The Australian Tourism Industry Council has called for the federal and state governments to take action by approving a proposed Three-Point Plan to minimise burdens from the lockdowns.

The three areas cover the following: having a targeted financial support program to support operations and staff, reintroduction of flexibility provisions in the Fair Work Act, and a detailed Covid 19 transition roadmap to provide certainty for recovery. 

ATIC Deputy Chair Daniel Gschwind says “In our darkest hour, we are asking the government to stand with us”.

Job vacancies have hit a new record in the United States as numbers have jumped from around 9.5 million to over 10 million, surpassing economists’ expectations.

This comes as businesses struggle to find workers in industries such as leisure and hospitality as the economy reopens. 

Despite the easing of restrictions, workers have not rushed back to the workforce and economists say “low skilled” jobs are being advertised with not enough suitable candidates. 

Vision Australia and the Petbarn Foundation have raised over $850,000 for the 2021 Seeing Eye Dogs Appeal to cover the costs of training and caring for 17 Seeing Eye Dog puppies. 

Queensland raised more money than other states, contributing over a quarter of the national total with over $220,000 raised in the Seeing Eye Dogs Appeal.

The initiative began in 2014 has succeeded in helping vision impaired Australians by training over 100 dogs and raising a total of nearly $5 million.

The Brisbane Indie Winter Project has been rescheduled for Friday 13 August.

The event boasts a wide variety of local music artists and bands, where they can showcase their talent, network with local creatives and expand their reach. Tickets are available at OzTix.

Over the past 12 months, more than 1200 women have been held in Victoria's maximum security prison without conviction and sentencing as a result of a series of punitive bail reforms made in the Bail Act introduced in 2018. 

Job vacancies have hit a new record in the United States as numbers have jumped from around 9.5 million to over 10 million, surpassing economists’ expectations.

This comes as businesses struggle to find workers in industries such as leisure and hospitality as the economy reopens. 

Despite the easing of restrictions, workers have not rushed back to the workforce and economists say “low skilled” jobs are being advertised with not enough suitable candidates.

Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate said he wanted a police checkpoint on the M1 between Brisbane and the Gold Coast.

Last week, Councillor Tate called for the Gold Coast to be excluded from the lockdown.

Queensland Police Acting Chief Superintendent Rhys Wildman said a checkpoint between the two cities would be an operational challenge.

He also said that any decision on a checkpoint will be between the police and the Government.

Chairman of Tourism Tropical North Queensland Ken Chapman said that the Government needed to show similar support of that in NSW or else potentially thousands of residents will see an end to business. 

"The community's been fighting for a number of years trying to get more investment and more support around additional social housing, and at this stage it is pretty challenging," he said.