Weekly Pulse
Dynamic Business
Dynamic Business provides small businesses, startups and entrepreneurs with business news, inspiration and expertise.
Top business stories of the week:
1. Let’s Talk: Creating an ideal organisational structure for your business
No matter if you run a small business or a big multinational conglomerate, most organisations use horizontal and vertical connectors to create a structure that they believe will meet their needs.
The organisational structure of a business determines how it runs on a daily basis and, in reality, affects its culture, values, and success. In addition to defining how an organisation should function, a structure may help increase productivity.
A good structure can significantly help in managing the processes as businesses grow in size. At the very least, your organisational structure must reflect certain values. The question is which structure will best meet your business needs.
This week’s edition of?Let’s Talk?focuses on the most effective organisational structures every business should consider.
Let’s Talk.
Michelle T Holland, Executive Director, SynergyIQ
“Unfortunately, there isn’t a magic wand when it comes to structure. A structure is used for a couple of things – one, to provide a simple and effective way of ‘managing’ outcomes and people’s needs, and two, a way of supporting the operations of the business.
“In a pinch and in a bind- in the short term– don’t make sweeping changes, instead create a structure that helps you to deliver what you need to get the work done in the short term, while being mindful of your culture.
“For example, if a team is without a key person or leader, placing them in the care of a competent and compassionate people leader is better for your culture than placing them in a caretaking position with a ‘technical’ expert without leadership capability. Your people can get their job done without a technical manager, but your culture will be impacted if they don’t have a manager or leader that cares about them.
“In the longer term, I would suggest that a strategic review is conducted on what work outcomes are needed into the long term, what client/customer demands are predicated, how the operational model of the business works at its best, and determine the type of culture you want to have– once these decisions are made, the workforce structural design is made to suit these outcomes.”
Madhuri Nandi, IT Security Manager, Till Payments
“We are all very familiar and have some experience with a variety of organisational structures. With COVID, the calculations for how organisations should adopt hybrid teams and keep the delivery pipelines working smoothly should alter. Most of the project planning takes place between functional teams, whereas reporting teams is where quick decisions could be made.
“Given these factors together, it is ideal for the organisations to adjust their organisational structures that support teams to create functional groups using MATRIX organisational structures. Where they can maintain thick reporting lines with standard groups while establishing a matrix reporting lines to the extended teams.
“In this structure, the organisations can get benefited of both high deliveries, promote hybrid working environments for the employees and build successful teams.
“Employees would not be empowered to experience the freedom of hybrid working while being supported by traditional organisational structures like Hierarchical, Flat, Functional, Product-based, Geographic, and many others. In a Matrix organisational structure, employees at all levels can deliver and succeed together.”
Shiva Pillay, General Manager and Senior Vice President Asia & Japan, Veeam Software
“I believe that organisational structures follow a common sense model, meaning you right-size the structure for the stage of your business. Start-ups, for example, often work best in a flat hierarchy as they need to be flexible across roles and quick to adapt to new changes.
“This is also where new leaders develop a management style that will eventually influence and shape how the company is run. As that business grows, scale becomes critical for sustainable growth, this often requires bringing in experienced leaders who can balance a start-up mentality with a sustainable future plan and processes.
“For established and more traditional businesses, the organisational structure can vary and often includes a top-down reporting line, where management and senior leadership are expected to make critical decisions.
“Long-term or short, what I find most important is that transparency should always be the core of the business and implanted no matter the structure. At Veeam, we value the opinions of our employees and place a heavy emphasis on open and effective communication. Employees gain the most trust when they are supported and heard – creating mutual understanding goes a long way.”
Rolf Howard, Managing Partner, Owen Hodge Lawyers
“Beyond a sole trader structure, there are three business structure options. A company is a legal entity in its own right. Most small companies are established as Proprietary Limited companies, where ownership (proprietary) of the company is limited to 50 non-employee shareholders. A partnership is a structure whereby two or more people co-own and operate the business, and income and losses are shared. A trust is a structure whereby trustees (people or companies) are responsible for the business assets and beneficiaries.
“When deciding on a business structure, the business size, revenue and industry will all play a role. Liability should be a consideration. A company will have limited liability which provides a layer of protection between directors and third parties.
“However in the case of trusts and partnerships, generally trustees and partners will have some level of liability. When it comes to tax minimisation, trusts are generally more beneficial than companies or partnerships. Trusts also afford other protections in the case of bankruptcy or divorce.
“Ultimately the best structure is one that has been chosen with your specific business circumstances in mind. Talk to your lawyer to identify the best option for your business.”
Mark Gardiner, Special Counsel, Aspect Legal
“Options for operating a business include operating as a sole trader,?a partnership, as a company or through a trust structure. As a Commercial Lawyer, I would generally recommend that a company structure is best for both short term and long term operations – despite some higher set-up and administrative costs.
“A company is a legal entity that is separate from an individual, unlike a sole trader or a partnership. The assets and liabilities owned by the company are completely separate to company directors and shareholders.”
“As a shareholder of a company, a person is not liable (in their capacity as a shareholder) for the company’s debts. Business operations are controlled by the company directors and owned by the shareholders.
“In the longer term, there’s the benefit of being able to add shareholders – enabling business growth via further capital contributions as each new shareholder comes on board.”
“Bonus points to those who consider owning the shares of an operating company through a discretionary trust structure which can provide even greater asset protection benefits.”
Suzette Bailey, CEO and coFounder, reKnow
“There is no easy answer when it comes to the best organisational structure for a business as it should depend on the company’s goals, values and culture and external requirements.
“It is important to clearly understanding the business’s goals and how the organisational structure helps to achieve them. If the goal is rapid growth, a flatter structure allows faster decision making and realisation of opportunities. If the goal is a high quality and consistency levels, more hierarchical structures may help ensure standards are maintained.
“It’s also important to consider company culture when choosing organisational structure. If very informal, a flat structure may be more suitable. Alternatively, if the culture is very formal, due to regulatory or market requirements, a hierarchical structure may be more appropriate.
“Ultimately, the best organisational structure for a company will be the one that best aligns with the company’s goals, values and culture at the time. Organisations should be prepared to review and adjust their structure to meet their goals and external requirements, rather than force an existing structure to meet changed goals or set goals based on structure.”
Dominic Woolrych, Co-Founder and CEO, Lawpath
“In Australia, it is most common to start a new business as a sole trader (ABN), however, it’s important to know that under this structure you are personally liable for the debts and obligations of the business.
“It is therefore crucial that you transition to a company structure (usually a Pty Ltd) once the business is up and running. We usually recommend to transition to this structure when the business takes on risk or starts generating consistent revenue.”
2. Tech Tuesday: The Top 58 Low Code Backend Services and Serverless Databases
Serverless is the next-generation way to manage and streamline development processes while providing great value for business applications. Because they expand automatically depending on requests, serverless databases do not require considerable capacity planning.?
Simply put, developers can create apps using infrastructure without a particular hardware platform by using a serverless database. It is designed to handle developers’ unpredictable and constantly changing workloads, and businesses need a highly secure and scalable data infrastructure. This is where serverless databases come in.
