The AEPMA National Office will be closed over the Christmas and New Year period from

Friday 18th December – 11th January 2021

During this time however we will be still monitoring our emails and will do our best to answer any questions in a timely fashion!  

For urgent matters please contact our Executive Director Stephen Ware on 041 8976643

AEPMA Pesticon 2021 – Pest Management in the Digital Age

With the reopening of State Borders, AEPMA is pleased to announce planning for Pesticon 2021 has recommenced.  

The event will be held on 22-24 September 2021 at The Star, Gold Coast, QLD.  

The key message for the conference is “Pest Management in the Digital Age” and will include outstanding and interesting presenters, with up to the minute topics and workshops to help you and your business stay relevant in this rapidly changing world.  The Exhibition Hall will again be the hub of activity at the conference, with manufacturers and suppliers showcasing the latest products and services.

Now, more than ever, Pesticon 2021 will provide an ideal networking opportunity for those in the industry to come together to share their knowledge and experience.

Keep an eye on the conference website over the coming months for further details regarding the event.

We are pleased to announce that the 2021/2022 membership fees have not increased for the 2021/2022 membership period.

The renewal invoices will be sent to all members on the 1st February.  

SAVE TIME – RENEW ONLINE! 

1. Go to www.aepma.com.au
2. Click on Industry Portal
3. Log in with your username and password (valid for current members)
4. Click on “Manage My Account”, then go to “Memberships”, click on “Renew/Upgrade” button 
5. Fill in the online payment form
6. Your membership will automatically be updated
7. IMPORTANT – Check your profile details and amend if necessary.

AEPMA QLD Branch update - Shane Osborne & Peter May

Qld AEPMA Branch General Meeting on 26/11/20 at Gino’s Italian Restaurant was a good way to round off what has been a difficult year for most us. 

The event was well attended and offered an opportunity to review the past year and plan for a better 2021.  Recent contact with Queensland Health confirmed their continued focus on COVID, and together with the additional delays due to the Queensland state elections, the regulations relating to pest management resulting from the new Act have yet to be finalised.  

Biosecurity Queensland (DAF) have continued with training and promotion of self-treatment of red imported fire ants (RIFA) that has resulted in some additional work for pest managers. 

National update confirmed AEPMA’s continued focus on training and licencing, and the importance of codes of practice as a means to improve standards within the industry.  

This included a discussion of the need to regularly update the CoP, with particular reference to the rodent control CoP.  

Next Qld Branch meeting will be via Teams on 11/2/21 commencing at 0730.  The AEPMA Qld committee wish all members a safe and happy Christmas and a healthy and prosperous 2021.  

NSW / ACT - Patrick Legey & Gary Stephenson

A virtual AEPMA NSW ACT Branch meeting was held on Zoom on Tuesday 24 November 2020.
After a technical problem the week before all went well and thank you Kylee Enwright for organising the meeting. We had a turnout of 7 delegates.

Discussions took place on Codes of Best Practice. A lot of work is being done on the Review of some of these Codes.

Read more here 

Victoria

See the attached Flyer which outlines Free Essentials Membership for our Members with $700 Credit for Training VCCI Events included.  If Members see value they can Upgrade to a Complete Membership at a discounted rate.

Agserv - Pestech 2020 Digital Trade Show Now On!

With our major sponsor presentations now wrapped up, Agserv would like to invite you to visit our Pestech 2020 Digital trade show sponsors.

The tradeshow is a key feature of our regular Pestech events, giving pest managers the opportunity to catch up with a wide range of suppliers including chemical manufacturers, insurers, equipment suppliers, software suppliers and more.

Over the coming weeks, we will be adding short, sharp and shiny presentations and special offers from many of our regular trade show sponsors. Click the Pestech 2020 link to check it out and be sure to check back regularly for more great offers and presentations.....

Overview 

The Fair Work Commission (FWC) as part of its statutory duties was required by s.156 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act) to conduct a 4 yearly review of all Modern Awards. In accordance with this obligation the 4 yearly review commenced in 2014, and has now been nearly completed, some 6 years after its commencement. It should be a matter of relief to AEPMA and its members that the Act has been changed and there is no longer an obligation on the FWC to conduct a new 4 yearly review of all awards. 

As part of this 4 yearly review, the FWC considered all awards of the FWC, and decided to undertake a plain English drafting of awards and an examination of awards to remove ambiguities and uncertainties. This process included some rewording of some provisions, the introduction of ‘new’ template clauses, the insertion of new schedules as well as the reorganisation and restructuring of awards to reduce the difficulty in reading and understanding the serious legal obligations created by awards. Of course, we have also had the COVID-19 pandemic and the introduction of even more schedules and provisions to allow for more flexible working. 

The ‘goal’ of the rewriting of these awards was not necessarily to introduce new rights or obligations, but rather to express existing rights (and obligations) in clear and plain English. In most award proceedings various parties had put forward ‘claims’ to change or amend award terms, and generally, these were dealt with on their merits. In the Pest Control Industry Award there was very little change in the actual terms or words used, though there was quite substantial reorganisation of the award. 

The 2 versions of the Pest Control Industry Award we have used are the current award, as at 20 November 2020 (copy available here) and the ‘last’ version of the 2010 Award, as at 27 April 2020 (copy available here).

