Since inception, Rex has pursued passenger growth in its existing routes by increasing flight frequency and keeping fares affordable.  Despite being the sole provider of regional air services on 32 of its 38 routes, Rex has reduced average fare prices by more than 20% over the last four years and increased the frequencies and passenger numbers by close to 80% for many of its routes. Rex embarks on a strategy of controlled and sustainable growth and targets to grow measuredly about 10-15% each year. As a result of this strategy Rex’s network passenger numbers have grown from around 600K to more than 1.3M per year.

In 2007, Rex started its own pilot training school to address the chronic global shortage of pilots.  In April 2008, Rex announced the full ownership of the pilot training academy previously called the Civil Aviation Training Academy (CATA). The academy has since been renamed Australian Airline Pilot Academy (AAPA) and was situated at Mangalore airport, Victoria, one and a half hours from Melbourne CBD. In April 2009, the academy was officially relocated to Wagga Wagga, NSW onto a temporary site while awaiting the completion of a brand new state-of-the-art 2.5 hectare training facility.

The academy provides high quality professional airline pilot training in a full time residential-style environment over a 32-week period and to date around 65 Rex cadet pilots have been inducted into the academy with around two thirds having already graduated.

Rex has grown strongly since its inception, achieving profits and return on capital that legacy carriers find hard to duplicate and this viability has a direct community through being able to sustainably provide critical and essential regional air services.

www.rex.com.au

The story can be viewed online at: http://au.video.yahoo.com/watch/5018306/13349006

Further to this television coverage, Graham Turner has been interviewed on ABC radio in Victoria and South Australia concerning an interesting Charles Sturt University study on Tree Change motivations and outcomes in rural NSW and North-East Victoria. A significant proportion of Tree Changers interviewed for the study had ‘jumped in’ to their move without conducting detailed research about their destination, and had subsequently been disappointed with their move – particularly the welcome they had received from the local community. For more about this study, see:
http://news.csu.edu.au/director/features.cfm?itemID=A7985DEEBC7F264E51062F1BA068786C
and
http://www.smh.com.au/national/rural-life-not-so-sweet-20090418-aarr.html

Keep an eye and an ear out for more media interest in Live the Dream in coming weeks!

The C Change Bureau, or Country Change, is an initiative of the Riverina Regional Development Board, which is supported by the NSW Department of State and Regional Development and 19 Councils in the Riverina and Murray regions of NSW.

The project addresses the skills shortages currently facing regional and rural communities in the southern and central regions of NSW and aims to promote the benefi ts of lifestyle and employment opportunities.

The Riverina and Murray region, located in south western NSW, stretches from the scenic foothills of the Snowy Mountains to the tranquility of the wide, western plains. It includes gateways to the NSW snowfi elds, takes in the prosperous and diverse agricultural region of the Murrumbidgee and Murray Irrigation Areas and borders a natural wonderland that still bears the traces of ancient origins.

The region is a showcase of spectacular scenery, gourmet food and wine, historic landmarks and museums, arts and crafts, adventure and sports and legendary country hospitality. It is easily accessible by major highways from Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide or Canberra and is well serviced by air, coach and rail services.

Living and working in country NSW off ers many lifestyle benefi ts: more time to spend with family and friends, a healthier lifestyle, fresh air, space, engagement with the community, and a much more manageable work-life balance.

The current skills shortage means that there are great jobs on off er to go with the great lifestyle.

We know many people have never visited regional NSW to fully appreciate the wonderful lifestyle enjoyed by the several hundreds of thousands of people living and working in the Riverina and Murray in particular. These two connected regions are leading NSW in population growth statistics and many of the region’s industries are growing and developing at a strong rate, increasing demand for skilled workers.

The C Change Bureau exists to provide a port of call for information about the occupations in demand in the region, together with the wonderful lifestyle and friendly atmosphere found everywhere from Tumut to Tumbarumba in the foothills of the Snowy Mountains to Hay and the South Western plains; from the tree lined streets of the university City of Wagga Wagga, the oasis of Leeton and Griffi th and the cross-border cities of Albury- Wodonga and the many towns in between.

