In a Nutshell - Simply no Soap for Kids YET!!!

I have contacted the Environmental Health Directorate regarding your query about the provision of hand cleaning supplies in schools.

They have kindly provided the information below:


Unfortunately, the Health Act 1911 is not binding on the Crown, so our legislation cannot be used to force government schools to provide soap, toilet paper and hand drying facilities in student toilets. We strongly recommend it.

The staff facilities are captured by Worksafe's legislation, which is binding on the Crown.

Hand washing is a primary defence against the spread of infectious disease and should be available in every toilet.

The Communicable Disease Control Directorate can provide further information on the efficacy of hand washing.


The Department of Education and Training may also be able to provide further information to you regarding this issue - www.det.wa.edu.au


Kind regards,

Judith
On behalf of DoH, PR Contact


AND


Mr Evans,

Thank you for your online query on 2nd October 2009. The subject of school hand hygiene has been a problem, not only in Western Australia, but in many first world countries, such as America and the U.K., and it has been discussed at many health forums of late, particularly in regard to reducing the spread of the H1N1 pandemic flu, as well as other contagious illnesses.

At present, hand hygiene in schools is managed by the Principal of the individual school, based on a Policy developed by the Department of Education & Training, or DET (attached). Unfortunately, as you have pointed out, paper towels and soap are often the first to go under budget cuts, and as toilets are often subject to vandalism, their loss can be justified. The antibacterial gels are also of concern, as they may kill bacteria and viruses, but do not remove dirt and oils, and they also work to improve resistance of pathogens to existing antibacterials.

The Department of Health (DOH) is currently involved in liaising with various agencies, governmental departments, universities involved in testing, as well as the hygiene industry (such as soap-makers, dispensers, and the like), in order to establish some solutions to this wide-spread problem.

I apologise for not being able to give you a more definite answer. The DOH has been aware of this problem for some time, however, a solution is yet to be found, not only in WA, but the whole of Australia, and it requires funds, resources, and backing of politicians. In fact the DOH and DET are currently researching a hand washing system which may solve many hygiene concerns in schools, and my colleagues are seeking support from senior politicians in the coming weeks. Unfortunately the system is seeking patenting, so I cannot elaborate.

If you have any further queries, don't hesitate to get in touch.

Regards,

Jaala Downes
Scientific Officer
Environmental Hazards Unit
Environmental Health Directorate
Grace Vaughan House
Ph: 9388 4950 Fax: 9388 4905


To all parents, do your kids attend a Public School, I know that they are on holiday at the moment, but you need to ask them something before they go back to school, when they use the toilet at school, can they wash their hands, do they have soap available, can they dry their hands, seems like a question you should not have to ask your kids, but you may be surprised by the answer you receive.

Local government wipeout: Castrilli to cull one-third of councils

as posted here

EXCLUSIVE: A once-in-a-century shakeup of local government in Western Australia is likely to see a swathe of shires stretching from the Northern Territory border to the Southern Ocean erased forever from the State's political map.

The revelation means a legion of candidates elected in the upcoming October 17 local government elections will not serve out their full four-year terms.

A list of condemned councils, penned by the powerful Local Government Reform Steering Committee and obtained exclusively by WAtoday.com.au, will see the State's least sustainable shires, cities and towns culled.

The committee was hand-picked by Local Government Minister John Castrilli.

The Department of Local Government has already told at least 45 shires on the secret list that amalgamation is "required".

WA has 139 councils and is the last state in Australia to embark on significant local government reform.

In August, Opposition spokesman Paul Papalia slammed the"bumbling" Mr Castrilli's refusal to release the list.

Under the sweeping reforms, Metropolitan Perth, and possibly the Kimberley, are the only two of WA's 10 regions to avoid the amalgamation spotlight.

Ominously for the Kimberley, the list fails to mention 28 shires, including that region's four councils - though it is known that at least the Shire of Broome has avoided endangered council status.

The department wants the world's largest municipality - the 380,000 square kilometre Shire of East Pilbara - to merge with one of its gigantic council neighbours.

Meanwhile, Australia's smallest shire - the 1.1 square kilometre Peppermint Grove, which sits in Premier Colin Barnett's leafy western Perth electorate of Cottesloe - has been spared the amalgamation axe.

