THE Australian Retailers Association (ARA) said retailers were calling for all credit card systems to be regulated in the same way, as outlined in the David Murray Financial Services Inquiry (FSI) submission and further confirmed by the latest Ipsos survey.

ARA Executive Director Russell Zimmerman said 94 percent of all businesses surveyed said credit card systems should be regulated in the same way.

“This overwhelming response confirms what retailers were telling us as part of our David Murray FSI submission.

“In the final report to government, the FSI report confirmed there was a need to bring all card systems under the same rules and regulations as the two big card systems.

“The ARA will be writing to the new Assistant Treasurer Josh Frydenberg as part of the FSI process and is meeting with him today to reinforce retailers’ position on this issue - that the excessive merchant fees charged by card schemes such as Amex and Diners Club need to be addressed so retailers can reduce or remove surcharging as with the two big card systems.

“The truth is there is a distortion in the marketplace by not regulating Amex and Diners Club cards, and with 55 percent and 23 percent market reach respectively, retailers feel they need to accept these cards because of promotional schemes and to ease transactions for consumers.

“Because of this skew retailers either have to absorb the excessive merchant cost or pass on a surcharge to consumers, when they don’t in most circumstances if they use the regulated MasterCard or Visa schemes.

“It is time to address this imbalance and create a level playing field for all payment systems,” Mr Zimmerman said.
 
*Click here to view survey infographic
 
Since 1903, the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) has been the peak industry body representing Australia’s $265 billion retail sector, which employs over 1.2 million people. The ARA ensures retail success by informing, protecting, advocating, educating and saving money for its 5,000 independent and national retail members throughout Australia.

Visit www.retail.org.au or call 1300 368 041.

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THE Australian Retailers Association (ARA) today welcomed the re-elected Baird Government’s announcement of new vocational education and apprenticeship measures – making it easier for at least 240,000 young people to gain employment.

The plan is to make it free for 200,000 disadvantaged young people to go to TAFE and other vocational education and training providers.

ARA Executive Director Russell Zimmerman said the program will fit perfectly into the work retailers are already doing to skill staff into jobs.

“The ARA has been running a number of programs to assist job seekers with the assistance of the NSW and Federal Governments, with today's announcement an fitting addition to help young job seekers into known retail developments and new career pathways.

“Premier Baird is continuing to support retail in NSW as a corner stone of the state's growing economy and this initiative will see benefits for job seekers and employers alike,” Mr Zimmerman said.

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Since 1903, the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) has been the peak industry body representing Australia’s $265 billion retail sector, which employs over 1.2 million people. The ARA ensures retail success by informing, protecting, advocating, educating and saving money for its 5,000 independent and national retail members throughout Australia.

Visit www.retail.org.au or call 1300 368 041.

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AN INTEREST RATE cut by the Reserve Bank of Australia tomorrow (Tuesday) would risk stoking the real estate fire a QUT economist has warned

QUT financial economist Dr David Willis said the RBA should not move on interest rates while inflation and the Australian dollar were at reasonable levels.

The RBA has kept the cash rate at 2.5 per cent for the past 18 months.

"The risk of lowering interest rates is that the market may assume the RBA will continue to cut further and the currency will fall below its preferred level," Dr Willis said.

"Last year the RBA made it quite clear that it would like to see the Australian dollar at about 75 US cents so with it currently sitting at 78 cents it is close to their preferred level.

"In addition the RBA doesn't want to risk stoking the real estate fire and potentially creating an artificial bubble in the housing market.

"So I cannot see any hard and fast reason why the RBA should move."

Dr Willis said he expected growth in the Australian economy would be below the long term average but the chances of a recession were "close to nil".

"With inflation still in the middle of its preferred range, there is no really compelling reason to lower rates as the economy is not in danger of deflation, as it is in Europe and Japan, and is in no danger of recession," he said.

"The AUD will fall over this year but it will be a slow decline which the economy can adjust to as it falls.

"The Australian economy is still under structural change from mining to consumption-led growth. But with low interest rates already and low petrol prices, there is enough stimulus in the economy and plenty for the consumer to either spend, save or pay debt down."

Dr Willis said the rate of unemployment was the main issue for the RBA.

"But dealing with this may be more a need for fiscal stimulus than anything the RBA can do as monetary policy is already quite accommodating," he said.

www.qut.edu.au

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DIVERSITY Council Australia welcomes the Prime Minister’s announcement that the Government would shelve the expanded Paid Parental Leave scheme in favour of reforms focusing on improving access to and affordability of childcare.

Lisa Annese, DCA’s CEO, said one of the biggest factors affecting the participation of female employees in organisations is childcare.

“In a survey of our employer member organisations in 2014, nearly 95% of employers said access to and availability of affordable childcare presented difficulties for their employees," Ms Annese said.

"There is no doubt that this is a major disincentive to women participating more fully in the workforce.”

Paid Parental Leave (PPL) is important but childcare is a bigger issue for employers, according to Ms Annese.

“The existing government funded PPL scheme provides a very important safety net for new parents," she said.

"However, as suggested by the Productivity Commission and in line with feedback from our members, we support the Government’s plan to direct funds allocated for the expanded PPL scheme towards improving accessibility and affordability of childcare as this is likely to have a greater positive impact on the workforce participation of women,” said Ms Annese.

Access to flexible working and careers is also critical to women’s workforce participation, added Ms Annese.

“DCA encourages the Government to ensure that an emphasis on workplace flexibility is promoted and supported as a critical part of maintaining progress on workplace gender equity and supporting parents – especially those with younger children – to remain in paid work. Clearly, more needs to be done to support the cultural shift in Australian business necessary to mainstream flexibility to the benefit of Australian parents."

www.dca.org.au

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