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Aussies working in "priority occupations" eligible for cash increase

Thousands of hard-working Aussies who work in certain areas are now eligible for new training and support payments of up to $10,000. The initiative comes to support Australians working in sectors with a high demand for skilled workers, and a commitment to clean energy. From July 1st, thousands of apprentices working in what the government deems as “priority occupations” are eligible for the $5,000 Australian Apprenticeship Training Support Payment. If those priority occupations also offer exposure and experience in “clean energy”, apprentices are instead eligible for the more lucrative New Energy Apprenticeship Support Payment of up to $10,000. The list of "priority occupations" is extensive and includes aged care workers, arborists, bakers, beauty therapists and many more. According to the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR), the jobs are characterised by a strong current demand for skilled workers, and a strong demand expected in the future. The clean energy jobs also include many different professions, with agricultural and agritech technicians, automotive electricians, regular electricians, gas fitters, glaziers, joiners, plumbers and welders all included. The full list of priority jobs can be found on the <a href="https://www.dewr.gov.au/skills-support-individuals/resources/appendix-australian-apprenticeship-priority-list-1-january-2024" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-link-type="article-inline">Department of Employment and Workplace Relations website.</a> For the Australian Apprenticeship Training Support Payment, the $5000 payment comes in four instalments over two years, while the New Energy Apprentice Support Payment is paid out over the course of the apprenticeship — up to $5000 for part-time apprentices and up to $10,000 for full-time apprentices. It is hoped the payments will incentivise apprentices to remain on the career pathway. Image credits: Shutterstock

Money & Banking

Uninhabited island looks for new occupant

A remote and uninhabited Scottish island is looking for a live-in caretaker. With no full-time residents, Isle Martin, near Ullapool, needs someone to keep the island in good condition for visitors in the summer months. The island’s community trust is inviting individuals and couples to register their interest. Isle Martin offers visitors several hours of things to do, with two beaches, a micro museum (in a hut) and a hill that serves as a top spot for birdwatching. The island also hosts Scotland’s first seaweed festival from September 6-12, with volunteers sometimes running a pop-up café during the festivities. <img style="width: 500px; height:434.9385245901639px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7841538/_118713418_isle1.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/d1a8bf6d77a342d4b643c4c4d5f10919" /> The chosen caretaker will be the first full-time resident living on the island in 30 years, as the trust looks to generate more interest in the island. When it comes to the actual duties the caretaker will need to do, it amounts to about three hours a day. “It is a bit of housekeeping. They need to keep the three houses on the island prepared for guests, clean the public toilets, welcome visitors and make sure they are sticking to COVID safety measures,” Trust director Becky Thompson told the BBC. In return, the volunteer caretaker will be provided accommodation, earn £150 ($AUD 275) per week, and get to enjoy all the perks the island has to offer. Isle Martin is located at the mouth of Loch Broom and about 1.5km away from the mainland. The island is just 400 acres in size and sits below the cliffs of Beinn Mhor Coigach and opposite the Viking fort of Dunn Canna. Now recognised as a bird sanctuary, it has been home to a monastery, a herring curing station and a flour mill in the past. <img style="width: 390.7125700560448px; height:500px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7841537/_118713426_isle5.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/60cd17b68c404df383a11db1a720a1c4" /> The position would suit someone who enjoys the outdoors and does not need creature comforts, with no running hot water and only a small electrical charger on the island. The trust is also looking for a candidate bringing specific skills they want to share to benefit the community while living on the island. Becky Thomson said: “If someone enjoyed the land, they could revive our vegetable garden if they wanted.” She also explained why people are likely to fall in love with the place. “The sense of escape and peace and quiet,” she said. “It is so near the mainland but as soon as you land on the island it’s lovely and peaceful. There are no cars, no roads. Just quiet. That’s what people like - the feeling of restfulness.” Image credit: Isle Martin Trust

