The Contemporary Music Fund is designed to support Western Australian contemporary music artists to play to new audiences across the State and nationally. As part of the Fund's regional component, a compilation CD featuring original songs by ten Wheatbelt music acts, has been launched. Demos from the Wheatbelt enabled the musicians, many of whom had never been in a recording studio before, to record their songs with highly-regarded Western Australian music producers' Dan Carrol and Mat Gio. Demos from the Wheatbelt is part of West Australian Music's (WAM) regional recording programs that provide an opportunity for musicians and audio engineers with limited or no access to professional recording facilities - to record, publish and promote their original songs.

Premier Mark McGowan opened the new eastern pavilion at Albany's Centennial Park Sporting Precinct on 22 August, completing the State Government's $7 million election commitment to revitalise the grassroots sporting hub.
 
The Premier cut the ribbon on the new $800,000 eastern precinct multi-sport pavilion alongside Albany MLA Peter Watson and the City of Albany.   The pavilion's opening marks the final stage of the Centennial Park upgrades – which also included new playing fields, parking, pathways, lighting and irrigation works.
 
Centennial Park is the major sporting hub for the Great Southern region, catering for a wide range of indoor and outdoor sports. The Albany Triathlon Club, Albany Cycling Club and Southern Districts Junior Football Club will all make the new pavilion home. It features two change spaces, contemporary unisex toilets, an undercover all-weather area, kiosk and ample storage space.

NCVER has created a resource hub where VET practitioners can conduct research or locate resources for their work.  The VET Practitioner Resource has three sections:

• Teaching, training and assessment resources
• Practitioners as researchers 
• The VET workforce  (data about the workforce)

The VET Practitioner Resource draws on VOCEDplus, NCVER products and external links to present a range of information designed to support VET practitioners in their teaching and assessment practice and in undertaking research.  Visit the NCVER VET Practitioner Resource.

Optus Stadium hosted a history-making rugby match between the Qantas Wallabies and New Zealand All Blacks on August 10. Supported by the State Government through Tourism WA, this match was the first ever Bledisloe Cup game played in Western Australia, and the only game of the series played in Australia in 2019.
A new attendance record was set for Optus Stadium, which released additional drop-in seats for the event. In a media statement released by Tourism Minister Paul Papalia, an estimated 10,000 interstate and overseas visitors were expected to attend the match, “filling our hotel rooms, bars and restaurants – which helps diversify the WA economy and create jobs”. 
Media Statement

The Australian Sports Commission (ASC) has released its Corporate Plan for 2019-2023. The plan outlines the ASC’s vision and strategic priorities for the next four years, promoting sport as the mechanism to engage all Australians, from grassroots up to the pinnacle of elite international competition. The plan comprises key outcomes of getting more Australians moving more often; building the capability of sport to create a robust, connected industry; and creating national pride and inspiration through international sporting success.
 To download the plan, please click here. 

The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) met in Cairns on 9th August and has announced a 'vision for skills in Australia'.  Leaders agreed to a shared vision for VET delivering high quality education and training that meets the needs of students and employers.  Skills ministers will work together through a new COAG Skills Council, in consultation with education ministers, to advise leaders on future reform priorities by the end of 2019 and provide a reform roadmap to COAG in early 2020.

Read the vision statement here.

The 2019 Event Symposium will be held at Optus Stadium, September 16-18. The Symposium will explore the latest event trends, communication techniques and creative methods of enhancing events. The two-day event will bring together leaders in the industry from some of Australia’s biggest events and festivals and will culminate in the Australian Event Awards ceremony at the end of the second day.
 
For more information, program of events, and to register, please visit the Symposium webpage. Early bird registration finishes on August 13.  

Flight Centre has officially launched a new youth-focused travel brand, replacing its Student Flights offering.  While Universal Traveller’s brand is built on the Student Flights offering, it aims to be different from traditional travel agencies by being one of Australia’s most flexible workplaces. Universal Traveller will encourage workers to become “travel influencers” through using social media channels, and workers will also have access to unlimited annual leave and flexi-time programs, providing more time for travel and sharing experiences on social media. 
Read more. 

Some of the world's best content creators have been in Australia to showcase the unique and spectacular Kimberley region to their millions of followers as they took part in the annual GoPro Creator Summit. 40 talented content creators and adventure athletes with a combined social reach of 28 million, descended on the region to take part in the Summit.
 
"This is the first time that the GoPro Creator Summit has come to Australia, providing an exciting opportunity for Australia's Kimberley region, which is renowned for its spectacular beauty and breathtaking tourism offerings, to be showcased on the world stage," Federal Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, Simon Birmingham said.
 
The event, delivered by Tourism Australia and Tourism Western Australia in partnership with GoPro, is expected to generate more than 250 pieces of content that will be utilised and shared across all partner channels.  Read more

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