Latest news with #BushSummit
News.com.au
2 hours ago
- Politics
- News.com.au
Bush Summit 2025 in Mount Gambier: Premier Peter Malinauskas, experts tackle SA's regional future
As part News Corp's award-winning national advocacy campaign, Bush Summit celebrates regional Australia while investigating the problems facing those living in the country and pushing for solutions. Join us at the Wulanda Recreation and Convention Centre as Premier Peter Malinauskas, industry leaders, experts and real farmers discuss the real issues faced by SA's regions. Hosted by Andrew 'Cosi' Costello, we will also hear from Mrs Gina Rinehart AO of Hancock Prospecting, as well as panels on surviving drought and how to tackle the algal bloom crisis. Join us from 8.45am ACST and help us shape Australia's regional future – and prosperity.
Herald Sun
17 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Herald Sun
Woolworths Bush Champion finalists revealed
Don't miss out on the headlines from Bush Summit. Followed categories will be added to My News. Not all heroes wear capes — especially in the nation's heartlands. Lots of unsung Australians are doing work that seldom gets noticed, but goes a long way to keeping their town spirit alive. To help recognise and celebrate more great Aussies in the community, Bush Champions is a new national competition, supported by Woolworths, to help recognise innovation, leadership and service across rural and regional Australia. RELATED: What's turning Aussie cattle station into a worldwide powerhouse The three award categories are Young Champion, Ag Champion and Community Champion. Here are the 30 finalists, with winners to be announced on the eve of the National Bush Summit in Ballarat on August 28. The 2025 Bush Champions are presented in partnership with Woolworths. YOUNG CHAMPIONS Jarib Branfield-Bradshaw — QLD Jarib Branfield-Bradshaw. Cunnamulla youth worker Jarib, 21, transformed a former student hostel into a fun zone where he'll welcome up to forty local kids on any afternoon of school — playing cards, video games, table tennis and even a little cooking. 'We teach life skills, how to make food, how to clean up after themselves, lessons to take them into adulthood,' Jarib says. Although barely an adult himself, Jarib Branfield-Bradshaw's experience of growing up in the shadow of family violence, inspired the young Guwamu/Kooma man to be a force for good for the kids of the remote outback town, 750 km west of Brisbane. Josie Clarke – NSW Josie Clarke. Picture Yuri Kouzmin On a summer morning in 2021, Glen and his daughter Josie were checking crops when Josie asked about support for farmers with disabilities. Glen, a paraplegic since a road accident, had found little assistance, prompting Josie to act. 'I immediately set up a Facebook group where farmers from all corners of Australia could share their experiences,' Josie shared. Her initiative, Ability Agriculture, quickly grew into an online community with over 300,000 readers, advocating for disability awareness in agriculture. Now a registered not-for-profit, it champions change and supports farmers in adapting their work and life to their needs. Josh Hurst – NSW Josh Hurst. Josh, a dedicated SES volunteer, finds immense satisfaction in reuniting with those he's rescued, like Soad Khaled, who was trapped in a tree during Illawarra's flash floods. 'It was very emotional seeing her again,' he said. At 23, Josh is a seasoned member of the NSW State Emergency Service, having joined at 16, inspired by his brother's volunteer work. Balancing his day job as an electrician, he spends up to 40 hours weekly on rescue missions, gaining invaluable skills. Awarded the 2024 NSW SES Young Volunteer of the Year, Josh emphasises the fulfilment of community service, stating, 'It's good karma.' Tup Forge – VIC Tup made history in the USA, the champion saddle bronc rider, but she is truly happy when she's home with her favourite horse, Done Deal. Tup Forge riding her Australian Stock Horse named Done Deal with Hereford cattle on Forge Farm. 'Being on my horse, mustering through the bush around the farm, is my absolute favourite place to be,' said Tup. The Forge family's cattle farm at Oxley, near Wangaratta, is a world away from Cheyenne, Wyoming, where Tup bucked her way into the history books in July, when she became the first non-American to win the prestigious World Women's Ranch Bronc Championships. Competing against the world's best rodeo riders at the heart and home of American ranch sports, was a dream come true for the third-generation stock horse rider, who only took up bronc riding 18-months ago. Emma Godsell – NSW Emma Godsell. Emma was 10 years old when she won her first trophy at the Young Show. 