But what’s in it for businesses? Well, serverless companies handle the difficult tasks of allocating, configuring, and maintaining servers. As a result, rather than paying for servers, you pay for database calls made by your application and storage used by your data. You don’t have to speculate on what that may be; you simply pay for what you use. They automatically allocate more hardware to handle the increased load if you use more. If you use less, you’ll pay less, or perhaps nothing.
In this week’s?Tech Tuesday, we’ll look at modern database and backend solutions that can help you simplify your business management.
3. Founder Friday with Paul Tory: creating smarter ordering solutions for the hospitality industry
For those operating in the food service industry, there are certain pitfalls that were once a ‘given’ in the business, such as having to source and manage food inventories from a range of suppliers, using seemingly antiquated phone and fax ordering processes to do so.
Since 2017, however, a Sydney-based food tech start-up has been shaking things up.
“It’s been a slow adoption of tech in hospitality, it’s only in recent times that this industry has adopted apps like home delivery and rostering platforms,” explained Paul Tory, founder and CEO of Australia’s first wholesale marketplace for the food service industry, Foodbomb.
“We’ve created an online marketplace that connects venues like cafes, pubs, and restaurants, with food suppliers. We give them the ability to consolidate their purchases through a one-stop shop platform.”
Instead of having to manage numerous suppliers and balance those timelines of deliveries, hospitality businesses are now able to access more than 100 suppliers across categories of product like meat, fruits and vegetables, dairy, and bakery, all on a single platform. They can also compare prices and value between suppliers to make the best choice for their business.
Since launching over five years ago, Foodbomb operates in NSW, Victoria and more recently, Queensland.
Identifying the pain points of the industry
Growing up with a family business in wholesale meat supplies, stepping into food-tech seemed a “natural progression” for Paul.
In the early 2000s, he launched his first venture, an online home delivery meat company called Butcherman.
“It really opened my eyes to the world of e-commerce,” he shared. “I got to observe orders come through digitially, payments captured on the spot, and I thought ‘this is amazing!'”
When he sold the business to a larger meat company and worked there during the handover period, he discovered how difficult the ordering process could be in working with different suppliers.
He explained, “They were ten times our size and ten times worse in their processes! Every night, they had around 350 voice messages for orders the next day. You could hear pots and pans clanging in the background as someone placed an order for, say, 20 steaks tomorrow, without even identifying who they were! It was difficult.”
As Paul puts it, the idea for Foodbomb came from “living and breathing the industry.”
By dealing with suppliers, Foodbomb is able to take over the labour-intensive tasks of spreadsheets and phone calls to streamline the ordering process for hospitality venues. On the other side of the marketplace, they’re able to support the sales, accounts, and marketing teams of suppliers along with providing a seven-day payment guarantee on deliveries.
Today, Foodbomb is backed by investors like Athletic Ventures and Platform Advisory Partners. It closed its last funding round in 2021?from a?Series A?round, raising $4.5 million to begin expension into Brisbane and take on more staff.
The impact of COVID
Up until 2020, Paul notes that Foodbomb was gaining great traction, recording month-on-month growth and attracting the attention of prominent VC funds.
When the pandemic hit, they had to get creative.
“Lockdowns hit us almost overnight and it was a tough time. However, we noticed that supermarket shelves were empty, they’d stop going home deliveries, and here we were with a network of suppliers willing and able to deliver!” he recalled.
“So we pivoted our model to home delivery and even got a bit of a PR push from the media, like Channel 10 News. It was crazy, we had 15,000 registrations in that first month alone.”
Where the hospitality industry noticed profits plummeting by almost 70 per cent at the time, Paul estimates Foodbomb only saw a five per cent drop.
“It was a great stop gap for us because it was never a long-term plan to offer home deliveries. We’ve slowly phased that out, though we do offer it and it’s a small part of our business,” he added.
In another step to assist hospitality venues recovering from the impact of lockdowns, Foodbomb entered the buy-now, pay-later (BNPL) arena in early 2022. With BombPay, users are offered credit to pay wholesale suppliers without additional cost while the suppliers are paid immediately.
The way forward
In ‘blowing up’ antiquated practices within the hospitality industry, the start-up’s name seems quite fitting.
“We would tell investors that we’re cleaning out [the industry] and starting fresh,” Paul grinned. “But in reality, we didn’t have a name for a long time. It was actually my 10-year-old son who came up with ‘Foodbomb’ during the onboarding stage.”
Due to their model, they’ve also found a way to disrupt the industry by way of eliminating waste.
“By creating greater efficiencies in the ordering process, by way of volumes and frequency, we are certainly able to improve that area for sustainability,” he noted.
The plan ahead is to continue to expand, both nationally and potentially internationally, to bring their wholesale supply platform to much larger markets, Paul added.
Advice for aspiring entrepreneurs
With over 20 years of experience in the food service industry, there are a few lessons Paul acquired along the way. The first, he says, is in identifying the problem to be solved.
“Having lived and breathed a particular industry, it gave me a certain set of skills to be able to identify a clear problem. We didn’t make it up, it was already something that needed to be solved,” he observed.
“Moreover, launching with my co-founder Josh Goulburn who has a very complementary set of skills in managing teams and building strategy, we had a great base between the two of us.”
However, he’s also quick to add the importance of funding and proper backing, no doubt a major area of interest for aspiring entrepreneurs.
“We found a great venture capital investor and we were very well funded. So I would say that cash is key. In my personal experience, you do need money behind you to grow.”
4. Meet Victoria’s $30 million agribusiness owner Catherine Velisha
By all standards and metrics, Catherine Velisha is a resounding business success. She serves as the managing director of Velisha Farms, which has more than 80 employees working in all areas of vegetable production. The Velisha family has run a farm in Werribee South for more than 70 years. Velisha Farms is currently valued at $30 million; it supplies produce to Aldi stores in Victoria and New South Wales.
Velisha Farms operates a sizable packaging operation beside broccoli, cauliflower, and iceberg lettuce farm at its Werribee South headquarters. In other parts of Australia, the company grows celery, kale, coriander, brassicas, zucchini, and brassicas.
In order to inspire and educate the next generation of horticulturists, farmers, and hospitality professionals, she has also founded two education companies. However, she has had to learn to pivot and modify her business in recent years, just like everyone else, because her progress hasn’t been linear.
The initial days
Believe it or not, Catherine made the decision to take over Velisha Farms five years ago on the spur of the moment, according to her.
“I hadn’t ever thought about it or really considered it at all during my career until the opportunity was presented to me.?But timing is everything; it came at the right time for me. The first 24 months were extremely stressful, and I quickly learnt some business fundamentals. Cashflow is everything. Having the right team of people is crucial, and any decision is better than no decision at all.”
Catherine says that she had spent her entire life around farming, even before she began working for her family at the age of 19.
“I had worked in the business since I was 19, so about nine years before I decided I needed a career change. I did a youth work degree while still working at Velisha Farms, and balancing studying, working and learning more about the industry showed me that there is so much opportunity. I also like how it offered me the freedom of choice and a completely new lens to see my industry through. It brought me a new sense of wonder and excitement about the fresh produce industry.”
The most significant
Catherine points out that the horticulture sector is essential, significant, and opportunity-rich. She believes that farmers, who own and own the horticulture industry, are the industry’s original start-ups and entrepreneurs.
