Business News July 2013

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ISSUE 220 JULY 2013

Does your businesS need a little ‘Me Time’?

Geelong Small Business Festival

ISSUE 220 JULY 2013

VIEW ONLINE AT: www.biznewsmag.com.au

FEATURES 12. Getting real on education 16. Does your business need a little me time?

19. Geelong Small Business Festival 31. Disability Care Australia

CONTENTS 4. Editor 5. Biz News 7. Market Report 8. Comment 10. New Appointments 14. Comment 24. Legal 25. Tax 26. Legal 27. VECCI 29. Travel 40. Community 42. Tech Guy 45. Arts

16. Does your business need a little me time?

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BUSINESS NEWS | 3

EDITOR

Leadership change leaves Abbott rudderless Having sat glued to the TV as the Labor leadership spill unfolded, I drove to the office the next day in a haze of sleep deprivation and a strange state of elation.

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t wasn’t that I was elated by the events of the day before - it was yet another unedifying moment in three years of appallingly poor political performances.

It was with more of a sense of relief, relief that perhaps the election run up wouldn’t be defined by an increasingly desperate Labor making silly announcements, and a smug Coalition abjectly failing to put forward any realistic policy announcements.

‘might happen’. Now, the reward for lazy politics may be the loss of the unloseable election.

‘We’ll dump the carbon tax and turn back the boats’ must be manna to KRudd’s ears.

By moving to an early ETS - as the Ai Group have been calling for some time now – the need to repeal the carbon tax would be swiftly negated. The Direct Action plan is dead in the water - not even industry are backing it.

The timing of the reinstated PM’s first international visit to Indonesia is providential.

Rudd is a proven performer in Asia, and everyone knows it. Big question marks hang over Abbott’s ability to ill Rudd negotiate with the likes of Rebooted The election race is well and President Susilo Bambang call an early truly on, and if, if, if Rudd and Yudhoyono. If Rudd can make election? On co. move quickly on policy, some headway on asylum balance I seeker boats, he will come think he’ll hold out for a later Tony Abbott could find himself, home as the conquering hero. well, rudderless... date. Don’t be surprised if If Indonesia refuses to budge, the polling date is called for Abbott’s declarations of towing back the boats February 2014. Rather than trying to capitalise will be scuttled. on the current honeymoon period, I think the PM will want to establish his rebooted cabinet The new Rudd ministry is already moving to and his rebooted policies. respond to concerns about another Labor term amongst the small business sector. If Rudd and As the Libs will be all too aware of, KRudd has Albo can gain headway there, that would further a real opportunity to take the fight up to Tony destabilise the Coalition’s election efforts.

Abbott on the policy front - or lack thereof.

The election race is well and truly on, and if, if, What have the Coalition been doing? While if Rudd and co. move quickly on policy, Tony Julia and co. were floundering in the popularity Abbott could find himself, well, rudderless. stakes, Abbott, Bishop, Hockey and the rest of Would the Liberal Party continue to support the government-in-waiting should have been a floundering Abbott, or is it possible that we setting their plans for the next three years in could see yet another coup – bringing on Rudd rapid set concrete. If they had established vs. Turnbull... Interesting times indeed. a well reasoned, publicly acceptable policy platform, the electorate would have slated those Davina Montgomery policies in as ‘going to happen’ rather than

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ISSUE 220 JULY 2013 Read online at: www.biznewsmag.com.au BUSINESS NEWS, an Adcell Group publication, is mailed to more than 6000 businesses across Geelong, Ballarat and Werribee.

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B C H M

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BIZ NEWS

Ban on Commissions and Conflicted Advice Means Huge Savings for Fund Members

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ndustry super funds are celebrating the commencement of new super laws, which came into effect on July 1. In a statement released on the first day of the new financial year, Industry SuperFunds said the changes usher in a new era of fairness in the provision of financial advice that will save individual super fund members tens of thousands of dollars over their working lives.

The new laws form part of a series of changes to superannuation, including the increase in the superannuation guarantee from 9% to 9.25%.

Significantly, the new laws on financial advice ban hidden fees and commissions.

“Over 2 million Australians currently pay for financial advice they don’t get,” Industry Super Network Acting Chief Executive, Matt Linden, said.

“A 35 year old today with a super balance of $40,000 would save $47,900 by the time they retire as a result of the removal of commissions.

commissions at 0.5 % and retirement age 67 years, A 25 year old on $30,000 p/a with a balance of $15,000 would save $43,800; a 35 year old on $70,000 p/a with a balance of $40,000 would save $47,900; and a 45 year old on $80,000 p/a with a balance of $90,000 would save $31,300 Under the Future of Financial Advice laws, financial advisers are no longer be able to charge new clients commissions and must explain any initial and ongoing fees. Financial planners are bound to offer advice in the client’s best interests. Financial advisers must send clients an annual fee statement every year, and get their clients to ‘opt in’ or agree to continue the relationship every two years. And Super funds will have to offer a basic nocommission product (MySuper) as their default fund for any new members who don’t make a choice.

The new laws form part of a series of changes to superannuation, including the increase in the superannuation guarantee from 9% to 9.25%.

“Industry SuperFunds led the campaign to reform commissions and fees because it’s in the national interest to make the system fairer and boost public confidence in it.”

Industry Super Network says it has modelled the impact of the reforms on the retirement balances fund members. Assuming

BUSINESS NEWS | 5

BIZ NEWS

Early ETS Could Cut Australian Carbon Price by 50% The removal of the Australian Carbon Tax, in favour of fast tracking a market driven carbon price, could cut more than 50% from the price of carbon in Australia, in a move that could slash costs for industry and consumers.

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peculation that the fixed price period under the Australian Carbon Price Mechanism (CPM) may be forgone in favour of an early transition to market driven carbon price has gained momentum over the past few weeks. The new Rudd cabinet will be discussing changes in Labor policy, with a faster transition to a floating carbon price likely to be elevated to the top of the agenda.

Australia’s carbon price is currently fixed at $23, rising to $24.15 on July 1, and to $25.40 on 1 July 2014.

According to carbon and energy research firm, RepuTex, an early transition to a market driven price could mean that the final year of the fixed price is scrapped, in which case the Australian carbon price would fall to levels more in line with the European Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS), currently trading at 4.40 euros (A$6.20). However, according to RepuTex, with carbon market reform in the table in Europe, such low prices may not be realised in the Australian market.

“Should an early start to a market driven price be favoured, we believe that the earliest such a change could

be implemented is July 2014,” said RepuTex Executive Director, Hugh Grossman.

“From that point, we would see the Australian carbon price more closely track European prices, which may be around the A$15-20 mark by 2014-15.

The Australian carbon price would not be set by Europe - instead we anticipate it would trade at a material discount on Europe, with prices here falling around A$10 in 2014-15.

“Such a change would translate into an 50-60% reduction in liabilities for Australian industry, and would lead to lower costs paid by industry and consumers. We would expect to see strong industry support for such a policy shift, in an Australian setting where the majority of voters support action on climate change, but at the lowest possible cost,” Mr Grossman said.

“We would anticipate [the emissions target] being met by the use of domestic and international offsets, however certainly at that low price we would anticipate much lower effects in the power sector, for example we would likely see gas generation struggle to compete with coal output due to the lower price.”

Have a say on Region’s Growth Plan G21 has launched six weeks of community consultation as part of developing an Implementation Plan for the G21 Regional Growth Plan. The G21 Regional Growth Plan was adopted by the Victorian Government last April as the framework for sustainably managing likely regional population growth of up to 500,000 by 2050.

G21 CEO, Elaine Carbines, said developing a G21 Regional Growth Plan Implementation Plan was the logical next piece of work.

“The draft Implementation Plan includes an infrastructure plan, detailed data on the current status of residential and industrial land supply, analysis of opportunities for longer-term urban growth and actions and strategies to ensure people have adequate housing choice in the future... The aim is to ensure the right regional infrastructure is in place at the right time.”

“There will be extensive opportunity to obtain detail and provide feedback between now and 9 August. We’ll be running six Open House drop-in information sessions across the region, conducting on-line surveys and will have background materials available on the Growth Plan website,” Ms Carbines said.

All documents can be downloaded from the project web site: www.G21regionalgrowthplan. com.au. Written submissions should be sent to: G21 Regional Growth Plan team, c/- City of Greater Geelong, PO Box 104, Geelong 3220, or email: G21RGP@geelongcity.vic.gov.au

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6 | BUSINESS NEWS

MARKET TALK

Investment Thematic Once again, the old adage ‘sell in May and go away’ held true, as the falling Australian dollar coupled with talk of tapering off stimulus from the US Central Bank, saw offshore investors reduce exposure to the Australian sharemarket.

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he RBA cut the rates by another 25 basis points in May and we expect the low interest rate environment in Australia will continue to support income assets and broaden the search for yield above cash rate returns.

In response to investors’ appetite for yield, we are seeing companies increase their payout ratio (dividends).

The Australian economic outlook is mixed and we believe further rate cuts may become necessary to re-stimulate nonmining business and consumer activity. We expect (at least) two further 25 basis point rate cuts this year, which would reduce the cash rate to 2.25%.

We expect the yield theme to continue as listed yields remain attractive compared to cash/term deposit returns. However, we do recommend investors ensure their income sources are diversified to address any overvaluation issues. Going forward, we expect to lighten some of our defensive names in favour of growth stocks, but this is a decision that will probably be deferred until later in the year.

Re-emergence of the Miners Volatility in this sector is best attributed to a crisis of investor confidence, driven by a lack of certainty around drivers such as China, rather than a breakdown in underlying fundamentals.

We expect a rebound in resource share prices later in the year as China’s growth story continues to re-emerge, however we suggest this is best played through the majors (such as BHP and RIO).

We prefer exposure to the best assets, mined by the best operators and backed by secure funding, that are able to generate strong returns through all stages of the commodity cycle.

While there are also opportunities in smaller, more leveraged companies, investors need to be more tactical at this stage of the price cycle.

Retail Therapy First quarter trading updates and anecdotal feedback suggest modest improvement in retail sales conditions in 2013. After several years of subdued trading, many retailers have started to see positive like-for-like sales results indicating we may have seen a bottom in market conditions.

Consumer sentiment has certainly improved, likely benefiting (finally) from the 225 basis points of easing by the RBA since late 2011. This has seen Consumer Discretionary stocks improve year-to-date.

Charles baulch Director - Geelong RBS Morgans Geelong assists clients with wealth creation and protection through direct investment and strategic planning solutions.

Visit rbsmorgans.com/branches/vic/geelong.

This is information only and readers should not rely or act on the information provided without first obtaining professional advice on this issues.

Play it safe in commercial property Commercial property owners have clearly defined obligations in terms of the safety and ongoing maintenance of their buildings. Getting it wrong or failing to meet those obligations can result in big problems for owners and tenants alike. Expert in specialised commercial property management, Louise Doedée, joins the team of Business News contributors to help commercial property owners get it right on safety.

The responsibility of commercial property owners to maintain essential safety measures within their properties is outlined in the Building Act 2006 and Regulations. If you own commercial property, you are responsible for maintaining all the fire and personal safety elements in the property, whether they are offices, shops, warehouses, factories, hotels/motels or public buildings.

Essential safety measures are the fire and safety items installed in commercial buildings to provide adequate levels of safety and protection to the occupants. Examples of essential safety measures includes, but is not limited to: Fire safety equipment (e.g. portable fire extinguishers, fire hoses, etc.) / Fixed elements (e.g. fire doors, sprinkler systems, fire hydrants) / Fire control panels, alarm systems and building occupant warning systems / Exit signage and emergency lighting / Air conditioning systems, mechanical ventilation and cooling towers / Maintenance of all exits (e.g. paths of travel, discharge from exists, etc.).

All these items are required to be maintained to a frequency that is either specified in the Occupancy Permit or a Determination developed by a registered building surveyor.

Under the Building Regulations, property owners are required to prepare an Annual Essential Safety Measures Statement.

This statement is evidence that the essential safety measures in the property have been maintained at the required frequency and to the required standard, as specified in the Occupancy Permit or the Determination.