'I entered pikelets and scones in the baking contest and won, I thought it was the greatest thing on earth,' she laughs. 'I still have the mug I won in my cupboard.' When she is not hauling truckloads of sheep around southern New South Wales, or welding tanks and fixing stock crates, Emma, who is the President of the Young Pastoral and Agricultural Association, dedicates just about every minute of her spare time to organising the increasingly popular Young Show. Passionate about promoting agriculture, and the town she loves, her efforts were recognised when she was a finalist in the 2024 Royal Agricultural Society NSW Rural Achiever Program. AG CHAMPION Hannah Bamford — NSW Hannah Bamford. Picture: RACHAEL LENEHAN The 31-year-old forged a unique career in agriculture despite not growing up on a farm. She's been as a marine tactical officer and operating earthmoving machinery. A pivotal experience with a cattle veterinarian inspired her to become a farming contractor, where she recognised a gap between farmers and contractors, launching AgWork Solutions, an online platform connecting agricultural contractors with farms. 'When you are working in the country, it can be so quiet that you can hear yourself think,' she said, advocating for newcomers to explore diverse opportunities in agriculture. Richard Cannon – NSW Richard Cannon. Picture: Yuri Kouzmin Richard cherishes his jackaroo days, where each week brought new learning and adventure. 'I think I did a certificate in working hard and a certificate in common sense,' he said, reflecting on the invaluable skills gained. Now a respected beef and cotton producer in Hay, NSW Riverina, Richard is dedicated to providing similar experiences to youth through Hay Inc. This rural education program offers hands-on agricultural training and structured learning. As Vice and past Chair of Hay Inc, Richard emphasises the need for youth engagement: 'There was a growing concern in the community that there weren't enough young people coming through, and we needed to do something about it,' highlighting his commitment to nurturing future agriculturalists. Christine Chirgwin – NSW Christine Chirgwin. As secretary of the Friends of Toganmain committee, Christine is leading the efforts to restore the historic wool shed, the largest remaining in the NSW Riverina region. 'I've always had a love of old shearing sheds, I've got pictures of them up around my house, but when I first walked into Toganmain, it almost took my breath away,' she says. 'It's amazing, and it needs to be preserved.' Built in 1875, the 75-metre-long shearing shed, and surrounding kitchen and shearers quarters, is one of Australia's most significant rural buildings. In its heyday, it was a hive of activity, with seven million sheep passing through its stands. Lyn French – QLD Lyn French together with her husband Rob. Lyn, 58, learnt the challenges of teaching kids in a remote environment first-hand. Living at Gilberton Station, six hours away from the nearest town, she was forced to juggle daily demands of raising a family, running an 88,000-acre cattle operation, and kids' education. 'Education has always been a passion of mine but when I had to start teaching my own kids it was a nightmare, and a whole new whirly-wind of learning,' said Lyn. The unique challenges faced by parents and kids in rural areas, prompted Lyn and her husband Rob, to establish the not-for-profit initiative, BushED. BushED, offers essential education, tutoring, music programs, and mental health support to rural and isolated kids across Australia. Established in 2021, to date the project has helped more than 3,000 kids engaged in distance education. Bim Struss. Bim Struss – QLD There's little doubt Anthony Struss, 70, is happiest when he's in the saddle surrounded by a herd of cattle kicking up dust. Recently he's had plenty of opportunity to indulge in his favourite past-time, as he nears the end of the three-month long Great Australian Charity Cattle Drive, droving 1700 head of cattle through outback western Queensland, from Longreach to Roma, following the iconic pioneering stock route. The event is the realisation of a dream for the renowned pastoralist, to bring the city and country together, to highlight the plight of hunger and food insecurity in Australia. 'People don't realise that one-in-five Australians have some sort of deprivation of food in their families each week,' says Bim. 