Issue 118 August 2016

All the signs point towards our city experiencing a period of growth in the coming months which is a major opportunity for our business community to prosper. The ACT's unemployment level fell again in June - bucking the national trend and maintaining our status of having the lowest unemployment rate in the country. Employment growth has been positive for thirteen...

While Canberra Business Chamber represents and supports businesses of all types and sizes, it is currently prioritizing a number of initiatives designed to impact on the success and expansion of local micro-businesses. Of the 26,000 businesses operating in the ACT, 97 per cent are small businesses employing less than 20 people. Of these, 16,000 are micro businesses employing one or...

Welcome to the future. It's pretty cool. If you find there are things that you are repeating over and over again in your business, have a look around and see if there are options available to automate them. There are so many cool tools available to us now in a range of fields to help collate ideas and improve work...

And we all thought absenteeism was a problem! We know how hard it can be to get out of bed on a chilly morning, more so if you are feeling less than ideal. However, more often than not employees are choosing to go in to work. Whether it's dedication to the job or fear of increasing workloads; here's why going...

Complexity and disruption is the name of the game. The catchcry in response is the notion of agile and flexible workplaces. However, trying to play catch-up to a new mode of working is very hard in a large organisation. "The questions that come to mind when I hear that we need to be innovative, adaptable and agile is that while...

When it is time to purchase your first home, buy a new home or even refinance an existing mortgage most people head to whichever bank they already use, without any thought of using a mortgage broker. Some may never have heard of a mortgage broker while others may have heard the term but not know what a mortgage broker does,...

In early July, Canberra's leading relationship lawyers proudly announced the appointment of Rebecca Tetlow as Partner of the firm. Rebecca joins founding Partners Julie Dobinson, Phil Davey, Lois Clifford and Di Simpson in leading the award winning firm. Rebecca has been with the firm since 2012 and played an integral role in developing the firm's Wills and Estates practice. As...

The peak organisation for Australia's $1.2 trillion strata property sector is supportive of drones being used to inspect high rise residential apartment buildings across the ACT. But, they call on local authorities in the ACT to lay out a plan to ensure regular drone use doesn't open the door for "peeping Toms". "With over 26% of the population now calling...

As CEO of SME Gateway, Stuart Althaus, runs an organisation that that has completed over $180 million in client projects for Government and Defence clients, and has access to over 320 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and more than 4,800 professional service providers. SME Gateway is a Tier 1 Australian Prime Contractor with a fully collaborative SME delivery structure that...

Growing up in a rough neighbourhood in Adelaide's west, Matt Wilcox, founder of cyber security company Fifth Domain, formed the belief that standing-up for oneself was a necessity and a right. Today, Matt has built a company based on that belief. He founded Fifth Domain after years of working for the Federal Government in cyber security. "I realised the cyber...

Canberra has seen an increasingly buoyant employment market strengthening throughout the 2016 financial year with continued growth in most corporate areas. The return to form of Government recruitment activity since the beginning of the 2015 financial year has been substantial. Whilst the Government recruitment market has switched on in the typically rapid 'tap on - tap off' style they are...

RSM thinkBIG 2016 survey reveals challenges and strengths for Australian SMEs Growth predictions by the small to medium sized business sector are surprisingly bullish in a year that has been riddled with political change, creating uncertainty for many business owners, according to RSM Australia's thinkBIG 2016 findings. thinkBIG found that 69 % of business owners expect to grow in the...

WHY YOU SHOULD ATTEND Join Canberra's business community at this dynamic and unique event. Come along for free and enjoy the following benefits: See the latest products and find the right sustainable solutions for your business Get up-to-date with best practice, standards and corporate responsibility Discuss your needs with the Actsmart team Save time and money WORKSHOPS Free workshops include...