To enable an Annual Essential Safety Measures Statement to be prepared, property owners need to keep thorough and complete maintenance and inspection records. These records can take the form of log sheets, and should record the date of the inspection/maintenance, the name of the person who carried out the inspection, problems identified at the inspection, action taken to rectify the problem, and date of rectification. Supplementary records can also be attached to the log sheet and could include a maintenance report from the qualified contractor who carried out the maintenance.

Unless a property owner has sound knowledge and skills in this area, the management of essential safety measures can be quite daunting. Engaging contractors to maintain the safety equipment to the correct frequency and implementing systems and procedures to keep maintenance and inspection records up to date, although important, can be time consuming.

To find out more about essential safety measures, visit: www. buildingcommission.com.au/www/html/296-essential-safetymeasure

Louise Doedée Louise Doedée is the owner and director of Essential Property Services, delivering a range of specialised commercial property management services to property owners and managing agents.

BUSINESS NEWS | 7

SMALL BIZ

Post GFC: new times, not bad times Bob Dylan said it simply: “Times they are a changing”. There is a confluence of ideas that is challenging many businesses at the moment. It seems that our markets are changing, and not for the better.

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orgive me if I am a little hazy on the dates, but somewhere around 1990 Marilyn Emery, a researcher from the Australian National University, published a document stating that all bets were off - that the markets had become chaotic and that none of the established principles would apply -end of story.

Then, along came an update of John Naisbett’s book, Megatrends. In this work, John, and later his wife, Patricia Arburdene, studied the markets in detail and were able to separate ten trends that were disrupting the market. They found that what appeared to be chaotic and unpredictable, was instead the result of these multiple trends.

I was operating a business then and I can assure you that it was a challenging time. But over the following few years, and as we were able to sort out the new order, things panned out quite well. The Australian trends were slightly different to those quoted in the American book, but once you got the hang of things, we could navigate our business through the maelstrom.

I suspect that we are going through another market twist and, from experience, I suggest that it is a complex mixture of multiple trends; new and perhaps unexpected trends – new times, not bad times. The complexities make it hard to predict the future and therefore hard to plan for your business.

I often hear that the rate of change is escalating, but I think this is untrue, and this supposed rapidity of change is just an artefact of how we as humans perceive time. Think of travelling in a car and looking in the mirror for a moment; the disappearing horizon is reducing in scale and makes us believe that the rate of change is slower out in the distance than what it is. And in turn, if we look through the windscreen, we are entranced with the rapidly appearing obstacles beside us on the road. The world is similar in that our brains delete much of the details in the past, and this leads us to think that there was less going on. As far as the future goes, it is not the rate of change that is relevant, so much in how easy it is to predicate the future that troubles our businesses.

This is what tripped up the ANU researcher – how could we predict the future for our business if we only rely on using some extrapolation from the past? In a future that is uncertain, the past has less relevance.

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My newest favourite book, Playing to Win by A.G. Lafley, steps through some concrete steps of how to craft the market, and hence the future for the business, so that in the end the market suits the business requirements. Notice that this process flows in the opposite direction to the way that we typically expect it.

Manoeuvring our business our business so that it grows and can capitalize on these changing times requires that we work strategically. I know you just said a rude word when you read the word strategic. Most business owners get strategic wrong. It is not a vision. Although vision is a useful tool, it is not a plan, but a sequence of well-crafted action - although plan helps formulated it. Strategy is not world’s best practice or optimising your current operation. Strategy is about choices that you make, that end in the customer beating down your door for more product, or service or concepts, because they need/want/desire/ love it.

In Geelong, Ford are closing, Target is reducing, there is a downturn here, and an ease of demand there, so how can I confidently say that now is a great time to be in business, despite the difficulty in planning in a future and that it is hard to predict?

The proposition is simple, there will always be markets and the real safety is in dominating them. It is time for powerful strategies, not middle of the road plans.

Small businesses by nature are nimble and tend not to play in the supposedly safety of the middle of the market. Safe has never been safe for small business.

Looking to the past for lessons for small business is fraught with danger. Times, as we know, are Bob Dylans. We need to get lessons from the future. We set hypothesises and purposely make mistakes, because we learn far more from mistakes than we do from a small confirmation. Are you mistaking enough?

And finally, the most important matter; Rob Lithgow was tragically killed last month while operating in his business - great man and a great business mind taken so young. Our thoughts are with Rob’s wife, Kate, and his four children.

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NEW APPOINTMENTS ACCOUNTING Matthew Le Maitre has been appointed as a Principal at Crowe Horwath (formerly WHK). Matt is a Business Advisor specialising in assisting SMEs from all industry sectors who wish to develop their business.

Business development includes improving cashflow, work/ life balance, profitability and general operations.

Bereavement Service Tuckers Funeral and Bereavement Service is delighted to welcome Heather Nankervis to the Bereavement and After Care Team. Experienced in caring for and supporting the elderly, Heather’s passion in caring for others is evident and she remains actively involved with Road Trauma Support Services as an Educator/Co-ordinator.

REAL ESTATE Gareth Oakley has joined NAI Harcourts as its Director. He has over 15 years’ experience in commercial property, as an investor and business owner.

As an experienced Commercial Agent in the Geelong market, you will find your commercial sales, leasing and management needs are met with confidence.

ACCOUNTING Paul Robson has been appointed as a Principal at Crowe Horwath (formerly WHK). Paul is a Business Advisor specialising in Structuring, Corporate Governance, Financial Modelling and Succession Planning.

TAX CONSULTING Alex Duonis has been appointed as a Principal at Crowe Horwath (formerly WHK). Alex is a Tax Adviser with expertise in all Australian direct and indirect taxes.

His client focus is private business clients operating in the SME sector.

BUSINESS ADVISORY Philippa Bakes Business Advisory – Philippa has recently established her own advisory firm in Geelong, having previously worked with WHK and nabBusiness locally, and PriceWaterhouse Coopers in the UK, Hong Kong and Melbourne.

Philippa’s goal is to inspire businesses to become bigger and better through clarity of strategy, rigorous analysis and well-planned acquisitions.

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NEW APPOINTMENTS FINANCE Gerard Rowan has joined RAMS Home Loans in Geelong after 22 years in banking and finance in Geelong. His strong background in credit policy and relationship management will ensure a positive experience for clients. He looks forward to assisting RAMS clients with their mortgage finance requirements.

HOSPITALITY The Pier Geelong welcomes Peter Fallaw as Sales/ Event Coordinator. Peter’s strong sales background in the Real Estate industry, combined with his lifelong passion for food and entertainment, position him perfectly to plan and coordinate your next conference/ reception/function at the world class “Pier” complex.

RETAIL

A: Megan Clarke

Tony Dougherty has joined RAMS Home Loans as Home Loan Manager. Tony brings a wealth of consumer finance knowledge with over 20 years experience in Banking & Finance. He takes pride in his customer service and strives to provide the best possible results for his clients.

HOSPITALITY The Pier Geelong welcomes Emily Chapman as Business Development Officer for conferencing and events.

Emily has close to 10 years’ experience in hospitality and is passionate about delivering a superior quality experience and exceptional customer service.

PROPERTY MANAGEMENT

Sandra Loaiza is the current manager of the MS Community Shop in Pakington Street.

Sandra comes to Multiple Sclerosis Australia with over 20 years’ experience in the retail sector, having worked with many large retail chains, as well as government services, in Australia.

Q: Looking for customer service?

FINANCE

Essential Property Solutions founder, Louise Doedée is an experienced Commercial Property Manager and delivers a range of specialised property services in Essential Safety Measures management, Lease Management and Project Management. Louise delivers results by listening to clients and customising a service to specifically meet their needs.

“At Morris Finance our staff have over 290 years of experience in the lending sector.

Megan Clarke can assist you with all your finance inquiries.

Best of all Megan is dedicated to providing you with superior customer service.”

Motor Vehicle Finance • Tradesman & Commercial Finance • Heavy Equipment & Machinery Finance • Online Applications

BUSINESS NEWS | 11

FEATURE

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A lucky country makes its own luck

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Australia is in the midst of a science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) skills shortage. That’s not news. It’s a fact that employers everywhere have been butting their heads against walls for some years. But with the pace of change within the Australian business sector accelerating, there is a very real sense of urgency in giving kids and young adults in schools the skills and information they need to bridge that gap.

e all want Australia to be a smart, innovative nation, and we know that the future prosperity of the country will depend on how smart and how innovative we can be. These are fine and good aims. But if we are going to have any hope of achieving them, we need to get real about what we are teaching the next generation.

Developing science, technology, engineering and maths skills amongst kids, teens and young adults is vital to the future economic growth of the nation, it is also particularly important in regional Victoria. We have seen a raft of large-scale jobs losses over the second quarter of 2013, as the state’s regional economy continues to transition. We have also seen job-creation announcements – amongst them, the long-awaited regional centre for emerging infectious diseases being established in Geelong. Health, science, and education and training - three jobs growth areas that require STEM skills.

Dr Roslyn Prinsley has taken on the role of National Advisor on Maths & Science Education & Industry with the Office of the Chief Scientist. To her falls the heavy task of bringing together the education sector, industry sectors and state and federal governments to address the national STEM skills shortage.

“Over the last ten years, we’ve seen thirty per cent less kids take up science subjects and advanced maths in Year 12. If you look even back to the early 1990s, nine out of ten students studied science in Year 12; today, less than half of the Year 12 cohort study science,” Dr Prinsley said. “There is also an issue with the number of kids taking advanced maths. Because we have fewer students studying these subjects, we then end up with fewer

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workers able to consider careers that require these skills – and today, virtually every sector needs people with the quantitative skills of maths and science, so that Australian businesses can compete globally.”

Part of the change of attitude needed towards teaching STEM subjects has to happen amongst parents and careers advisors.

“Parents are very much influenced by where they think their children can get good jobs. From what I’m hearing at the moment, the careers advice system around kids doing science and maths isn’t working as well as it could or might. There also needs to be a much stronger and widespread partnerships between the business community and the education community.

“Everything that I’m learning is that in the trades, we need a lot more maths and science than we needed in the past, because everything is becoming that much more technological. So there’s a real push on there for kids to keep their maths and science and those trades should be teaching a lot more maths than they do at the moment. There are some companies that are already making a huge effort in that direction.”

“A major issue is that most educators, teachers and lecturers at university, have spent their lives in educational institutions, and don’t have such a good understanding of the world outside as they might do if they had a closer relationship with the people in the business world.”

The pace of change within the business world is moving faster than ever before. These are those interesting times that we’ve been warned about for so long. Having a more responsive secondary and higher education system would, without doubt,

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FEATURE be a boon for business; but more than that, it is crucial to prepare the next generation of employees and business people for what is ahead of them.

“We need to be very careful about setting those targets, and we have to work out how we can develop initiatives at scale to actually be able to achieve the targets.”

“Recently, the Office of the Chief Scientist did a report which identified five main areas that could improve the number of kids taking up STEM subjects. Those include: inspirational teaching; inspired school leadership; teaching techniques and resources for teachers; encouraging more women to go into areas like engineering and ICT, that they tend not to do, and to do more maths; and improving the scientific literacy of the whole community,” Dr Prinsley said.

At the end of the day, you can have teachers and careers advisors telling kids that science and maths are important, but until kids can visualize themselves doing a job that needs those skills, it is always going to be a fraught task. That is why we need a new approach, and part of that has to be greater engagement between educators and businesses.

“As a result of that report, the federal government allocated $54 million for a package of measures to support participation in science, technology, engineering and maths across all education levels. That support is going to develop more inspiring teaching resources for teachers in schools and to develop better [training] for science “Everything that I’m and maths teachers.

trades, we need a

If you have an employer talking to teenagers, and giving them real examples of well paid jobs, that come with all the perks of international travel and flexible working conditions that so many STEM careers offer, then science and maths, technology and engineering start to look that much more interesting. You don’t have to think too far ahead to see just a few of the opportunities that could be created by bringing Australian education and industry learning is that in the sectors closer together around skills lot more maths and development.