'We want to raise awareness of this, and I saw an opportunity for the grazing industry to support groups like Foodbank and FareShare, and raise funds to help these people.' Linda Widdup — VIC Linda Widdup. Linda, a second-generation cattle farmer from Carlisle River in Victoria's Otway Ranges made the move to load up her truck and hit the highway to deliver hay to those in need. She called a few farming mates who were only too happy to join her, with a convoy of thirteen semi's, and fifteen horse floats, trailers, trucks, and vans, all full to the brim with hay, and with that Aussie Hay Runners was born. 'We marched our bums up to Dunedoo, and before I'd even left there to come home, I had a further thirteen truckloads of hay donated to me to distribute, it was amazing,' she says. Since then, Aussie Hay Runners has crisscrossed Australia, delivering almost 2000 truckloads of hay to farmers impacted by drought, floods, and fire. Colin Wren – QLD Despite having an endless supply of the world's creamiest Sydney Rock's at his fingertips, Colin Wren doesn't eat oysters for lunch every day. 'There's only so many oysters you can eat! I have them every now and then, but purely for quality testing purposes,' he says. Since establishing his business, Gold Coast Oysters, just over four years ago, Colin now cultivates more than four-million of the delicious morsels, which take three years to grow and seconds to devour, annually. This year the 30,000 baskets he operates across a six-hectare lease off picturesque Moreton Bay, will produce more oysters than every other Queensland oyster farmer combined, and it's largely due to the innovative 'wave wall' he engineered to protect the floating flip-system of baskets he has championed. Ben Wundersitz – SA Greg Hean, Scott Hoyle and Ben Wundersitz. .Picture: Tom Huntley dersitz was halfway up Uluru, on a rare holiday with his wife and kids, when he started to run out of puff. 'It was a life changing moment for me,' he says. 'I wasn't looking after myself, I wasn't home often enough, I was eating too many pies and pasties on the go, and threw a bit of grog in every now and then, and the chickens were coming home to roost.' In that chest-tightening moment, in 2012, Ben made a pledge that when he returned home to Anna Binna Farms, things would change. The fifth-generation farmer started going to the gym twice a week with his mate Greg, however, they noticed they were the only two blokes attending the gym, so they set out to change that. That's how 'Fat Farmers' was born — their twice weekly gym sessions were about much more than kettle bells and biceps. While Ben says there was a noticeable improvement in their physical health, making the daily rigours of farm life 'much easier', there were significant mental health benefits too, fostering a sense of mateship and social connection. Jo Marshall – NSW Fifteen years ago, Jo Marshall envisioned a centre to showcase agriculture and inspire future farmers, driven by challenges in staffing her NSW Southern Tablelands farm and the migration of country kids to cities. 'We needed a place that could highlight everything good about rural life and give kids a taste for life on the land,' Jo stated. Today, the Australian Agricultural Centre (AAC), located near Goulburn, realises her dream. With support from a local farmer providing a demonstration site, the AAC opened in 2021, offering students hands-on experiences like milking cows and shearing sheep, aiming to educate and empower the next generation in agriculture. COMMUNITY CHAMPION Linda Blackwood – NT Linda Blackwood. Linda Blackwood, organiser of the Northern Territory's Brunette Races, revels in the diverse events, from barrel racing to the Rodeo Under Lights. 'It's a big event on the Territory social calendar; it captures the spirit of the outback,' she says. The races, dating back to 1910, unite remote communities, with over 800 attendees at the latest festival. Linda's involvement began over twenty years ago, embracing challenges beyond her station role. Now living in Katherine, she champions regional resilience, serving on various boards and winning the NT Rural Women's Award in 2018. Her dedication showcases the Territory's opportunities, encouraging engagement and volunteering for community enrichment and personal growth. Anita Donlan – VIC Anita Donlan, 60, was inspired by the community support her family received when her mother suffered a cerebral haemorrhage during a trip from their Adelaide plains wheat farm. This experience led her to create the Let's Get Rural campaign, bringing performers to remote Australian communities to boost social, economic, and mental wellbeing. 