Also in the Premier's electorate, the tiny Town of Cottesloe joins Peppermint Grove, East Fremantle, Mosman Park, Nedlands and Victoria Park as minute municipalities WAtoday.com.au understands have escaped mandatory mergers.

Other councils understood to have only been asked to "consider" mergers are Rockingham, Busselton, Albany, Esperance, Kalamunda, Kalgoorlie-Boulder and Denmark.

A string of Wheatbelt and Great Southern shires have also been placed in this category and are likely to escape the Castrilli cut.

The Perth councils of Subiaco, Vincent, Cambridge and Bassendean are understood to have been spared the amalgamation spectre altogether, achieving a coveted "Category One" rating, indicating they are meeting community needs.

WA's largest city by population, Stirling, and the state capital of Perth are also understood to have achieved this status.

Other Category One councils apparently let off the hook are Armadale, Augusta-Margaret River, Bassendean, Bayswater, Belmont, Joondalup, Gosnells, Harvey, Mandurah, Melville, Mundaring, Murray, Plantagenet, Serpentine-Jarrahdale and Swan.

The list of 45 councils the government wants culled from WA's political landscape is:

Boddington

Boyup Brook

Bruce Rock

Carnamah

Chapman Valley

Chittering

Coolgardie

Coorow

Corrigin

Cuballing

Cue

Cunderdin

Dalwallinu

East Pilbara

Katanning

Kellerberrin

Kent

Kondonin

Koorda

Lake Grace

Laverton

Leonora

Meekatharra

Menzies

Merredin

Mingenew

Morawa

Mukinbudin

Mount Magnet

Mount Marshall

Nannup

Narembeen

Narrogin (Shire)

Nungarin

Perenjori

Ravensthorpe

Sandstone

Three Springs

Toodyay

Upper Gascoyne

Victoria Plains

Wyalkatchem

Yalgoo

Yilgarn

Wiluna


as posted here

Income scheme in Perth

as posted here

The Federal Government is expanding a scheme under which Perth families have part of their Centrelink payments quarantined.

More than 220 families have voluntarily signed up for the program which sets aside 70 per cent of their welfare payments to purchase essentials and pay bills.

The program has been trialled in the Kimberley and parts of Perth, and will be introduced in the suburbs of Armadale, Gosnells, Fremantle, Spearwood, Rockingham, Morley, Warwick and Innaloo over the next few months.

The Federal Families Minister Jenny Macklin says along with the hundreds of families that have signed up by choice, another 60 have been forced on to the program.

"This is us working with the child protection authorities, giving them an additional way of saying to parents you need to take responsibility use your money in the interests of your children.


as posted here

Toilets and Hand Washing ...

I would like to ask the following questions of the Health Services Department.

I quote the following as found in the word document downloaded from your site http://www.gosnells.wa.gov.au from the following link http://www.gosnells.wa.gov.au/scripts/documentredirect.asp?BID=7826&NID=789
PART 2 - SANITATION

Division 1 - Sanitary Conveniences

Premises other than a Dwelling House

6.

(2) The occupier of premises other than a dwelling house shall ensure that -

(a) clean toilet paper is available at all times in each cubicle;

(b) a sanitary napkin disposal facility is provided and maintained in each toilet provided for the use of females; and

(c) each hand wash basin is provided with -

(i) an adequate supply of soap or other hand cleaning substances; and

(ii) hand drying facilities, situated adjacent to and visible from the hand basin.



My question is "Does the above apply to Public Toilets and Toilets in Schools within the City of Gosnells, and if not, what part of the CITY OF GOSNELLS HEALTH LOCAL-LAWS 1999 does cover these Public Toilets and/or School toilets?"

Peter Evans
8 McNamara Drive
Thornlie

REPLY GIVEN

Hi Peter,

Thankyou for your recent email regarding sanitary conveniences in premises other than dwellings.

Part 2, Division 1, Section 6 of City of Gosnells Health Local Laws 1999 refers to the requirements of sanitary conveniences in premises other than dwellings. This will include private school toilets and public toilets located on private land. However, state schools and public toilets located on public land are not covered by these local laws. The jurisdiction of these facilities lies with the state health department.

I hope this answers your question.
If you had an enquiry for a particular location, or i can assist you further please don't hesitate to contact me on the details below, i would be happy to discuss the matter with you.