“What I’m doing now is trying to get science than we needed in the past” a much better understanding of what “I think that’s one of the most science, technology, engineering and important things,” Dr Prinsley maths skills the workforce needs. said. “I’m working with the Maths What are the skillsets that the workforce is after? I want to better Teachers’ Association at the moment and talking to them about understand employers’ attitudes to graduates in these areas, to getting maths teachers into businesses, so they can understand understand where graduates are going in these areas, and to how maths is used in the business.” better understand what the relationship is between innovation The announcement of Geelong as the home of a world-class and representation of science and maths skills on boards.” centre for research into emerging infectious disease is a big Another part of Dr Prinsley’s work will be identifying best practice opportunity for regional Victoria. The Geelong Centre of Emerging for science and maths teachers in schools. She will also be looking Infectious Disease will be Australia’s first ‘One Health’ facility. The at developing a shared action plan for business, education and new $12 million research hub will be at the forefront of protecting government to match the supply of STEM graduates with the the health of the population and the national economy. And as we workforce demand. know, scientific innovation stimulates commercial opportunities.

These are mammoth tasks, and the scope of the changes needed to successfully integrate the education and business sectors are too great to be implemented in the short term, but the groundwork for change can be laid. This is the challenge before Dr Prinsley and those she works with, to spend the next five years establishing sensible targets and getting industry, education and government sectors working together to achieve those targets.

Just as technological and scientific advancements create new pathways to future prosperity in Australia, our nation’s ability to provide the next generation with the skills they need to pursue those pathways will decide whether or not Australia continues to be the Lucky Country.

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BUSINESS NEWS | 13

COMMENT

Making a global impression Following the visit of a small delegation of international diplomats to Geelong, Committee for Geelong’s Executive Director, Rebecca Casson, took the time to share her thoughts on why reaching out to international partners is critical for the future of the region.

Over the weekend of the first night game of the Geelong Cats AFL football club, the Committee for Geelong welcomed a small group of international diplomats, including: His Excellency Paul Madden, British High Commissioner; Ms Mary Burce Warlick, USA Consul-General; Mr Daniel Taylor, New Zealand Consul-General; and Mr Hidenobu Sobashima, Consul-General of Japan.

In co-ordinating the visit, the Committee for Geelong worked in partnership with Richard Marles MP and a range of stakeholders, including the City of Greater Geelong, Geelong Otway Tourism, Geelong Football Club, Department of State Development and Business Innovation, Deakin University and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

The delegation undertook industry tours of Cotton On and Winchester Australia, together with visits to the Bio Lab at Belmont High School and the technology Precinct at Deakin University, Waurn Ponds Campus.

They visited The Hill winery, where they met with the Mayor, Cr Keith Fagg, and other stakeholders. The delegation also undertook a scenic tour of the region and attended a high-level dinner at La Parisien for international businesses, with Richard Marles MP as guest speaker.

However, the Committee for Geelong has identified that there may be opportunities for Geelong to host other G20 meetings, such as the finance, treasury, B20 groups, Think 20, Civil Society 20 or Youth 20. Hosting these meetings would place Geelong in the international spotlight for this prestigious year of presidency.

Engaging with international diplomats is therefore critical and, if managed correctly, can translate into ongoing high-level support for the region.

But there is more. These diplomats only have four-year terms of office; now that they are familiar with Geelong and have made that connection into our community, the possibilities for collaboration are very real.

One example of this is His Excellency Stuart Gill, the previous British Consul General, who was based in Melbourne until he was recently promoted to become the Ambassador to Iceland. A regular visitor to Geelong, Stuart has extended an invitation for the Committee for Geelong to visit Iceland to view best practice, particularly in renewable energy and other areas.

But if you still do not fully appreciate how great Geelong really is and what we have to offer, here is what our international friends are internationally blogging about our region: His Excellency Paul Madden said: “This was my third visit to Geelong and I have found it has one of the strongest senses of community spirit that I have experienced anywhere in Australia.”

As a specific result of the diplomatic visit, the Committee for Geelong have put forward a proposal to the City of Greater Geelong to host a small meeting of the International Group of 20 (G20) in Geelong.

Mr Hidenobu Sobashima, Consul General of Japan for Victoria said: “Geelong is very impressive and has a lot to offer... there is a great opportunity to attract Japanese students to Australia, including Geelong.

The Japanese government is encouraging students to study abroad and Deakin University is among the best candidates for that. There are lots of opportunities for collaboration, especially with organisations like the CSIRO... together with Deakin University’s Technology Precinct, with its advanced and cutting edge technology.”

The G20 is the group that manages the international economy and takes action to ensure its ongoing viability. Australia takes over the Presidency as the host country for the G20 on 1st December 2013. The current host country is Russia, and Turkey will take over from Australia. Some argue that this is the biggest thing that Australia has ever done internationally.

Daniel Taylor, NZ Consul General said: “This was my first visit to Geelong and I observed a great sense of purpose in the City. It most definitely has a future focus - not looking back with regret, but looking forward with hope. Cities that have smart, responsive economies will take off in the coming years, and I see Geelong as one of those.”

There have already been many arrangements made for the G20 in Australia, with larger meetings announced to take place in other parts of the country. For example, the Leaders’ Summit has been announced for Brisbane in November 2014 – bringing an expected 4,000 delegates, 3,000 media, 4,000 security and 2,000 staff.

It is exciting to think which countries these diplomats may be posted to next, and how we can therefore further extend our global reach from Geelong.

REBECCA CASSON Executive Director, Committee for Geelong

As a result of your generous donations, this year Give Where You Live will be distributing $1.78 million in Grants to the Geelong community

Thank you for helping to Build a better Geelong.

14 | BUSINESS NEWS

COVER STORY

Does your business need a little ‘Me Time’?

Geelong’s business landscape is changing in more ways than one. With the Geelong Small Business Festival coming to town throughout the month of August, Courtney Buchanan investigates why there’s never been a better time for businesses to add one more skill.

S

mall businesses make up around 95 per cent of all businesses in Geelong, they are the engine room of our economy and the prosperity of our region depends on their success.

The Geelong Small Business Festival (GSBF) is returning this August for its third consecutive year, sponsored by the State Government through Small Business Victoria as part of the widely successful Victorian Small Business Festival (VSBF).

Prior to 2011, if Geelong businesses wanted to get involved in the VSBF, they had to travel to Melbourne. Now, the GSBF not only caters to businesses operating in Geelong, but also along the Surf Coast, with events at Torquay and Queenscliff.

The regional success of the VSBF has spread to Ballarat and Warrnambool, with both cities hosting local events of their own.

In three years, the GSBF has grown significantly, from hosting one event in Melbourne, to hosting 50 events last year in Geelong.

This year, the Festival is set to be savvier - with 40 events and a focus to get more people involved in the specialist events on offer.

Sessions cover topics including Business Development, Marketing and Social Media, Networking and Leadership, Grants and Assistance, Starting a Business and Business Basics, and Staffing Solutions.

Whether you’re a non-employing sole trader or partnership, a micro-business employing five people or less, a small business employing 5 to 20 people, or a medium enterprise employing 20 to 200 people, you have the freedom of choice to attend as many events that suit your needs.

If you’re not in the game yet, but have been thinking of starting your own business, you’ll find both the inspiration and direction you need to develop a new business plan.

Geelong Mayor, Cr Keith Fagg, has had many years’ experience in business with the Mitre 10 group. The Mitre 10 group has connections in Geelong, across Victoria and across Australia, and from this experience the Mayor says it’s important to be connected outside your own business to see what other people are doing. “[It’s important] to get their perspective, and see how they deal with issues and problems they come across. Because most people in business will come across the same issues at some time in the future in some way,” the Mayor says.

Many small businesses will fail within their first couple of years. Being excellent at your craft is only a small factor in the success of a new business.

Managing cash flow, public relations, human resources, marketing and more, is a lot to take on when you’re just starting out.

The Mayor believes the set-up stage is the most critical for small businesses, and that this is when they will need the most support. With the right support,

16 | BUSINESS NEWS

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COVER STORY ideally, small business owners will become larger business owners that then employ more people. The Festival is an opportunity to learn ways to grow your business.

“Hopefully, what we can do in the council is create an environment where the winners can emerge,” the Mayor says.

For established businesses, remaining relevant in an everchanging business environment and knowing where and how to connect with customers can be a challenge.

Add to these existing challenges for both new and existing businesses is the consumer shift to online, and you begin to understand the need to fuel the ‘engine room’ of our economy.

Despite job losses at Ford and Target and ongoing business confidence mediocrity, Geelong is fortunate to have a business sector that embraces a strong community spirit that brings businesses together in an ideas-driven environment.

The City of Greater Geelong coordinates the Festival, but without the overwhelming support of more than 40 local businesses, it wouldn’t be the constructive success it has been to date. Not only have businesses offered their services and expertise, they have done so either free of charge or at a minimal cost, most of which will only cover room hire.

The GSBF kicks off on 1 August with its free launch event, The Art of Attraction: How to find, hook and convert customers in your business.

Presented by author, business coach, and award-winning speaker, Jennifer Harwood, The Art of Attraction is about how to connect with someone and actually engage them in your business and sales.

a high performing business culture amongst staff can help improve profits and increase success.

Business development session, How to Change Your Business Culture and Improve Profits, will give managers the skills to identify the culture you want, then achieve it. Held on 21 August in Torquay, businesses of all sizes will benefit from this seminar.

Issues of time and travel will be diminished for coastal businesses with these hospitality events being held in Torquay and Queenscliff as part of the Festival.

When the City of Greater Geelong began taking listings of businesses wanting to get involved with the Festival, the Geelong Chamber of Commerce was one of the first organisations to sign up as an event host. So it’s no surprise they’re holding a feature event on 2 August, their business development conference – From Passion to Profit.

Described as a ‘one day power business conference’, Victoria’s Small Business Commissioner and keynote speaker, Geoff Browne, will kick off the conference, imparting his ideas and inspiration.

This year, the GSBF could not come at a more appropriate time.

Australia emerged from the Global Financial Crisis relatively unscathed compared to other parts of the world. Yet business confidence remains in negative territory, “If you’re not in the game yet, but particularly in non-mining states such have been thinking of starting your as ours. own business, you will find both the

inspiration and direction you need to develop a new business plan.”

The event follows on from last year’s hugely successful event with Jen, The Art of Networking.

Jen is the author of The Art of Networking, How to get the job you want, and The Greatness Principle (available in 2013).

Jen began coaching business owners in 1999 and brings her wealth of business knowledge to Geelong for the Festival for the second year running.

The Victorian Government through Small Business Victoria is presenting a range of events and activities for the Geelong region as part of the Festival.

They’ll be offering free business mentoring and face-to-face assistance via the Mobile Business Centre in Geelong on 17 and 18 August, and the Mobile Business Centre in Queenscliff on 14 August.

Events held on the Surf Coast are designed to help businesses that hire casuals for the busy summer period. Sessions will help these businesses ensure they are following correct processes and getting the best out of new staff. Coastal businesses need new staff to be a good reflection of their business at their busiest, and most profitable, time of year.

Staffing solutions event Casual vs. Permanent: The Staffing Dilemma will be held at the Surf Coast Shire Offices, Torquay, on 9 August. This session will help address the seasonal fluctuations of surf coast businesses, in particular how to decide upon the best staffing solution.

The nab Monthly Business Survey for May 2013 says, ‘Business conditions remain at low levels with unchanged mediocre confidence levels’.

Business confidence remained at -1 point throughout May, well below the long-run average level of +5 points since 1989. However, overall confidence remains better than it was throughout much of 2012.

Headline grabbing job losses at Ford and Target in Geelong, and IBM in Ballarat, have thrust many people back onto the job-hunting scene. Ongoing uncertainty remains for workers at Shell and Alcoa.

Geelong’s ‘big three’ manufacturers, Ford, Alcoa and Shell, are cutting costs in Australia to remain competitive internationally.

Cutting costs means cutting jobs.

Geelong Mayor, Keith Fagg, says he is, “realistic but optimistic about the future.”

“There’s no doubt that the recent decisions that have been made, and some of the publicity, has had an impact on peoples feelings - we can’t ignore that or try to say it doesn’t exist,” says the Mayor.

