Looking ahead 2016–17

Priority activities for the Queensland Government for 2016–17 include:

Education

• delivering Advancing education: An action plan for education in Queensland and developing a suite of Advancing education supporting plans
• establishing new integrated early years services in the communities of Inala, Redlands and Tara
• opening Professional Learning Hubs to deliver high quality professional learning programs to support teachers in their local context
• building confidence and capability of parents and educators through specialist advisory services provided through the Autism Hub and Reading Centre
• releasing the 2016–17 Annual VET Investment Plan including strengthened quality measures for approved training providers
• providing early childhood literacy programs, including the National Summer Reading Club and year three of the First 5 Forever family literacy initiative, a $20 million program over four years to give families the information and tools they need to help children develop language and literacy skills through public libraries

Community

• releasing a series of transport futures discussion papers to consult with Queenslanders on the transport system’s future challenges and opportunities, with feedback informing the Queensland Transport Policy, which will establish the strategic direction for Queensland’s transport system over the next 30 years
• transitioning to the NDIS over three years 2016–17 to 2018–19
• developing and implementing a new disability plan for Queensland, building more inclusive and accessible communities and recognising Queensland’s commitment to the National Disability Strategy 2010–2020
• continuing to implement the recommendations from the report Not Now, Not Ever: Putting an End to Domestic and Family Violence in Queensland through the Queensland Domestic and Family Violence Prevention Strategy 2016–26, including
• supporting delivery of specialist and family violence courts
• enhancing capability of community justice groups located within 18 discrete Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in Queensland
• supporting the Women’s Legal Services Helpline for victims of domestic violence
• establishing a Queensland Sexual Assault Counselling Privilege legal service
• participating in High Risk Teams to provide an integrated response across Government and the community to domestic and family violence
• launching a new three-year Women on Boards Initiative, in partnership with Deloitte, to increase women’s representation in leadership
• implementing the recommendations of the Queensland Child Protection Commission of Inquiry through the Supporting Families, Changing Futures reform program, including the continued rollout of Family and Child Connect and Intensive Family Support services, as well as a range of initiatives to deliver on the intent of the reforms
• working in partnership with Family Matters to deliver an action plan for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families experiencing vulnerability to eliminate, within a generation, the over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out-of-home care
• rolling out  Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Family Wellbeing Services across the state to make it easier for families to receive the help they need quickly and efficiently, drawing from the richness and diversity in the community sector to design local responses that focus on healing support, restoring people’s social and emotional wellbeing and building the resilience of families
• facilitating the report from the advisory taskforce on the residential transition for ageing Queenslanders
• releasing the government’s strategic direction for young people, the Queensland Youth Strategy
• providing support for National Youth Week 2017 to promote the voices and achievements of young people across the state and supporting the delivery of the YMCA Youth Parliament, building the leadership and civic participation skills of young people
• delivering the Queensland Indigenous Youth leadership Program, developing the skills of our future Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders
• implementing the Multicultural Recognition Act 2016 including:
• developing a multicultural policy and action plan
• promoting the Multicultural Queensland Charter and its principles of equity, fairness, welcome and belonging across Queensland
• establishing the Queensland Multicultural Advisory Council
• celebrating the inaugural Queensland Multicultural Month, the State’s largest celebration of multiculturalism, in August 2016
• continuing funding for 19 organisations (under three-year agreements to 2017–18) to deliver activities under the Community Action for a Multicultural Society program to strengthen social connectedness
• developing and begin implementing a 10-year Queensland housing strategy
• implementing the recommendations of the Queensland Organised Crime Commission of Inquiry to tackle serious and organised crime and keep the community safe
• committing to introduce concessional public transport fares for asylum seekers and for job seekers receiving Newstart or Youth Allowance to ensure that vulnerable members of our community have equitable access to public transport
• delivering sustainable long-term funding for the legal assistance, legal profession regulation and law library services to vulnerable Queenslanders
• developing a comprehensive, whole-of-government youth justice policy to guide all government agencies to work together to support children, young people and families in contact with the youth justice system
• delivering new enhanced prisoner re-entry services to expand and specialise the delivery of offender reintegration to reduce reoffending
• engaging the community in creative programs, including the Signature Program, the Queensland Literary Awards, black&write! Indigenous writing and editing program and the Edge's Fabrication Lab