Kind Regards,

Emma Smith
Environmental Health Officer
City of Gosnells
PO Box 662 Gosnells WA 6990
2120 Albany Highway Gosnells WA 6110
Ph: 08 9391 3274 Fax: 08 9398 2922
Email: esmith@gosnells.wa.gov.au


AND

The toilets located at Harmony Fields and Pioneer Park would be the City's responsibility. The Gosnells Train Station would fall under the jurisdiction of the Public Transport Authority.
Is there a problem with these facilities?

Kind Regards,

Emma Smith


AND

Thank you for contacting WA Health. We welcome your opinions and comments.

Your email has been sent to a member of our staff who will review it and take action as needed. If you have requested a response to your email please be aware that this may take a little time. Thanks for your patience.

Please print a copy of this page for your records.

Name: Peter Evans
Email: webyter@gmail.com
Subject: Public School Toilets
Message: Are there any requirements for sanitation in Public School Toilets, ie should they provide soap, toilet paper and adequate drying facilities or are they allowed to not provide anything in these Toilets, is there any legislation covering these facilities as they appear to be outside the Local Government control and most schools tend to cut costs and not supply soap or adequate drying materials due to wastage by students, given that we as parents teach our children to wash their hands immediately after using the toilet, seems that public schools don't provide the facilities to allow the students to do this, how is it that this situation can be allowed to exist, by example I submit that Thornlie Senior High School does not even have soap dispensers fitted, and Thornlie Primary School has a policy that the students use antiseptic cream when they return to their classroom, which does not help when the children are on a break as they have to wait to get back to class to clean their hands, given the senerio that a child goes to lunch, the fist thing they do is use the toilet, they cant clean their hands other than with cold water, then they eat their lunch, and then when their classroom finally reopens they can, if they remember wash their hands (this is the case in Thornlie Primary) and as mentioned in Thornlie High they simply do not provide anything, and I would suggest that this is the case with many other Public schools as they are not specifically supplied with a budget to cater for this expense, does the Health Department have any policy covering Public Schools or does the Department simply not care!



AND

I have tried repeatedly to contact the Education Department to find out what their policy is on toilets within Public Schools

This is an automatically generated Delivery Status Notification.

Delivery to the following recipients failed.

Jeremy.Martin@det.wa.edu.au




Final-Recipient: rfc822;Jeremy.Martin@det.wa.edu.au
Action: failed
Status: 5.2.2
X-Display-Name: MARTIN Jeremy [School Innovation and Reform]



---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: webyter
To: Jeremy.Martin@det.wa.edu.au
Date: Fri, 2 Oct 2009 07:14:56 +0800
Subject: Public School Toilets
Is there a policy that relates to toilets within schools in relation to the sanitation requirements ie supply of soap and adequate drying facilities, do schools receive a budget allowance to cater for these items

Peter Evans
0433 307 645

AND

--- The following addresses had delivery problems ---

(RCPT TO: User unknown)


Seems their servers are down or just on holidays in support of the teaching staff : (

Maddington powers up underground

as posted here

Thu, October 01, 2009

The City of Gosnells in Western Australia is the latest local council to participate in Round 4 of the Western Australian State Underground Power Program (SUPP), which aims to deliver underground power to more than 1,100 households in the Maddington area, using horizontal directional drilling.

Western Australian Minister Peter Collier said that the undergrounding of power lines is an important way of improving the standard of electricity supply to consumers by addressing power reliability issues in areas with existing overhead infrastructure.

“The Maddington Underground Power Project will provide residents with a more reliable medium of electrical supply while ensuring improved safety and attractive streetscapes for the community,” he said.

“The City of Gosnells and Western Power Underground Power Group have done an excellent job in preparing the detailed design for the Maddington project.”

The project is expected to cost $A10.8 million, which is shared between the local council, the Western Australian Government and Western Power, and is scheduled for completion in late 2010.

The Maddington project area eligibility for this subsidy was determined by the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ Socio Economic Index for Areas.

The SUPP was established in 1996 to help improve the State’s electricity distribution network throughout Western Australia.

The Underground Power Steering Committee will also call for Expressions of Interest Proposals in the final quarter of 2009 for the upcoming Round 5 projects.


as posted here

Voting Starts ...

