Latest news with #KateMarshall
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Major push to grant Aussie workers extra 12-days paid leave per year: 'This is not sick leave'
Giving Australians 12-days of paid reproductive leave would help cushion the $21 billion per year productivity blow from workers pushing through, or taking leave, to deal with often unseen conditions. The Health Services Union (HSU) has renewed a push for universal reproductive health leave entitlement, which would cost $1.7 billion annually, or $140 per worker. However, a report into the Costs and Benefits of Implementing a Universal Reproductive Health Leave Entitlement in Australia found the policy would improve mental health and workforce retention. The policy would largely benefit women, but would also cater to men undergoing vasectomies. 'Women represent half of our population, and for most, that comes with menstruation which can bring pain, as well as conditions like endometriosis, IVF, miscarriage, and menopause,' HSU national senior assistant secretary Kate Marshall Aussie mum painful endo-battle sparks idea for six-figure business: 'Gave up $50,000 savings' Mark Bouris issues blunt retirement message for young Australians: 'Accept it now' Woolworths cleared to make major move into $1.9 billion sector: 'Strong price competition' 'By rolling out a universal entitlement of 12 days a year, we will give all workers, particularly women, dignity and agency to be a part of a workforce that doesn't currently reflect our needs." The 12 days would represent a day each month of the year. But Marshall said: "This is not sick leave." 'Work can be extremely difficult when you are dealing with pain or reproductive conditions,' she said. Nearly one million Australians live with endometriosis, a debilitating condition that has no cure. Kellie Johnson was diagnosed with stage 4 endometriosis in her twenties but has been living with menstrual pain since she first started getting her period. The 41-year-old Central Coast resident told Yahoo Finance the pain was so severe that she would often throw up or lose consciousness. Johnson said endometriosis had a huge impact on her career journey, admitting there was a time she 'never spoke' about what she was going through. 'At so many workplaces I've had, I've had to alter the way I work in some way just to try and survive,' she said. 'For example, I've had periods where my endo got really bad so I would be in hospital a lot, so I would take my laptop with me and work from hospital. 'You just worry that people will think that you're being lazy or that you're not taking your job seriously.' Endometriosis Australia found many people were fearful of raising the issue in their workplace, with one in three passed over for a promotion due to their endometriosis, and one in six losing their jobs. The group's research found endometriosis was costing the Australian economy $9.7 billion annually due to medical costs, absenteeism and presenteeism. 'I think when you feel like you're struggling with pain all the time, you almost feel like you have to work harder to try and prove yourself,' Johnson said. The report, released yesterday, highlighted how prevalent the impact of reproductive illness was on the Australian workforce. Menstrual pain affects more than 50 per cent of working women, and 74 per cent of women aged 45 to 55 reported menopause symptoms, with 17 per cent requiring extended leave. Vasectomies and hysterectomies are also common, particularly for men and women aged 35 to 44 years. Miscarriage affects up to one in three women, and 8 per cent of women aged 25–45 undergo IVF annually. Workers surveyed for the report said they often used sick leave or unpaid time off, with 44 per cent taking unpaid leave when they had symptoms. This was not out of choice but a lack of leave options. "By rolling out a universal entitlement of 12 days a year, we will give all workers, particularly women, dignity and agency to be a part of a workforce that doesn't currently reflect our needs," Marshall said. In 2024, the Queensland government introduced 10 days of paid reproductive leave for the state's public servants. A concerning 68 per cent of those surveyed said they had not disclosed their condition to their manager. HSU national secretary Lloyd Williams said reproductive needs were still "highly stigmatised". "Workers fear discrimination for taking leave for anything relating to their reproductive organs," Williams said. "That shouldn't be the culture we accept." 12 days of paid Reproductive Health Leave (RHL) would cost an average of $3.6 billion to implement, but would save $1.88 billion for businesses directly. These implementation costs are small in comparison to the annual $21.3 billion cost to businesses of lost productivity from workers having to manage reproductive health in to access your portfolio
Web Release
29-03-2025
- Business
- Web Release
Building a Safer AI Future: SANS Institute Leads Coordinated Effort to Secure Artificial Intelligence
Organizations that integrate Artificial Intelligence into their workforce and offerings are accelerating innovation, but many are unprepared for the security challenges that come with it. As they rush to deploy more efficient and cost-effective models, they often overlook the risks of model manipulation and adversarial attacks, threats that traditional defenses are not equipped to detect or stop. At the same time, many leaders are still grappling with how to safely and securely operationalize AI across their environments. As AI becomes deeply embedded in both business operations and critical infrastructure, the risks are expanding rapidly and at a global scale. To help organizations navigate these risks and assist them in taking back control, the SANS Institute is launching a major initiative – the upcoming release of its Critical AI Security Guidelines v1.0, a practical, operations-driven framework built for defenders and leaders who need to secure AI systems now. The guidelines will debut at the SANS AI Summit 2025 and focus on six critical areas: Access Controls, Data Protection, Deployment Strategies, Inference Security, Monitoring, and Governance, Risk and Compliance. These guidelines are designed to provide security teams and leadership with clear, practical direction for defending AI systems in real-world environments. Each section provides actionable recommendations to help organizations identify, mitigate, and manage the risks associated with modern AI technologies. Once released, the guidelines will be open to community feedback, allowing practitioners, researchers, and industry leaders to contribute insights and updates as threats evolve and new best practices emerge. 