THE Victoria Tourism Industry Council (VTIC) expects tourism businesses in both Melbourne and regional Victoria to be hit hard by Friday’s grand final eve public holiday.

“The cost to pay Victoria’s almost 2 million full time employees not to come to work this Friday could reach $543 million, at a time when many tourism businesses already face significant cost pressures,” said Acting VTIC Chief Executive Erin Joyce.

Regional tourism businesses are highly sceptical of claims that increased costs will be offset by additional business over the weekend.

“Business will be worse-off as any benefit from additional visitation, above normal school holiday levels, will not exceed the extra costs incurred by employers as a result of the public holiday,” said Ms Joyce.

Due to public holiday penalty rates and expected negligible increases in customers, throughout the state many businesses will be forced to:

• Employ a skeleton staff
• Roster on inexperienced junior staff
• Open for reduced hours
• Close for the day; or
• Pass on some of the increased labour costs to customers by way of a surcharge 

VTIC warned that a compromised visitor experience on grand final eve could have a longer term effect on the competitiveness of Victorian tourism.

“Visitors from interstate or overseas may find many retailers, cafes, bars and restaurants closed or operating with reduced services levels. These experiences could damage Victoria’s global reputation as a leading tourism destination,” said Ms Joyce.

“We will continue to tell the government that the decision to introduce the grand final eve holiday is the wrong one and must be retracted for future years.”

The Victoria Tourism Industry Council (VTIC) is the peak body for Victoria’s tourism and events industry, providing one united industry voice.

Tourism and events are growth industries for Victoria and contribute $19.6 billion to the state economy each year and employ more than 200,000 people.

vtic.com.au 

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URGENT reform to laws governing industrial relations on new resource projects are needed to help encourage greater investment into this country following a significant drop in the forecast value of our resource and energy exports, warns Australia’s resource industry employer group, AMMA.

The federal government’s new Resources and Energy Quarterlyreveals that the forecast value of our exports for 2016-19 has been revised down by $113 billion.  This is 14% lower than the value forecast just 12 months ago.

“This means lower taxes and royalties than previously expected and further pressures on business spending and jobs. Just as employers are already having to trade on higher volumes to make money, it will be in the national interest to increase our share of global resource exports in a lower commodity price environment,” says AMMA executive director, Scott Barklamb.

“Lowered export earnings forecasts underscore the need for our policy makers to take urgent action to improve Australia’s attractiveness as a destination for global resources investment.

“One key way to help increase investor confidence is to improve the laws governing employment agreements for new (greenfields) projects, which currently require employers to accede to union demands before a single person can be hired, or a sod turned on a new project.

“The ‘veto power’ our existing laws give unions contributes to delays and high costs that are dragging down Australia’s reputation to deliver complex, multi-billion dollar resource projects on time and on budget.

“International investors are marking Australia down as a place to do business because they cannot rely on our industrial relations system to deliver reliable, timely and cost effective employment arrangements.” 

The Senate looked close to a breakthrough on some useful reforms to greenfields agreement making in September, but they were not passed, and unions are doing all they can to oppose any changes to their current preferential veto powers.

The need for reform was recently recognised by the Productivity Commission, in its draft recommendations which include:

• A ‘life of construction’ agreement option (on top of a maximum five-year agreement length).
• Providing alternatives to making a deal with unions where negotiations stall.

 This needs to go further, including: 

• Scope to roll over greenfields agreements with employee support.
• Head contractor greenfields agreements that other contractors can then follow.
• Ensuring tests for greenfields agreements do not entrench already inflated wages and conditions.

“Consensus for urgent reform in this area is growing. The Opposition should not continue to filibuster and block reform as evidence mounts that Australia needs to attract more resource investment to help grow our long-term export capacity, drive our national economy and create jobs,” Mr Barklamb says.

KPMG research commissioned by AMMA found that it can often take two years to secure a greenfields agreement that will only run for four years. However, shortening the delay to negotiations by just two months would increase an average resource project’s net present value by $4.6 million.

www.amma.org.au

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VECCI Chief Executive Mark Stone warned today that, at a time when Victoria will welcome a significant number of interstate and international visitors, parts of Melbourne’s CBD will be like a ghost-town this Friday, as the public holiday will make it uneconomic for many businesses to open.

"The cost to pay Victoria’s almost 2 million full time employees not to come to work could reach $543 million for the day," Mr Stoe said.

"As a Victorian business, this holiday will cost VECCI over $120,000 through lost revenue, paying people not to come to work and operating our advice line service to members and clients.

"The impact will be felt throughout Victorian business."

Mr Stone said examples include:

• Additional wages costs of $14,000 for a supermarket operator due to penalty rates.
• A building materials supplier paying $9,500 for its 50 full and part-time staff not to come to work.
• Some health sector operators will pay over $200,000 in additional wages for the day and, given the industry they operate in, must remain open.
• An adult casual shop assistant will now be paid $52.21 per hour instead of their regular Friday hourly rate of $23.73.
• A full time security officer working at an event will now cost 2.5 times their ordinary hourly rate to work on Friday, earning $46.17 an hour instead of $18.47. 