Read more here

Commonwealth has a dedicated portal for business support which can be accessed at www.business.gov.au

While this portal is excellent, it can take some time to navigate around it. 
Below are the major schemes currently in play, as well as a link to the page for each scheme.

The portal itself and the relevant pages are written in plain English and make clear what the criteria are for each program. 

This portal provides links to a number of programs that have been designed to assist business generally, as well as specifically through this COVID – 19 period.Some of the key programs include;

Boosting apprenticeships scheme – this provides additional funding to employers who take on a new apprentice post October 2020. Further information is available here.

Supporting existing apprenticeships and traineeships with increased wages subsidies – info here

Instant Asset Write Off scheme

A link to each of the various State and Territory COVID 19 support programs is available here

Temporary relief for distressed business. These are the new rules relaxing some of the requirement with respect to insolvent trading, and lengthening the period for statutory demands - here

Acceleration of existing depreciation rules - here

A wage subsidy scheme for employers taking on employees with a disability - here

A wage subsidy scheme for employers taking on employees on JobSeeker - here

A wage subsidy scheme for employers hiring young people (19 – 24 years of age) - here

Increasing access to credit, at low rates, for SMEs - here

Ensystex - Humane Rodent Solutions

There is a great deal of current community debate over rodent management. The APVMA is undertaking a detailed review of the use of second generation anti-coagulant rodenticides which will result in future use restrictions. The AEPMA, with this market environment in mind, produced the AEPMA Code of Best Practice for professional pest managers to follow.

This Code recommends a hierarchal approach to rodent management with the lowest risk options considered first, i.e. Exclusion, Removal of food and water, Harbourage reduction, Trapping and only then, rodenticide use as the last option.

Read more here

Know your opponent – Gaining a better understanding of the fascinating behaviour of ants and how it can increase your success with ant baiting

With the change of seasons upon us, and the warmer weather on its way, service calls to deal with ant problems will be on the increase. Therefore, it seems like the perfect time to reacquaint ourselves with the enemy and prepare to go to battle. 

As social insects, ants are committed to the success of the colony and all their daily activity centres around their needs at that given moment. In their native habitats, they work hard to find the available resources around them to meet the needs of the colony and are often at the mercy of the weather conditions that exist. In the urban environment however, opportunities present themselves on almost a daily basis that they exploit and ‘supercharge’ their colony life cycles. 

by Jeffrey Einam, Market Development Manager ANZ, Environmental Science,

Crop Science Division of Bayer.

Read more here

Greenzone has been making lots of noise lately mainly due to the fact they are pro-actively working toward delivering innovative products to the termite management space.
 
“2019/20 has been a big year for Greenzone we have launched multiple products, just when COVID19 hit we launched our perimeter termite management film. This now provides a complete Termite Management System with Greenzone products. We have the construction joint foam , Socks to treat penetrations in various sizes and now the Termite Management Film in multiple widths to suit any kind of construction and rebates on slabs . The feedback we have had from builders and applicators has been amazing they love the stuff.

We recently initiated our direct marketing to builders via the Master Builders Magazine because we are focussed on supporting our Accredited Greenzone applicators grow their businesses. We also had the post code locator created on our website to help builders get in direct contact with our accredited Greenzone Applicators.

I personally take calls from builders every week asking for a little bit more information about the product and just wanting to find someone who can install our products. So, this was a no brainer to kick off these initiatives and watch this space because at GREENZONE we are committed to innovation and customer satisfaction,” concluded Stewart Paterson Business Development manager.

For more information or to become accredited please go to greenzonebarrier.com

Professional pest managers have used smoke generators in Australia for many years. A tried and tested part of the pest manager’s toolkit, they play a useful role in gaining control of flying and crawling insects, especially in situations where the pests are difficult to reach and treat directly. 

Jon Renton from Renton’s Pest Control Services, Gunnedah, NSW, is a long-time user of Liphatech’s Imperator Smoke Generator. Mr Renton said, “Integrated pest management requires an assortment of tools in your kit that are effective and reliable. Dad (Ken Renton) started the business 50 years ago and for me it’s been 25 years – a very long time – that Imperator’s been part of our go-to range of products. We use it in conjunction with liquid sprays to deliver our professional pest services.” 

Read more here

Loads of tiny little spiders crawling across your windscreen as you innocently sit behind the wheel of your vehicle.

That’s exactly what happened to one worker at a vineyard in the South West of WA when he drove a work tractor through a his employer’s vineyard.

Read more here

Bird strikes are a well-known hazard to aircraft, but Brisbane Airport is grappling with some giant groupers.

Read more here 

Credit - ABC News
 

A young South Australian family got a bit of a slithery shock when they realised they had a red-bellied black snake stowing away under the bonnet of their car.

They were driving through Hindmarsh Tiers, about 55 kilometres south of Adelaide yesterday afternoon when the venomous snake's head popped up in front of the windscreen.

Read more here 

Credit - 9 News

SAVE THE DATE!!

• AEPMA Conference Pesticon 2021 22nd - 24th September 2021
• NSW Branch Meeting  - Saturday 27 February 2020 at 9.45am at Hawks Nest Golf Club Boardroom, Sanderling Ave, Hawks Nest NSW

AEPMA welcomes any contributions or suggestions for articles that you feel are relevant to the industry. Simply forward to info@aepma.com.au.

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