• Aerobond partners with Secure State to pursue opportunities in the United States
• 2023 behind closed doors scholarship winners announced
• New hub at Lot Fourteen
• Seven South Australian projects finalists in Dulux Colour Awards
• CSIRO to develop weather service for water quality
• AmCham Australia to launch AUKUS Policy Committee
• FBW Gynaecology Plus gets gong in 2023 Telstra Best Business Awards
• Inconsistent policy the cause of rental crisis
• Vintage number plates on the auction block

Aerobond partners with Secure State to pursue opportunities in the United States

Adelaide-based aerospace manufacturer Aerobond Pty Ltd has partnered with South Australian cybersecurity company Secure State to gain Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC), a prerequisite to access the United States Department of Defence supply chain.

CMMC is a program ensuring contractors protect highly sensitive information from complex cyberattacks.

Secure State is the only internationally Registered Provider Organisation offering consultation and implementation services for Australian businesses that require CMMC, enabling them to work on projects handling Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI).

“Partnering with Secure State to get CMMC ready is an absolute no-brainer for our business as we target strategic growth opportunities in the defence sector and throughout the US supply chain,” said Andy Oliver, Aerobond’s Head of Strategic Partnerships.

“The establishment of AUKUS and greater integration of the US and Australian industries will increasingly require Australian companies that seek to work on US Department of Defence initiatives to obtain CMMC – and so we see this as us getting a head start on that process.”

Sarah Day (left) received the 2023 SA Emerging Leader Scholarship. Photo: supplied.

2023 behind closed doors scholarship winners announced

Sarah Day and Cheyne Sullivan have been announced as the recipients of the behind closed doors’ 2023 Emerging Leader scholarships.

Senior Sustainability Consultant at Edge Impact and Board Member of Shine Communications, Sarah Day has been awarded the 2023 SA Emerging Leader Scholarship.

SA Pharmacy Aboriginal Health Lead with the Department for Health and Wellbeing, Cheyne Sullivan received the 2023 Aboriginal/Torres Strait Islander female Leaders Scholarship.

The scholarships aim to help local businesswomen develop their businesses through access to a support network of other female leaders to improve skills and create opportunities.

Managing Director of behind closed doors, Donny Walford said it is very encouraging for South Australia to have so many talented businesswomen.

“There is a growing need of female mentors and coaches for businesswomen in organisations to support the challenges faced by them in their professional career,” said Walford.

“behind closed doors provides a vibrant platform for businesswomen to discuss their professional challenges and get mentored by expert coaches and facilitators … to grow professionally and become the best version of themselves.”

Brodie McCulloch, Tom Koutsantonis and Renee Hakendorf at the Core Innovation Hub ribbon cutting. Photo: supplied.

New hub at Lot Fourteen

A new hub for the energy, mining and resources sector has opened at the CBD innovation district.

CORE Innovation Hub has two operations in Western Australia, with the opening of the third hub in Adelaide being its first location outside of WA.

“Our new and expanded Adelaide Innovation Hub will support business locally and nationally by connecting them to Australia’s largest ecosystem for innovators in the energy and resources sector,” said National Lead of Core Innovation Hub, Renee Hakendorf.

“It’s an exciting time for transformation across the energy and resources sector, especially in South Australia with the State’s focus on renewable and future fuels.”

SA Minister for Energy and Mining, Tom Koutsantonis said Core Innovation’s expansion into Lot Fourteen signals the importance South Australia places on the energy mining and resources sector.

“South Australia has much to offer Core Innovation and I expect Core Innovation has just as much to offer the state in turn,” he said.

“Having a collaborative space and offices for meetings centrally located among other cutting-edge organisations enables leaders and innovators in this sector to learn from each other and forge valuable supply chain connections from around the world.”

Stradbroke Primary School is a finalist in two categories at the Dulux Colour Awards. Photo: David Sievers

Seven South Australian projects finalists in Dulux Colour Awards

Seven South Australian-based projects have been chosen as finalists in the 2023 Dulux Colour Awards.

Now in its 37^th year, the annual competition recognises the innovation of colour use in builds around Australia.

The South Australian finalists are:

• Dulwich House by Georgie Shepherd Interior Design for Residential Interior
• Mount Mac by Williams Burton Leopardi for Residential Interior
• The Chateau by Hare + Klein for Residential Interior
• Stradbroke Primary School by Das Studio for Commercial and Multi Residential Exterior
• Dolly by Genesin Studio for Commercial Interior – Public and Hospitality
• HNLY by Genesin Studio for Commercial Interior – Public and Hospitality
• Stradbroke Primary School by Das Studio for Commercial Interior – Public and Hospitality

“This year’s finalists embody a renewed vigour and energy, suggesting that designers’ and architects’ confidence in using colour is enabling them a greater degree of freedom and experimentation,” said Dulux Colour and Communications Manager Andrea Lucena-Orr, who sits on the judging panel.