International Travel

Kyly Clarke shares her number one priority

Kyly Clarke said the biggest inspiration for her new role as the interiors judge on House Rules: High Stakes was her four-year-old daughter Kelsey Lee. In a new interview with <a href="https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/lifestyle/stellar/kyly-clarke-my-daughter-is-100-per-cent-my-priority/news-story/f69e5f1a672511a4829e070b73288690">Stellar</a>, the former wife of retired Australian cricket captain Michael Clarke said many people were not aware of her work in interior design. She began studying the trade a decade ago and launched the company Lyfestyled by Kyly Clarke in 2015. “I’m pretty much a private person in general,” Clarke said. “And maybe I haven’t shown that side of what I love doing when it comes to interiors.” She said the Channel 7’s home improvement show has a seven-month filming schedule, which provided “a beautiful balance” between her work and home life. <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/B-t3kkTApCy/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="12"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B-t3kkTApCy/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by 🖤 K Y L Y 🖤 (@kylyclarke)</a> on Apr 8, 2020 at 3:34am PDT </div> </blockquote> “I guess, why that’s so important to me is that Kelsey Lee is 100 per cent my priority. She’s this beautiful human being that I love being super-adventurous with. I will exhaust myself to give her everything I can,” Clarke said. “You create these little humans and they are following you around every single day. They are watching what you do and what you say, and they are wanting to be a little bit like you. I think it’s important I can show Kelsey Lee, just like my mum showed me, that you can achieve your career goals and have all the things you want in life by being a strong woman.”

Family & Pets

If weight loss is your only goal for exercise - it’s time to rethink your priorities

As an aesthetic society, we often <a href="https://bmcmedicine.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12916-018-1116-5">demonise body fat</a> and stigmatise people with lots of it. There’s often an assumption that people carrying excess weight don’t exercise and must be unhealthy. But that’s not true: you can be fat and fit. In fact, as we age, <a href="https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.111.038422">low levels of fitness can be more harmful to our health</a> than high amounts of fat. For those considering starting exercise, try looking beyond weight loss for motivation. No matter how much you weigh, there are always benefits to exercise. Exercise actually does a <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24438736">pretty poor job</a> of getting us to expend enough excess energy to lose weight. This is partly due to a <a href="https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article-abstract/110/3/583/5512180?redirectedFrom=fulltext">compensatory effect</a> of our appetite, which increases after we exercise. Exercise changes our body composition – how much fat we have as a ratio to how much lean (muscle) tissue we have – but this doesn’t always cause big changes on the scales. Here are just five ways exercise improves our health, no matter how much we weigh. 1. Better cardiorespiratory fitness Cardiorespiratory fitness is a measure of how far and hard you can run without needing to stop, or how many stairs you can climb without being out of breath. Running for longer, or climbing more stairs, means you have a higher absolute cardiorespiratory fitness which cannot be improved with weight loss alone. Having a high body mass index (BMI) may reduce the absolute intensity you can exercise but it doesn’t mean it is less effective. You may be able to jog between every third lamppost, for example, but not run consistently for 1 km. While it may seem the periodic jogging is not as impressive, it’s all relative to your baseline and any exercise is better than none. If you’re carrying a lot of excess weight, you might prefer non-weight bearing exercise such as swimming or cycling indoors to minimise stress on your joints – but this will depend on you and what you like doing. After all, you’re <a href="http://file.scirp.org/Html/5-6901353_53271.htm">more likely to continue</a> exercising if you enjoy it. If you’re thinking “but I hate running/swimming/cycling/dancing and I’d rather lift weights”, then lift weights! Although lifting weights doesn’t have the same effects as cardio training, the benefits are still as important for mobility, joint function and maintaining muscle mass as we age 2. Lowered risk of heart disease a.nd stroke Exercise <a href="https://www.health.harvard.edu/family-health-guide/exercise-and-the-risk-of-stroke-heart-disease-the-family-healthguide">reduces the risk</a> of heart disease and stroke, even in those with a chronic disease such as diabetes, irrespective of body fatness. Regular exercise <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23494259">helps lower</a> blood pressure, improves delivery of blood throughout the body, and reduces inflammation, even in those with a high body mass index. Exercise improves our body’s ability to use energy. We store large amounts 3. Reducing the ‘bad’ fat of energy as fat, which is quite hard to break down, as it costs a lot of oxygen compared to “cheaper” fuels for the body to use like glucose. But when we exercise regularly, we <a href="https://www.physiology.org/doi/full/10.1152/ajpendo.00355.2012">increase our body’s ability</a> to use fat as a fuel source as well as <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18272935">requiring more energy</a> at rest. This doesn’t necessarily mean more exercise equals more fat loss, but it does mean more fat turnover, and typically less fat stored in and around the organs (the “bad” visceral fat). 4. Mental health benefits Research has <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpsy/article/PIIS2215-0366(18)30227-X/fulltext">consistently shown</a> that people who exercise (regardless of body size and shape) have <a href="https://www.karger.com/Article/Abstract/223730">better mental health</a> and lower levels of stress, depression and emotional problems. It does this via blood flow to the brain, increased release of endorphins that make us feel happy, and by helping to moderate the brain’s response to stress. Often, the hardest part is getting started with exercise or going to perform the exercise, but once you are moving the mental health benefits begin.’ 5. Preventing weight gain While exercise may not help us lose a lot of weight on the scales, it’s a <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/oby.21986">good way</a> to keep weight off and prevent weight regain. Regular exercise continues to encourage the body to use stored fuels and remodel tissues (such as muscle) to grow healthier and stronger. But preventing weight regain is tough. People who have lost weight <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17909412?dopt=Abstract">may need greater amounts of exercise</a> to counteract the physiological drive to return to the heavier body weight. If you need some extra help getting started or finding a routine that suits you, talk to your GP or consider seeing an <a href="https://www.essa.org.au/Public/Consumer_Information/What_is_an_Accredited_Exercise_Physiologist_.aspx">accredited exercise physiologist</a>. Written by Evelyn Parr. Republished with permission of <a href="https://theconversation.com/if-weight-loss-is-your-only-goal-for-exercise-its-time-to-rethink-your-priorities-120083">The Conversation.</a>