“I knew I wanted to be in the agriculture industry because of the excitement and dynamic layers of the industry.?We have all the excitement of the stock market with fruit and vegetable prices changing in response to market influences daily, we have science and technology weaved throughout all facets of our businesses, and our supply chain is built on diversity and resilience; the backbone of all our businesses, it’s in our blood.??
“I absolutely believe that there is no more critical, important and opportunity-filled industry than horticulture. Farmers are the original start-ups and entrepreneurs, running and owning the horticulture sector.?
‘Last but not least, climate change is the greatest threat to humans and the world as we know it. Horticulture is the way we will save the world!”
Coping with entrepreneurial stress
Entrepreneurship is commonly acknowledged to be one of the most difficult careers. They must deal with uncertainty and the reality that they are personally accountable (and liable) for every decision they make. Catherine notes that self-doubt has been another obstacle for her since taking over the company.
“I think my biggest challenge was self-doubt and getting used to the 24hr pressure that being a business owner has. While I don’t work 24/7, my team will surely call me on that, but it never leaves your mind.?
“I continually manage the pressure and stress through regular exercise, self-talk, and reflection. For me, it’s absolutely fundamental that my stress levels are kept within a healthy range because if it is not, then my leadership and guidance diminish, and I owe it to my team to be the best leader I can be for them.”
Finding the balance
“As my career has progressed, it is apparent that there is obviously room for improvement within horticulture and agriculture in regards to having better representation for women and improved behaviours in the industry. Although I do see a slow positive shift, some areas can be improved, such as both women and men championing more cultural diversity within key leadership positions in our industry.?
“Our businesses are made up of workforces from a variety of different nationalities. To be a good leader, you need to reflect and embody your workforce. That’s probably the thing I’m most proud of at Velisha farms; our leaders have all worked their way up within the business and are reflective of our employee cohort.”
Inspiring next-gen growers
According to Catherine, the largest obstacle has been that people don’t consume enough fresh produce—only 1 in 5 Australians consumes enough fruit and vegetables.
“Our biggest pivot during covid was creating a sister company called VEG Education. Veg Education is a Registered Training Organisation created specifically for the horticulture and agriculture industries. We think education can change everything for our industry by realistically addressing its major issues.?
“Our biggest issues in horticulture are people’s lack of consumption of fresh produce; only 1 in 5 people eat enough fruit and vegetables in Australia. The other major problem for us is attracting and retaining employee talent; education is the answer!
Furthermore, Velisha Farms has begun offering primary schools in Victoria the opportunity to participate in a practical programme to encourage young children to pursue professions in agriculture. Through the Victorian Farmers Federation-supported education programme, young children will learn about sustainability, how their food is grown, and the variety of job choices available in the agricultural sector (VFF).
“VEG education tackles these issues head-on through primary school programs, having young people experience the industry through real-world experiences and seeing them fall in love with their fruit and veg.??
“During this time, we also created a secondary school program called Food Futures which is really a first of its kind, directly linking our industry into the Secondary School curriculum. Students can now learn more about food, the supply chain, and the fabulous career opportunities it holds.?
“These were key pivots in our business which are helping to continue to evolve our business and simultaneously help the industry.”?
5. The hottest tech jobs in Australia right now detailed in new report
A new report by the professional association for Australia’s tech sector has analysed millions of online job postings since 2016 to find the jobs most in-demand in the country.
The ACS report found tech jobs recorded the second highest growth in Australia in the last five years at 14 per cent, second only to healthcare (21 per cent).
Software developer / engineers top the list with 31,725 job postings in 2021 alone, almost twice the number of postings as the second largest occupation, which is computer systems engineer/ architect. This is followed by data analysts, operations analysts, computer support specialists, and systems analyst.
Other notable occupations in the top 20 tech jobs in-demand in Australia include IT project manager, cybersecurity analyst, UI/UX developer, technology consultant, and computer programmer.?
Database architect, data warehousing specialist, and data scientist are leading the pack as the fastest growing tech occupations, recording over 100 per cent growth in the past five years.
Other key findings are that most IT roles are located in NSW, Victoria, and Canberra, indicating an uneven distribution of tech jobs around the country. Additionally, there’s growing emphasis on soft skills like communication and teamwork as much as technical skills.
“The Guide to the IT Professions report highlights the great opportunities in the technology sector and just how strong the competition for talent now is,” said ACS Vice-President, Jo Dalvean.
“For employers, the report shows how important it is to establish alternative pathways into the industry beyond IT related degrees. Some of the sector’s best talent doesn’t come through traditional career progression.”
Ms Dalvean added, “For technology students and workers, the report also shows the potential in emerging technologies. Regardless of what you’re currently studying or the field you’re qualified in, there are great career opportunities in the coming years.”
Big salaries
Unsurprisingly, occupations in this sector are particularly high paid, well above the national average salary of $72,000.
ICT managers command the highest salary at nearly $180,000, well over 200 per cent of the national average.
The report found the average salary for a software and applications programmer stands at around $117,000 while multimedia specialists and web developers pocket around $96,000 annually. The only occupation not above the national average is ICT support technicians at around $71,000.
Most requested skills
While employers are increasingly demanding soft skills like communication, problem-solving, and collaboration, the most requested specialist skill in tech remains SQL (16 per cent) followed by Java (12 per cent) and DevOps (12 per cent). Other specialised skills in demand are Python (10 per cent), technical support (8 per cent), and Linux (7 per cent).
The report also found several of the fastest growing skills in tech right now relate to cloud computing and storage, such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure.
Interestingly, employer demands in Australia rank higher than overseas counterparts as 97 per cent of ads in Australia required tertiary qualifications. In comparison, employers in the UK requested a Bachelor’s degree or higher in 90 per cent of postings and 86 per cent in the US.
Industry analysis
At over 26 per cent, the largest share of IT roles are found within the professional, scientific, and technical services industry.
The second largest industry is public administration and safety (17.3 per cent) and financial and insurance services (13.1 per cent).
Cybersecurity continues to grow in importance. In 2021, there were almost twice as many cybersecurity postings as there were five years prior. The top employers for these roles remain governments and government agencies along with consulting firms (such as Deloitte and Accenture), banks (Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Macquarie Group) in the top 10 list.
Click?here for the full report.
6. Nation-wide risk of business default worsens as inflation bites: Report
The risk of default over the next 12 months has increased in all regions across Australia owing to labour shortages, rising prices, interest rate hikes, and supply chain problems.
The September 2022 CreditorWatch Business?Risk Index?(BRI) found that the risk of default over the next 12 months has grown in all regions across Australia with 5000 or more registered businesses, except New South Wales’ Lower Hunter and Wyong regions. Businesses are having a difficult time from the east coast to the west coast.
Highlights:?
Trade activity still down
A more encouraging development is that year-over-year growth in B2B trade receivables has continued to rise, which suggests that small enterprises’ trade activity has continued to improve since COVID. However, numbers are still much below pre-covid levels.?
Trade activity has been steadily falling for some time, but it is now rebounding to more typical levels. The data indicates that there are still restrictions on how our clients are affected by actions that weren’t present before Covid. These restrictions usually come from a lack of goods or a protracted delay in getting them, especially in the construction industry, as well as labour constraints that prohibit expansion or enterprises from working at full capacity.