Regions

• progressing the new South East Queensland Regional Plan including
• releasing the draft for public consultation
• delivering the final plan for adoption
• commencing work on the first North Queensland Regional Plan
• implementing the Tackling Regional Adversity through Integrated Care Program in nine rural and regional Hospital and Health Services to build resilience, foster connectedness and encourage help-seeking behaviour in communities adversely impacted by droughts, natural disasters and community crises
• delivering coordinated major water and waste water infrastructure improvements in Cherbourg, Palm Island and Aurukun
• continuing work with stakeholders on North Stradbroke Island including the Quandamooka Yoolooburrabee Aboriginal Corporation, Straddie Chamber of Commerce, Redland City Council and the University of Queensland to implement the North Stradbroke Island Economic Transition Strategy to help maximise the economic, cultural and residential opportunities on the Island, and to develop a structure plan to improve living conditions for residents at the One Mile settlement
• partnering with Townsville City Council and providing $14 million in funding towards the $28 million stage 1 Townsville Waterfront Promenade project, which will encourage development opportunities along the Townsville CBD waterfront
• partnering with Townsville City Council and Townsville Airport, providing $9 million in funding towards the $10 million Townsville Airport Apron project, which will boost growth of commercial aviation operations and specialist aviation industry activities
• implementing the Advancing Our Cities and Regions Strategy, which will benefit the economy and community through renewing surplus and underutilised state-owned property
• finalising the investigation into a new State Development Area around the Port of Bundaberg to facilitate major industrial and port-related development in the area, while protecting key environmental and community values
• appointing a managing contractor for the North Queensland Stadium project, which is estimated to generate 750 jobs during the design and construction phase, with commencement of site early works anticipated by mid-2017

Economy

• implementing the Back to Work Regional Employment Package
• continuing to support the Working Queensland Jobs Plan including:
• continuing the Skilling Queenslanders for Work program
• providing additional funding to TAFE
• promoting Jobs Queensland as an independent statutory authority
• implementing the North Stradbroke Island Workers Assistance Scheme
• establishing the Ministerial Freight Council to deliver Queensland’s Freight Horizon
• appointing the Small Business Champion to provide a voice for small business
• creating a small business knowledge and data hub researching key issues impacting on Queensland small businesses, drawing on targeted research across government
• continuing to build on the Advance Queensland agenda through implementing Accelerating Advance Queensland programs that harness creativity and ingenuity to turn ideas into outcomes, build businesses, and ultimately create jobs, including:
• the Small Business Innovation Research pilot to solve Government challenges while providing commercial opportunities for business the Platform Technology Program to unlock the potential of business to innovate
• Industry Accelerators to harness existing strengths and foster new opportunities
• the Regional Innovation Hubs Program to build innovation ecosystems across the state
• The Startup Precinct, located in the historic TC Beirne building in Fortitude Valley, Brisbane
• the Chief Entrepreneur to energise Queensland’s startup sector, build collaboration and networks to support innovation, promote entrepreneurship and advocate for Queensland nationally and internationally
• implementing and delivering the new and expanded programs under the Advancing Small Business Queensland Strategy 2016–20
• developing 10-year Roadmaps and Action Plans in priority industry sectors to grow and diversify the Queensland economy
• hosting the 2016 DestinationQ Forum in Mackay
• releasing Advancing Tourism 2016–20 : Growing Queensland Jobs to develop Queensland tourism and create jobs
• rewriting the Transport Operations (Marine Safety) Act 1994 and Regulation to deal with the consequences of the transition of domestic commercial vessels safety administration to the Federal Government
• strengthening the Queensland Government's approach to open data, and boosting the availability and increasing the quality of high-value data sets
• developing a whole-of-government Trade and Investment Strategy and continue to deliver Ministerial-led missions to Queensland’s key overseas markets
• expanding Queensland’s international footprint by opening new offices in China and Singapore to maximise trade and investment opportunities.
• developing and implementing the International Education and Training Strategy to Advance Queensland 2016–26
• continuing progress on the master planning for Queensland’s priority ports under the Sustainable Ports Development Act 2015
• holding the Department of State Development Major Projects Series across Queensland
• continuing the Coordinator-General’s environmental impact assessment process for the 13 declared coordinated projects
• commencing consultation with cultural and creative industries stakeholders on a 10-year vision
• supporting Queensland’s small to medium arts sector through outcomes of the Organisations Fund
  2017–20
• expanding  the State Library of Queensland’s Business Studio to further support business, social enterprise and creative industries
• establishing a Cross River Rail Economic Development Strategy to maximise economic and social returns from the government’s investment in the Cross River Rail project

