Associations To Business

To be successful in export, it is important for a business to have a good export strategy, conduct proper due diligence before exploring opportunities in a potential market, prepare export pricing/marketing and also visit the potential export market. However, most of the time, a business will need to commit time and money to do all of these activities. In the...

Recently I gained a rare insight into the work of our fine men and women on the frontline as part of Exercise Boss Lift Top End and Exercise Pitch Black 14. A group of 23 bosses and senior managers from around Australia headed to Darwin to see a full range of core capabilities on display across Army, Navy and Air...

Most Australian workers are covered by a Modern Award set down by the Australian Industrial Relations Commission (now known as the Fair Work Commission or FWC). Modern Awards are generally specific to a particular industry - such as Retail Sales, or Construction, or Restaurants - and set out the minimum wages and conditions of employment that apply by default to...

The 2014 ACT Chief Minister's Export Awards celebrate the excellence of our exporting industry. We are a city of innovators and entrepreneurs and the fact that our exporting industry has grown by 10.7% over the last five years is testament to that. The ACT Government's recent trade mission to Singapore was an important stage of the Canberra's business growth. Three...

The recent announcement of the Federal Budget brought some relief to the exporting community. Under the 2014-2015 budget, the Government will provide $200 million of additional capital to the Export Finance and Insurance Corporation (EFIC). This equity injection reverses the decision of the previous Government to take a oneoff special dividend from EFIC in 2012-2013 and will allow EFIC to...

Poland offers an attractive blue sky opportunity for ACT businesses to diversify and leverage because of its geographic location and strategic position within the European Union (EU), an economic zone that generates approximately one quarter of the world's GDP. Poland is the sixth largest economy of the EU. Since joining NATO in 1999 and the EU in 2004, Poland is...

On June 11 an overwhelming majority of eligible members of the ACT & Region Chamber of Commerce & Industry (Chamber) voted in favour of creating a single organisation to represent the interests of business in Canberra and the region in conjunction with the Canberra Business Council (Council). The Boards of the Chamber and the Council have for some time been...

In the wake of a tough Federal Budget, the 2014-15 ACT Budget recognised two fundamental realities. This is not the time for the ACT Government to add to the economic pressures by also cutting its spending. Rather it is the time to support our economy by investing in infrastructure and stimulating economic activity to create jobs. Second, the private sector...

The 2014 ACT & Region Indigenous Expo was created in 2012 with the aim of continuously developing and growing effective partnerships between governments, training organisations and employers with the ACT and surrounding communities. The success of the 2012 Expo was overwhelming and this important community event has continued to grow, with 2014 shaping up to be the biggest yet! The...

We all knew that the 2014-15 Federal Budget would bring challenges to the economy and the private sector in Canberra and the surrounding region. After two years of speculation and rhetoric about the number of public service job cuts we now know that the Australian Public Service (APS) will be literally decimated - a massive 10% of the APS or...

The next six weeks will be critically important for business in the ACT. The Expenditure Review Committee has been meeting; the final report of the Commission of Audit has been delivered and will be released before the 2014- 15 Federal Budget is handed down on 13 May 2014 and a month later on 3 June 2014 the ACT Budget will...

There have been some significant changes around Privacy requirements recently that impact on the way that many employers should handle privacy issues. Firstly, significant amendments to the Australian Privacy legislation came into effect on 12 March 2014. The changes provide additional protections with regards to the use of data and restrict how Australian businesses collect, store and use data. The...

The Export Council of Australia (ECA) with the support of Austrade and Export Finance and Insurance Corporation (EFIC) recently published the results of Australia's International Business Survey (AIBS) 2014. An interesting part of the report is the survey outcome on barriers to exports and international business. In the survey, respondents were asked to identify the most significant challenges of doing...

Singapore is a major trading hub and plays an important role for companies willing to expand to the South-East Asian region. Singapore is particularly strong in the manufacturing, wholesale/retail trade and services sector. The country is host to multinational companies from various industries and geographies. In the ICT sector, Singapore is host to more than 80 of the world's top...

It would be difficult to exaggerate the value of networking to business however, the fact that a sizeable, but decreasing number of businesses don't take full advantage of the networking opportunities available to them is truly surprising. Networking can be a powerful and cost-effective tool when used properly, providing both businesses and their customers with tangible benefits, some of which...

This year is shaping up to be a big one for business in Canberra and the Capital Region. We all know that it will be a year of significant challenges for the private sector and the ACT economy but there have been a number of significant "wins" for business recently. The challenge The protracted period of uncertainty caused by our...