'We rock up to the local pub, set up our gear, our ambassador comedians and musicians come along and we provide a night out at the pub with mates,' Anita explained. Her initiative offers a safe space for laughter and connection, helping rural residents momentarily escape their daily challenges. Jackie Elliott – VIC Jackie Elliott. Picture: Em Leonard Jackie Elliott had a vision of gathering to unite rural women, which sparked the creation of Rural Women's Day. Feeling isolated after moving to Byaduk in 2018, Jackie, a fifth-generation farmer's daughter, organised the first event in October 2019, coinciding with the UN International Day of Rural Women. Initially a one-off, the event has grown into a nationwide movement with over 40 events and 4,000 attendees. It is now a registered not-for-profit that fosters connections among rural women. Mick Giddings — VIC Mick Giddings. For Mick Giddings, 86, every day is a good day in Wycheproof, a Victorian Mallee town of 610 people. His love for the community is evident through decades of service, from volunteering with the CFA to preserving local history. 'You work hard all week but it's good to have a bit of a break from the farm on the weekend,' Mick said, highlighting the importance of community involvement. He is fiercely proud of Wycheproof's achievements, including its park, bakery, and unique events like the King of the Mountain race. Raine & Tristram Holcombe – NT Raine and Tristram Holcombe. When record flood waters cut off their tiny outback town and surrounding communities for more than three weeks, and there was no sign of help on the way, Raine and Tristram Holcombe sprang into action. With supplies running critically low among the Top End community at Timber Creek, the young couple, who run a contract muster business, took matters into their own hands. ''We are all very prepared for the wet season up here, we know it can be unpredictable and we have good stores, but this was very different,' Raine says. Tristam, 39, hired a helicopter, and flew to the nearest dry cattle station, shopping for the entire town, doing individual parcel drops via helicopter to grateful families cut off by the record flooding event. The pair's selfless actions have been described as heroic, as they would go door to door delivering bags of essentials; milk, bread, nappies, and baby formula. Carlee Knight. Carlee Knight – VIC The tragic story of Northern Territory teenager Dolly Everett, who took her own life in 2018 after enduring severe cyberbullying, deeply moved many Australians, including Bairnsdale's Carlee, 42. 'I was so taken by it,' Carlee recalls. 'When I was 14, I was growing up on a big farm with horses and animals and I thought if we could raise a couple of hundred dollars, then we'd have done something good.' Using her sewing skills, Carlee, owner of Bairnsdale Horse Centre, collaborated with Dolly's family to create and sell products promoting kindness. Her efforts have raised an astounding $870,000 to combat bullying and youth suicide. Grace Larson – VIC Grace Larson. When Grace Larson started to notice that her baby daughter was listless, she knew that she needed to get her to an emergency room, and fast. Thanks to Grace's quick action, six-week-old Freya made a full recovery, but the young mum of three couldn't help ponder what might've been, had she not had medical training. 'Children from rural and remote, low-sociographic, or Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities are 3-4 times more likely to die from preventable illnesses and injuries,' says Grace. 'It really made me think about what I could do with my skill-set to reduce the inequity. I rang my sister and said, 'there is a problem here, there's nothing out there to tackle this, I want to set up a charity, will you help?' In 2023, Grace and her sister Skye launched The Sisterhood Project, offering free infant and child First Aid courses to vulnerable and low-income families, especially those in rural and remote communities. The classes teach CPR and basic skills and knowledge about what to do, and how to respond, in an emergency. Louise Martin – QLD Louise Martin. Picutre: Lisa Alexander Photography Louise Martin is surrounded by jostling lambs. It's day one of the marking season at 'Macfarlane', the Martin family's Merino stud near Tambo, and she's got 4000 of them to do by the end of the week. The endless blue skies of regional Queensland might seem like an idyllic place to raise a family, but when it comes to giving kids the best education, living in Australia's remote regions presents unique challenges. When their daughters began their education through the School of the Air, Louise joined the local Tambo Isolated Children's Parents' Association (ICPA). Today, she is the advocacy group's Federal President and a passionate voice for equitable education in rural and regional Australia. 