“It bodes well for the built environment and the future use of colour ahead.”

Award winners will be announced on Thursday, May 11 at an event in Melbourne.

Artist’s impression of the AquaWatch system. Photo: CSIRO.

CSIRO to develop weather service for water quality

The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) has launched AquaWatch Australia, a program aiming to deliver a water quality monitoring system for Australia and the world.

Described as a “weather service for water quality”, the system will provide real-time updates and predictive forecasting and will be used to monitor bays, coastal wetlands, aquaculture farming, mangrove forests and coral reefs.

The system will use satellites and ground-based water sensors to provide information for better water quality management, including early warnings of harmful events. The data will then be integrated and analysed at a central data hub.

“The ingenuity behind AquaWatch is it integrates Earth observation with other science capabilities like in-situ sensing, ecosystem modelling, engineering, data science and artificial intelligence,” said CSIRO Chief Executive Larry Marshall.

The CSIRO will partner with Adelaide-based SmartSat CRC to bring together research, government and industry to design and develop AquaWatch, which is being funded by an initial co-investment of $83 million.

– Charlie Gilchrist

A US fast attack submarine. Photo: AAP/Richard Wainwright

AmCham Australia to launch AUKUS Policy Committee

The American Chamber of Commerce in Australia (AmCham) is launching an AUKUS Policy Committee to connect government and industry to ensure the private sector has the opportunity to inform and support government national security initiatives.

The Committee joins existing AmCham policy committees in areas ranging from defence and national security to diversity and inclusion.

AmCham are currently taking expressions of interest for anyone who would like to be involved in the AUKUS Policy Committee.

– Camillo Malacari

FBW Gynaecology Plus receiving their awards at the Telstra Business Awards. Photo: supplied.

FBW Gynaecology Plus gets gong in 2023 Telstra Best Business Awards

Ashford-based business Fertility Body Wellness Gynaecology Plus (FBW Gynaecology Plus) won the Accelerating Women Award and the Championing Health Award at the 2023 Telstra Business Awards.

The judges noted the business as a phenomenal example of what our migrant community can bring to the socio-economic prosperity of Australia.

“FBW Gynaecology’s legacy for women and girls across the world make the business a deserving winner,” the judges said.

The team at FBW Gynaecology Plus are working to overcome the challenges that Indigenous, older, migrant and disabled women face with a range of issues including periods, birthing, vaginal trauma and genital mutilation.

– Camillo Malacari

Housing in Seaton. Photo: Tony Lewis/InDaily.

Inconsistent policy the cause of rental crisis

The Property Investment Professionals of Australia (PIPA) blames years of knee-jerk policies for the current rental crisis.

PIPA Chair Nicola McDougall said that nearly a decade of reactionary policies had significantly reduced the volume of property investors, and as a result the supply of rental properties nationwide.

“Since late 2014, we have seen investor-targeted Australian Prudential Regulation Authority lending restrictions come and go; negative gearing and Capital Gains Tax laws continually on the chopping block; emergency tenancy laws enacted during the pandemic; and mooted rental caps now being the latest attack on investors,” McDougall said.

“Given property investment should be a long-term strategy, no wonder hundreds of thousands of investors are offloading their properties in reaction to the head-spinning array of financial and legislative imposts that are forever levelled at them.”

The decrease in investment properties has reduced stock and is one contributing factor to record-high rents in Adelaide.

CoreLogic’s annual rental review released in January of this year showed that rent costs in Adelaide had risen by 12.9 per cent through 2022, although the data indicated the rent increase was slowing down.

– Jack O’Halloran

Historic number plates have previously sold for up to $1 million. Photo: Pexels.

Vintage number plates on the auction block

An online auction of 80 historic numeric number plates has opened, the first auction of its kind in six years.

The license plates were originally assigned to South Australian vehicles between 1906 and 1966.

Previous bids on similar plates in a different auction reached up to $1 million.

Tom Koutsantonis, Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, believes the auction will be “intense”.

“Numeric number plates are no longer in general circulation, which makes them a collector’s item with some plates highly sought after,” he said.

The online auction will close at 7pm on Tuesday, April 11.

– Maxwell Bland