Health and wellbeing

• delivering on the $361 million strategy to tackle hospital waiting lists under the Specialist Outpatients Strategy
• delivering on a four-year plan to offer up to 4000 additional places to new Queensland nurse and midwifery graduates, and to employ 400 experienced nurses to help patients navigate the health system
• establishing the Queensland Health Export and Investment Advisory Council, representing the private sector, research community, finance sector and health services to help facilitate the export of our health service expertise and attract investment to Queensland
• releasing the Queensland Health Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Mental Health Strategy 2016–21, which focuses on improving the responsiveness of Queensland Health’s services to the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Queenslanders with severe mental illness
• releasing the Queensland Sexual Health Strategy 2016–21
• recruiting 110 additional ambulance officers to provide enhanced roster coverage to manage increasing demand for ambulance services, in addition to the 40 ambulance officers recruited in late 2015–16
• commissioning 170 new and replacement ambulance vehicles and continuing the rollout of the new power assisted stretchers that provide an enhanced work platform for paramedics and improve patient and officer safety
• undertaking minor works at various ambulance stations, and planning or delivering new and replacement ambulance stations at Collinsville, Rainbow Beach, Yandina, Bundaberg, Birtinya, Kenilworth, Coral Gardens, Wynnum, and Thursday Island
• embedding My health, Queensland’s future: Advancing health 2026, in Queensland’s health system
• continuing to implement the Refresh Nursing and Nursing Guarantee policies
• expanding the Rural Generalist Pathway to provide a training program for doctors interested in practising in rural or remote areas
• releasing the whole-of-government Queensland Suicide Prevention Action Plan 2015–17, which aims to prevent and reduce the adverse impacts of alcohol and other drugs on the health and wellbeing of Queenslanders
• identifying and reporting on indicators to measure progress towards improving mental health and wellbeing of Queenslanders, focusing on the six long-term outcomes outlined in the Queensland Mental Health, Drug and Alcohol Strategic Plan 2014–19
• implementing the suicide prevention in health services initiative, including the establishment and operation of a suicide prevention health taskforce in partnership between Queensland Health and the Primary Health Networks
• developing a Building Plan to encourage safety, fairness, innovation and sustainability in Queensland’s building and construction future which will include the development of proposals and consultation with industry, stakeholders and consumers on a wide range of reforms

Environment

• preparing for the 1 January 2017 commencement of the Biofuels Mandate set out in the Liquid Fuel Supply (Ethanol and Other Biofuels Mandate) Amendment Act 2015 by finalising the regulatory framework and implementing an extensive consumer education campaign to assist consumers to better understand ethanol-blended fuels
• facilitating investment in renewable energy, including wind farm projects through the recently delivered wind farm code and planning guideline
• providing high-resolution climate change projections for Queensland, an interactive climate change website, and regional workshops on climate change risks on a regional scale
• using innovative digital soil-mapping approaches to produce a consistent set of spatial soil data for the entire Fitzroy Basin to inform better land management practices
• undertaking reef science projects to inform land management practices and understand water quality impacts on the Great Barrier Reef
• developing a sustainable transition to 50 per cent renewable energy to create the jobs of the future, continue to boost investment, acting on climate change, and delivering value and energy system security for both customers and government

People

• developing an Indigenous Procurement Policy in response to Moving Ahead: A strategic approach to increasing the participation of Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islander people in Queensland’s economy 2016–22
• continuing to provide support and assistance for seniors, carers and volunteers
• implementing a Queensland Public Sector Inclusion and Diversity Strategy
• continuing to contribute to the child safety reform agenda initiated by the Queensland Child Protection Commission of Inquiry report.
• developing and implementing a comprehensive youth justice policy to support an effective youth justice system which reflects contemporary best practice in the management of juvenile offenders and their families, with a focus on prevention and rehabilitation
• transferring responsibility for offences committed by 17-year-olds from the adult criminal justice system to the youth justice system
• addressing recidivism by providing offenders with the opportunity to reduce reoffending through education and work programs
• developing an integrated whole-of-criminal justice strategy that identifies innovation in service delivery and a model to better manage demand across the justice system
• developing and implementing a strategy and action plan to reduce Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander over-representation in the child protection system, reduce child sexual abuse and close the gap in life outcomes for vulnerable Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, young people and families
• supporting reconciliation for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Queenslanders through the Stolen Wages Reparations Scheme
• developing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Justice Strategy, within a whole-of-government justice framework
• continuing to work with partner departments to prevent and address the impacts of domestic and family violence in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, including active involvement in the development and implementation of Integrated Service Response trials
• leading the National Indigenous Reform Agreement to close the gap in life outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Queenslanders
• working with all levels of government and the early childhood sector to close the gap in early childhood outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children
• developing an investment framework to maximise social and economic outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Queenslanders
• supporting the Government Champions Program and the-newly established Ministerial Champions Program to strengthen the whole-of-government response to improving Indigenous outcomes in discrete communities
•  implementing Aurukun’s Four Point Plan to ensure community calm and safety

