Applications are welcomed from communities listed in the attached table drawn from the NBN rollout schedule.

Both programs are competitive and applicants to either program will be assessed according to the degree to which they meet the eligibility and selection criteria set down in the program guidelines. A total of 40 communities will be funded under both programs.

Eligible communities are those where work on the NBN rollout has already commenced.

Senator Conroy said the Digital Hubs and Digital Enterprise programs helped local communities better understand the many opportunities provided through the National Broadband Network (NBN).

“We are already seeing how Digital Hubs in Townsville and Kiama are providing education and training for communities so they can get the most out of the NBN,” Senator Conroy said.

“To further support NBN-connected communities, the Digital Enterprise program provides free information and training sessions to small-to-medium enterprises and not-for-profit organisations to explain how they can improve their online activities and maximise the opportunities provided by the NBN.”

As with the Digital Hubs, there are currently Digital Enterprise programs operating in Townsville and Kiama.

The programs will help realise the Gillard Government’s National Digital Economy Strategy vision to establish the nation as a leading global digital economy by 2020.

The closing date for round three applications is Thursday 10 May 2012.

Digital Hubs Round Three Program Guidelines are available at www.dbcde.gov.au/digitalhubs.

Digital Enterprise Round Three Program Guidelines are available at www.dbcde.gov.au/digitalenterprise

This latest analysis has painted a clear decade-to-decade picture of Australia’s climate, while at the same time noting its highly variable nature from one year to the next.

State of the Climate 2012 showed a general trend toward increased spring and summer monsoonal rainfall across Australia’s north, and a decline in late autumn and winter rainfall across southern Australia.

Sea-levels had risen around Australia at rates equal to or greater than the global average, and sea-surface temperatures in the region had increased faster than the global average.

State of the Climate 2012 documents the annual growth in global fossil-fuel CO2 emissions and other greenhouse gases. The CO2 concentration of the atmosphere had risen to around 390 parts per million in 2011, a level unprecedented in the past 800,000 years. During the past decade it has risen at more than 3% per year, which is projected to cause significant further global warming.

State of the Climate 2012 is available at: www.bom.gov.au/announcements/media_releases/ho/stateClimate2012.pdf

The Draft National Wildlife Corridors Plan, prepared by an independent Advisory Group, is a proposed strategy for the Government to restore and manage ecological connections in the Australian landscape.

The National Wildlife Corridors Plan is the Australian Government’s strategy to restore and manage ecological connections in the Australian landscape. It recognises that connectivity is a fundamental requirement of healthy, productive landscapes.  The Corridors Plan lays the foundation for a new, collaborative, whole-of-landscape approach to biodiversity conservation that is based on voluntary cooperation and the existing efforts of communities, landholders, governments and industry.

The role of the Australian Government is to enable and coordinate the efforts of all participants.

The Government and the Advisory Group will undertake targeted consultations with stakeholders. Anyone interested is invited to submit comments to the Environment Department. The public comment period closes on 20 April 2012.

Comments can be submitted at http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/wildlife-corridors/consultation/index.html