While the Mayor acknowledges these are uncertain times for those in the manufacturing sector, he is quick to paint a positive picture and one that supports the future of manufacturing in Geelong.

The session will cover the recruitment process, interview process, differences between managing part time and casual employees, and efficient rostering techniques.

“Diversification is the name of the game; I’d like to think we can still keep making things in Geelong, to build on our manufacturing heritage and skills. Manufacturing activity has major multiplier effects in our economy and produces real gross domestic product, real output. So we don’t want to lose that capacity,” the Mayor says.

Casual vs. Permanent: The Staffing Dilemma will also be held in Queenscliff on 14 August.

The future of manufacturing in Geelong lies with smarter and cleaner manufacturing processes, such as carbon fibre.

Recruiting the right staff is only a small part of the plan for seasonal success of small businesses on the coast. Building

With the national DisabilityCare head office coming to town in January next year, the Mayor says DisabilityCare CEO, David

BUSINESS NEWS | 17

COVER STORY Bowen, already has some great ideas to preserve Geelong’s manufacturing heritage.

“He talks about Geelong being the base for where people have their vehicles modified, and where possibly they can start manufacturing with carbon fibre, manufacturing locally made quality wheelchairs for people. There are all sorts of opportunities like that, which he’s keen to see DisabilityCare take a bit of a lead on,” says the Mayor of his conversations with Mr Bowen.

It’s not just the manufacturing sector that is facing grim times; retail is also suffering, with rental prices one of the factors attributed to driving retailers out of business. There’s also been a massive consumer shift to online, which provides yet another challenge for shop-front retailers.

The business landscape of Geelong is shifting in many more ways than one. But there are positives, and many of them.

Job creation in Geelong is very strong at the moment, with our health, science and research sectors flourishing.

The new Barwon DisabilityCare Australia regional office will generate 120 new jobs for the region, in addition to those created by the new national head office. The DisabilityCare head office is expected to create around 300 new jobs as the scheme rolls out.

properly, the Mayor believes social media marketing is a “positive thing.”

“There’s no doubt that if you want to be in that space you’ve got to be properly in it. You also have to properly resource it, because there’s nothing worse than an out-of-date website.”

The Mayor himself has his own website and Twitter account, which he says helps him to spread positive community news by putting out “a tweet or two daily.”

It’s no secret that people are consuming online. If your business doesn’t have a website at the bare minimum, it’s invisible to the consumer masses online.

Social Marketing Manager at digital marketing business GOOP, Jo Manderson, says “it’s naïve to think people aren’t looking for you online.”

Global research suggests that customers are starting to tire of businesses and brands that don’t have an online presence.

The reality is businesses are going to go out of business, and online invisibility makes the going that much tougher for struggling enterprises.

Jo believes businesses just need a helping hand building not only their social media marketing strategy, but quite simply, their confidence.

“We meet a lot of business owners who are still very much The Geelong Centre for Emerging Infectious Diseases was attached to the Yellow Pages advertising, and becoming very another big announcement for Geelong in June. The new despondent with it,” she says. research hub, to be located in Barwon Health’s new teaching If you’re a business owner or manager, and don’t have and training facility, has received a $3 million federal. The Facebook yourself, you may wonder why you should have a project will inject an anticipated Facebook page for your business. It’s $29.7 million into the regional very simple – social media is one of economy, and is expected “What some businesses are doing in the largest worldwide forums where to create 107 jobs during the Geelong is at a very high national level, people connect. People share ideas construction phase and a further if not international level, and we need and opinions, and that extends to 30 ongoing positions once to hear the good news stories and hear goods and services. completed.

from those that have been successful People upload photos of their St John of God Hospital Geelong and learn from them.” favourite coffee spots with captions is undertaking its largest ‘best coffee in Geelong’, everyone’s a commitment to date, a $65 million food critic now, people regularly post redevelopment, which will create pictures of meals in restaurants with their opinion on everything at least 125 full time positions, with the knock-on effect of from the honeyed carrots to the tablecloth to the friendliness of supporting another 70 jobs elsewhere in the local economy. the waiter. People are also quick to warn one another off bad The redevelopment will also inject an estimated $34.8 million service in updates that can easily be seen by thousands of into the local economy annually. people.

There is also significant job growth at local retail success story If your business is not a part of this forum, you are missing out Cotton On, as well as personalised labeling and gifts business on viable information you could use to grow and improve your Stuck on You. The Mayor believes the Festival is the perfect business. It’s no good to assume that people aren’t looking time to learn from businesses in Geelong who are currently for you online, or aren’t talking about your business on social thriving. media, because chances are, they are.

“What some businesses are doing in Geelong is at a very high “I think there’s an enormous amount of opportunity there in the national level, if not international level, and we need to hear social media space that is not being capitalised on,” Jo said. the good news stories and hear from those that have been successful and learn from them,” the Mayor says.

Don’t let fear hold you back from developing an online presence for your business; get inspired and set a plan in One area that almost all currently thriving businesses have place. The opportunities to grow your business online are made advancement in is the digital arena. endless, and really only end with what you believe is possible.

Applicable to all businesses is the hot topic of the festival: As individuals, people need down-time. ‘Me time’ can help you social media marketing and website development. see the big picture, re-focus and gain energy to keep working towards your goals in a busy world.

Vital for getting your businesses message heard, the Mayor agrees social media is a “powerful” platform to connect with Participating in the GSBF is an opportunity to schedule some like-minded businesses and customers. ‘me time’ for your business. It’s an opportunity to network, build confidence, learn tips and tricks, and re-focus to ensure “Any start-up or new business needs a social media presence your business is the best it can be. in some form. Obviously it’s got to be professional, and it has to be to the point,” the Mayor says.

For a full program of events and to book sessions visit www.geelongaustralia.com.au/gsbf When you have a new business there’s so much to deal with on a day-to-do basis, that putting money into new forms of marketing can be a great challenge. However, if resourced Courtney Buchanan

18 | BUSINESS NEWS

GEELONG

Small Business Festival August 1-31 Over 40 information and training sessions at no cost or minimal cost to assist your business. Sessions include Social Media, Marketing, Leadership, Networking, Business Development and Staffing Solutions.

BLOOMING GOOD BUSINESS

BOOK NOW ONLINE

Jobscene are excited to be part of this year’s Small Business Festival. With the significant number of job losses in Geelong recently, Jobscene are here to support Geelong industry through this challenging time.

festival event; “Blooming Good Business” aimed at business owners and managers striving to be leaders in their industry and becoming an employer of choice in Geelong.

www.geelongaustralia.com.au/gsbf

Jobscene are business consultants specialising in recruitment, human resource consulting, training and development, and speakers at leading industry events. To support the change to Geelong industry, we have developed Career Management Programs for employees that have been made redundant or will be facing redundancy in the near future.

The Jobscene business has grown significantly, and is currently re-branding their business and website to position themselves for growth. They have developed services and solutions that have not yet been seen in the Australian recruitment and human resources industry. Geelong businesses will be the first to experience these ground breaking solutions that will position Geelong industry for success.

Underlying expertise at Jobscene is a true desire to support and connect industry with industry in Geelong. For those of you who have met Amey from Jobscene, you will agree there is no one quite like her! Her energy and intellect is phenomenal, as you will know, and her passion is second to none when it comes to Geelong and its people. Amey achieves significant results for her clients through her holistic approach, ability to extend thoughts for better solutions and a strong desire to provide positive outcomes for all involved.

Amey and the team at Jobscene will be holding an interactive

We will provide you with a Toolkit of knowledge you can take back to your business and start applying our secrets immediately!

So, what’s on the agenda? A networking opportunity before the event to meet with other business owners; advice on how to make the best hiring decisions; tips on how to find the best talent in the market for your business; and how to become an Employer of Choice in Geelong; as well a focus Workplace Health & Safety – how to keep your employees and business safe. Guest speakers will also be teaching you the importance of brand consistency and video marketing - why it’s essential in business today.

The event will be held on 19 August at Geelong City Hall, tickets $40 per person. Jobscene are giving away 5 door prizes and a gift that will inspire attendees to follow through with what they have learned.

Seats are limited, book now http://jobsceneevents.com For further information on our new range of Recruitment & Human Resource Services tailored for Geelong Industry, contact Amey Robertson – phone 0407 307 962

RecRuitment & HR SpecialiStS •Recruitment Services including Executive Search and Selection •Human Resource Consulting including but not limited to: - Outplacement Services - Workforce Planning - Cost analysis and recommendations for improved HR and Recruitment processes - Evaluation and development of recruitment processes - Business Health Check

•Career Management including but not limited to: -Executive Career Coaching -Skills Gap Assessment and Salary Review -Interview and Resume guidance

contact – amey Robertson amey@jobscene.com.au phone: 0407 307 962

BUSINESS NEWS | 19

GEELONG

Small Business Festival August 1-31 Over 40 information and training sessions at no cost or minimal cost to assist your business. Sessions include Social Media, Marketing, Leadership, Networking, Legal Essentials Business Development and for StaffingSmall Solutions.Business

BOOK NOW ONLINE

Running your own business comes with many legal obligations.

How do you make sure you’re on the right track?

Coulter Roache Lawyers will take you through some of the regulatory considerations in setting up or running a small business at our seminar, A Legal Health Check for Small Business, on Thursday 29 August 2013.

2. Commercial leasing and tenants

We will help you gain an understanding of the Retail Leases Act and what your rights and obligations are under a lease.

www.geelongaustralia.com.au/gsbf

The opportunity to be your own boss is a major attraction to many in our region – in fact, the vast majority of business owners in the City of Greater Geelong are sole operators or businesses with five employees or less.

The need to address strategic functions such as business planning, financing and marketing, as well as the day-to-day management of a range of issues, places a huge burden on owners.

Under these circumstances, it can be difficult for regulation and compliance requirements to be understood and met, in particular around structuring your business and protecting your brand, leasing and employee entitlements.

As part of the Small Business Festival 2013, Coulter Roache will take a closer look at some of the essentials relating to: 1. Business structuring and personal asset protection Choosing the correct structure for your business is essential, as it determines your ability to protect your assets, meet your taxation obligations and undertake succession planning.

3. Effective management of employees With recent changes in the law relating to modern awards and unfair dismissal, what are the key things you need to know?

4. Intellectual Property: what is it and do you need to protect it?

An often misunderstood but important area of business, intellectual property covers brands, artistic and literary works, designs and inventions, as well as know-how and information You’ll need to consider whether you have protected your business and its position in the market place.

Whether you already run a business or you are establishing one, this event will provide you with up to date information on some of the legal ‘do’s and don’ts’.

For more information contact Jane Thomas on 5273 5273 or jthomas@ coulterroache.com.au.

Bookings are through www.trybooking.com

Running your own business comes with many legal obligations.

How do you check you’re on the right track?

Get the legal essentials with Coulter Roache Lawyers at our Legal Health Check seminar: • Business structuring & personal asset protection

• Employer rights & obligations

• Commercial leasing

• The importance of Intellectual Property

Thursday 29 August, 5:30 - 7:30pm, Geelong City Hall

Information & bookings: T 5273 5273 www.coulteroache.com.au

GEELONG GEELONG

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Sessions Sessions includeinclude Social Media, Social Media, Marketing, Marketing,

BOOK BOOK NOW NOW ONLINE ONLINE www.geelongaustralia.com.au/gsbf www.geelongaustralia.com.au/gsbf

Cracking the connection code If you’re in business, work with people, sell to people or even interact with people then you are in the field of connecting. So I guess that makes all of us! The question is how many are we not connecting with because they are not “like” us – or we just don’t “get” them.

I love to meet people, chat and get to know different types of people. I am also someone who is comfortable to be in front of a crowd or ‘front of house’ at events – be the meet and greet person.

I always used to think that everyone must be like that, given most of my friends were similar. Then I started working in a very large corporate finance company in Collins Street. I’ll never forget I had a meeting with one of the finance managers… oh what an experience that was! Here I was chatting away, being my friendly self, thinking he’ll like me because I am so friendly… chat, chat, chat. And then he turned to me in his brown 70’s suit with a navy blue and white striped tie, peering over his dated thick glasses he paused, then said in a firm, low tone, “Why are you telling me this?