Infrastructure

• implementing the State Infrastructure Plan
• finalising the Transport Coordination Plan 2016–26 to provide a strategic framework for the coordinated planning of transport in Queensland over the next decade
• delivering a long term rail strategy and investment plan 2017–47
• identifying a future planning pipeline for the development of the transport system through the delivery of Regional Transport Plans
• bringing the following to the market under the State Infrastructure Fund:
• $88.4 million (50:50 funding arrangement with the Federal Government), towards the $400 million Ipswich Motorway Upgrade: Rocklea to Darra – Stage 1, Package 1
• $95 million North Coast Rail Line productivity upgrades
• $40 million Dawson Highway (Gladstone – Biloela) bridge replacements
• $30 million Riverway Drive duplication, Townsville (Gollogly Lane – Allambie Lane)
• $22 million Kawana Way and Nicklin Way intersection improvement
• $10 million Rockhampton Road Train Access – Stage 1 improving road train access and intersection upgrades on Rockhampton-Yeppoon Road
• providing funding for Round 2 of the Federal Government’s Mobile Black Spot Program with locations to be announced in late 2016
• securing contractual close of the $3 billion Queen’s Wharf Brisbane development—the Integrated Resort Development revitalisation of an underutilised section of the Brisbane CBD
• delivering four new schools and four major school stages in 2017:
• Cairns Special School—new $25 million special school
• Redbank Plains—new primary school
• Caboolture North East—new primary school
• Bellbird Park—new secondary school
• Burpengary State Secondary College—Stage 2
• Pimpama State Primary College—Stage 2
• Pimpama State Secondary College—Stage 3
• Highfields State Secondary College—Stage 2
• planning for new schools to open in 2018, including:
• North-West Townsville—new primary school
• Coomera—new primary school
• Caloundra South—new primary school
• opening the Redcliffe Peninsula railway line
• continuing the delivery of 75 new six-car passenger trains as part of the New Generation Rollingstock project
• delivering $18.8 billion in transport infrastructure investment as outlined in the Queensland Transport and Roads Investment Program 2015–16 to 2018–19
• providing funding under the Building our Regions Regional Infrastructure Fund for local governments
• establishing the Cross River Rail Statutory Authority to deliver the Cross River Rail project
• progressing the Maturing the Infrastructure Pipeline Program with projects identified  through the consultation phase  of the State Infrastructure Plan and local government infrastructure priorities.
• progressing  the development of policy and principles which support building information modelling to enhance procurement efficiency and whole of life asset management
• establishing the Cities Transformation Taskforce to drive a whole-of-government approach to negotiating City Deals and ensuring alignment with the Queensland Government’s broader cities agenda
• preparing and signing a Townsville City Deal agreement between the Federal Government, Queensland Government and Townsville City Council
• establishing a Community Infrastructure Reference Group to assist engagement in rural, regional and metropolitan areas of Queensland
• preparing the Queensland Bulk Water Opportunities Statement as one of the Strategic Infrastructure documents to support the State Infrastructure Plan
• completing the business case for Brisbane’s new performing arts venue for Brisbane for government consideration
• finalising a Conservation Management Plan for Brisbane’s Cultural Precinct to provide a framework to manage its heritage significance and inform future planning and investment
• commencing the Cremorne Theatre refurbishment including redesign of stage and seating
• continuing to undertake the essential infrastructure upgrade program across Queensland’s premier cultural institutions on Brisbane’s South Bank
• delivering a new cost-effective, account-based ticketing system to use bus, rail, ferry and tram travel, and potentially a diverse range of transport-related services
• constructing the Commonwealth Games Village, which is estimated to generate 1500 jobs during the design and construction phase, and delivering the GC2018 competition venue program, which will generate more than 1000 jobs during the design and construction phase
• supporting local governments and private sector groups through the Catalyst Infrastructure Program by investing $59 million in the delivery of catalyst infrastructure that unlocks development and creates construction and long term employment

Governance

• making informed infrastructure decisions following the independent advice of Building Queensland, including advice on business cases of major infrastructure projects and priorities identified in the six-monthly Infrastructure Pipeline report
• continuing to work with local governments to build and maintain their capacity and assist in monitoring and managing their performance and sustainability.