Therefore, even though both countries’ labour force data are still quite sparse, the data on open positions indicates that firms’ desire to hire new staff has decreased. The RBA is clearly being more careful in its approach to tightening monetary policy as some indications start to show that their cash rate hikes are starting to have an effect. It may take some months before this slowdown starts to show up in labour force data.
CreditorWatch?CEO Patrick Coghlan said B2B trade payment defaults showed a dip this month;?however, these remain well above levels seen in September last year during Covid and are a lead indicator of future defaults.?
“Payment defaults are hugely significant and are a key indicator of coming delinquency for the debtor/customer. Approximately 25% of businesses with default end up in administration within 12 months. Additionally, it puts pressure on the supplier,?who will now have to shoulder that bad debt. A business with a trade payment default?is?seven?times the default risk compared to a business with a clean payment record.”
The big picture
There has been a decline in the value of the Australian dollar after the central bank surprised investors by choosing to raise interest rates by a smaller-than-expected quarter point.?
The cash rate objective was raised by 25 basis points to 2.60 per cent by the Reserve Bank of Australia. Additionally, it raised the interest rate on Exchange Settlement balances by 25 basis points to 2.50 per cent.
Moreover, the Skills Priority List (SPL)?discovered that?286 jobs are now in low supply, up from 153 at the same time in 2021.?Nationally, shortages ranged from apiarists, veterinarians, nurses, and teachers to scaffolders, technicians and trades workers, miners, and landscape gardeners. Hotel managers, bus drivers, blacksmiths, and beauty salon managers are among the notable new additions to the skills shortages.?
The announcement verifies many industry groups’ fears about the chronic qualified workforce shortage impeding corporate activity across Australia.
Anneke Thompson, Chief Economist, CreditorWatch says: “Our Business Risk Index (BRI) data for September 2022 was broadly consistent with data trends we have recorded over the preceding months. Trade Receivables continue to increase yearly, indicating that businesses are still feeling relatively confident and that supply and labour bottlenecks are slowly clearing up.?
“This month we also saw the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) start to move more cautiously through its monetary policy tightening cycle, with only a 25 bps increase in the cash rate. Both monthly Labour Force and quarterly Job Vacancy data that were released recently suggested that the unemployment rate may have reached its trough.?
“The unemployment rate increased very slightly to 3.5 per cent, from 3.4 per cent the month prior, while the number of jobs available decreased by 2 per cent (or 10,000 jobs) over the three months to August. This will be welcome news for business owners, most of whom have been struggling to find workers to meet demand. It will also take some pressure off wage increases. Still, job vacancies are at extraordinarily high levels on long-term measures, and it will take many months to normalise.”
As a result of rising fuel and food prices, which have reached a 20-year high, the Australian economy is experiencing difficulties. This year, the RBA has hiked rates six times. Although the RBA left the door open to more hikes as it “assesses the prospects for inflation and economic growth in Australia.”It claimed that it had opted to pause the pace of tightening because the cash rate had been raised significantly in a short period of time.
Way forward
Despite favourable demand and trade circumstances for firms at the moment, analysts are still waiting for consumers to feel the effects of interest rate increases fully.
There are some early indications that, both domestically and worldwide, business conditions have peaked. According to recent ABS Job Vacancy data, there were fewer jobs available in Australia in August than there were in May. Similar trends may be seen in the statistics from the US.
So, while labour force data is still very tight in both countries, the vacancy data suggests that jobs are now starting to be filled at a greater rate,?and businesses have slowed their appetite for employees.
It may take some months before this slowdown starts to show up in labour force data, but clearly,?the RBA?is?being more cautious in their approach to monetary policy tightening as some indicators start to show that their cash rate hikes are starting to take effect.
Click here for?CreditorWatch Business?Risk?Index?report.
7. Do you know your credit score? 3 in 4 Australians don’t, research finds
Around 73 per cent of Australians – or 14.6 million people – aren’t aware of their credit score.
Almost half (48 per cent) have never checked their score, seven per cent are too scared to check, and six per cent don’t know what a credit score is.
With personal information concerns at an all-time high since the Optus data breach, Australians have been urged to note signs like an unexpected drop in credit score or declined credit applications, which could indicate compromised personal data. However, research by Finder found nearly 3 in 4 Australians don’t even know their credit score.
“It isn’t just a number – your credit score is a measure of how well you’re managing your finances,” explained Amy Bradney-George, personal finance expert at Finder.
“Whether you are buying your first home, applying for a credit card, or taking out a loan for a car, your credit score can help you understand how banks see you – and your chance of getting the loan.”
A credit score, sometimes called credit rating, is based on your borrowing and repayment history. It is calculated by looking into factors like past and present debt, loans and loan enquiries, current credit and store cards, and opened and/ or closed bank accounts.
This score can also be used it as a tool to help keep you safe from identity theft.
Ms Bradney-George added, “Keep an eagle eye on the transactions on your bank statement and credit card – the sooner you spot any suspicious activity the quicker you can put a stop to it. Start by contacting your bank or lender.”?
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Where can you check your credit score?
According to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, a?credit reporting body?must provide access every three months to your consumer credit report, free of cost.
You can also request a free copy if your credit-related personal information has changed or if you’ve been refused credit within the past 90 days.
It notes credit reporting bodies like Equifax, Experian, and illion as viable options.
Can you improve your credit score?
In the event that your credit score isn’t where you’d like it to be, there are a few steps that can be taken.
First, ensure your credit file has your most current and accurate personal information. If there is an error, you’ll need to contact your credit provider, credit reporting agency, and in some cases, the office of the Privacy Commissioner.
Second, it’s important to demonstrate reliability in paying all bills apart from credit cards, even general bills like electricity and water, or internet and mobile.
Third, having and operating a credit card with on-time payments could actually support your credit score over having no debt at all, as it displays an ability to manage debt.
Next, managing several debts like a credit card, mortgage, or a car loan, could improve your credit score by displaying you are a ‘good risk.’
In some cases, stability in terms of employment and address shows lenders that you have staying power and are in this the long-term. With that in mind, frequently moving houses every few months or hopping between jobs could potentially hurt credit scores.
This article does not constitute legal or financial advice. For questions and inquiries, we strongly recommend you seek advice from your lawyer or financial services provider.
8. ‘Crippling shortages’: business groups respond to Australia’s latest Skills Priority List
Since the release of the latest Skills Priority List by the National Skills Commission today, business groups have been weighing in on the implications of the acute skills shortages that are hindering the Australian economy.
The Skills Priority List (SPL) provides a detailed overview of skills shortages nationally and by state and territory, as well as the future demand for occupations in Australia. It found that?286 occupations are now in shortage, up from 153 occupations at the same time in 2021.
The shortages varied across industries nationally, from apiarists, veterinarians, nurses, and teachers to scaffolders, technicians and trades workers, miners, and landscape gardeners.
Notable new additions to the skills shortages include hotel managers, bus drivers, blacksmiths, and beauty salon managers.
For many business groups, today’s announcement confirms their concerns of how crippling qualified worker shortage is coming in the way of business activity across Australia.
“In the year since it was last published, the list has seen a 100 per cent increase in the number of occupations facing a skills shortage, further confirming the labour crisis confronting Australian business of every size, in every industry, in every corner of the country,” said Andrew McKellar, chief executive, Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI).
