Printers are breathing a huge sigh of relief as the Victorian commercial print industry has not been shut down under tough new lockdown measures taken by the state government, but they must have a Covid-safe plan in place by 11.59pm on Friday to stay open.

Heatset print giant Ovato is asking the national industrial tribunal at the Fair Work Commision to end its current agreement with its staff, as it battles revenue losses, which will lead to a round of redundancies in the near future. The AMWU is fiercely opposing the change.

US technology operations Google and Facebook took more Australian advertising dollars than the big five media companies combined last year, with print losing out as a result.

Diversified trade print company Lamson Group is celebrating 30 years in business, with founder Arthur Frost joining his son and current managing director Rodney Frost in toasting the success of the business.

An out-of-home campaign printed by Cactus Imaging took home an Outdoor Media Association Award in the best use of multi-format category.

Press manufacturer Koenig & Bauer has developed Visual PressSupport, an App-based live video streaming service for sheetfed presses and other business units.

The Penrith Print Museum is open for visitors after a four-month closure due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Volunteers at the museum are also working on the restoration of an 1841 Columbian printing press.

Next year's giant trade expo drupa is set to stage its first digital textile printing show, complete with micro factory, reflecting the new opportunities that digital textile offers to print businesses.

Some major debtors at Waratah Group are disputing the size of invoices issued by the now defunct print company, but the liquidator says they are all bona fida, and is now looking at court action to get all the money back for creditors of the business that went bust with $22m of debts.

Australia must embrace a new era of innovation and economic reform to rebound from recession and fix an inefficient economy, according to a new report published this week.

Diversified marketing communications group IVE is making three new leadership appointments, one into a new role as manager of governance, risk, and compliance, and two as general managers in data-driven communications roles.

Clarke Murphy Print has donated $6634 to mental health charity Gotcha4Life from its innovative and successful Fan In The Stand project, which saw it create a whole new market during Covid.

Specialist floor, wall and window graphic media supplier Visionary Digital has new distribution deals with suppliers in South Australia and New Zealand, making it easier for printers there to access its products.

The most clicked news story in the print industry this week was our coverage of the government's JobKeeper extension, which was on the Print21 news website on Tuesday morning immediately following the prime minister's press conference. The news had printers thankful wages will now be supported until March.

The printing industry is breathing a huge sigh of relief as the government extends its JobKeeper programme – widely acknowledged as saving thousands of jobs – until next March, although with a reduced payment rate.

RMGT is launching a new size press, the RMGT 970, which runs to a maximum of 965x650mm, allowing for eight A4 pages to view with colour bars, crop marks, and other furniture on both sides of a perfected sheet.