COSGROVE:
I don’t see how. We will be teaching them proper rifle discipline before they even touch a firearm.

FEMALE INTERVIEWER:
But you’re equipping them to become violent killers.

GENERAL COSGROVE:
Well, Ma’am, you’re equipped to be a prostitute, but you’re not one, are you?

The radiocast went silent for 46 seconds……..

Just last week, I posted some statistics on the costs of graffiti in Australia. Mark Mackenzie of Graffiti Eaters just sent me an article that a teenager, Ryan Smith, lost his life as he fell from a bridge as he was engaged in ‘Extreme Graffiti‘.

We’ve all been young and daring, but I am sure you’ll agree it’s sad when a life is lost to something that is preventable.

Mark and I were speaking recently about the primary source or motivation for graffiti artists – significance. Society needs to find a way for artistically oriented youth to express themselves in non-destructive ways. As we can see with this tragic example, it costs us all way too much and in the end it’s really not worth it.

If you come across any programs that you think could re-direct their energy into a more positive direction, please place a comment here and I’ll make sure it gets the exposure it deserves.

In a recent edition of The Economist Magazine, Pankaj Ghemawat of IESE Business School in Spain points out that many indicators of global integration are surprisingly low. Only 2% of students are at universities outside their home countries and only 3% of people live outside their country of birth.

Only 7% of rice is traded across borders. Only 7% of directors of S&P 500 companies are foreigners—and, according to a study a few years ago, less than 1% of all American companies have any foreign operations.

Exports are equivalent to only 20% of global GDP. Some of the most vital arteries of globalisation are badly clogged: air travel is restricted by bilateral treaties and ocean shipping is dominated by cartels.

So what are your thoughts about the world being flat and accessible to all?

Is it just globaloney?

We’re not taking sides, but this is an interesting debate . As a blogger, you want to pick sides (or not) when there is heated debate. That means there’s interest and traffic – INTERESTED people. In this instance, we’re staying out of it, We decided to post it because it’s obviously an issue of interest to many!

Australia needs more engineers and nurses. If you have engineering or nursing skills, you’ll want to click on these hyperlinks to find out more.

We all need to do our share of keeping this beautiful country clean. Clean Up Australia Day is a great initiative that you should seriously consider participating in.

T other
E veryone
A chieves
M ore

If you’ve been affected by the Queensland floods, assistance is being offered by the Queensland Government for flood victims. Click the hyperlink to determine the conditions for qualification. $25,000 grants and up to $250,000 in special loans are being made available for those in need.

Bree Robbins of Paddington Pups (who was flooded in Brisbane) mentioned to me that people who work for flood affected businesses who have been closed can get wage assistance from Centre Link via the Disaster Income Recovery Subsidy.

The Disaster Income Recovery Subsidy has been activated to assist employees, small business persons, and farmers who have had a loss of income as a direct result of the flooding and severe weather that began from 29 November 2010 and continued in January 2011 in the states of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia.

We have received a number of requests for help and information at this time of recovery and repair from the terrible flooding events in Queensland and Victoria.

Here is some good advice from the Kroll Ontrack Data Recovery experts.

1. Do not attempt to power up equipment damaged by water. If water has infiltrated the hard drive or electrical components, electrical power can leave the hard drive unrecoverable and it can become dangerous to anyone handling the hard drive.
2. Do Not Dry the Hard Drive. Whenever media is damaged by water, the first instinct to remedy the situation and try and dry it out. However, the contaminants contained in water are often not visible to the human eye and will damage the media irrevocably. Residue left on the hard drive platters and circuit board corrosion will need to be treated by in-lab professional engineers.
3. Keep the hard disk wet until you get professional help. Although it sounds paradoxical [crazy], keeping a hard drive wet aids the data recovery. Kroll Ontrack recommends placing the hard disk in a sealed container or plastic bag to prevent it drying out until professional engineers can dry the platters and other components in a sterile environment.
4. Never assume that data is unrecoverable. No matter what it has been through data can sometimes still be recovered. Amongst the most remarkable case histories is NASA’s Space Shuttle Columbia hard drive which plunged into a lake after travelling for 39 miles through space. Kroll Ontrack engineers managed to recover 99 per cent of the information stored on the drive.

Special Data Recovery Service Option

Kroll Ontrack is also providing a heavily discounted flat fee of $850 per hard drive for desktop, laptop, notebook and external hard drive recoveries. [The usual price for this service can range up to $2,400 per drive.]In addition, Kroll Ontrack is offering a 20% discount on recovery of servers, Storage Area Networks (SANs), VMware and tape media.