“This list is saying that a third of Australia’s occupations are facing critical shortages, confirming that the past year has seen Australia enter its worst labour market conditions since the 1970s.”
There are major concerns for the continued rise in skills shortages in trade and technician occupations.
“This data highlights the shortages facing our trade and technical areas, so we need to see increased and sustained investment in Vocational Education and Training from the commonwealth, states and territories. This is critically important as the trade shortages detailed will only get worse without planning to address these key areas,” Mr McKellar said.
“There needs to be funding that focuses on increasing the commencement rates of new apprenticeships and traineeships. Commencements cannot go backwards as this would be devastating to businesses. Funding also needs to be devoted to improving completion rates.”
According to Chris Vein, CEO of ACS, the largest professional body in Australia representing the ICT sector, the skills priority list also shows the importance of boosting Australia’s IT skills training.
“It’s not surprising to see two of the top ten occupations suffering shortages being IT related roles,” said Mr Vein. “ACS has been calling out the rapid growth of the nation’s technology sector in our annual Digital Pulse report for the past eight years and we’re forecasting over 1.3 million Australians to be working in tech jobs by 2030.”
Software and Applications Programmers are the second most in-demand occupation on the national list with ICT Business and System Analysts being ninth of the top ten job roles suffering shortages.
“These jobs on this list are not just in technology companies, but across all business and communities. IT is essential for industries such as agriculture, resources and tourism and it’s critical all parts of Australia have enough technology workers to keep their local economies running,” added Mr Vein.
Ai Group Chief Executive Innes Willox?noted that the list reflects the recruitment challenges faced by Australian employers daily.
“The substantial increase [of skills shortages] in a relative short period of time is a major cause for concern and highlights the great challenges being experienced across the country,” he said.
Mr Willox also pointed out the importance of Australia’s migration program in filling these immediate skills gaps.
“Programs such as the 482 temporary skill visa are of growing importance to businesses as they struggle to find workers locally. While the NSC data are separate from the Department of Home Affairs Priority Skilled Occupations list, it should provide important input as that list is updated,” he said.
9. SME sentiment is weakening despite higher profitability. Here’s why
While SME revenue and profit indicators are still strong, uncertainty about the local and global economy and continued cost constraints are a growing concern. As a result, business investment will probably slow down as we get closer to the holiday season, according to ACA Research Managing Director James Organ.
Data on SME revenue has been reliable for four months running. While many SMEs continue to operate with lower revenues (33 per cent) than they did prior to the pandemic, the percentage making a profit (54?per cent) continues to rise, continuing the upward trend that started in February.?
The short-term outlook is also highly positive, with 31?per cent?anticipating higher revenues over the next four weeks and only 6?per cent?anticipating a decrease. The confidence in the state of the economy has once again declined during the previous month,?even though?the major financial indicators are still very healthy.?
Over the next three months, 52 per cent of Australians anticipate weaker conditions, while 58 per cent anticipate a drop in world economies. SMEs with growth expectations for the next 12 months have again decreased from 43 per cent in August, keeping with a worsening economic climate.?
In particular, the rising cost of gasoline, which is currently very troubling for 54 per cent of SMEs as the fuel levy is reinstated, has a demonstrable impact on confidence. SMEs are starting to cut investment as cost pressures and declining confidence worsen; during the next three months, over 20 per cent of enterprises plan to cut back on marketing and capital equipment spending.
No confidence
The report also reveals that SMEs still have little confidence in the new Labor government’s capacity to implement efficient policies that meet their demands. Large SMEs (100–500 employees) and the hospitality industry show the strongest negative trend.
Continuous cost pressures have a significant influence on confidence, and 54 per cent of SMEs find the rising cost of fuel to be particularly worrisome now that the fuel duty has been reinstated. Positively, there is a continued drop in worries about staff shortages and salary costs.?
The percentage of SMEs with open positions fell from 35 per cent in July to 30 per cent in September, indicating a moderate downward trend in those increasing staff numbers.
Despite fewer available positions, hiring is becoming more challenging, with 57 per cent of SMEs expressing considerable difficulty filling these roles. In September, high wage demands (44 per cent) and a scarcity of suitable candidates (69 per cent) rose.
Over the next three months, over 20 per cent of SMEs plan to cut back on marketing and capital equipment expenditures. The need for extra financing has also risen from its August low, with demand for working capital and equipment financing particularly strong.?
About ACA research
Each month, the SME Sentiment Tracker, run by ACA Research, a top business market research agency in collaboration with Ovation, tracks the sentiment of more than 400 small and medium-sized businesses.
Please click on this link to access the full report?, including subgroup analysis by industry sector, size of business and State.
10. Australia’s efforts to commercialise innovation must be reinforced: Report
If Australia increases Emerging Tech exports to the United States, it may create 80,000 highly skilled jobs and attract an additional AUD $24 billion in capital investment by the end of the decade, according to a recent KPMG Australia and American Chamber of Commerce in Australia study.
Australia is ranked eleventh in the world for QC patents and among the top ten for QC research and venture capital investment. However, the report argues that Australia must step up efforts to turn innovation into commercialisation to take advantage of the exceptional economic prospects in emerging technology.?
Between Australia and the United States, there is significant untapped trade potential. According to the KPMG assessment, Australia has world-class research in three areas that stand to benefit from the historic AUKUS security pact: quantum science, the digital economy, and artificial intelligence (AI).
Report co-author Dr Brendan Rynne, KPMG Australia Chief Economist, said: “Emerging technology holds significant economic potential for both countries.
“Our modelling shows that Australian companies could realise billions of dollars through increased exports to the US and far greater participation in the value chain if their efforts are focused on enhancing products and services in key US Deep Tech sectors”.
In order to find potential for Australia to engage in the US supply chain, the paper compares Australia’s strengths in each area with the amount of openness in the US. Examples include Australia’s cutting-edge AI capabilities in mining and defence.
The report notes that the Financial Services Industry, which buys $2 billion worth of AI products and services yearly, is the industry where Australian companies are most likely to succeed.
The specialised AI products and services that complement US strengths will likely find a road to market. Australian businesses leading the way in QC and the digital economy may also see rapid expansion.
?“As this report demonstrates, it’s vital for Australia and the United States to collaborate in AI, Quantum Computing and the Digital Economy to secure the full economic and strategic potential of these powerful new technologies,” says AmCham Board Chair Dr Brendan Nelson AO, President of Boeing Australia, New Zealand, and South Pacific.
According to Doug Ferguson, KPMG Head of Asia & International Markets and NSW Chairman, Australian companies must move beyond our proven research strengths and engage and compete in both Australian and US customer markets and partnerships with US firms. “This will require a disproportionate joint effort by Australian corporate, the federal government and tertiary education sectors.”
Australia is a very alluring location for American investment and trade due to its strength in financial technology, big data, AI, blockchain, enterprise solutions, digital gaming, cyber security, immersive media (including augmented reality/VR), quantum computing, and advanced autonomous systems. The report identifies defence as a major opportunity, and Australia is among the top ten countries in the world for QC research and venture capital investment.?
In 2020, Australia’s GDP was predicted to be $1.3 trillion (at current market exchange rates); real GDP was down an estimated 4.2 per cent; and 26 million people were living there, according to the Office of the US Trade Representative. (IMF source)
Estimated commerce in goods and services between the United States and Australia in 2020 was $58.7 billion. The difference between exports and imports was $38.5 billion. In 2020, the U.S. and Australia’s goods and services trade surplus was $18.3 billion.