Beauty & Style

The correlation between occupations and divorce

If it’s happily ever after you want, get yourself down to the dentist, optometrist or podiatrist to find a match. And whatever you do, don’t get involved with a bartender, dancer or choreographer. That’s the findings from the latest research on the correlation between occupation and divorce/separation rates. The study, published in the Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology, showed that the marital breakdown rate for dentists was 7.75 per cent; 6.8 per cent for podiatrists, and only four per cent for optometrists. The very best occupation for a reliable partnership, though, was an agricultural engineer, with just a two per cent failure rate for marriages. Compare that to the dancers, choreographers and bartenders and you’ll find they have almost a 40 per cent chance of parting ways. The study’s co-author, Dr Michael Aamodt, devised a formula to determine the success of a marriage based on just one of the partner’s occupations, using US census data. He hoped to disprove the myth that police officers were more likely to divorce. His results showed that overall, law enforcement personnel were in fact less likely to break up than the general population (14.5 per cent vs 16.35 per cent). It makes sense that our work life affects our home life, when you consider we spend such a large proportion of our time working. When you look at the occupations that have a higher rate of marriage breakdown, it appears that people in those jobs are social, and have more opportunities to meet new people on a regular basis. They’re also more likely to be physically close to others – think dancers, bartenders and massage therapists, which could lead to their higher than average rates of marriage breakdown, if infidelity is the issue. Another factor that seems to affect the rate of breakdown in a partnership is stress at work. Jobs such as psychiatry and nursing are stressful, often with long hours, and require a lot of care to be given to patients. It’s common for people in these professions to feel as though they are nurturing and caring for patients all day, so that when it comes time to do the same for their partner at home they can feel exhausted and deficient. What the data doesn’t explain though is whether these specific jobs lead to marriage breakdown, or whether those people who are more likely to be in unstable relationships end up being drawn to these professions. It would appear that some jobs attract a certain type of person – for instance you would assume that a dentist would be less impulsive and reckless than a celebrity sportsperson. The skills that are needed to perform their job, when translated into a relationship, could tell you a bit about what they will be like as a partner. Related links: <a href="/lifestyle/relationships/2016/01/how-to-make-love-last/"></a> <a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/lifestyle/relationships/2016/03/secret-to-long-and-happy-marriage/">Secret to couple’s 60-year marriage</a> <a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/lifestyle/relationships/2016/03/wedding-photos-gone-wrong/">When wedding photos go wrong</a> <a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/lifestyle/relationships/2016/02/why-we-stay-in-bad-relationships/">Why we stay in bad relationships</a>

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