'Kids who live beyond city boundaries are disadvantaged when it comes to equitable education. We are the only advocacy group representing those families.' Paula Poole and Demelza Garden – QLD Paula Poole and Demelza Gardem. Picture: Evan Morgan When Townsville teacher Demelza Gardem shared her concern about a student's family unable to afford Christmas presents, friend Paula Poole took swift action. 'We put a pair of school socks in each bag, and the little fellow... was most excited about the socks because he'd never had his own socks before,' Paula recalled. This experience led them to create the Fuel for Schools initiative, providing essentials like school supplies and breakfast. Celebrating a decade of service, the initiative now distributes over a thousand backpacks annually and feeds 7,000 students weekly across more than fifty regional schools, supporting the Townsville and North Queensland community. Dan Rosendahl. Dan Rosendahl – VIC Mildura Life Saving Club (MLSC) is Australia's only inland Life Saving brigade — and Dan Rosendahl is a dedicated volunteer and leader within the MLSC, serving as club captain and secretary since 2020. He has been credited with transforming the at times struggling club, into a thriving outback hub for water safety and community engagement. 'I grew up by the ocean, and when I moved here, I found there was a sense of fear around the river,' the 42-year-old father of three says. 'I joined the club to learn more about the risks of the river, and to educate myself, so that my family could enjoy the river as much as I'd enjoyed the ocean growing up.' Uncle Bill Speedy – Qld Bill Speedy. Picture: Emily Devon The small township of Bollon, Queensland, boasts a living treasure in Uncle Bill Speedy, a proud Guwama/Kooma elder and champion of First Nations culture. In 2020, Bill and his partner Judith transformed Bollon's 150-year-old post office into the Nullawokka First Nations Art Gallery. 'Nullawokka means black tracks,' Uncle Bill explained. The gallery now serves as a vibrant hub for showcasing Aboriginal artists, hosting cultural tours, and bush tucker experiences. 'I've got a real good connection to the land and I'm very proud of our people living here,' Bill shared, highlighting his deep ties to the community and the land. Shez Tedford – Vic There's no place in the world Sheryl Tedford, 67, would rather be, than with a hammer and nail in hand, and the sweeping vista of Australia's alps behind her, doing her bit to preserve Victoria's famed High Country bush huts. Shez Telford has dedicated the better part of 25 years to documenting and restoring the historic huts. Today, she is the Vice President of the Victorian High-Country Huts Association, a group of hardworking and passionate volunteers focused on the conservation, maintenance and rebuilding of the 200-odd historic huts dotted around the High Country. 'We do it to protect these beautiful, rustic huts because it preserves culture and history. You can rebuild a hut if it disappears, but you can't rebuild its heritage or cultural significance. Katrina Starmer — QLD Cairns-based Royal Flying Doctor Service medic Dr Katrina Starmer. For Bush Champions launch. From the age of six, Katrina Starmer aspired to be a doctor and was inspired by Fred Hollows to revolutionise health access. Her rural healthcare path was shaped by her Townsville upbringing and experiences in the bush. 'I saw first-hand what the RFDS did, and that was it,' she said, after an encounter with the Royal Flying Doctor Service. With a medical degree from the University of Queensland, Katrina now works with the RFDS and as an emergency doctor at Cairns Hospital. She founded Survive 25, educating Cairns' Year 12 students on avoiding trauma. Leigh Wilson — VIC Leigh Wilson chokes up when trying to explain just how much he loves the Rochester community. 'I love this town and I'm just so proud of what people have done for one another, their willingness to roll up their sleeves, and help one another,' he says. Leigh Wilson. Barely a week after flood waters devastated the north-east Victorian community in October 2022, Leigh Wilson, 54, became Chair of the impromptu Rochester Community Recovery Committee. The former mayor of the Campaspe Shire Council was tasked with kickstarting the town's clean-up and rebuilding efforts. Although now almost three years on, it's a job he's still doing, day in and day out.