Here’s the?full report?by KPMG, or?download?the report.?
11. Incentivise EV uptake with tax breaks for commuters: KPMG report
A new report into electric vehicle technology has advocated for Australian workers with long commutes to receive tax breaks for using EVs.
The study by KPMG Australia into the uptake of EVs in Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney found disparities between age and size of vehicles used in urban areas compared to outer suburban areas.
The data indicated Australians in outer suburbs opt for larger, more spacious cars (such as Toyota Land Cruisers and Holden Commodores) compared to newer, smaller cars (like Toyota Corollas and Volkswagen Golf) in the inner city. In these scenarios, replacing the larger petrol vehicles for longer commutes with EVs would have a greater environmental impact.
“If the current trends persist, emissions will be highest in areas with the slowest EV uptake,” elaborated Ben Ellis, KPMG planning and infrastructure economics leader.
“Replacing one conventional vehicle in an outer suburb could lead to much higher emissions reductions than replacing one in an inner city.”
Focusing on state-level EV targets of 50 per cent of new car sales by 2030 in NSW, Victoria and Queensland, the study investigated expected EV uptake at a local suburb level.
It found the average passenger car fleet age to be much larger in postcodes further away from the CBD, like 11 years in Melbourne’s Craigieburn area compared to seven years in Melbourne City. With a potential switch to electric models, the emissions savings potential per vehicle in Craigieburn is almost 10 times that of inner-city Melbourne. However, Craigieburn is projected to have one of the lowest EV shares of all analysed areas.
The resulting KPMG report,?launched at the Infrastructure Sustainability Council Connect Conference Queensland, has recommended tax breaks for EV owners, an EV import campaign, and ‘purchase incentives’ for low-cost EVs and lower-income households.
It follows the federal government’s National Electric Vehicle Strategy that is currently accepting submissions for questions about EV infrastructure, petrol emission standards, and local manufacturing in Australia.
Last year, the Electric Vehicle Council (the national body representing the electric vehicle industry in?Australia) estimated?almost 9,000 electric vehicles had been sold in the first half of 2021.
12. “Simply un-Australian”: Unions drag Apple back to the negotiation table over better working conditions
The SDA and the Australian Services Union joined together to block Apple’s attempts to pass a subpar contract for its employees prematurely.
The unions are seeking changes to the agreement, which would have mandated Australians to work 60 hours per week without weekends, on behalf of 4,000 workers in Australia.
The national secretary of the SDA, Gerard Dwyer,?said?that Apple should never have needed to be persuaded to negotiate by the Fair Work Commission.
“With inflation above six per cent and rising, this would see Apple employees struggling with the cost of living, finding it even more difficult to pay for food, fuel, shelter and the other essentials of life.
“For a company making at least $11b in profits annually from its Australian operations, its behaviour is simply un-Australian,” he added.
Talks going back and forth
Apple agreed last month to discuss a new working arrangement with Australian staff after unions complained to the Fair Work Commission about employee demands for improved compensation and a guaranteed weekend.?
Apple has suggested an agreement with a pay minimum of 17 per cent more than the award rate, excluding weekend penalty costs. Furthermore, the company plans to raise pay by 2.8 per cent this year, 2.6 per cent in 2024, and 2.7 per cent in 2025. However, unions have asked that Apple employees should be granted at least one weekend off every month and two consecutive days off while working weekends.
“The deal put forward by one of the world’s richest companies would also see workers’ wages go backwards with a pay increase well below inflation, and without rostering protections meaning workers would not have a guaranteed off-weekend in a given month,” as per the Joint ASU/SDA statement.
“While unions have secured some initial concessions from Apple in negotiations, such as minimum guaranteed hours for part-time workers of 19 hours per week, they say the deal is “a long way off” and the Commission’s decision allowed more time for a fair deal to be struck.
Apple attempted to put the final Agreement up for a vote on September 19 without telling the bargaining representatives that the negotiations had ended. The Australian Services Union and SDA intervened immediately to prevent a vote from taking place without first informing and consulting staff.
As a result of union appeals to the Fair Work Commission, the access period for the new agreement was cancelled, and four extra meetings were arranged for the end of September and the beginning of October. The suit prompted the firm to connect with its employees and address any issues presented by Apple employees.
Emeline Gaske, Assistant National Secretary Australian Services Union, noted that despite blocking Apple’s attempts to ram through an agreement, hard work still lies ahead. “For a company making at least $11 billion in annual profits from its Australian operations, it can afford to pay its workers properly and give them basic conditions like a weekend once per month.”
Apple reported record third-quarter sales of $83.0 billion, up 2 per cent year over year, and quarterly earnings per diluted share of $1.20. This period concluded in June 2022. According to media sources, Apple has approximately?65,000?workers in its retail division, including those who sell, fix, and troubleshoot goods and services. Thirty-six per cent of Apple’s $366 billion in revenue in 2021 came from its retail presence.
SDA vs multibillion-dollar behemoths
This is not the first time SDA has targeted a major US corporation this year. More than 250,000 current and former McDonald’s employees in Australia were seeking compensation as of early this year in the SDA’s most recent legal action against the fast food chain.
A major Federal Court Claim was filed against 323 McDonald’s operators and the fast food giant over the alleged denial of paid rest intervals at roughly 1000 McDonald’s restaurants. The SDA claims that McDonald’s staff members were not only not informed of their right to rest periods but also that breaks may be exchanged for a free soft drink or meal.
13. Can low-code development be the answer to Australia’s IT skills shortage?
As current labour market conditions continue to tighten and tech roles remain hard to fill, businesses across Australia have been forced to adapt their strategies and find creative ways to address skills shortages in numerous areas. It’s been a particular challenge for those in the IT landscape, trying to ride out the digital transformation wave amid a shortfall of skilled tech talent.
At the much-anticipated Jobs and Skills Summit in Canberra, commitments towards building a modern skills base and getting 1.2 million people in tech jobs by 2030 were warmly welcomed – but is there more that can be done?
According to many in the software development space, low-code application development platforms could be the next step to empowering a new workforce into this arena.
“Low-code is an application development method that elevates coding from textual to visual and provides a drag-and-drop approach,” elaborated Jornt Moerland, Regional Vice President, Asia Pacific at Mendix.
“In the general app development process, there’s a need for consistent checking, making sure it’s running well before you deploy it. With low code, every step of the application lifecycle can now be automated. It eliminates the need for technical testers, allows for much smaller teams (including non-technical developers, subject matter experts, and business stakeholders) and eliminates a lot of the overhead technical requirements of the process.”
Increasingly, low-code application development platforms (LCAPs) are being touted as the best way to utilise Australia’s existing talent to deliver apps faster while getting departments outside of IT involved in development. Its visual nature improves accessibility and collaboration, thus allowing mixed teams to focus on adding value.
The programmer’s experience is also made easier by built-in databases and ‘one click’ deployment of applications.
Since the pandemic, the surge in remote development has also been viewed as a driving force for low-code adoption.
“From ideation to integrated monitoring and testing capabilities and delivering the end result, a cloud-based low-code platform is able to create numerous products in the segment, including web apps and even augmented reality. You’re able to reduce the overall development resources by up to 70 per cent, saving time and resources,” Jornt added.