See the change, live the difference. Get a life… a country life! For more information about the C Change Bureau, visit: www.cchange.org.au

Move to the rhythms of the river, enjoy the abundant local produce, experience the cosmopolitan surroundings, soak up the sun and explore the opportunities… Mildura has it all.

At the heart of Australia’s most important river system, at the junction of major highways and transport corridors and boasting a sunny, Mediterranean climate, the Mildura region is a rapidly growing regional centre with something for everyone.

The region boasts a range of medical specialties, excellent recreation infrastructure, sporting grounds, tertiary education providers, services and friendly people that make it a great place to live. Victoria’s busiest regional airport, an hour’s fl ight from Melbourne and Adelaide, makes the region easily accessible.

If it’s leisure you seek, the region is renowned for its produce, events and festivals and hospitality. Why not enjoy the unique experience of hiring a houseboat on the river, or check out the restaurants, wineries and farms on which the region’s reputation for culinary excellence is founded. Or simply unwind on the banks of the Murray and watch the world go by.

Mildura’s surrounds are a picturesque carpet of vines and orchards, building on the region’s cosmopolitan feel and appeal. The region’s spectacular Mallee national parks are a must for lovers of the great outdoors and the region’s sunsets are a renowned aspect of the scenery.

The region’s commercial and industrial sectors continue to grow rapidly with new land releases, infrastructure projects such as the Mildura Marina, the world’s largest photovoltaic solar power station, the development of excellent conferencing facilities for business, more affordable property prices and the rapid diversification of the region’s economy all playing a part.

A comprehensive program of sporting, arts and culture, community and showcase events makes Mildura arguably Australia’s inland events capital. From cycling to jazz, country music to classical, cricket to performing arts, the Master’s Games to street parties – not to mention Ouyen’s famous Vanilla Slice Triumph – there’s something happening all year around!

Discover Mildura – the ideal place to live, work, visit, invest and grow.

for more information:

www.visitmildura.com.au

www.milduraregion.com.au

www.milduraevents.com.au

CQ Nurse Founder Kim Estell

According to Kim Estell, founder of nationwide nursing agency CQ Nurse, nursing can be a passport to travel, choice and opportunity.

If you want to know about nursing in the bush, talking to someone who grew up travelling around town in an ambulance would seem a good place to start. Enter Kim Estell, founder and Director of one of Australia’s leading nursing agencies, CQ Nurse.

A second generation nurse, Kim spent her childhood in far-fl ung outposts like the Pilbara in Western Australia and Weipa in North Queensland, where she saw fi rst hand what country nursing was really all about.

“My mother was the nurse in a two-nurse post for a number of years,” Kim explains. “So, while most kids got to go to the swimming pool in the family station wagon, I got to go in the ambulance. You inherently understand how these remote and rural communities work after you have lived in a couple of them and you defi nitely understand how disruptive and adrenalin-pumping it can be to work after hours on call”.

With this background, it was something of a natural progression for Kim, after establishing her own nursing career, to branch out into the area of nursing recruitment.

In 2002 she launched CQ Nurse, a specialist agency placing nurses in rural and remote communities throughout Australia. Her childhood experiences coupled with her own nursing background gave her a unique perspective and business edge. This saw CQ Nurse grow exponentially over the next six years into a thriving and cutting-edge enterprise, placing nursing staff in posts throughout the nation in settings as diverse as resort islands, outback indigenous communities and country towns.

“The problem for the rural and remote health facilities is that they do not have the advantage of calling in casuals if somebody is sick or needs leave,” Kim says. “Their isolation creates a vulnerability that most other services cannot even imagine.”

In just six years, CQ Nurse has grown from a one-woman post to a national company supporting an office staff of 20 with a database encompassing hundreds of nurses. It continues to grow, placing nurses around Australia from Tassie to the Top End and from the West Coast to the Whitsundays. And, in an industry fi rst for Queensland, it was recently awarded a Quality Endorsement from the peak industry body, Recruitment and Consulting Services Association (RCSA).

