QUEENSLAND’s leading women in resources will be in Canberra this week (Thursday) vying for top honours in the Women in Resources National Awards. 

They were the winners of the Queensland Resources Council (QRC) Women in Mining and Resources Queensland (WIMARQ) state awards presented in Brisbane in March and will join finalists from all other states and territories at the presentation event at Parliament House in the nation’s capital.

The awards will be presented by Kelly O’Dwyer, Minister for Jobs, Industrial Relations and Women and the Chair of the Minerals Council of Australia (MCA) Board of Directors Dr Vanessa Guthrie.

More than 20 federal parliamentarians will attend the awards breakfast in the Mural Hall, including Karen Andrews MP, Minister for Industry, Science and Technology.

“It’s testament to the importance of gender diversity in resources that so many federal parliamentarians are attending this event,” said QRC chief executive Ian Macfarlane.

“I am proud of all our Queensland finalists who are great examples of people and companies who have championed the cause of improving diversity in our resources sector.

“Here in Queensland our sector is creating a job every hour and it needs all hands to the pump to ensure we have the skilled workforce to match demand.

“That means we can’t afford to be missing out on the talents of half our population.

“Currently, women make up 15 percent of our workforce and I’m confident that through the efforts of our finalists, and our sector in general, we will reach our goal of at least 20 percent women in ‘non-traditional’ roles by 2020.

“Once we’ve reached that number, with the innovation and technology around today there’s no reason why we can’t aim for gender parity in our sector.

“I wish all our Queensland finalists well, but whatever the result, all remain winners and will continue to be our best ambassadors for our sector in Queensland.”

WIMARQ chair Maria Joyce said the awards not only recognised achievement, but also the finalists' dedication to creating workplaces that better reflected society.

“It’s been well documented that better gender balance leads to more innovation, improved safety and profitability for companies so it’s a no-brainer that we should be attracting and retaining more women in our sector,” she said.

“It’s notable that when these awards began in Queensland in 2006 the proportion of women was just six percent, and now it’s 15.

“Our finalists, and those who came before them have shown exceptional leadership in our sector’s efforts to increase gender diversity, and I wish them well.”

Queensland’s finalists:

• Jo -Anne Dudley senior manager Strategic Mine and Resources Planning Rio Tinto (Exceptional Woman in Queensland Resources)
• Holstein Wong Supply Analysis BHP (Exceptional Young Woman in Queensland Resources)
• Dannielle Weston Diesel Fitter Hastings Deering (Exceptional Queensland Trade/Technician/Operator)
• Rachel Durdin General Manager, Project Shaping Rio Tinto Brisbane (Gender Diversity Champion in Queensland Resources)
• Rio Tinto Weipa (Excellence in Diversity Programs and Performance)

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THE House Committee on Tax and Revenue has today presented its report on taxpayer engagement with the tax system.

Presenting the report in the House of Representatives today, committee chair Jason Falinski MP said the committee’s 13 recommendations were aimed at making tax obligations in Australia easier to administer and easier for taxpayers to comply with.

“This inquiry involved a comprehensive assessment of the state of play of tax administration in Australia and in comparable nations overseas,” Mr Falinski said.

“The committee found that while the ATO’s ‘Reinvention’ as a modern tax administration service is well underway, our complex tax system is throwing up some hurdles to full automation — as advanced in Sweden, the United Kingdom and closer to home New Zealand, where most taxpayers need only approve a prefilled form.”

Reflecting back to the 2010 Review of Australia’s Future Taxation System, the first recommendation calls for a complete review of the tax system by 2022, to achieve a system that responds to the rapidly evolving digital environment, and is both easier to enforce and understand.

To address more immediate needs, recommendations are also made to close up loopholes associated with high risk industries and the growth of the gig or sharing economy. These include, to:

• consider the introduction of an ABN withholding tax system at source, with potential for grading according to industry sector, akin to the system in New Zealand; and
• standardise our workplace expenses deductions scheme, as done in other comparable nations, to reduce the potential for error and misrepresentation.

The committee has also called for greater responsiveness from the ATO to the needs of taxpayers and other stakeholders. This includes continued access to paper forms and information for those not technically enabled, implementing a service level agreement with all stakeholders affected by the agency’s changing practices, and the clear articulation of the rights and obligations of both the ATO and taxpayers in a single cohesive and easily understood tax engagement framework.

Another recommendation is for more rigorous monitoring of outcomes of behavioural economics methods and tools to ensure taxpayer funds are well invested.

“Accountability is the key to confidence,” Mr Falinski said.