I don’t need to know”. SLAP! I learnt very quickly that there are different types of people. It was a great lesson to learn in my 20’s. Fast forward to now – knocking on the door of 40 - I have learnt that not only are there different types of people, but there are ways to detect, identify and connect instantly with them.

We are either connecting with people or we aren’t. To increase our results in business, the workplace, and our personal life, the one thing standing between ourselves and success is our ability to read and understand people. It is only when we understand those around us that we can truly connect, build solid relationships and create lasting trust.

When people know, like, and trust, they also listen, take direction and go out of their way to deliver. Our ability to motivate and inspire others, be they team members, prospects, customers or partners, is governed by our skill in identifying what is important to them.

The need to detect, identify and connect instantly with people is critical to our success in business and in life.

But sometimes we get it wrong, as I did, with all that chatting, when all the person I was talking to wanted, was for me to get to the point and tell him what he needed to know. Sometimes we get it wrong when we provide someone with loads of information, but all they want is a simple snap shot, or when we act spontaneously only to be disappointed by the response, because they prefer to act with more caution and consideration.

We get it wrong in these situations because we are operating from the understanding of ourselves, from who we are and what is important to us, while not respecting who they are and what is important to them.

So how can we get it right almost all of the time?

It is as simple as cracking the code. Once you learn the code, you will see that although we are all uniquely different, we also all have some core characteristics which, when identified, provide the doorway to understanding who we are and what is important to us.

Once you have cracked the code, you can then modify your interaction, behaviours and actions to suit the style of the person you are speaking with. Get this right and it will instantly make them feel understood, valued and important. You will see them light up, relax and connect.

Motivating and influencing action is made easy when we can make others feel important by truly connecting and developing genuine relationships.

To learn the code, join me on Friday 30th August at The Geelong Town Hall from 9am – 11am.

Spaces are limited and bookings essential. For all the information and bookings go to www. sarahvalentine.com.au.

INCREASE YOUR RESULTS Old-fashioned sales training isn't as effective as it makes out to be. As business owners we need to know how to read and understand anyone we interact with and to do that we need to understand how different people tick. This workshop uncovers the keys to connecting and interacting with anyone.

Because powerful communication creates change in the bottom line.

On 30th August 2013, 9:00am -11:00am at Geelong City Hall, $35

Business Coach | Facilitator | Presenter

“I was totally engaged all day and learned so many things that I am going to implement in my business.” - Helen Melville.

Bookings Essential. Call 0412 632 240 or visit www.sarahvalentine.com.au Be Quick, Seats are Limited

GEELONG

Small Business Festival August 1-31 Over 40 information and training sessions at no cost or minimal cost to assist your business. Sessions include Social Media, Marketing, Leadership, Networking, Don’t let a commercial dispute drag Business Development and Staffing Solutions.

your business down

BOOK NOW ONLINE

Did you know there is an independent, quick, effective and low cost service available to businesses to assist in the resolution of business disputes with other businesses or government?

an independent, experienced mediator is appointed by the VSBC to assist the parties to identify the issues in dispute and try to reach an acceptable resolution to the dispute.

The Office of the Victorian Small Business Commissioner (VSBC) was established by the Small Business Commissioner Act 2003 to enhance a competitive and fair operating environment for small business in Victoria. The Commissioner has a range of functions under the Act, including dispute prevention and dispute resolution.

Mediation costs each party $195 ($95 for mediations under the Owner Drivers and Forestry Contractors Act 2005) for a half day session. Mediation sessions can be held in regional or other locations to suit the parties, although most are conducted in the VSBC offices in Melbourne. Mediation sessions are usually scheduled four to six weeks from receipt of application for assistance, although urgent mediations can be accommodated.

The sessions are conducted with strong confidentiality provisions, so that matters raised in mediation cannot be referred to in the event the dispute progresses to VCAT. This tight confidentiality and the assistance and guidance of an independent mediator provides the environment which has led to around 80 per cent of mediations being settled since the office was established; avoiding the cost, delay and distraction of litigation.

www.geelongaustralia.com.au/gsbf

The VSBC also has statutory dispute resolution and prevention functions under the Retail Leases Act 2003, the Owner Drivers and Forestry Contractors Act 2005 and the Farm Debt Mediation Act 2011. In all of these cases, with few exceptions, disputes cannot be progressed to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) or the Courts without the dispute first being lodged with the Office for attempted resolution.

The VSBC assists businesses by providing information, education, preliminary assistance and mediation services.

Since its establishment in 2003, the VSBC has received over 11,500 dispute applications, estimating to over $1 billion of amounts claimed in dispute. Many disputes are resolved at no cost through early engagement by experienced officers.

The Victorian Small Business Commissioner will host a breakfast at the Royal Geelong Yacht club on Thursday, 22nd August, where he will discuss the services offered by his office, case studies and, importantly, provide some tips on avoiding costly disputes.

Attention ALL Small Businesses!

A phone call to 13 VSBC (13 8722) can often provide information about rights and obligations under each of the Acts which prevents a dispute arising or progressing. Information and guidance is also provided on the website at vsbc.vic.gov.au.

Where a dispute continues, Office staff may attempt to resolve the dispute through ‘shuttle’ negotiation between the parties. Or the parties will be invited to attend a mediation session, where

To register for this event or to find out more about the Victorian Small Business Commissioner, phone 13 VSBC (13 8722) or visit www.vsbc.vic.gov.au.

Attention ALL Small Businesses!

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Kicking goals for local business - one year on What incentives are available? Which training organisation do I use? I didn’t know funding is available to upskill my staff? Who’s eligible for this funding? What about the paperwork?

These are the questions Sarina Russo Apprenticeships has answered over the past year, as Geelong employers decide, ‘Will I or Won’t I’ take on an apprentice or trainee.

As the business celebrates its first anniversary in the Geelong / Warrnambool region, Sarina Russo Apprenticeships CEO, Steve Wyborn, said the 30 years’ local experience of our industry consultants, Jan Clarke and Gary Reyment, is really making a difference.

“Thanks to Jan and Gary, so many more local employers are now aware of state and federal government funding, which supports staff learning and workplace development.

“It’s great they have been invited to present at the upcoming Geelong Small Business Festival, where they’ll also be assisting with apprenticeship placements through our Joblinx consultant,” Mr Wyborn said.

Jan Clarke said the Small Business Festival is an opportunity to provide support to sign up new apprentice, pay employer incentives and apprentice allowances, lodge all paperwork, assist with workplace training and coordinate all Registered Training Organisations.

“Over the past year, we have helped many local businesses with our obligation free workplace review.”

The workplace review includes: · Advice on eligible incentives up to $5,000 for new full time staff; · Advise on all available qualifications;

· Funding eligibility checks for their staff; · Training organisation options to suit your business’ needs; and · An explanation of how we complete all the paperwork.

Mr Reyment said Sarina Russo Apprenticeships works by the adage – ‘Nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care.’

“Our Geelong team cares about our community. We are proud members of the Geelong Chamber of Commerce.

“We are determined to attract more and more people into a trade career, particularly under-represented groups such as mature workers, women and people with a disability.

“We work hard to persuade young people, their parents and their teachers that an apprenticeship can result in professional, financial and personal rewards.

“The importance of local employers also can’t be underestimated - every day, through apprenticeships, employers provide a better future for Australians through inspiration, education, the creation memories, confidence, mateship, and careers,” Mr Reyment said.

To learn more about the benefits of a free workplace review call Sarina Russo Apprenticeships on 1300 178 776 or visit us at www.srapprenticeships.com.au.

Supporting Geelong Business

Call 1300 178 776 for a free workplace review

Call 1300 178 776 or visit srapprentice.com.au sarinarussoapprenticeships

@srapprentice

LEGAL

Union warning to directors falls flat In 2010, the AWMU published a warning to company directors on its website, stating: “If you turn your back on employees, we will fight you all the way.” The warning was delivered in the context of a case which the AWMU and AWU fought in the Federal Court of Australia.

T

he case primarily involved claims by the two unions against Mr Beynon, the sole director and secretary of Forgecast Pty Ltd and Ideal Pty Ltd. Forgecast operated a manufacturing business and had entered into enterprise agreements with the AWMU and AWU, which covered its employees and included provision for redundancy payments.

In late 2009, Beynon sought advice and resolved for Ideal (Forgecast’s largest secured creditor) to appoint receivers and managers to Forgecast. One of the receivers was Mr Dixon, who was also a party to the proceeding. During the receivership, the receivers continued to operate the business for a short period, publicly advertised the business (unsuccessfully) for sale as a going concern, and then terminated the employment of all of the employees by reason of redundancy.

In contravention of the enterprise agreements, Forgecast didn’t pay any redundancy entitlements to its former employees.

In December 2009, Beynon proposed to Dixon that another entity controlled by him would offer to purchase the business.

An offer to purchase assets of Forgecast was accepted by the receivers in June 2010, after all employees had been terminated.

Forgecast was then placed in liquidation and wound up.

In the proceeding, the unions claimed that both Beynon and Ideal were involved in contraventions by Forgecast, and liable as accessories for the contraventions. The unions alleged that Beynon used the appointment of receivers to acquire Forgecast’s business, without paying redundancy entitlements.

In support of the claim against Beynon, the union alleged that Beynon had informed Dixon prior to appointing him as a receiver that Beynon proposed to re-start the business using another entity. They alleged Beynon had appointed the receivers with the

Confused by Workplace Laws?

intention that Forgecast employees would be made redundant, and Beynon would acquire the business or assets of Forgecast, without taking on liability for redundancy entitlements.

The Court accepted that Beynon had intended to emerge from the receivership of Forgecast in control of Forgecast’s business, and that he had wished to reduce the size of the workforce and cast responsibility for payment for redundancy onto GEERS, the Federal government scheme, which aims to protect employee entitlements when companies go into liquidation. However, this finding was insufficient to enable the union’s claim to succeed.

The unions’ case ultimately failed because there was no common intention between Beynon and Dixon (who was the controlling mind of Forgecast) at the time of the contraventions. Dixon’s reasons for proceeding with the sale of assets and liquidation of Forgecast related to the costs and lack of efficiency of winding up the company, and not the removal of liability for redundancy payments. The Court found that Dixon had given Beynon arm’s length advice as an insolvency practitioner and, once appointed as receiver, exercised his powers in a perfectly normal way. He was required to act as he did, without any obligation to carry out Beynon’s wishes. Without being “linked in purpose” with Dixon, Beynon was not a person involved in the contravention that actually occurred.

Whilst in this case, Beynon was not found to be liable; there is a real risk of personal liability for company directors or managers for failures by a company to meet obligations to employees.

Currently, penalties of up to $10,200 may be imposed on an individual for contraventions of the Fair Work Act 2009, in which they are found to be involved.

JIM RUTHERFORD Principal, Accredited Specialist in Workplace Relations Law

Sonia McCabe Lawyer The information contained in this article is general in nature and should not in any way be construed as legal advice. You should not act on any information contained within this article before first seeking specific legal advice.

Get specialist advice you can rely on.

• Advice on ever changing workplace laws • Assistance with redundancy and termination issues • Preparation of workplace / employment agreements • Protect your business from former employees • Assistance with OH&S prosecutions • Help to avoid and defend discrimination claims • Advice on workplace law compliance regime • Assistance with workplace investigations

Sonia McCabe, Lawyer Jim Rutherford, Accredited Specialist in Workplace Relations Law

70 Gheringhap Street Geelong t. 5225 5225 24 | BUSINESS NEWS

Monique Hutchinson, Lawyer

Rohan Kux, Associate

www.harwoodandrews.com.au

n

a

TAX

Some good news for Companies: Loss Carry Back Rules In February 2013, the Federal Government introduced legislation into parliament that allows Australian companies to carry back up to a $1 million of tax losses.

In simple terms, this allows a company to claw back up to $300,000 of tax paid in previous years.

amount of the loss that is carried back - The franking account surplus at the end of the claim year, or - The tax liabilities in the prior years Corporate tax entities must have lodged tax returns for the current year and each of the five previous income years (unless there was no requirement to lodge a tax return).