Expanding talent pools with low-code solutions
Technological research and consulting firm Gartner has predicted that the global demand for hyper automation technology (which includes low-code solutions, robotics, and virtual assistants) will hit nearly $600 billion by the end of this year.
It predicts low-code will account for more than 70 per cent of application development operations by 2024.
Jornt isn’t surprised by these figures.
“In Australia alone, we’re seeing how the business demand for IT talent far outweighs the actual supply of developers, and organisations aren’t able to offer the appealing position to keep up with the demand. It’s a vicious cycle we’re experiencing here,” he said.
Demand for skills like cloud computing, software development, machine learning, blockchain, and cloud computing continue to top the tech talent recruitment lists in the country.
“With platforms like Mendix, we’re able to expand the potential talent pool to a much bigger set of people. This seems an inevitable path for the Australian market to go down. Our web-based, no code integrated development environments (IDEs) allow for simply drag-and-drop functions while our desktop IDEs allows for more complex solutions for enterprises as well, allowing for custom code like Java and CSS abilities. Thus, you’re able to achieve speed and flexibility with versatility.”
However, Mendix’s features include more than just visual modelling, scalable environments, and collaboration tools. Through reusable components, skilled developers can customise and extend low-code app components, while seamlessly moving through the ideation, development, testing, deployment, and operations phases of the application lifecycle.
Accelerating digital transformation
When making the leap towards low-code solutions, key questions to consider in choosing an appropriate platform include: are there built-in tools to facilitate real-time collaboration between business and IT in the app lifecycle? Are there abilities to integrate with any system and data source? Can the user experience (UX) be optimised across web, mobile, and immersive experiences? Is there an option to deploy on public, private, on-premises, or hybrid clouds? And finally, would type of applications need to be delivered?
Combining app development with intelligent automation, data integration, and artificial intelligence to elevate development solutions, there’s a reason that Mendix has been adopted by over 4,000 companies and 250,000 developers around the world.
“Our clients gravitate to our low-code solutions and technology that binds everything together, to really automate custom software development,” Jornt observed. “In that respect, we’re already in the future now, using our investments and direction to help customers develop not one but hundreds of apps.”
14. The Great Reskilling: More managers are convinced that new hires require training
While the Great Resignation has slowed down, businesses are still battling tooth and nail to find and retain employees.
Most of those who moved jobs in the past year still consider another change. Numerous analysts predict that high employee turnover rates will continue until 2022 and possibly longer. Meanwhile, hiring demands are causing many firms to over-promote or over-compensate new workers when the skills scarcity is already making things difficult for small businesses, according to a survey published by RMIT Online today.?
Due to market competition and high applicant expectations in the previous year, nearly half of Australian managers (46 per cent) said their companies had to overpay for new workers. The same percentage (40 per cent) also claims that those hired lack the knowledge or expertise required for the new positions. Additionally, according to the research, 35 per cent of managers and a quarter of non-managers, new employees receive the highest pay for their roles, leading to conflict inside the organisation.
According to the report, 34 per cent of managers who switched companies in the last year are worried that they lack the necessary abilities. They are so concerned that just months into their new employment, 37 per cent of them are actively seeking another one.?
Managers and staff frequently transition into new positions even when they are ill-prepared for them. According to the research, the majority of dissatisfied employees (57 per cent) don’t feel valued by their employers, and a half (51 per cent) think their pay is insufficient for their position or level of responsibility.
Rising inflation is also contributing to increasing career moves. Over 85 per cent of those surveyed say a?higher cost of living makes financial compensation more critical now than a year ago, increasing the likelihood of moving for a better paycheck.?
The research reveals that over a third of workers changed jobs in the past year for better pay. Of those, 61 per cent did so for less than $10,000 a year, and 28 per cent for less than $5,000.?“A tight job market means many companies are more open to fast-tracking careers or hiring professionals with fewer years of experience,” says Claire Hopkins, RMIT Online Interim CEO.?
“This is not necessarily a problem and can positively contribute to finding and promoting great talent. However, businesses must complement this with support and training to ensure new employees have what is needed to succeed.”
The CEO adds?that?leaders have to understand the issue better to support new hires and avoid creating attrition within the current employees.?
“The talent shortage means retaining team members is critical. Companies must ensure they are actively putting strategies together to prioritise their employer value proposition through remuneration or providing on-the-job or formal training opportunities to help staff realise their potential.”?
Business organisations have commented on the effects of the severe skills shortages that impede the Australian economy since the National Skills Commission released its most recent Skills Priority List earlier.?
For example, a major skills gap in the technology industry will necessitate nearly tripling our tech workforce by 2030 to fuel economic growth and keep Australia on the cutting edge. According to Karin Verspoor, Executive Dean School of Computing Technologies, an additional 650,000 IT employees will be required in Australia alone by the end of the decade, and this demand will continue to expand significantly.
The Skills Priority List (SPL) provides a detailed overview of Australia’s skills shortages, both nationally and by state and territory, as well as expected demand for specific occupations. It was determined that there are currently 286 open positions, up from 153 in the same period in 2021. Scaffolders, technicians and craftspeople, miners, and landscape gardeners were among the country’s low supply.
Time to upskill the workforce
Addressing these shortages will take more than boosting short-term migration, said ACS Chief Executive Officer Chris Vein: “Every country is facing these job shortage issues, and Australia is in a competition with every developed country to attract skilled workers. Simply making more visa slots available is part of the solution, but much more is needed.
“One of the quickest ways of addressing our skills shortage is harnessing our national assets, particularly Australia’s educated, flexible and diverse workforce, through upskilling workers and boosting the industry’s diversity.
“Ahead of the last Federal election, ACS called for increased funding for reskilling, diversity programs, and support for workers and employers looking to boost their digital skills.
“We’re delighted the Albanese government has adopted some of these measures, such as offering more free TAFE places and reviewing the diversity of industry support programs. We look forward to furthering positive moves in the upcoming Federal budget.”
Mr Vein also pointed out that the IT skills shortage is a national issue affecting all industries and regions and not just the capital cities’ tech sectors, saying: “These jobs on this list are not just in technology companies but across all business and communities. IT is essential for agriculture, resources and tourism industries, and all parts of Australia must have enough technology workers to keep their local economies running.”
15. 2023 AgriFutures Rural Women’s Award applications are now open
Women leaders in rural and regional Australia who want to make an impact, innovate and make a difference are encouraged to apply for the 2023 AgriFutures Rural Women’s Award. The deadline for applications is Wednesday, October 19, 2022.
Women who have a project, company, or programme that is already up and running and has a good influence on rural communities, companies, and industries are encouraged to apply, according to AgriFutures Australia. Each State and Territory Winner receives a $15,000 award from Platinum Sponsor Westpac to help them expand their idea, company, or programme.
They also have access to national alumni networks and professional development opportunities. An additional $20,000 and $15,000 will be awarded to the National Winner and Runner Up, who will be chosen from the State and Territory Winners and revealed at a gala dinner.
Managing Director John Harvey said women who want to create impact, innovate and make a difference in rural and regional Australia should apply. “The Award provides a life-changing opportunity for women to use and develop their skills to make a difference in their industries and communities.