Herald Sun
a day ago
- Climate
- Herald Sun
Green drought support: Government pledges aid to Australian farmers
Don't miss out on the headlines from Bush Summit. Followed categories will be added to My News. The federal government has vowed to keep supporting farmers and regional communities struggling through the green drought, especially if things get worse before they get better. As farmers across southern parts of Australia hold out hopes for a wet spring, which the Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting, new Emergency Management Minister Kristy McBain said the government was conscious that might still not be enough. 'While we can't anticipate what might happen, we are there ready to provide support where and when needed,' she said in an interview. More frequent and intense weather events have cost the budget more than $2bn already this year, but Ms McBain said cost wasn't a barrier to ensuring disaster-prone communities were looked after. 'No doubt that it's an expensive operation, but it's what we've got to do to make sure Australians are kept safe,' she said. 'We've got to ensure that we're helping Australians, no matter where they live, to receive the support they need before, during and after a natural disaster.' Emergency Management Minister Kristy McBain has vowed to keep supporting farmers and regional communities struggling through the green drought. Picture: Martin Ollman The increasing cost to the budget underscores how crucial investment in resilience is. Ms McBain, a former mayor of Bega Valley Council who led her community through nine natural disasters, said local governments had a crucial role to play in ensuring communities were best prepared for severe weather. 'I want the focus to be on helping local councils to build more resilient infrastructure and prepare local communities as best they can for the advent of natural disasters,' she said. Almost two thirds of Australians have been affected by natural disasters since the 2019/20 bushfires, and some communities have required assistance a dozen times since then. Already this year, Australia has experienced a number of abnormal extreme weather events including a cyclone threatening southeast Queensland for the first time in 50 years, severe flooding in the state's largely unprepared west, and waves of drought in southern Australia. While many of those drought-impacted regions received rain over winter, it came too late. It turned fields green but the plans lacked the nutritional value needed to support livestock which triggered the 'green drought'. Farmers across southern parts of Australia hold out hope for a wet spring, which the Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting. Picture: Toby Zerna Media. Ms McBain said the drought highlighted how far reaching the impacts were. 'The cumulative and compounding impacts of disasters is pretty intense, particularly for regional and rural communities. It impacts not only residents, but our small businesses and our primary producers,' Ms McBain said. 'We've got to make sure that we're building the right foundation of resilience and preparedness, and that's exactly what we've been doing with the Disaster Ready Fund.' The $1bn fund, which is due to run until 2028, is currently in its third round. In its second year, $200m was spread across 171 projects. The Future Drought Fund, established in 2019, offers $100m in grants and programs every year. Over the next four years, $36m has been earmarked to support social resilience in agriculture-dependent communities.
Sky News AU
2 days ago
- Business
- Sky News AU
‘Heartbreaking': Gina Rinehart speaks about farmers suffering from ‘net zero ideology'
Hancock Prospecting Executive Chairman Gina Rinehart has addressed the first National Bush Summit of 2025 in Broome on Wednesday. This comes as Western Australia's political and industry leaders have converged in Broome for the Bush Summit, with talks set to focus on red tape, energy policy, and easing pressure on rural households and businesses. 'Many of our farmers and their families and farms are already suffering from net zero ideology,' Ms Rinehart said.