An integrity rule must be satisfied, whereby a scheme cannot be entered into to acquire a corporate tax entity to take advantage of the loss carry back offset.

Key Considerations If you are intending to apply the loss carry back rules, it is important to consider:

Practical Application Assuming the legislation becomes law, if you operate a Corporate Tax Entity and had taxable income in the 2012 income year, but forecast a tax loss for the 2013 income year, you should consider applying the loss carry back rules.

- the timing of the lodgement of the tax return, as a refundable tax offset up to $300,000 may be available; - the dividend policy and the payment of franked dividends that reduces your franking account surplus;

Background

- the amount of losses that that you may carry back; and

The Loss Carry Back concept was recommended to Government by the Business Tax Working Group as a means of improving incentives for investment, as well as acting as “...an automatic stabiliser during an economic downturn” and announced by the Federal Government in the 2012 budget.

- the integrity rules.

As at 30 June 2012, tax losses could only be carried forward and offset against future profits to reduce future tax liabilities. The ability for a company to carry forward tax losses was subject to the company satisfying a continuity of ownership test or same business test.

Our Thoughts

These rules also provide companies with a real opportunity to improve their cash flow when unexpected losses are incurred.

It should be noted however, that at the time of writing, the legislation to implement this new measure — the Tax and Superannuation Laws Amendment (2013 Measures No. 1) Bill 2013 - is yet to receive royal assent and become law.

This is a positive step that provides companies the confidence that losses may be cashed out, and may encourage companies to make entrepreneurial and innovative business decisions.

These rules also provide companies with a real opportunity to improve their cash flow when unexpected losses are incurred.

A dividend policy that considers the loss carry back rule is critical for companies intending to receive the refundable tax offset.

It’s a shame that the new measures do not extend to other business structures commonly used by small and medium business.

Key features and benefit of the Loss Carry Back Rules For the 2012-13 income tax year, a company will be able to carry back up to $1 million worth of revenue losses to receive a refund of up to $300,000 of tax paid in the previous 2011-12 income year.

For the 2013-14 income tax year, a company will be able to carry back up to $1 million worth of losses against tax paid up to two years earlier.

Eligibility The loss carry back rules applies to Corporate Tax Entities, being companies, corporate limited partnerships, corporate unit trusts, and public trading trusts.

Other entities, such as trusts, partnerships and individuals, are not eligible. Only tax losses can be carried back and capital losses cannot be applied.

If a Corporate Tax Entity chooses to apply the loss carry back rules (as opposed to carrying forward the loss to future income year) it may receive a refundable tax offset.

The refundable tax offset is limited to the lowest of: - A total claim of $300,000

Paul Robson Principal – WHK (Crowe Horwath) These tax planning tips are a general guide only and your specific curcumstances need to be considered. Accordingly seek expert advice to discuss your personal situation before undertaking any strategies, to ensure all of your circumstances and objectives are considered.

- The corporate rate of tax (currently 30%) multiplied by the

BUSINESS NEWS | 25

LEGAL

Review of the Franchising Code of Conduct Franchises are an attractive and growing area of small business in Australia. They are also protected by a code of conduct, which is enforced by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

T

he Franchising Code of Conduct was introduced in 1998, as a mandatory industry code that is prescribed in the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (CCA).

Since the Code’s introduction, it has been amended in 2008 and 2010.

The Federal Government has sought a Review of the current Code, which has been prepared and provided by Alan Wein.

The Review considered the efficacy of the Code’s previous amendments, and also provided the Government with a list of eighteen recommendations for consideration.

forms. Furthermore, franchisors should provide new franchisees with a summary of the key risks and warnings that they should be aware of before entering the franchise agreement. This summary is to be provided in a prescribed form.

Enforcement: Changes to the CCA would include civil pecuniary penalties to a maximum of $50,000 to remedy a breach of the Code, and would give the ACCC powers to issue an infringement notice for a breach of the Code.

The Government is currently considering the recommendations provided in the Review. Whilst no time frame has been provided as to when changes to the Code will actually be made, both franchisors and franchisees should be aware of the recommendations contained in the Review, which may be adopted and incorporated into legislation in due course, at the Government’s discretion.

The recommendations, if adopted, would have considerable impact in the franchising sector, particularly in the areas of disclosure obligations and enforcement.

Of the eighteen recommendations presented to the Government, those with most impact are: Good faith: So as to equalise the bargaining power between franchisors and franchisees, a new provision of the Code would include an obligation of both franchisor and franchisee to act in good faith. Whilst undefined, acting in good faith is said to extend to the negotiation, performance and dispute resolution phases of a franchise agreement.

Franchisee’s right to terminate franchise agreement: Franchisees shall have the power to terminate a franchise agreement, where the franchisor is placed into administration and the franchise is not returned to solvency, or if a buyer is not found for the franchisor.

Disclosure obligations: A new disclosure statement to be provided to the franchisee if a franchisor intends to renew a franchise agreement for a further term. Additional disclosure requirements are proposed, where the franchisor is based overseas, or where a master franchisor/franchisee relationship

TOM WHITE Principal - Head of Commercial

Coulter Roache Welcomes New Principal

Deputy Chair of the Board of MacKillop Family Services.

Anne O’Loughlin has been made a Principal at Coulter Roache Lawyers.

“We would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Anne and we are delighted that she has been appointed the first female Principal at Coulter Roache,” he said.

Anne heads the Family Law Department and regularly appears in the Geelong Magistrates Court and the Family and Federal Circuit Courts for matters involving children and property. She is President of the Geelong Law Association and

26 | BUSINESS NEWS

Chairman, Kevin Roache, said Anne brings a wealth of experience to her new position.

“She will continue to work closely with her clients, to deliver solutions in often highly complex and sensitive family situations.”

Graham Hobbs retires Consultant Graham Hobbs has retired after 42 years of legal practice.

Graham began working at Coulter Roache Lawyers in July 2011 after many years practicing in the Highton area.

Mr Roache thanked Graham for his contribution to the firm and said the legal needs of his clients would continue to be looked after

by Coulter Roache.

TAX

‘The BIG 4’ issues for small business survival Our national Small Business - Too Big To Ignore preelection campaign, to help give small business a voice, has moved into its next phase, with the unveiling of ‘The BIG 4 You Can’t Ignore’.

V

ECCI is leading the Small Business - Too Big To Ignore campaign in Victoria, in partnership with the national Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) and state chambers nationally, and aims to raise the profile of small business to garner the attention of the Government and Coalition in the lead up to the September federal election.

‘The BIG 4’ highlights the top four issues that small business has identified, through feedback on the campaign website at toobigtoignore.org.au, as critical to their survival and success.

The BIG 4: 1. Cut down on RED TAPE 2. Simplify the TAX SYSTEM

BIG 4 issues through stories told about the experiences of these real people. A series of short video ads have been prepared, which feature interviews with business owners and employees and can be viewed on the campaign website.

3. Make it easier to EMPLOY PEOPLE 4. Build better INFRASTRUCTURE Within each of ‘The BIG 4’ issues, there are four specific examples, where action could be taken, and in the case of infrastructure, eight examples. Based on small business feedback, there are plenty more issues and even more examples, all of which will be added to the campaign as it progresses.

The campaign is centred the real people of business employers and employees - and has already harnessed the support of more than 23,000 small businesses and supporters since its launch in April.

In the second phase of this project, we seek to promote the

This movement gives a voice to the silent majority in the Australian private sector. Business people are mobilising.

Small businesses may be small voices on their own, but together they are too big to be ignored by our country or its politics.

VECCI urges all small businesses – the employers and employees - to visit the website and add your voice to this national campaign at www.toobigtoignore.org.au

JAMES GULLI VECCI Regional Manager

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BUSINESS NEWS | 27

TRAVEL

Ah,

Italia ‌

An inveterate traveller and former Global Publisher for Lonely Planet, Richard Everist has seen the check-ins and departure lounges of more airports than he cares to remember. But he also has an extraordinary collection of travel stories to share, and we are chuffed that he will be sharing them with you in each edition of the Business News.

28 | BUSINESS NEWS

TRAVEL

T

here are three phases to every overseas trip – and each one can be both a challenge and a pleasure.

There’s phase one – researching (dreaming); phase two – the trip itself (reality); and phase three – reminiscing (bragging).

Of course, dreaming and bragging don’t necessarily have a particularly strong connection to the reality of the trip… And nor should they.

This column is primarily focused on the dreaming phase of travel – but the stories will reflect reality. This column is not a travel brochure, and bragging will be kept to a minimum.

Nonetheless, the plan is to get you, the reader, sitting at your desk as a cold southerly blows down Moorabool Street, fantasising about your next holiday!

One of the most common of dream destinations for Australians is Italy. And for good reason: if you were only allowed to go to one European country in your life, the choice would be absolutely clear. Italy.

You want mountains? The Alps are superb. You want lakes?

Lake Como is fairytale perfect. You want history? You can’t go past Rome. You want art and architecture - start with Florence and Venice. You want food, history and drama? You have to visit Naples. You want knockout coastal scenery and beaches? Don’t miss the Amalfi Coast. You want the dolce vita – the sweet life? Just pack your bags and go!

And you can walk, ride, swim, eat, sight see, eat, drink, snorkel, drink, eat, ski, sail and shop in every combination you could possibly imagine. Or – and this is an Around The Sun favourite - you can just sit in a town square (piazza) with a coffee or an aperitivo and people watch.

In Italy, life still happens in the street or the piazza – especially in the south where the weather is kind most of the year. In Pisciotta, a little village on the Cilento Coast south of Naples, Lucrezia, and I would watch for hours from a café terrace just above the piazza. A blonde Albanian barista, in skin-tight jeans, kept the café humming, and the customers loyal. Her smile was bright with gold teeth.

Most mornings, in one corner of the piazza, there would be a group of women who came in from the surrounding farms to sell excess produce from their vegetable gardens. They sold tomatoes so rich and sweet you could eat them like a piece of fruit. The peaches they sold were so juicy they could not be eaten without disgracing yourself. Best to take them home and make a Bellini (dry sparkling wine with peach puree).

In the corner of the piazza, directly below the café terrace, the very narrow two-lane road (wide enough for two Fiat 500s to pass comfortably… with 3cm to spare) became a one-lane road – just big enough for a delivery van to squeeze through.

At some point in the morning, the road would inevitably be blocked by a carelessly parked van delivering fresh bread, or an oblivious young man astride a Vespa, smoking a cigarette and chatting with a friend; or simply by two Italian drivers who refused to back down and reverse from their bumper-tobumper confrontation.

The local policeman would rouse himself and stride up and down blowing his whistle and flapping his arms. Chaos would prevail. The pure theatre of it! Tempers would fray, but only briefly. Eventually, the tangle of buses, cars, Vespas, and three-wheelers would somehow start to move.

Moroccan day labourers, with skin burnt dark by the sun, loitered like shadows on the periphery of the café’s tables, waiting disconsolately for one of the local farmers or builders to come by and offer a day’s work.

Some mornings, a local padrone would park his new, black BMW, get out, carefully straighten his Brioni suit, then sit briefly in the café cracking jokes and receiving ‘respect’ from a cluster of apparently cheerful local businessmen. I guess it would have been foolish not to laugh at his jokes.

Every morning, after the morning service, a knot of women would emerge from the technicolour interior of the church, chat briefly and then walk briskly off to shop for, and cook, lunch. The entire region shut down from 12.30 to 4.30 pm – to avoid the heat of the day and ensure that lunch (and a snooze) could be enjoyed properly.

All the men over a certain age were cheerfully interested in the work of the devil. Their card games would go on for hours in shady corners of the piazza. After church, the women passed them, dourly, usually without acknowledgment.

The piazza, and its surrounding village, is perched on a ridge, five hundred metres above the seductive aquamarine blue of a sparkling Mediterranean bay.

After coffee, we’d walk down a steep network of stone steps, through groves of massive, thousand year-old olive trees to a small fishing harbour and a sandy cove. The warm, crystalclear water would lure us in for a swim…

This scene, or something like it, is replayed in a thousand villages every day.