'We're seeing organizations deploy large language models, retrieval-augmented generation, and autonomous agents faster than they can secure them,' said Rob T. Lee, Chief of Research and Co-Chair of the SANS AI Summit. 'These guidelines are built for where the field is now. They're not theoretical; they're written for analysts and leaders in the trenches, who need to protect these systems starting today.' As AI technologies become central to every aspect of business operations, the need for open-source tools to augment security teams and new capabilities to help secure AI has never been greater. To address this, the SANS AI Cybersecurity Hackathon invited the cybersecurity community to design open-source tools directly aligned with the new security guidelines. This unique event challenged participants to develop innovative solutions for protecting AI models, monitoring inference processes, defending against adversarial attacks, and addressing other vulnerabilities unique to AI systems. The tools produced during the hackathon will be showcased at the AI Summit, providing tangible, real-world solutions for organizations. 'We need more people who understand how AI works under the hood and how to defend it,' said Kate Marshall, SANS AI Hackathon Director and Co-Chair of the SANS AI Summit. 'The hackathon is already making a difference. It's not just creating tools; it's showcasing talent, and that's exactly what we need to secure AI systems for the future.' The hackathon is a powerful step in addressing the growing AI skills gap, providing participants with hands-on experience and direct mentorship from top AI security experts. With the growing demand for AI security professionals, initiatives like this are critical in ensuring that the talent pipeline is ready to meet the needs of the industry. Winning tools will not only receive visibility and support but also become integral to helping organizations implement security guidelines effectively. These collective efforts will culminate at the SANS AI Summit 2025 on March 31st, where leaders from cybersecurity, AI development, and policy will gather to launch the guidelines and explore how to secure AI systems in real-world applications. The summit will feature in-depth discussions on the guidelines' implementation, live demonstrations of the winning hackathon tools, and discussions about AI security challenges in sectors such as government, healthcare, and critical infrastructure. It's here that these efforts come together, with the guidelines, hackathon projects, and summit conversations creating a comprehensive, actionable roadmap for securing AI. 'We've reached a point where this kind of work isn't optional,' said Rob T. Lee. 'The industry needed something central, someplace trusted, to rally around AI security. We need real controls, real tools, and a way to grow the skills that will protect the world. That's what this is. It's not about SANS. It's about coming together as a community to get this right.' By combining the release of the Critical AI Security Guidelines, the momentum of the AI Cybersecurity Hackathon, and the collaborative education in AI at the AI Summit, SANS is creating a critical moment in the industry and securing a place where AI professionals can unite, innovate, and build the future of secure AI together. Pre-register to Receive the Guidelines: Register for the AI Summit 2025:
The Independent
29-01-2025
- Business
- The Independent
ISA millionaires are on the rise - here are the stocks and shares they invest in
Data released this week by Hargreaves Lansdown, the UK's biggest investment platform, revealed the number of people who are millionaires by the value of assets held in their stocks and shares ISAs is on the rise. There are now 1,322 ISAs held in their system which total seven figures in value as of December, they said. That's an increase of more than 14 per cent from just six months earlier, Yahoo Finance report, with the platform also releasing the names of the companies which are typically held by their ISA millionaires. Most are blue-chip British companies and those which have a history of dividend payments, which - when compounded over the long term - can add up to impressive gains. ISAs - individual savings accounts - are products which allow people to save or invest their money in a tax-free environment. "Some people get into investment in the hope of getting rich quick, but the vast majority of ISA millionaires have built a fortune through the far more reliable approach of getting rich slow," said Kate Marshall, lead investment analyst at HL. "They don't necessarily take enormous risks: many consistently invest as much as possible of their annual allowance, in a diverse and balanced portfolio, every year, for decades." Individuals in the UK are allowed to put a maximum of £20,000 per year into their ISAs, spread as they wish across cash ISAs, stocks and shares ISAs, Lifetime ISAs and more. The ten most popular shares in Hargreaves Lansdown (HL) ISA millionaire accounts were: Legal and General Phoenix Group Aviva IG Group Holdings Beeks Financial Cloud Group BP Rio Tinto M&G Michelmersh Brick Holdings Several of those are stalwarts of the London Stock Exchange, with insurers, energy companies and mining companies tending to pay out strong dividends - though the share prices themselves can be cyclical. Over the long term, however, that tends not to be a major concern for investors, as the compounding gains made from reinvesting dividends back into the stock can - but does not always - more than make up for that. As well as individual shares, HL noted that a wide mix of popular funds figured in most millionaire accounts. These tended to focus on global companies, though a UK-based income fund also featured. Funds run by Legal & General made up half of the top funds invested in, data showed. Of those, the Legal & General Global Technology Index Trust has fared best over the past year, returning 37.68 per cent.