“I think in part our success comes from the value we place on our staff ,” Kim says. “We like to send the nurses out very well informed about where they are going. For example, it might be that the only internet access available is at the local library or there may be no banks in the town. And then, clinically, they may be the only medical facility for miles, which will require a greater level of nursing experience than a less isolated post.

“We also have dedicated office staff who provide ongoing support for nurses on placements and we are one of the few nursing agencies in Australia to employ a full-time Education Coordinator to assist with our nurses’ professional development. These are both very important aspects of living and working in environments that can be both socially and professionally isolating.

Kim suggests that people planning to make a move to the country or a remote area need to do some research about the community and what it off ers. “And know your own limitations – what sort of setting you would feel comfortable in both socially and from a professional viewpoint,” she adds. “Little things can make a diff erence too. For example, groceries may be very expensive, or if you’re travelling with children with special needs, appropriate services may be harder to find.”

Some nurses see an agency like CQ Nurse as an opportunity for travel and adventure, and Kim says they are happy to suggest places off ering a good opportunity to see the country. But on the other hand, there are nurses who will decide to work in rural and remote areas for the very real and rewarding professional development opportunities this presents. The truth is that both are very valid and rewarding courses to take. A lot of it just comes down to being real about your own expectations.

“Aside from the travel aspects, rural and remote nursing aff ords practitioners a far greater degree of autonomy than exists in larger cities,” she suggests. “This is both challenging and rewarding and does require broad-based nursing skills.

“In some of the areas our nurses go, they are the only medical help available for miles. This means their assessment skills are honed and they really need to work in with the community to provide holistic care. It’s not just about the patient, but the nurse also needs the ability to communicate and network with families, community members, the patient’s broader social network and other health professionals who may be thousands of kilometres away.

“This can be quite an isolating and challenging experience, and yet the paradox is that this very isolation and the stretching of one’s skills is what makes rural and remote nursing so professionally rewarding – the sense of knowing you have really made a diff erence and done something signifi cant with your skills and life.”

And from the community’s perspective, the benefi ts of a long term, stable health professional are endless. Research has repeatedly shown this stability enhances health outcomes, especially in children. This is partly because the practitioner has the opportunity to really attune themselves to the dynamics of the community and the individuals it encompasses, but also because trust is built and anxiety reduced from the community’s perspective. The nurse becomes an integral part of the community in a very meaningful way.

“In addition, with the benefi t of time, nurses can look at community education,” Kim says. “Even something as simple as a program teaching people to wash their hands before meals can lead to a huge reduction in diarrhoea and vomiting cases. And the consistency of follow-up and regular health checks is invaluable to the long-term health outcomes of a community.”

While the caring face of nursing hasn’t really changed over the years, the technology certainly has. And with the rise of Nurse Practitioners (highly qualifi ed nurses who have a greater degree of autonomy in practice, including authorisation to administer some levels of prescription drugs), the future of bush nursing is bright.

“Nurses in remote and rural locations now have access to teleconferencing and videoconferencing which links practitioners and families to specialists in capital cities,” Kim says. “This means patients can receive a comprehensive service without the inconvenience and disruption of excessive travel. For example, in some rural areas an adult with brittle diabetes could begin treatment in his home town under the supervision of the local nurse, overseen by a specialist based in a capital city.”

As populations in the bush decline, opportunities for Nurse Practitioners will increase, due to the shrinking health services off ered. “With the support of the technology available, I believe this will take nursing to a whole new level and is a very rewarding way forward for well-skilled nursing staff ,” Kim adds. “It also paints a positive picture for rural and remote communities who will benefi t with quality health services on their doorstep. Let’s face it, you can’t expect someone to drive four hours after a car accident to have an x-ray examined or for treatment of a convulsing child.

“Overall bush nursing is certainly not without its diffi culties but there are great personal and professional rewards for those willing to accept the challenges and make a diff erence.”

For more about CQ Nurse, visit: www.cqnurse.com.au

As a 15-year old, Peter Meyer’s imagination was captured by Out of Africa, the Hollywood adaptation of Karen Blixen’s tale of colonial Kenya. In particular, he was inspired by the portrayal of the safari-leading big-game hunter Denys Finch Hatton. It may seem like a rather tenuous connection to draw, but Meyer couldn’t help thinking of Hatton when he set out on his own real life adventure in 1996, swapping life in Brisbane for a job as an eco-ranger at the Kingfi sher Bay Resort on Queensland’s worldheritage- listed Fraser Island.