“The recommendations made by the committee in this report, if implemented, will provide greater certainty for business planning, increase taxpayer confidence in the ATOs’ probity and efficiency, and reduce the potential for cash activity and tax avoidance.”

The inquiry was referred to the committee in December 2017. Copies of the report and information about the inquiry are available on the Committee’s website.  

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NATIONAL CONGRESS is highly concerned by a $6 million funding cut to Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation announced in the South Australian budget last week.

"We are now asking the South Australian government how they intend to alleviate the already existing disadvantage and suffering of vulnerable families and communities?" National Congress co-chair Rod Little said.

"We are alarmed that these funds will be redirected at the expense of South Australian Aboriginal people’s welfare and will only break down the hard work of building relationships and reconciliation that has given many peoples hope for a better future.

"In last week’s budget, the South Australian Government announced the discontinuation of grant funding paid to SA Native Title Services, who engage in native title negotiations with the state."

The Government will also halve of the number of staff working in the Department of the Premier and Cabinet’s Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation division, cut more than $6 million of funding. This includes abolishing the Office of the Treaty Commissioner after the Marshall government decided to abandon state treaty process.

The Aboriginal Regional Authority Policy, developed by Labor in 2004, will also “no longer be performed in 2018-2019".

The government attempted to divert attention away from wide-sweeping cuts by drawing attention to its “alternative approach to Aboriginal affairs” to be developed in consultation with Aboriginal people across the state, according to Mr Little.

"However, it is clear that this budget deprioritises the needs and interests of Aboriginal peoples.

“National Congress is dismayed at the sweeping cuts to Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation in the South Australian budget.” Mr Little said.

“Treaty negotiations are clearly on the Federal Government’s agenda with the current Senate Inquiry and the Referendum Council’s report.

“It is highly disappointing that the South Australian government has abolished the Office of the Treaty Commissioner, when we are seeing such great progress towards self-determination, representation and treaties in other states including Victoria and the Northern Territory.”

Co-chair Jackie Huggins said, “The South Australian budget reveals an alarming trend: whenever there are budget cuts, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples feel it.

“We are not political playthings. These budget cuts will impact Victorian Aboriginal people’s lives and wellbeing. How can we expect social outcomes to improve when governments keep slashing funding to the programs which are supporting First Peoples? We can’t.”

www.nationalcongress.com.au

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INDUSTRY super funds have announced a new initiative to take the legwork out of consolidating multiple accounts to save eligible members an average $260 a year in fees and insurance premiums.

So far, 18 industry super funds covering over half the workforce are cooperating in a collective cross-fund matching initiative that will be free of charge to members if a successful match is found.

In its first full scale deployment, the matching initiative seeks to automatically consolidate 500,000 low balance inactive accounts.

Successfully consolidating all these accounts could collectively save members an estimated $100 million a year in duplicate fees and insurance premiums.

Industry Super Australia chief executive, Bernie Dean, said industry super funds had been designing and testing the sophisticated cross-matching scheme for over a year.

“The initiative follows a successful 2017 pilot led by Industry Funds Services and nine industry funds which consolidated 50,000 accounts,” said Mr Dean.

“It has been developed to cut through restrictive rules which limit the ability of funds to reunite members’ lost and inactive savings without first obtaining express consent.

“Once a match is found members will still be able to opt out, but a survey following the pilot found members who had accounts consolidated were very happy funds proactively chased their savings.

“This is the right thing to do for members – they expect the system to sort out multiple accounts for them," Mr Dean said.

“Industry super funds have been consolidating multiple accounts for many years but it has relied on members kicking it off. This new initiative will cut through the red tape,” he said.

“Consolidating the accounts will reduce duplicate charges and help members build their super savings faster,” Mr Dean said.

According to Productivity Commission estimates, eliminating multiple accounts could save a member $51,000 over his or her entire working life. 

Industry Super Funds’ cross-matching initiative:

• · Eligible inactive accounts with balances under $6,000 will enter a collective pool to be matched to the active account held by participating funds.
• · There will be no charge to members associated with the matching of a superannuation account and no exit fees for duplicate accounts closed as accounts are consolidated.
• · Industry Super-owned AUSfund – an Eligible Rollover Fund – will be used to match and consolidate members’ inactive accounts to an active account held in a participating industry super fund.
• · Any inactive accounts sent to AUSFund but not consolidated in the initial wave of matching will attract investment returns net of a low annual administration fee of $11.50 and 0.53 percent indirect costs until consolidated in subsequent matching waves.
• · Where required, funds will inform members of their fund’s participation in the cross fund matching exercise through disclosures, including the annual member statements.

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