Courier-Mail
2 days ago
- Courier-Mail
Safety online is about digital literacy
Don't miss out on the headlines from Bush Summit. Followed categories will be added to My News. For Gen Z, the barriers between online and real life are a blur. They learn, socialise and play online just as much as they do in the physical world so it's important they navigate those spaces with confidence. Cyber-bullying, online safety and digital identity are some of the issues parents are worried about. And with good reason. According to a report by the eSafety commissioner, Digital use and risk: Online platform engagement among children aged 10 to 15, 71 per cent had encountered content associated with harm, 57 per cent had seen online hate, 52 per cent reported cyber-bullying and 24 per cent experienced sexual harassment online. Optus' Digital Thumbprint program provides students with the digital literacy skills they need to stay safe. Annabel McCabe and Van Ritchie took the Optus digital thumbprint course at Kooringal High School Wagga Wagga with Mark Stanley. Picture: Simon Dallinger. Since 2013, almost three quarters of a million Australian students have taken the free, curriculum-aligned workshops at 1,140 schools, about 120,000 of those regionally. Topics are delivered in age-appropriate sessions, spanning years five to 11, and cover everything from cyber security to protecting personal information and Generative AI to cyber-bullying. The current roadshow session kicked off in Wagga Wagga in July, with eight schools and 2,500 students. Canberra was next and a national rollout through regional Australia is in the works. Facilitator Mark Stanley sees these sessions as conversations rather than workshops. He believes the strength of the interactive program is putting students in situations they will encounter, but with a safety net. For the cyber-bullying component, Stanley runs students through a group chat that descends into cyber-bullying. As the situation grows and develops, what do the students do? Nothing, say something publicly, send a private DM, approach the person offline? Digital Thumbprint workshops include: Cyberbullying (Year 7) Protecting your personal info (Year 8) GenAI and Online Safety (Year 9) and Cybersecurity (Year 10) Picture: Simon Dallinger. 'We'll get them to own their answer, debrief on why they've chosen that and then we'll move through the situation again,' he said. 'Where is it in these situations that you become the upstander from the bystander? How could you create that upstander moment and make it a little easier with small, positive shifts to that situation?' 'It's to get them to think about their own actions, but put them in that safe zone to be able to come up with those choices, feel out what they would do and realise that it would have resulted in this consequence. 'The workshops give them a chance to practice, then they take that knowledge, hopefully, and add it into the real world.' The program has been running since 2013 and it is constantly refreshed in response to new technology and legislative changes, as well as feedback from teachers, students and parents. Stanley said the workshops are designed to address the digital literacy students will need in the future. 'It's setting them up with those skills for a world that is constantly changing,' he said. 'Where are we going to be next year? We don't know, so we're trying to equip the students with these digital literacy skills that they can take in and hopefully adapt to these new situations and technologies that are coming along as we all navigate this new digital world.' As part of the Wagga Wagga workshops, there was also a digital literacy workshop for parents. Mark Stanley teaching students Van Ritchie and Annabel McCabe at the Wagga Wagga workshop. Picture: Simon Dallinger. 'The parents involved were really thankful and they got a lot out of it, particularly bridging the gap between what their kids know and what they're involved with,' Stanley said. 'The kids are using this technology every day, all the time and it just gives the parents an opportunity to understand what we're doing and to give them an awareness of some of the risks.' The current roadshow is focusing on regional Australia, but Stanley doesn't see a big difference in online habits between regional and local kids. 'I don't think they have different issues. There's digital spaces whether you're metro or whether you're regional, but students in larger metro areas have access to a lot more programs like this,' he said. 'Parents and teacher are having these conversations with students, but if we can come in as well it's a different way to deliver the message. Hopefully, between one of us, we'll deliver it in a way that they'll be able to take that away and shift their behaviour in regards to their use in that space.' Optus local general manager across southern NSW and ACT, Matt Connell, has seen the impact it has had on the local community. 'A parent stopped me at a local cafe when she saw the Optus branding on my shirt. She said, 'My kids came home after the workshop and they were telling us all about passwords and talking about keeping themselves safe online',' he said. 'It gave them an opportunity to open up a conversation with their children.' Originally published as 120,000 regional kids have taken the Digital Thumbprint course at school with more to follow
