News

After sweeping across Canberra and the eastern states of Australia, health and fitness leader Viva Leisure’s rapid rise continues apace - this time across the world. Viva Leisure is acquiring Australian Fitness Management Pty Ltd, which operates as master franchisor of Plus Fitness health clubs at 197 locations across Australia, New Zealand and India. AFM’s Australian presence comprises 190 centres,...

Working from home has given many of us the chance to live in our old clothes, but one Canberran has decided to instead use the lockdown to sell clothing. After returning from the United States, Tom Falco knew there was a market for fashionable clothes from many of the top US sporting teams. "It's a business idea that I've had...

Senior regional journalist and editor Kim Treasure is joining Region Media in the role of content director as the media group continues to expand across the NSW South East. Most recently, Kim was Australian Community Media's managing editor for NSW South with responsibility for around 40 mastheads. Her role will be to oversee content and staffing across the RiotACT, About...

The Canberra Times has been named as one of four Australian Community Media sites where printing is likely to cease permanently. Print production last took place at Fyshwick in April. ACM announced then that operations would be paused for at least two months, at the same time as large numbers of regional newspapers were shelved until the end of June....

Region Media has successfully accessed a grant via the Federal Government's Public Interest News Gathering program, which is designed to assist media businesses serving regional and remote parts of Australia. The grants come at a time when the future of many regional news mastheads remains uncertain. A total of 107 publishers and broadcasters will share the $50 million in Federal...

Kris Milne served in the Australian Army for 14 years. Despite the toughness and fortitude required to go on deployment to places such as East Timor, the most difficult thing he’s done is leave the army and adjust to life in a civilian job. He knew the minute he left the army he would lose his security clearance and have...

A new chatbot is helping businesses affected by COVID-19 to navigate the range of complex financial stimulus packages announced by the Federal Government. RSM Australia has launched a chatbot called RAMI, which stands for "robotic automated machine interface" and draws on an extensive knowledge bank developed by the business advisory company's financial advice experts. The chatbot operates on the RSM...

If you have ever worked as a labour-hire contractor, or applied for a contract which needs a Baseline, NV1 or NV2 Department of Defence clearance in Canberra, you will know that not having a security clearance is one of the major barriers to success. The requirement for a security clearance has been tied to a candidate occupying a position and...

Are you one of those people who joins a gym with the best intentions, train for a month or two, then find after that you’re going less often? And then your membership is up for renewal and you feel you have wasted it and are no closer to your fitness goals? Sebastian Ellis is a local business owner and qualified...

If you're in the market for a new car, there's no better time to take the plunge than at the end of the financial year, and with such a tough trading environment at the moment, dealers are more eager than ever to make a deal to move stock. Traditionally, car loans are the first option for car buyers car, but...

Canberra’s housing market is showing no signs of a slowdown and customers with mortgages are not defaulting or in housing stress, according to Bendigo Bank mobile relationship managers Bryan Dacey and Peter Grady. They attribute the absence of mortgage delinquency in Canberra to strong employment figures, but they say when COVID-19 lockdown measures came into effect, they also proactively reached...

Tarago resident Georgia Ugov is wasting no time getting on with her career. The 17-year-old is a first-year apprentice plumber with Queanbeyan-based Simmo's Plumbing who applied for the Rheem Apprentice Plumber Grants to help pay for her tools and tuition fees. She is one of only 10 people to receive the grant, which is given to chosen apprentices who demonstrate...

A home-grown IT start-up that is pioneering the management of records using artificial intelligence is poised to spread its wings overseas after rapid growth in Australia. CEO Rachel Greaves and partner and Chief Technology Officer Gavin McKay launched Castlepoint Systems about 18 months ago. Since then the company has grown from just them to a 16-strong outfit with 20 clients...

The president of the Phillip Business Community called on the ACT Government to provide more fiscal stimulus through grants to help struggling industries that have fallen through the cracks during COVID-19 restrictions. Tom Adam said the ACT should follow in the footsteps of Queensland, NSW and Victoria by providing cash grants of up to $10,000 for struggling businesses. He emphasised...

You could say Capital Chemist Calwell has a winning touch, with one of its staff members, Lucinda Kenny, being named as the best intern in Australia. Lucinda, better known as Lucy to her colleagues and friends, also has a passion for skin and dermatology and says ailments with the skin are one of the most common reasons patients come into...

Locals flock to the leafy southside suburb of Isaacs to make use of the beautiful cycling and walking trails full of lush pine forests and views over the Brindabella Range. But when it comes to amenities, the suburb has long been lacking in a vibrant local retail district. The infrastructure is there but aside from a handful of successful accounting...