Having graduated from Griffi th University in 1995 with degrees in ecology and biochemistry, Peter had until then been a bit of a jack-of-all-trades. He helped out with his father’s engineering business, worked at a delicatessen and also dabbled in roof installation. Nothing felt quite right. But when somebody told him about the work of the eco-rangers at Kingfi sher Bay, something clicked. “Straight away I thought ‘that’s what I want to do’,” Peter recalls. “I didn’t actually realise there were jobs like that in the world. I liked the idea of teaching people about the environment and I felt that this was certainly the best way I could do it.”

While his initial overtures to the rangers department were fruitless, persistence paid off . By the start of 1996, a part-time opportunity allowed Peter to work his way into a full-time role. His life on Fraser Island involved escorting visitors on guided tours showcasing the Island’s beauty. With about 1,500 kilometres of….

For full story the magazine can be purchased from newsagents.

For more about Peter Meyer’s photography, visit: www.livinggallery.com.au

www.frasercoast.qld.gov.au

One of the best indicators of a strong community is the desire of those who grew up there to return to raise their own families. Recent trends show that this is indeed true of Burnie, located on Tasmania’s north west coast. Burnie has a reputation as a place for growing a safe, healthy and happy family.

Infamous in the 1980s as ‘Australia’s Dirtiest City’, Burnie is now reinventing itself as a city by the sea, embracing a northfacing waterfront and beaches as well as its green and fertile hinterland. This resulted in the city being a national finalist for the Australian Sustainable Cities Award.

Burnie boasts a backyard containing Cradle Mountain, Tasmania’s wild West Coast and the Tarkine wilderness. Tasmania has a reputation for being clean and green, and the North West region is also considered by some to be the food basket of Australia.

As a regional service hub, Burnie is home to the region’s base hospital, as well as a campus of the University of Tasmania. It also has a vibrant commercial and retail sector serving a region of over 100,000 people.

Burnie is regarded as one of Tasmania’s safest communities, with one of the lowest rates of personal and property crime in Australia. It also has a vibrant sporting, arts and cultural sector led by a number of dynamic community organisations and clubs strongly supported by local government.

Major sporting events include the ‘Burnie 10’ footrace and ‘Burnie Wheel’ cycle race. There is a strong emphasis on junior sports development in the city, evidenced by the large number of young people who represent the State in their chosen sport.

The nationally acclaimed Burnie Youth Choir, Creative Paper Tasmania and the Burnie Print Prize are all indicators of the energy of the local arts and cultural community. There are also a number of enviable facilities to support these activities, including the Burnie Regional Art Gallery.

Burnie has a strong history of high educational achievement, with graduates from local senior secondary colleges now making their mark in a range of industry sectors across the globe. Secondary and senior secondary schools off er a broad curriculum and provide students with opportunities for national and international exposure. Tasmania’s senior secondary education system is currently being enhanced to ensure Tasmanian students are leaders in academic and vocational achievement.

The pace of life is relaxed with a country feel. The peakhour rush is most probably going to be you or your children participating in the local surf life-saving club activities, which occur right on the edge of the CBD. So if you want to give your family the best chance to grow in what can be a chaotic, dangerous and crazy world, why not make a true home in Burnie.

For more information, visit: www.burnie.net or contact Burnie Council’s Director of Community and Economic Development (rgreene@burnie.net) to discuss the opportunities.

A move to Narromine added up nicely for maths teacher Dean Leite

Rural schools can place teachers on the fast-track to professional development opportunities.

