May 8, 2020
Celebrating mums
Tania Babic with Olivia and Ben. (Louisa Jones)
Tania Babic deserves recognition this Mother’s Day for juggling two jobs, working as a veterinary nurse and for WorkSafe, while caring for her daughter, who has Asperger’s, amid COVID-19. But the Belmont mum hoped only for a reprieve from doing the dishes and a nice walk with her two children this Sunday. “Usually it’s really nice getting whatever the kids have done for us at home,” she said. “Maybe I’ll get them to make me a coffee. My son Ben makes a good omelette so maybe I’ll get him to make me [one].” Tania has been managing speech therapy and psychologist teleconference appointments for her daughter, who turns 14 this month. “We’ve dropped a few subjects because it’s been a bit much for Liv to keep up with, but her school, Clonard College, has been amazing,” she said. The COVID-19 pandemic had also heightened her daughter’s anxiety and made it more dificult to get her outside, she said.
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Luke Voogt
Avalon goes hands-free By Luke Voogt Avalon will become the irst airport in Australia to use touchless check-in technology to help planes return to the skies amid the COVID-19 pandemic. he airport would install the technology by the end of May, its chief executive oicer Justin Giddings told the Independent yesterday. “It’s amazing technology and the irst of its kind in Australia – we’re rapt to have this,” he said. “Six of 16 kiosks will have a touchless facility.” he technology uses cameras to track a passenger’s head movements, allowing them
to move a cursor by looking at options on a screen. Passengers at Avalon Airport will be able interact with the kiosks and bag drops via head movement, or voice recognition in multiple diferent languages. hey will also be able to scan passports by holding them in front of a camera, rather than inserting them into a slot. “his solution will allow passengers to go through the self-service experience without touching a device, thereby providing a seamless, intuitive and safe method of moving quickly through the airport,” Mr Giddings. Avalon Airport and Melbourne-based
company Elenium announced the deal to install the technology yesterday. “he partnership between Elenium and Avalon demonstrates how quickly a response to COVID-19 can be implemented,” Mr Giddings said. “It’s all about giving passengers conidence to ly again.” he technology would reduce the risk of the virus spreading by passengers touching check-in kiosks when domestic lights resumed, he said. At best, Avalon Airport could resume limited domestic services in June, depending on the latest government directions, Mr Giddings said.
he technology could also help the airport’s chances of capitalising on a proposed plan for a Trans-Tasman air travel ‘bubble’. Australian and New Zealand prime ministers Scott Morrison and Jacinda Ardern recently discussed a proposal for residents to travel between the two countries without mandatory isolation upon arrival. Flying New Zealand passengers into Avalon would help keep them separated from passengers arriving in Tullamarine on limited lights from Asia, who have to self-isolate, Mr Giddings said. “We’re just putting our hand up to say to airlines, ‘this is a good, safe way to do it’.”
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