The biggest problem with an Italian holiday is deciding where to go. The temptation is always to try to do too much which, apart from leaving you overwhelmed and in a fog of exhaustion, means there is little time for sitting in piazzas or lazing on beaches.

Rome, Florence, Venice and the hill towns of Tuscany are must-sees; but if these cities are the only places you visit, haven’t really seen Italy. There is much, much more.

Each of Italy’s twenty official regions could, in many ways, be considered a separate country. As one key marker of difference, even the spoken language varies substantially from one region to the next – to the point that someone from Lombardy will not understand someone from Sicily. The modern ‘Standard Italian’ language, now used as a lingua franca, was adopted from the Tuscan region after reunification in 1861, but it is still a second language for many.

The country’s mountainous topography has defined the regions. Each region has developed thanks to a unique combination of isolation and connection. At the centre of the Mediterranean, Sicily owes as much to the Greeks, Normans and Saracens as it does to the Romans. And for centuries, Venice was more closely linked to Constantinople – its great Byzantine trading partner – than it was to post-Imperial Rome.

Tourists have been visiting Italy for centuries and, in the most heavily trafficked parts, the locals can seem a bit weary and jaded. Fortunately, it’s easy to get off the beaten track – often to regions that are just as stunning as better-known counterparts, where you’ll find locals are downright grateful for your custom.

Not surprisingly, the north has closer links to Western Europe, while the further south you travel, the closer you get to the

BUSINESS NEWS | 29

TRAVEL Middle East and North Africa. The centre is perhaps the region most easily identified by foreigners as Italian – and certainly it was the heart of the Italian Renaissance, which has so crucially shaped Western civilisation.

Often derided by northern Italians, the south is unquestionably poorer, more chaotic, more superstitious, and sometimes more dysfunctional. Rules and laws are viewed with a certain amount of ambiguity and are considered, in many cases, to be purely voluntary. Road rules, for instance, are definitely voluntary!

For all its problems, the south has sights that more than match those in the north. You can dream of seeing the incredible Bay of Naples, with a teeming city at the foot of Mt Vesuvius, the stunning coastal scenery of the Sorrento Peninsula, Capri and the Amalfi Coast. You can dream of the extraordinary Roman ruins at Pompeii and Herculaneum, and the world’s finest surviving Greek temples at Paestum. You can dream of the unspoilt villages along the Cilento Coast (villages like Pisciotta).

Or you can dream of Sicily. Sicily’s position as the largest, richest, and most strategic island in the Mediterranean, has made it the meeting place for every Mediterranean empire – a cultural bridge between East and West, North and South.

Over the course of its history, Sicily has been controlled

by Greek, Roman, Vandal, Byzantine, Muslim, Norman, Germanic, Catalan and Spanish empires. Everyone has left

30 | BUSINESS NEWS

Ah,

Italia …

an architectural and cultural legacy; and the cuisine captures the island’s many and varied rulers.

Tourism is less overwhelming in most parts of the south, so the people are warm and welcoming – to match the weather, which from April to November is superb. Southern life is simultaneously more relaxed and more intense. Everything closes for the lunch siesta, but everyone is awake in the relative cool of the evening until the early hours of the morning.

For those on holidays in the south, la dolce vita is not just a dream!

Richard Everist Around the Sun www.aroundthesun.com Richard Everist started work in the early days of Lonely Planet, and spent his last five years with the company as Global Publisher. He has co-authored guidebooks to Nepal, South Africa, Papua New Guinea, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, Malta and Britain. He was the CEO of Peregrine Adventures, before moving to Geelong. These days, he runs Around the Sun travel with his wife, Lucrezia Migliore, organising trips to the couple’s favourite corners of the world.

DISABILITY CARE

A simple idea that changes lives Every now and then governments support a simple idea that changes lives in Australia. Medicare was one such idea, as was the Superannuation Guarantee. A national disability insurance scheme is one of those simple ideas, and, on 1 July when DisabilityCare Australia launched in the Barwon and the Hunter regions, and in Tasmania and South Australia for children it marked the beginning of change for thousands of Australians.

T

he launch of DisabilityCare Australia was an important day for Australia. It was important because no child should have to wait for a wheelchair. It was important because a young disabled person should never have an aged care home as their only option, and because no one with a mental illness should be made to feel like a secondclass citizen. It was important because no parent should have to worry that their disabled child will be abandoned when they die. And it was important because having a disability shouldn’t mean that you lack choices, shouldn’t mean that you are denied independence, and should never mean that you are denied fairness and respect.

When I was young, my mother became a Do Care volunteer.

She visited elderly people in their homes, helping them do the basic things like the weekly shopping, helping out with some housework and, too often, would be the only person to drop in and visit that week. A few years in and she was given some new clients: an elderly father and his adult daughter, Jean.

Having cerebral palsy, it wasn’t always easy for the people around her to understand Jean when she spoke, which perhaps goes some way to explaining why she had, for her whole life, been treated as if she couldn’t understand the people around her. She could, of course, understand. She knew people said she was stupid, said she was useless, said she was a burden.

When we met her, she seemed scared, even of us kids. Mum told us she never left her house and was petrified of people she didn’t know, especially men.

Over the years, Jean started to overcome these fears. With Mum’s support, she became more confident, eventually even going on bus tours around the state by herself – and doing so many seemingly every day things for the first time as a middleaged woman. We got to know her as the bright, caring, funny woman she was.

Jean didn’t live to see the launch of a national disability safety net, but I thought about her on 1 July, and, as it always does,

thinking about what her childhood and so much of her life must have been like made me a little bit sad and a little bit angry.

But on a day that held such promise of delivering the level of disability support, and the basic respect that people with a disability have a right to, those thoughts were fleeting.

Change happens when simple ideas become a reality.

What DisabilityCare means Jennifer Fitzgerald, CEO of Scope: “Look, this is the most significant societal paradigm shift I’ve seen in a 30 year career. It’s exciting. This is about a shift of choice and control to people with a disability and their families.

And it’s about time.

“It will take time, we have to be patient, these are launch sites and we are learning as we go. But what we’re creating is actually a whole new system. We’re moving away from the system that was block funded where the money came to the provider and where people with a disability and their families didn’t have real control and real choice, and for the first time they will and we’re very, very pleased to see that.”

Lynne Foreman, DisabilityCare Australia participant: “Basically the way the system is at the moment it’s all state funded and I guess with this new scheme it was going to be national, across the board, so everybody’s on the one page, which I thought was fantastic. To me it seemed more flexible, it means you could travel interstate if you wanted to or even move interstate. At the moment the way the system is we can’t take our funding with us so we’ve got to start from scratch again.”

“I just thought it was going to take so long to get through, you know like all the others. I suppose when I started the campaign I wasn’t really thinking of myself I was thinking of the people that are coming up you know other disabled, basically I was a voice for other people with a disability. But actually seeing it myself it’s just, no words can describe how happy and excited I am.”

BUSINESS NEWS | 31

DisabilityCare set to revolutionise the lives of people in Geelong “Karingal has been a dedicated supporter of the campaign for a National Disability Insurance Scheme for the past three years. Karingal staff, participants and families have worked extremely hard to make the NDIS a reality for the Barwon region. They have been telling their stories and raising awareness at train stations and shopping centres, informing the community, many of whom have no experience with disability to help people understand why this scheme is so important. We have been working closely with the City of Greater Geelong, G21, the TAC and Geelong Regional Action network to lobby for this scheme.

It is hard to believe that in a country such as Australia people with a disability and their families are left to struggle every day. People with a disability and their families are one of the most disadvantaged groups in Australia, with sub-standard economic outcomes on most indicators of community participation and social and economic wellbeing. Two-thirds of this group earn less than $320 per week, compared with one-third of the general population, and only 50 per cent progress past year 10 at school.

Disability won’t happen to everyone, but it could happen to anyone, anytime. A National Disability Insurance Scheme will provide a fair, efficient and effective system for all people, regardless of how they acquire their disability.

Before July there was no system of support if you acquired your disability at home through an injury, accident or

32 | BUSINESS NEWS

illness, and there is no private insurance to cover the costs incurred of a baby being born with a severe disability.

It was very exciting news when the Minister for Community Services, Mary Wooldridge announced that the Victorian Government chose the Geelong Barwon as Victoria’s bid to be one of the five launch regions across Australia. The Minister said that Geelong’s coordinated approach to lobbying for a launch region and what Geelong has to offer was very appealing to the State Government.

Once the Federal Government confirmed the Barwon region was in fact a launch site a few days later, the jubilation across Karingal was palpable. The NDIS, or DisabilityCare Australia as it’s now referred to, marks a revolutionary change in the way people with a disability, their families and carers are supported in Australia.

DisabilityCare Australia is a social reform on the scale of the introduction of Medicare and compulsory superannuation. It will be a modern, person-centred support system, helping hundreds of thousands of Australians every year. Over the next three years 5000 people in the Barwon Region will receive support and choice via DisabilityCare Australia, including 900 people who are currently not receiving any government support.

We’d like to thank you for your support in the campaign for DisabilityCare Australia.”

- Daryl Starkey, Karingal Chief Executive Officer

Karingal partnering with Geelong business

P Employee volunteering P Employment services P Corporate catering

P Training P Business process outsourcing P Landcare

Powercor attended the first ever Karingal BacLinks ‘Workplace Big Day Out’ in 2002. It’s a fun filled day of activities, run twice a year, for corporate volunteers and people with a disability. Soon after, they become the winter event’s major sponsor. Powercor had eight employee volunteers from their business attend this year’s event in May.

Tony a

place Big

ar’s ‘Work

t this ye nd Rob a

Day Out’

“Our partnership with Karingal’s initiative BacLinks, gives Powercor an important link to our community and our employees really enjoy being involved.”

Rob Learey - Regional Asset Manager

For more information call 1300 558 368 or visit www.karingal.org.au Since Karingal began in 1952, the organisation has focussed on offering services to people with a disability within the Geelong community. For businesses, there are plenty of reasons to get involved with the Karingal community of over 10,000 people who are determined to make a difference in the lives of others.

The community includes, staff, individual clients, parents, carers, donors, students and suppliers as well as extensive network of other businesses and community agencies.

Karingal welcomes partnerships with businesses and the services listed below provide a great starting point for developing an ongoing relationship.

Business services Karingal operates an Australian Disability Enterprise called Kommercial, which is a supported work environment for people with a disability.

Kommercial employs over 160 staff and crew to deliver high quality services in catering, landcare and packaging to a range of businesses in Geelong and the surrounding areas. In the last four years alone, over 300 businesses have regularly used this service, including many high profile organisations.

Karingal Training is focussed on skilling industry staff in the areas of disability, aged care and community services as well as delivering practical courses to Karingal participants around life skills and work education. Karingal Training also delivers business, retail and hospitality courses, as well as an extensive range of short courses in key areas such as disability and mental health.

Employee volunteering BacLinks (Business and Community Links) educates, supports and creates opportunities for business and community agencies to engage with each other for mutual benefit.

BacLinks does this by coordinating projects that involve employee volunteering, donations of goods and services and sharing resources and knowledge.

BacLinks also operates as a membership organisation, which in 2013, engaged with over 100 businesses and public groups to support and participate in Karingal activities and the broader community.

Employment

Training

MatchWorks has over 15 years experience in supporting people to find work and businesses to find staff. MatchWorks began in Geelong and now offers services from 57 locations, throughout Victoria, Queensland and South Australia, including a specialist service for people with a disability.

Karingal Training began over a decade ago and since then thousands of people have received both accredited and nonaccredited training through the RTO.

If you would like to speak to someone about any of the services listed above please call 1300 558 368 or visit www.karingal.org.au

Kommercial also operates the Café’s at Alcoa, Shell and the CSIRO serving up over 1000 meals to hungry workers every week!

BUSINESS NEWS | 33

Giving people with a disability scope Scope is a leading disability service provider in Geelong. Scope enables each individual and their family to make their own choices and have control in their lives. Scope’s mission is to enable each person they support to live as an empowered and equal citizen in their communities of choice.

Scope provides 7,106 services to people we support across 97 sites in Victoria and works with 1,260 community organisations to improve inclusiveness for people with a disability.