Be it a friendly smile from a stranger or socialising at the local club, rural towns are pushing open their doors to off er a warm welcome to newcomers from the city.
Teachers in public education, in particular, are fi nding the move an easy decision to make, especially if they’re considering relocation to areas of high staffi ng need, such as non-coastal rural regions.
Growing up in the leafy Sydney suburb of Peakhurst, teaching beginner Dean Leite never imagined his career would take him over 400 kilometres away from his hometown to the fl at plains of western NSW. A teaching scholarship recipient, Dean took up a secondary mathematics position in 2006 at Narromine High School and discovered the great rewards a rural lifestyle has to offer.
Dean quickly learned how seamlessly both school and community coexist in a small town. “It’s so easy to make friends with people and you really get to know the parents of your students very quickly,” he says. “It’s an extremely friendly atmosphere.”
In particular, Dean has discovered it’s the small things in rural communities that make being a teacher enjoyable. “I love almost every aspect of teaching rurally, but it’s the little things like students asking you to watch them play sport on the weekend that really mean something,” he explains. “Having the students want you there to watch, and then seeing them really excited when you show up, makes you realise the difference you make.”
Dean believes his students benefi t from the social activities that both the teachers and students attend within the local community. This social interaction not only supports his role in the community as a teacher but also allows him to build a stronger rapport with his students. “Taking that extra effort to watch them play a sport, or just talk to them in the street, really makes them feel important,” he says.
With such strong aspirations to perfect his craft, Dean is benefi ting from a variety of professional development opportunities available in his school. In addition to teaching secondary mathematics, Dean currently supports his school as a year adviser and has spent three terms relieving as Head Teacher Administration. Competition for these opportunities, he believes, is much tougher in larger city schools.
Dean’s rural move has also facilitated his fi nancial goal of buying a house, a dream still out of reach for many of his city peers. “As a 25-year-old, it would be impossible to even consider buying a house in Sydney, yet last year I was able to buy a brand new duplex here in Narromine,” he says. “The cheaper cost of either buying a house or rural rent is a major fi nancial incentive.”
Living so close to work, Dean also benefi ts from lower fuel costs and receives a variety of rural teaching incentives from the NSW Department of Education and Training.
If you’re a city teacher keen to try a country lifestyle; or a beginning teacher looking to expand your professional development and career advancement opportunities; or a graduate teacher exploring your career options, teaching in non-coastal rural areas in particular can off er benefi ts, incentives and rewards not available in coastal locations. Check out the rural teaching possibilities open to you at:

www.teach.nsw.edu.au/ruralteaching.

Maybe it’s the big open spaces; it could be those green hills; that big river’s probably got a bit to do with it; perhaps it’s the sound of the ocean; is it the idea of home-delivered groceries, or is it the Clarence vibe that has everyone talking? More likely it’s all of these things.
The Clarence is not just one thing – it’s many, with loads of lifestyle choices and options. In fact it has 43 town, village and city locations for you to explore. Not often will you fi nd rugged wilderness, rural lots, river towns, tiny villages, beach hamlets and vibrant urban settings all in the one region – but you can in the Clarence.
Located on the north coast of NSW, the Clarence has a definite spirit, character and sense of community – the stuff that dreams are made of really. If you thought all of that was gone for good then come take a look around.
The Clarence is home to the famous Yamba prawn (yum!), the Wooli oyster, fringe festivals, Jacaranda Queens, more sport than there are days in the week to play, great schools, an awardwinning regional gallery, affordable housing – and has the added bonus of being just three hours down the road from south-east Queensland.
Think about it – you could stay in the city and listen to the traffic or go home at the end of each day and get the board out for a surf, watch the sunset across the mighty Clarence River while you catch your fresh fish dinner, or just soak up the sound of silence.
We’re 51,000 people strong and growing. See you soon in the Clarence to get your slice of the good life on the deck chair.