The taxpayer will pay over $20 million to cover extra public sector employee costs for the day.

Local governments throughout Victoria have to bear the burden of increased costs of operating services such as aged care facilities, rubbish collection and recreational centres.

Businesses across both Melbourne and regional Victoria have contacted VECCI asking us to see if we can have this decision retracted. We’ll continue to campaign on their behalf to see these holidays are not repeated in coming years.

The Victorian Employers Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VECCI) is the most influential business organisation in Victoria, informing and servicing more than 15,000 members, customers and clients around the state.

vecci.org.au

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ENTREPRENEURIAL training specialists, iBosses Corporation Limited (ASX: IB8) (“iBosses” and “Company”) is pleased to announce that the Company is set to list the Company’s securities on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) today, Wednesday, 30 September 2015 at 11:00am.

The Company has raised $2.7 million by the issuing of 13.5 million new ordinary shares at an issue price of $0.20 cents to achieve a market cap on listing of AUD $22.74 million.

In commenting on iBosses’ preparation for listing on the ASX, Founder and Group Chief Executive Officer of iBosses, Dr Patrick Khor, said:

“iBosses is delighted to be listing on the ASX and to be able to assist time-poor Australian entrepreneurs and may others around the world achieve their dreams of starting-up a new business.

“We are excited as this listing brings us closer to our aim of expanding operations to include 2,000 centres covering major cities of diverse regions in Malaysia, Indonesia, China, Australia, Philippines, Cambodia, Germany and America.”

iBosses employs the eight-level entrepreneurship acceleration process: Passion, Ideation, Validation, Implementation, Commercialisation, Replication, Fruition and Actualisation, to mentor entrepreneurs whose businesses presently focus on regional markets but have high potential and readiness to venture globally.

To assist start-up businesses in preparation for success, iBosses offers four business revenue models:

• Entrepreneurship Training
• Entrepreneurship Mentoring
• Entrepreneurship Digital Channel
• Entrepreneurship Licensing

iBosses’ e-system on Cloud is a digital platform that showcases start-ups from all over the world to investors, customers and other entrepreneurs allowing for convenient connections with potential members, co-founders, and crowd source.

In commenting on the imminent ASX listing, Mr Steven Lau, Deputy Chairman of iBosses Corporation Limited, said:

“iBosses is committed to listing on the ASX as it offers a sophisticated capital market, an internationally recognised and sustainable corporate governance environment, and a suitable platform for the Group’s expansion.”

ABOUT IBOSSES

iBosses is an internationally recognised corporation that is dedicated to inspiring and leading potential entrepreneurs in their pursuit of success through individually-tailored training programs.

With a vision to be the global leading provider of Entrepreneurship Training and Development, iBosses’ services include Entrepreneurship Training, Entrepreneurship Mentorship, Entrepreneurship Licensing and an Entrepreneurship Digital Platform. These services are intended to nurture, groom and grow successful entrepreneurs via iBosses Global Platform.

Established in 2014, iBosses Corporation Limited is based in Australia, and has expanded to include multiple centres located in Singapore (iBosses Private Limited), Hong Kong (iBosses Hong Kong Limited) and Malaysia (YES Academy Licensee). iBosses has been registered as a member of the Franchising and Licensing Association (Singapore) – FLA Singapore – iBosses.

www.ibosses.com

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THE VICTORIAN experience of prevention and management of chronic disease in primary health care will be the focus of a House of Representatives Health Committee hearing to be held in Melbourne on Thursday.

The committee will hear from witnesses including the Victorian Health Department, chronic disease advocacy groups, bodies representing medical practitioners and allied health workers, research bodies, a health consumer group, private health insurers, and Primary Health Networks.

Discussion is expected to include methods used to treat chronic disease in primary health care, as well as ways in which patient care can be better coordinated, supported and improved.

Committee Chair Steve Irons MP said, "Hearing more about innovative models of care being delivered in Victoria, including the CarePoint partnership delivered by the Victorian Department of Health and Medibank Private, will provide a perspective on the ways in which the challenges of chronic disease can be addressed on a local and state-wide scale.

"Collaborative partnerships, and information sharing between research bodies and primary health care organisations, including Primary Health Networks, may find efficiencies and lead to better implementation of best practice treatment for patients living with chronic disease."

Details of the hearing are:
Thursday, 1 October – 9.00 am to 5.30 pm
Meeting Room G1, 55 St Andrews Place, Melbourne, Victoria

A program and further information about the inquiry is available at: www.aph.gov.au/chronicdisease

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NATIONAL resource industry employer group, AMMA (Australian Mines and Metals Association), calls on the Labor Opposition to heed the clear message from the Chinese Ambassador to Australia, His Excellency Mr Ma Zhaoxu, that our country needs to act quickly to secure the significant economic and employment opportunities of the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement (ChAFTA).

