Archive

Migration in Regional Australia, Submission to the Joint Standing Committee on Migration

The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Australian Chamber) welcomes the opportunity to make a submission to the Joint Standing Committee on Migration’s Inquiry into Migration in Regional Australia. This submission does not set out to provide detailed commentary on all of the terms of reference, but will cover issues most relevant to the Australian Chamber membership. It is essential that we support migration policies that successfully meet regional skill and labour needs. This is about putting positive policies in place that support regional jobs growth, and encouraging migrants to fill job needs including the difficult to satisfy seasonal needs....

Submission into the Review of the Australian Apprenticeships National Skills Needs List

The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Australian Chamber) welcomes the opportunity to make a submission in response to the issues paper on the Review of the Australian Apprenticeships National Skills Needs List (NSNL). Apprenticeship incentives play a critically important role in the system, and the purpose of incentives needs to be clearly understood. The NSNL review provides an opportunity for clarity and also to examine the relationship between skills shortages and apprenticeship incentives. This submission establishes a clear position that an assessment of skills in shortage should have no role in influencing the base apprenticeship incentives, as there are...

Submission into the New Skilled Regional Visas (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2019

The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Australian Chamber) welcomes the opportunity to make a submission to the Senate Standing Committees on Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee on the New Skilled Regional Visas (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2019 [Provisions]. This submission supports the proposed Bill. However, it does so in the context that there are some broader reservations about the decision to convert the employer-sponsored Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme into a provisional visa. We note that the Joint Standing Committee on Migration’s Inquiry into Migration in Regional Australia is relevant to this discussion. In that submission, we highlighted the barriers to...

Jobs for the Future in Regional Areas: Submission to the Senate Select Committee into Jobs for the Future in Regional Areas

The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Australian Chamber) welcomes the opportunity to make a submission to the Senate Select Committee’s Inquiry into Jobs for the Future in Regional Areas. This submission does not set out to provide detailed commentary on all of the terms of reference, but will cover issues most relevant to the Australian Chamber membership. The submission highlights the trends in regional jobs, industry opportunities such as those in tourism and agritourism, education; and key policies such as skills, infrastructure including digital communications and airport infrastructure, and migration to boost job creation in the regions in the...

CCA Advice on Meeting the Paris Agreement Submission — Climate Change Authority – Updating the Authority’s Advice on Meeting the Paris Agreement August 2019

2019 Review of the Australian Domestic Gas Security Mechanism Submission — Department of Industry, Innovation and Science

Intellectual Property Laws Amendment (Productivity Commission Response Part 2 and Other Measures) Bill 2019 Senate Standing Committees on Economics, August 15, 2019

Treasury Laws Amendment (2019 Tax Integrity and Other Measures No. 1) Bill 2019 Submission to the Treasury August, 21, 2019

Fair Work Laws Amendment (Proper Use of Worker Benefits) Bill 2019 [provisions] Senate Education and Employment Legislation Committee August 2019

Activities & Achievements | January – March 2019

The Australian Chamber began the year on the front foot, establishing a strong public profile in national policy debates on workplace relations, energy and skills, ahead of the Federal Election.

Australian Chamber-Westpac Survey of Industrial Trends | June 2019

The Australian Chamber–Westpac Survey of Industrial trends, Australia’s longest running business survey dating from 1966, provides a timely update on manufacturing and insights into economy-wide trends. The Westpac–AusChamber Actual Composite index declined to 61.5 in June from 61.8 in March. The Composite remains at a positive level but suggests that the loss in momentum from mid-2018 has persisted into mid-2019. The reading for the Composite index is supported by rising output, albeit at a slower pace; new orders; backlog; and overtime. However, employment levels stagnated over the past three quarters. The Australian economy has slowed to an annual growth pace...

Submission to the Department of Home Affairs Border Permits Review

The Australian Chamber welcomes this opportunity to provide input to the Department of Home Affairs (the Department) Border Permits Review, as part of the whole-of-government trade modernisation agenda. The World Bank Doing Business Reports lists Australia as having the most expensive export and import border compliance among OECD high income economies, scoring last across the grouping in 2016, 2017, and 2018.1 The Australian Chamber supports the spirit and intent of the import/export regulations under the Customs (Prohibited Imports) Regulations 1956 and the Customs (Prohibited Exports) Regulations 1958, and agrees that Australia’s border and biosecurity arrangements must remain strong in order...

WES review – Release 1 (RCS) Safe Work Australia evaluation of Workplace exposure standards for airborne contaminants

The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Australian Chamber) welcomes the opportunity to provide a response to Safe Work Australia’s (SWA) draft evaluation report for crystalline silica released in February 2019.

2018-2019 Annual Wage Review – Supplementary Submission of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry 12 April 2019

Productivity Commission Inquiry into the Economic Impacts of Mental Ill-Health

The ambition of Government and for the community generally, should be that more people with disability are in work. In using the term disability here, it encompasses those with a nervous or emotional condition causing restriction and those with a mental illness or condition that requires help or supervision1. Approximately fifty-three percent (53.4) of those with disability aged 15 to 64 years participate in the labour force compared to 83.2 percent of those without disability2. The ambition should be bold and aim for a significant shift in the workforce participation rates, not just seeking to make a marginal improvement.  ...

Submission to the Biosecurity Levy Steering Committee – April 18 2019

The Australian Chamber welcomes this opportunity to provide input to the Biosecurity Levy Steering Committee’s deliberations. Biosecurity is a vital component of Australia’s trade and economic wellbeing, protecting over $60 billion worth of agricultural production nationally, underpinning Australia’s inbound tourism industry worth over $38 billion and protecting our environment from pest and disease incursions. The Australian Chamber is supportive of an efficient and effective biosecurity system for Australia. We refer to the work of Dr Wendy Craik and her team in the 2017 independent review of the capacity of Australia’s biosecurity system and the underpinning Intergovernmental Agreement on Biosecurity (IGAB)....

Submission – Australian Energy Regulator – March 2019

2018-19 Annual Wage Review – First Submission of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry 15 March 2019

Review of Australian Qualifications Framework – Submission to the AQF Expert Panel

Australian Chamber-Westpac Survey of Industrial Trends | March 2019