Parkes Shire Council has committed to creating a more inclusive community, with the first Disability Inclusion Action Plan (DIAP) going on public exhibition until Friday, 2nd June.

The plan, which has been developed in conjunction with the community, sets out practical actions which Council can adopt and apply over its next three terms to support people with a disability.

Parkes Shire Mayor, Councillor Ken Keith said: “The development of a DIAP is the first step towards making our Shire a more accessible and inclusive place to live, work and visit.”

“Council conducted community engage- ment initiatives to gather the ideas and priorities of residents, carers and agency representatives during April. Their feedback formed the basis for the DIAP.”

“The actions will benefit everyone, not just people with disability. Improved access means that older people and parents with prams can access buildings more easily, information is easier to access and visitors to our towns can find their way around with legible signage,” the Mayor added.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, between 25 and 26% of the Central West population identify as having a long-term disability, with over 10% of the community taking on the role of carer.

With the incidence of disability expected to increase substantially in the future, Council need to plan to ensure people of all ages and differing abilities can access the full range of services and activities avail- able.

The DIAP is based on the principles out- lined in the NSW Disability Inclusion Act 2014 and aligns to the four focus areas of the NSW Government’s Disability Action Plan, which include attitudes and behav- iours, liveable communities, systems and processes, and employment.

Your heart is a muscle that pumps blood around your body. It can beat up to 100,000 times a day – that’s up to 3 billion heart- beats during an average lifetime!

Your heart delivers oxygen and the nutri- ents needed for your body to work properly and be healthy. This is why it’s so important to look after your ticker!

There are many conditions of the heart that need to be monitored closely. These include anginas, arrhythmias, coronary heart disease, heart attack, cardiomyopa- thy, rheumatic heart disease and stroke. If you have any of these conditions, please be sure to have regular check-ups with your doctor and do what you can to look after your heart.

Here are a few tips to keep your heart in good shape:

• Be smoke-free

• Manage your blood cholesterol

• Manage your diabetes

• Be physically active

• Achieve and maintain a healthy weight

• Enjoy a variety of nutritious food in your diet

• Look after your mental health

Our professionals at Parkes Pharmacy can help you achieve all of the above. We have a private consultation room to check your blood pressure, discuss your medica- tion and advise on how to make the right lifestyle choices to keep your heart in top shape! Come and see us today

It is with a heart full of gratitude that I thank you for volunteering with The Salvation Army. Your generous contribution of time, skill and commitment makes a real difference. The Salvation Army and the wider Australian community is a better place due to your collective volunteering impact.

I continue to be amazed that over 30,000 volunteers across Australia contribute to the mission of The Salvation Army. This number swells to over 100,000 during Red Shield Appeal!

Together we seek to bring practical care, dignity and hope to those who need it most. We commit ourselves in prayer and prac- tice to this land of Australia and its people, seeking reconciliation, unity and equity. As a Christian movement we share the love of Jesus by caring for people, creating faith pathways, building healthy communities and working for justice together.

Whilst National Volunteer Week gives us a specific opportunity to say “thank you”, please know that we extend genuine and continuous gratitude to our Army of Volunteers who serve with us throughout the year.

Thank you for being a part of The Salvation Army. Yours sincerely,

Parkes Shire Mayor and Member for Orange both welcomed the Federal Government’s budget announcement of $8.4 billion for the development of the Inland Rail link.

In delivering his budget speech on Tuesday, Federal Treasurer Scott Morrison said: “In one of the biggest investments ever seen in regional Australia, the government will fund the Melbourne to Brisbane Inland Rail project with $8.4 billion in equity to be provided to the Australian Rail Track Corpo- ration. Construction on this 1,700 km project will begin in 2017- 18 and will support 16,000 jobs at the peak of construction. It will benefit not just Melbourne and Brisbane, but all the regions along its route.”

Mayor Ken Keith said he was ecstatic about the announcement. “This combined with the nearly billion dollars already an- nounced means that the momentum for the project will be built. It will also give industry confidence in investing infrastructure to compliment the Inland Rail”.

Orange MP Phil Donato said: “This funding commitment will provide a significant boost to our electorate, delivering many economic benefits.The ability to move produce quickly and cost-effectively is also vitally important in an agricultural area such as the Orange electorate.”

New privacy laws are set to come into force in the near future after the Federal Parlia- ment passed amendments to the Privacy Act.

These new laws will require the manda- tory reporting of certain data breaches for Australian Government agencies, busi- nesses and organisations which have an annual turnover of more than $3 million, health service providers, credit reporting agencies and any organisations holding personal tax file numbers.

A data breach would include such things as unauthorised access to or disclosure of information or where information is lost and a reasonable person would conclude that access or disclosure would be likely to result in serious harm to an individual to whom the information relates.

Penalties for such breach are $360,000 for individuals and $1.8 million for corpo- rations where there is a failure to notify of the breach to the individual or individuals concerned.

So those that retain data (or information) about individuals need to consider a review of employee’s access to information, the quality of your cyber security measures and the adequacy of privacy training to staff.

If we can assist in this or any other legal problem please contact Matthews Williams Solicitors.