AMMA executive director, policy and public affairs, Scott Barklamb says Australia must not waste its opportunity to steal a substantial march on our global competitors, and to lock in preferential trading arrangements with our most important trading partner.

“Ambassador Ma is correct in describing the ChAFTA as a win-win for both nations. As the Chinese leadership, the Australian Government and the Opposition are well aware, this is an excellent deal which will allow Australia to secure the highest levels of access to this massive market for our exports, goods and services,” Mr Barklamb says.

“It will create jobs for Australians, including our children and grandchildren, and increase our living standards for decades to come - but only if the negotiated agreement is rapidly ratified when parliament resumes.”

As Ambassador Ma delivers his address on the 100^th day since the ChAFTA was signed, Mr Barklamb says the enormity of what Labor is risking should not be underestimated.

“The Chinese leadership must be incredulous that Australia is not seizing with both hands the opportunities ChAFTA promises. As a nation we should be embarrassed that our alternative government needs to be reminded of what is at stake if we let this opportunity slip through our fingers,” he says.

“If ChAFTA does not proceed, our competitors will be only too quick to take up the preferential opportunities we have negotiated.”

With legislation to ratify the ChAFTA expected to be considered in parliament next month, Mr Barklamb says Opposition leader Bill Shorten will be tested on his economic leadership credentials.

“The CHAFTA legislation is where national economic leadership starts to get very real for Mr Shorten,” he says.

“This is a test of his capacity to make decisions for all Australians, rather than for the vested interests of the union movement. It is a test of actions rather than spin.

“The Opposition must decide whether they want to take instructions from the CFMEU and thereby become complicit in a fundamentally xenophobic campaign singling out Chinese labour, or instead demonstrate maturity and vision, act in the national interest, and help deliver more jobs and better living standards for generations of Australians.”

AMMA’s comments follow Mr Ma Zhaoxu’s address to the Australia China Business Council/ China Chamber of Commerce in Australia on the evening of 29 September. 

www.amma.org.au

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ASIC has released its latest report outlining decisions on relief applications covering the period February 1 to May 31, 2015.

Businesses frequently approach ASIC for assistance to help make the law work better for them. ASIC uses its discretion to vary or set aside certain requirements of the law where there is a net regulatory benefit or where ASIC can facilitate business or cut red tape without harming other stakeholders.

This is a key part of ASIC's function and between February 1 to May 31, 2015, ASIC approved 372 relief applications.

Report 449 Overview of decisions on relief applications (February to May 2015) (REP 449), aims to improve the level of transparency and the quality of publicly available information about decisions ASIC makes when asked to exercise its discretionary powers to grant relief from provisions of the:

• Corporations Act 2001 (Corporations Act), or
• National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 (National Credit Act).

REP 449 also discusses the various relevant publications released by ASIC during the four months.

The report summarises examples of situations where ASIC has exercised, or refused to exercise, its exemption and modification powers under the Corporations Act. The report also highlights instances where ASIC has considered adopting a no-action position regarding specified non-compliance with statutory provisions.

Finally, the report provides examples of decisions that demonstrate how ASIC has applied its policy in practice which ASIC thinks will be of particular interest for capital market participants and for participants in the financial services industry. The report includes an appendix detailing the publicly available individual relief instruments referred to in the report.

BACKGROUND

ASIC can modify or set aside certain provisions of Chapters 2D (officers and employees), 2G (meetings), 2M (financial reporting and audit), 5C (managed investment schemes), 6 (takeovers), 6D (fundraising) and 7 (financial services) of the Corporations Act.

ASIC also has powers to give relief under the provisions of Chs 2 (licensing) and 3 (responsible lending) of the National Credit Act and from all or specified provisions of the National Credit Code, which is in Sch 1 to the National Credit Act.

In limited situations, ASIC may also consider providing a no-action letter when instances of non-compliance with certain statutory provisions have been brought to ASIC’s attention.

A no-action letter states to a particular person that ASIC does not intend to take regulatory action over a particular state of affairs or particular conduct. The factors that ASIC will consider when dealing with a request for a no-action letter is set out in Regulatory Guide 108 No-action letters (RG 108).

ASIC publishes a copy of most of the relief instruments issued in theASIC Gazette. Credit instruments are available from the ASIC website under credit relief.

APPLYING FOR RELIEF

Applications for relief must be in writing and should address the requirements set out in Regulatory Guide 51 Applications for relief (RG 51) (and any other regulatory guides relevant to the application).

Applications can be submitted electronically toThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Fees are applicable for relief applications.

ASIC is streamlining the process for considering applications for relief to ensure that applications are assessed as quickly and efficiently as possible. As part of this, ASIC will be more strictly enforcing its policy to refuse applications for relief where information needed to make a decision is not provided.

Where ASIC has asked for additional information within a specified time period—and a reasonable explanation is not provided for any delay—an application for relief may be refused.

www.asic.gov.au

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The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has granted re-authorisation to the Clean Energy Council for its revised Solar Retailer Code of Conduct for five years.