My Postal vote package came yesterday, and I have ticked the appropriate boxes, but the curious thing is that only my package came, my wifes does not seem to have arrived yet, I understand that different areas are sent out at different times, but I don't understand why my wife's should not be delivered on the same day, we do live in the same house and we are both on the rates as rate payers, but for some reason her package has not come, has she been denied the right to vote, we shall see ... curious thing about this election it simply requires you to tick the boxes of the 6 candidates that you would like to fill the 6 vacant positions, you must not tick more that 6 boxes, but there seems to be nothing stopping you from ticking less than 6 boxes, so if you felt that only one of the candidates was worthy of the position you could just tick one box, one imagines that the six candidates with the most ticks are elected, as we have reverted back to the first past the post system as opposed to the preferential voting system, I would predict that we will have a less than 30% uptake on the vote this year, I feel that the council could spend a lot more effort promoting these elections ...

Nature at its best

as posted here

THE City of Gosnells Eco Walks and Talks season is on again and with wildflowers in full bloom now is the time to experience nature at its brightest.

Gosnells chief executive Ian Cowie urged people not to miss the chance to enjoy walking through Ellis Brook Valley with naturalist Marc Lane and see some of Perth’s most spectacular bush reserves.

“Each walk allows you to discover new wildflowers and local birds, insects and animals,” Mr Cowie said.

“In October and November there are also night stalks at Ellis Brook Valley and Mary Carroll Park respectively, where people can bring their torches and spotlights for a guided night-time ramble to discover the local nocturnal animals.”

Mary Carroll Park is one of Perth’s main breeding wetlands and a haven for waterbirds, songbirds, migratory birds, reptiles and turtles.”

People can enjoy a range of special activities such as Breakfast with Friends on October 4, where breakfast in the park is followed by an informative walk around the lake learning about bush site rehabilitation and observing waterbirds.

Also at Mary Carroll Park on November 1, the Adventure with Nature walk offers a stroll around the lake and the opportunity to discover a unique ecosystem with naturalist Eric McCrum.

Mr Cowie said other walks included the Wetlands Ramble at the Brixton Street Wetlands in Kenwick on October 24. “This walk is followed by morning tea with live music by Peta Lithgo and Malaika,” he said.

“At the Flora Walk on November 7, people can also discover the amazing and unique plant life at Brixton Street.”

Friends of Ellis Brook Valley, Friends of Mary Carroll Park and Friends of Brixton Street Wetlands run the walks with support from the City.

For a brochure or more information contact Leisure Services on 9452 9901 or visit www.gosnells.wa.gov.au


as posted here

Report cards for schools only fair

as posted here

Educators have widely opposed the Federal Government's push to publish school performance information online at the end of this year because of fears it will stigmatise schools that perform poorly.

Teachers and principals have threatened to boycott the next round of national tests in May unless the Government passes laws to prevent the creation of so-called "league tables" that rank schools based on raw scores. They argue that "naming and shaming" struggling schools will damage students and school communities.

The new online report card will allow parents to compare all schools' performance in national literacy and numeracy tests, the percentage of students graduating from Year 12 and how well each school has progressed in lifting student performance.

Controversy on whether this should be available publicly has been red hot in the Eastern States, with NSW passing laws to fine newspapers for using the information to create league tables that compare schools.

But few from the Eastern States realise that WA has been leading the rest of the nation in giving parents access to school comparisons - and the sky has not yet fallen.

Each year, _The West Australian _publishes Year 12 academic results for private and public schools and ranks the top 50. It also prints the results of national literacy and numeracy tests from State schools. It is only fair that private schools should also have to reveal their performance.

Attempts by the teachers' union and others to prevent publication of school performance data is akin to censorship. A school can't address poor standards if it doesn't know whether they've fallen.

This newspaper has championed school transparency because public money goes into State and independent schools and the community has a right to know how well those schools are doing their job.

Critics also argue that revealing school comparisons will put too much emphasis on literacy and numeracy at the expense of other subjects.

But surely the main purpose of schooling is to ensure that children get a sound foundation in those skills. Every other part of the curriculum depends on those basics.

There are also complaints that teachers are "teaching to the test". But if setting compulsory tests requires students to learn some skills and then demonstrate them, then surely that is a positive outcome.

And if it forces schools to look at ways to improve their students' performance, even better.


as posted here