Clarence Valley Council

Economic Development Team

Locked Bag 23, Grafton NSW 2460

P: 02 6643 0200

F: 02 6642 7647

e: edu@clarence.nsw.gov.au

www.clarence.nsw.gov.au

Erik Muilenburg has come a long way to finally find his home in Tasmania. Born in the Netherlands in the 1960s, Erik emigrated to Western Australia with his family in the late 1970s before meeting his future wife, Thelma, ten years later. The couple have now been living in Circular Head in far-north-west Tasmania for more than five years, and they love the laid-back lifestyle.
The Muilenburgs had purchased a house in Perth in the late 1980s, “just as the interest rates skyrocketed to 18 per cent,” Erik, then working as a carpenter, recalls. “We had to sell our house and then looked around for a place in which to make a fresh start and live the Australian dream.”
The couple were keen to fi nd a place where they could get away from the hassles of big-city life on the mainland and in 1989 they moved to Launceston. Eleven years later, keen for a career change, Erik enrolled at the University of Tasmania, gaining a degree in Education.
“After graduating from university at the end of 2001, I looked for a job as a mathematics teacher,” Erik explains. “An opening came up here in the Circular Head Christian School, so in February 2002 we moved to Smithton with our four sons. Thelma later got a job at the school as a teacher’s aide.”
The family love the unhurried lifestyle of Circular Head and the extraordinary natural beauty of the State’s far-north-west. Smithton is surrounded by beautiful green farmland, lovely thick forests, beautiful beaches and remarkable seascapes with great thundering surf.

“The most remarkable thing that we find about living in Circular Head is that it has a real country and community atmosphere,” Erik says. “People greet each other in the street. Life in town is relaxed, and if the kids want to go to the cinema or Thelma wants some serious retail therapy, the city of Burnie is less than an hour away.”
The Muilenburgs’ four sons also love the country life. “Our oldest child is still living in Smithton while undertaking a university degree at the University of Tasmania’s Cradle Coast Campus in Burnie, which is less than an hour away,” Erik says. “Our second eldest child has gained full-time employment in an established retail business in town and our two youngest sons are still attending school.”
The family have never regretted moving from Western Australia to Tasmania. “As much as some people are led to believe that Circular Head is isolated, Smithton has all your basic needs with three supermarkets, great cafes to catch up with friends for a coff ee and a variety of boutique shops,” Erik enthuses. “It’s also a great place to bring up children, as the fi nancial pressures of keeping up with busy city lifestyles just don’t exist here.
“It’s great to live in a place where people look out for each other and rally together, especially in times of need, which is something you don’t always get living in the bigger cities. We love it here!”

Head for the Nut

Circular Head’s beautiful coastline is one of the longest in Tasmania and its fertile soils, coupled with a gently undulating landscape, support more than 30 per cent of the State’s dairy farms. The area gained its name from the unusual land formation commonly known as ‘The Nut’ at Stanley, the solidifi ed lava lake of a long-extinct volcano sighted by Bass and Flinders on their historic circumnavigation of Tasmania in 1798.
The municipality off ers a wide variety of work options. Its diverse industries include dairy and prime beef production, commercial fi shing and aquaculture, agriculture, forestry and timber production, iron ore pelletising, vegetable processing, manufacturing and tourism, along with a myriad of supporting businesses. The quality of Circular Head’s land and ocean produce is well-known, with much exported to domestic and international markets.
For locals, Circular Head off ers a variety of competitive sport and general recreation options. During the winter months men’s and women’s hockey is particularly popular, along with football. In the summer, residents take advantage of the long daylight hours and warmer weather, enjoying leisurely walks in rich forests or taking relaxing strolls along the coastline.
There is plenty of culture to be found. Top of the list is the historic colonial township of Stanley, just 15 minutes’ drive from the administrative centre of Smithton. Locals and visitors alike can challenge themselves with a steep walk (or leisurely chairlift ride) to the top of the Nut, or just admire the many historic buildings along the main street. In season, seals, penguins and other wildlife can be seen in their natural environments. Afterwards, enjoy a delicious meal or a coff ee in one of the town’s many cafes.
Circular Head is blessed with some of the world’s cleanest air, courtesy of the Roaring 40s, along with a cool temperate climate and regular rainfall, especially during the winter months. It is home to one of Australia’s largest wind farms, Woolnorth, which supplies 12 per cent of Tasmania’s residential energy needs. At the far north-west tip of the municipality is Australia’s only Baseline Air Pollution Station, Cape Grim, which measures global atmospheric composition. Cape Grim was one of the fi rst fi ve Baseline Stations established worldwide.
Circular Head is located just one hour west of Burnie, one of Tasmania’s largest regional cities. For those heading to the mainland, Burnie-Wynyard Airport provides 55-minute direct flights to Melbourne and beyond.