DIVISION REPORT
Western Australia/Northern Territory President’s Report Well, what a difference couple of months makes. It seems like only yesterday that we had only just heard of this new virus that had been discovered in a far off Chinese city, and at that point it was only travel and tourism that were suffering – little did we know how quickly this would turn into a global pandemic, forcing restrictions and lockdowns, disrupting lives and businesses to an extent that has not been seen since the Second World War. Whilst the lockdown and restrictions has forced us postpone our planned events, notably our Economic Update Breakfast update and the increasingly popular Insolvency Seminar, we hope that we will see restrictions lifted to a level that will allow us to still hold our WinC and YCP Events (YCP nominations are now open) later in the year, and I am hoping that these events will be bigger and better than before, even in the face of the challenges we are experiencing. On a lighter note, a copy of the 1993 March edition of ‘Credit Management in Western Australia’ landed on my desk recently, and made for some very interesting reading, not to mention the AICM alumni that held council positions then that are still involved in some form today – Steve Thomas (President), Steve Mitchinson (Australian Director), Kevin Allen (Councillor), Frank Vredenbregt
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(Councillor) and an honourable mention to the late Mike Murphy (Councillor). Whilst the hair styles and dress sense has come a long way, the issues facing credit managers then are just as relevant now – with perhaps the exception of a piece titled “100 years ago when debtors prisons were the go”! Who knows where we will be when it comes time to pen my next report, however there is hope on the horizon as some of the restrictions are slowly being lifted and there is a lot of talk of what the world will be like post COVID-19, one thing is for certain is that credit professionals will remain very busy! Stay safe, stay sensible and I look forward to seeing you all very soon. – Troy Mulder MICM CCE AICM WA Division President
COVID impacts in Consumer Credit We recently sat down with previous YCP State Finalist. member and Credit Team Leader at Alinta Energy, Tamera Parker MICM to get her insights on how the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting her Consumer Credit team, and how Alinta Energy is supporting their customers through these challenging times. How is your team finding the changed working conditions?
“Prior to this pandemic my Retail credit team had not been exposed to working from home, they swiftly adapted to this challenge by learning new ways of working with technology they hadn’t experienced before. It is fantastic to have their support and positive attitudes during a time where processes are constantly changing, and they are having to change their philosophy on collections.”
Divisional Partners Do you think the pandemic will have a short- or long-term effect on the business?
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CREDIT MANAGEMENT IN AUSTRALIA • May 2020
“In my opinion the pandemic is certainly going to have a long-term effect on the business, particularly from a credit perspective. With the unemployment rate on the incline, and many SME’s affected by the mandatory government closure, it will take some time before the economy returns to “normal”. On the flip side, it’s a great opportunity to think outside of the norm for credit professionals, and perhaps it will change how we look at credit management in the future.” Will you need more resources to complete your function in coming months?