Kroll Ontrack Australia – Business As Usual

We were lucky our data recovery cleanroom is in West End, Brisbane and whilst the water came very close we were unaffected by the floods. We are the only data recovery company in Australia to offer a full suite of recovery solutions, enabling data recovery anywhere, anytime for any operating system, storage or media type and cause of data loss.

This year’s Australia Day can be extra special if you give generously to the Queensland Flood Victims via the following organisations.

Ray Keefe of Successful Endeavours of Melbourne sent me the link to the Queensland Government Flood Relief effort.

Brendan Rigby of Inspire Fitness also of Melbourne suggests the Australian Red Cross.

Without wanting to sound alarmist, it’s a good idea to take water and mud samples and keep them for future testing – just in case a health issue arises in the future. With the widespread area of the flooding, you just don’t know what’s in the water or mud.

Better safe than sorry. At least with a sample you’ll have much needed proof to make a claim or more information to treat the condition.

Within the next few days and weeks you will probably start receiving emails from unscrupulous Internet Marketers promising to donate proceeds of the sale of their products to Queensland flood victims. Without meaning to sound too cynical and jaded, be wary of their intentions – in my view they are inauthentic and opportunistic (to say the least).

I know they claim they will donate the money, but seriously, how will you ever know it’s been done?

That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t support and contribute – just make sure the organisation is reputable and trustworthy or even better – donate directly to someone you know that needs the help.

You could physically go and help them dig, clean, paint, re-build. Ofter to pay for some of the supplies… Then you KNOW the money is put to good use. If you can’t make it, send a son, daughter, cousin, friend, or someone who’s in-between jobs. Pay for their flight, accommodation, etc. If you’re a trades person, offer your services – maybe even send some staff to the region affected.

Be creative, be generous.

If you know any worthy and reputable organisations or fund raising projects that deserve more publicity, please place a comment on this blog and we’ll make sure to let everyone know about them.

The flooding in Queensland is devastating, especially now that it’s hit Brisbane.

If you’re based in Queensland, we hope you’re on high ground, safe and dry.

We came across this photo that had a sense of irony about it… We thought we’d share it.

Fire Prevention Tip

This photo was taken at the scene of a house fire that occurred recently. I am not sure of the source of the original message.

 It seems their house burnt down.. nothing left but ashes. They had good insurance so the house will be replaced and most of the contents. That’s the good news.

However, they were sick to their stomachs when they found out the cause of the fire. The insurance investigator sifted through the ashes for several hours. He traced the cause of the fire to the master bathroom. He asked the owners if they had plugged anything in the bathroom. They listed the normal things… curling iron, blow dryer.

The investigator kept saying, ‘No, this would be something that would disintegrate at high temperatures’. Then they remembered they had a Scented Plug-In, in the bathroom.

There have been more house fires started with the plug-in type room fresheners than anything else. The plastic they are made from is THIN. In most cases there is nothing left to prove that it even existed. In this case, when the investigator looked IN the wall plug, the two prongs left from the plug-in were still in there.

The owners of the house mentioned they had one of the plug-ins with a small night light built in it. They had noticed that the light would dim and then go out. They would walk in to the bathroom a few hours later and the light would be back on again.

The investigator said that the unit was getting too hot and would dim and go out rather than just blow the light bulb. Once it cooled down, it would come back on. That’s a warning sign


, but you know what? I’d just avoid the risk altogether and not use a plug-in air freshener!

As you would expect, I get requests to donate to charities all the time. I prefer to keep my philanthropic and charitable contributions private and confidential, but every once in a while something strikes me as unique or different in the approach, strategy or tactic used. Today’s post is a case in point. Dr Cary Fraser, a Sydney Eastern Suburb dentist with a dental practice based in Double Bay is going to squeeze into his cycling shorts and go the full 90 Kms… on the Sydney To The Gong Bike Ride — But that’s not what caught me eye.

It’s not that it’s a great charity that does exemplary work. Take a look at their donation page below – it’s brilliant. They SHOW you EXACTLY what each level of donation can do – That’s totally Exponential. I wanted to share that with you to motivate you to make your own personal donation to Dr Cary Fraser’s account or click here -> https://register.gongride.org.au/MS-Sydney-to-the-Gong-Bike-Ride/donate/caryfraser

Sydney To The Gong Bike Ride