“Over the past two decades, the AgriFutures Rural Women’s Award has provided over 300 women with the opportunity to create positive change for rural and regional Australia, as well as significant professional development opportunities,” said Mr Harvey.
Minister for Agricultural Industry Development and Fisheries and Minister for Rural Communities Mark Furner said the AgriFutures Rural Women’s Award was Australia’s leading award to celebrate and acknowledge exceptional women from rural industries and communities.
“The Palaszczuk Government proudly supports the AgriFutures Rural Women’s Award and encourages women working on a project or business that is positively contributing to rural industries and great lifestyles in regional communities to apply,” Mr Furner said.
“Thanks to the generous sponsorship of Westpac, the Queensland winner of the Rural Women’s Award will receive a $15,000 grant to further their work and represent Queensland at the national awards where they have the chance to win an additional $20,000 grant.
Westpac Regional General Manager Queensland Peta Ward said the Award played a significant role in acknowledging the change makers in our rural industries and communities.?
“The AgriFutures Rural Women’s Award is an important platform to shine a light on innovative women like Queensland’s 2022 winner, pioneering child health nurse Rebecca Bradshaw,” Ms Ward said.
“Rebecca truly exemplifies the rural and regional women whose leadership today is going to continue to make a difference to the lives and families in our rural communities for years to come.
“It truly is inspiring to recognise the work of women responding to some of the biggest industry and community challenges being faced by many of us.”
Applications for the AgriFutures Rural Women’s Award and the AgriFutures Rural Women’s Acceleration Grant are now open and close on Wednesday, 19 October 2022.
Apply now at?www.agrifutures.com.au/rwa?or?www.agrifutures.com.au/acceleration-grant
More information about the AgriFutures Rural Women’s Award is available at?www.agrifutures.com.au/people-leadership/rural-womens-award.
Information about the Rural Women’s Acceleration Grant is available at?www.agrifutures.com.au/people-leadership/acceleration-grant.
Note: Northern Territory applications close Friday, 27 January 2023.
16. Energy network providers pocketed $10 billion in ‘supernormal’ profits from eastern Australian households: report
Due to weaknesses in network regulation, electricity users in Australia’s eastern states have paid much higher than required rates for “poles and wires,” generating $10 billion in supernormal profits for energy network operators over an eight-year period.?
According to the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis report on regulated networks, “pole and wires” suppliers, including United Energy, AusNet, and Endeavour, charged customers 11 per cent more than their expenses until 2021. The study on 18 suppliers found that the profit was 67 per cent more than what would be deemed “average” earnings between 2014 and 2021. Most of the abnormally high earnings, meanwhile, have probably gone to offshore owners
This added an unnecessary 6.8 per cent average cost to people’s electricity bills in 2020, or between $800 and $1200 per energy customer over the eight-year period, with no added reliability benefits since the supernormal profits are ultimately used for network reinvestment.
A complicated regulatory framework
According to the report, the excessive profits occurred because of the current regulatory system, which is managed by energy market bodies such as the Australian Energy Regulator, the Australian Energy Market Commission, the Council of Australian Governments Energy Council, and the Australian Competition Tribunal consistently underestimated the actual costs that network businesses would require to build, operate, and maintain the network.?
“Networks passed on inflated expenses to customers (through merchants), and stockholders pocketed the difference between revenue and cost,” the report said. Furthermore, the report noted that the complicated regulatory framework intended to prevent excessive network monopoly profits has failed due to inadequate network-regulating laws and procedures and a lack of transparency regarding the level of monopoly profits.?
The massive supernormal earnings have also hampered Australia’s needed transition to a low-carbon power grid by diverting monies that could have been utilised to support the energy reform. To be sure, the IEEFA report’s research and results are consistent with the new data and comments in the network portion of the 2022 State of the Energy Market study, which was released in late September.?
They emphasise the importance of considerable government action to correct flaws in the present mechanisms that manage power network prices. According to the report’s author, Simon Orme, regulations must change quickly. “People’s electricity bills are forecast to increase even further over the next 6-18 months as high coal and gas prices globally impact Australia’s domestic prices,” says Orme.
“Australia’s energy customers have been spinning golden silk for network providers for nearly a decade. They can’t be expected to fund superprofits any longer. The extra burden must be removed. The inefficiencies from excessive network prices, and wealth transfers created by persistent sector-wide supernormal profits, are also delaying the decarbonisation of the electricity system.
“The $10 billion in super profits extracted by electricity networks over 2014-2021 is approaching the capital cost of AEMO-identified regulated transmission projects necessary to support the closure of most coal-fired power generation.”?
Orme added that energy consumers in the national electricity market had paid around $1.2 billion more than necessary each year over the last eight years to have a stable electricity supply.?
“The Australian Energy Regulator is responsible for making sure networks charge consumers only what is required to cover the costs of investing in, building, maintaining and operating the networks, plus a reasonable profit to ensure compensation for investors.
“That network providers in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania have gained super profits by persistently charging too much, resulting in overall retail electricity prices being higher than necessary, is a fact Energy Ministers championing lower electricity prices may have been unaware of.
“Now that they are aware, the Federal Government should establish an independent commission of inquiry into the economic regulation of networks, working together with participating NEM jurisdictions.
“The commission of inquiry should work to increase the reporting and monitoring of network business’ profits, make changes to the rules and laws to improve economic regulation of networks, remove barriers to consumer representation in economic regulation processes and ensure frameworks for future investment are efficient.”
“Improving the?regulations governing monopoly electricity networks in Australia will help constrain supernormal network profits and reduce the strong upward pressure on consumer bills.
Read the report:?Regulated Electricity Network Prices Are Higher than Necessary — An Assessment of the Economic Regulation of Australia’s Electricity Networks.
17. Retailers prep for over $400m in sales as Halloween approaches
As Halloween continues to grow in status as a holiday here in Australia, retailers are prepping for millions in sales later this month.
New research from Australian Retailers Association (ARA) in collaboration with Roy Morgan forecasts sales to reach $430 million with one in four Australian reportedly planning to celebrate Halloween this year.
“Halloween is growing in status as an Aussie tradition and has become a highly anticipated seasonal event for many retailers,” said ARA CEO Paul Zahra. “Businesses are coming to the party with themed windows and store displays as part of big promotional push in the lead up to October 31.”
In this first annual survey of Halloween intentions, over half of all respondents celebrating are purchasing treats for ‘trick or treaters’ followed by buying Halloween costumes (47 per cent), decorating the home (40 per cent) and attending or hosting a party (23 per cent.)
According to projections, over 3 million Australians are planning to celebrate Halloween, amounting to sales of around $86 per person.
The figures indicate those aged 35-49 are the most likely to celebrate. Interestingly, it seems the holiday isn’t limited to children and families alone as one in five Australians say will hold or attend a Halloween party without children.
Mr Zahra elaborated, “Consumers are forecast to spend $430 million on their Halloween celebrations, stocking up on food and sweets and purchasing costumes and decorations. Some families go above and beyond with lighting and decorative efforts around their homes, while hospitality venues also get involved with Halloween themed food and cocktails.
“Halloween is a great time to celebrate some spooky silliness and with five million Australians expected to do so this year, the event will help build sales momentum for retailers in the run up to Christmas.”?
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