Scope values and appreciates the relationships they have with each person they support and their families. These relationships help to ensure they deliver services that meet the needs of the people they support.

“Scope seeks to put the needs, choices and aspirations of the people we support at the centre of everything we do. Our role is to support and enable self-determination for people with a disability” said Jennifer Fitzgerald, Scope’s CEO.

Scope in the Barwon Region Scope has been providing services in Geelong since 1968. Scope supports over 322 children and adults with a disability in Barwon each year.

In the Barwon-South West Region, Scope provide a range of services including accommodation, respite, therapy, individual support, supported employment and the Barwon South West Regional Communication Service.

Jen has been supported by Scope to become more independent and to access her community. “Scope is very important to me. The help I get from Scope I cannot get anywhere else. Scope is always there for me. I have learnt to take the public bus and can now go to lots of places on my own, this makes me feel good” said Jen. Scope is committed to making our communities more accessible and welcoming for people with a disability. Scope works with organisations, businesses and schools to encourage the community to See the Person, Not the Disability.

DisabilityCare Australia Commencing from July 2013, the first stage of DisabilityCare Australia, the national disability insurance scheme, will become a reality in Barwon.

DisabilityCare Australia will provide people with a disability and their families and carers with the support, services, therapy and equipment they need.

“Scope has invested significant time and resources to prepare for the launch in the Barwon Region. During the launch, Scope’s focus is ensuring people with a disability and their families continue to receive high quality services and support from Scope” said Jennifer Fitzgerald, Scope’s CEO. Gabe at Kinder Scope has been supporting Gabe in getting ready for school next year. Gabe is 4 years old and lives with Down’s Syndrome.

Scope worked with Gabe, his family and kindergarten to establish goals to work towards. Gabe’s goals are to: - Get ready for school - Learn how to hold a pencil and write - Expand his ability to communicate - Play with his friends inside and outside - Eat regularly and expand what he eats.

Scope therapists work with Gabe’s family and the kinder staff to find opportunities for Gabe to practise his new skills with his friends.

Scope therapists are working with Gabe, his family and the school towards a smooth start to the school year.

Gabe has achieved a great deal with the support of Scope’s therapy team since these goals were developed. These include, - Joining in play with his friends, - Using a dominant hand for drawing, - Learning to ride on his trike - Expanding his verbal communication.

“We are proud that as an organisation we have a client satisfaction rating in Barwon of 96% for Early Childhood Intervention Services. This positive result reflects our consistency in meeting the needs and expectations of children and their families” said Jennifer Fitzgerald, Scope’s CEO.

Scope can work with you and your family to explain the process for accessing the services you need for the different stages in your life.

We look forward to continual transformation of our services, shaping them to meet your needs and goals.

Contact Scope today on 03 5221 5444 or scopebarwon@scopevic.org.au or visit www.scopevic.org.au

BUSINESS NEWS | 35

It is Time to Make Every Australian Count!

Encompass sees light at the end of the tunnel The past twelve months have been challenging for the Geelong community.

There is no doubt that many are doing it tough. The apparent downturn in business is weighing on people’s minds; and we all need to stick together and keep on encouraging and motivating each other through it. Amidst all the doom and gloom, Encompass Community Services sees light at the end of the tunnel. With the DisabilityCare (NDIS) recently launched on our doorstep, and many opportunities arising at Encompass, the organisation is seeing brighter times ahead. For those who wish to up-skill or change their career path, Encompass might just be the place to start!

Encompass first opened its doors to people with a disability looking for work in 1985. The management and staff knew from the start that anyone could do anything that they wanted, given the appropriate support and encouragement.

Today, Encompass is pleased to have assisted thousands of people to reach their goal. In doing so, they know that if everyone is treated equally and is given a “fair go”, they can achieve whatever they put their minds to. Over time, Encompass has grown to deliver a wide range of programs and services, providing accredited and non-accredited training, day time support and activities, a specialist employment agency and weekend respite care. Encompass also runs a number of social enterprises and is expecting to add more in the coming year. Encompass thanks the Geelong

community for its strength and support, which has enabled the organisation to expand its programs and services in response to the needs of people with disabilities in the Geelong region.

Jobs available now!!

The social enterprises at Encompass create meaningful employment, work experience and training opportunities for people, including those people with disabilities. “We run a particular program operated by Encompass Employment Services, which provides our participants with paid employment. This program bridges the gap and breaks down barriers experienced by the long term unemployed,” says Elaine Robb, CEO. “These social enterprises also offer activities for people who would like to volunteer or who would like to participate to learn job skills.”

Encompass is also about to launch their new and exciting multi-component

project in the Whittington/Newcomb area. What started out as a Ceramics Project, has grown to include a number of services and programs that will provide participants with meaningful work and independent living skills.

The aim is to provide training and employment opportunities to Encompass’ participants, as well as people throughout the Geelong community as a whole. There will be opportunities for people to access the project, being both as part of their activities (life skills and independent living), or being employed as a worker through the Encompass Employment Services.

The project reflects an identified need in the local community to provide work experience in a team environment for people who are typically socially disengaged for extended periods; and in many cases also have a disability or mental health issue. Encompass’ Options and Connections Division offers Life Skills

Employment Services

Are you a job seeker with a disability or disadvantage?

Encompass Employment Services is available to assist you. Our service is designed to help you at every stage, from looking for a job to on-site training, and if required, ongoing support in the workplace once you are in the job.

For more information please contact us on 5222 3377 or you can ask to speak to our Intake Officer.

400 Pakington Street Geelong VIC 3220 Tel: (03) 5222 3377 employment@encompass-cs.org.au www.encompass-cs.org.au 36 | BUSINESS NEWS

“At Encompass you can kick start your career in fields in need of people with qualifications. We deliver a flexible approach to learning and training, as we understand that people have different learning styles, interests and needs.”

- Debi Hope (Manager). tailored and personalised services to our customers, participants and students,” says Elaine Robb.

and Independent Living activities and our social enterprises open their doors to provide these participants with work experience. “People who are funded through DisabilityCare may choose to access some of these opportunities at Encompass,” says Elaine Robb.

Participants can develop skills in ceramics making, retail, food-handling, warehousing, reupholstering and restoring of furniture. The personal outcomes for the participants will be increased selfesteem and heightened motivation, development of communication and team-work skills, strengthening of selfadvocacy, development of employability skills, and knowledge and participation in the local community.

Encompass also offers training through the Encompass College of Education and Training for those who may be looking for work, but do not have the right qualifications.

Careers begin at Encompass College of Education & Training To many people, going back to the classroom may seem like a daunting task.

Some may have worked for a business for over 35 years and have never thought of working in a different industry. Encompass knows that many students are nervous on the first day in a new classroom. They may be using a computer for the first time or brushing up on their learning skills.

The Encompass College of Education and Training offers all prospective students accredited and non-accredited courses.

The staff and trainers are a particularly

Encompass does not only walk the walk, but talks the talk. Over 35% of Encompass’ staff have a disability. Staff members of all abilities work together and Encompass’ CEO Elaine Robb says that “this enriches the organisation and strengthens its purpose.”

energetic and passionate team who provides great support to the students.

Encompass College of Education and Training delivers courses in Disability Work, Aged Care, Home and Community Care, Community Services Work, Youth Work and more. Government funded places are available (eligibility criteria apply) or courses are available on a fee for service basis. The organisation’s courses are also Centrelink approved. So, if you enjoy working with people and helping people achieve their goal, then the next step to your career may just start at Encompass.

Viewed as a quiet achiever at the river end of Pakington Street, Encompass develops programs and services for people from all walks of life. Every employee, ranging from the CEO to casual employees, works hard to ensure that those who use the organisation’s services feel safe, valued and listened to. “We see ourselves as a boutique organisation able to offer

So if you or someone you know has a disability and is looking for support and assistance, or if you are looking to expand on your skills, upgrade your qualifications or change your career path please contact Encompass. You can also support the projects at Encompass by making a donation or volunteering your time. To find out more visit their website at encompasscs.org.au or ‘like’ them at facebook.com/ EncompassCS. “We are keen to get people involved in any way they can. Every donation of $2 or more is tax deductible and we can ensure that your donation goes towards the particular project you want to support” said Elaine.

- Elaine Robb, CEO, Encompass Community Services

6899

College of Education and Training

Careers begin at Encompass

Encompass College of Education and Training delivers training in Geelong, Whittington, Bannockburn and Werribee. We are enrolling now for our mid-year intake. Day and evening courses available.

This training is delivered with funding from the Victorian and Commonwealth Governments. Eligibility criteria apply or training is available on a fee for service basis. All our courses are Centrelink approved.

Contact us on (03) 5222 2819!!

400 Pakington Street Geelong VIC 3220 rto@encompass-cs.org.au www.encompass-cs.org.au

Our courses include: Certificate III in Children’s Services Certificate IV in Community Services Work Certificate IV in Disability Diploma of Youth Dual Qualification: Certificate III in Aged Care Certificate III in Home and Community Care

BUSINESS NEWS | 37

“ t h c w o [ d

St Laurence Community Services is a Public Benevolent Institution serving rural and regional communities across southern and western Victoria.

The organisation has been helping people help themselves since 1959...

“T

he goal is helping those who are disadvantaged to become, or to remain, independent and active members of the local community,” CEO Toby O’Connor explains.

St Laurence supports a wide variety of people in a wide variety of ways. “We are a very diverse organisation,” Mr O’Connor remarks. St Laurence’s many services can be broken down into four broad categories. One key initiative is to provide housing to the elderly and to people who are at risk of homelessness. To do so, St Laurence runs a retirement village in Lara, where the organisation is based, and social housing in Geelong. The retirement village, which is for people aged 55 and older, allows residents to age in place so that they can remain within their community even as their need for assistance increases. And, when residents can no longer stay in their own homes, they are able to move into an onsite nursing home. The organisation’s social housing supports individuals with lower incomes in Geelong, so that at risk individuals have a safe, comfortable and affordable place to live.

St Laurence also offers employment and training services. This includes “getting people who are out of work back into work,” and training people so that they have the skills they need to land better jobs. A third St Laurence initiative is to support people who are ageing. “We help people in the community stay in their community by organising support in their homes,” Mr O’Connor explains. The team also operates the nursing home at Lara for senior citizens who need round the clock care.

Lastly, the organisation runs an entire suite of services for people with disabilities. Ground breaking programs like My Path are leading the industry in a new direction and offering significant opportunities for the disabled to become more independent.

Providing such a breadth of services isn’t easy, and St Laurence upholds a clear set of values to ensure that operations stay on track. In fact, the team has just undertaken a comprehensive, three year review of the organisation’s values to be sure that its mission is up to date with the changing times.

“Essentially, we have five basic values,” Mr O’Connor reports:

is an exciting new program that suppor ts people with disabilities. The ground breaking suite of ser vices took over three years to develop and is specially designed to put the ser vice user f ir st. “What we are tr ying to do is move away from that old charitable approach to disabilit y ser vices,” explains Toby O’Connor. My Path moves beyond traditional ser vice models by providing per son centred care that of fers people with disabilit y choice and control over the suppor t and ser vices they receive. In other words, Mr O’Connor explains, “we seek to respond to the aspirations and dreams of the consumers.”

My Path’s “curriculum based framework” of fers a wide range of individualised oppor tunities.

Overall, the program helps par ticipants learn and maintain key skills, maximise their independence, and keep track of their own progress. At its core, My Path is accomplishing St L aurence’s underlying commitment to the belief that consumers know what is best for them.

“Integrity, equity in access, inclusiveness, empowerment, and dignity.” After the three year review was completed, the team carefully outlined “what these values mean in terms of us working together as a staff,” so that the values could be properly applied. Mr O’Connor explains that at St Laurence, values aren’t just words written in a report or on a website – they are something that the entire workforce lives out in a meaningful way. “I expect people to live those values out in their daily lives and to make those values real in their “The organisation runs an entire suite of ser vices for people workforce and to the consumer,” he says. with disabilities.”

38 | BUSINESS NEWS

T e t is w c a

A in t p u a “ y c n ‘s g w m

I e in la s m a s o im b o t o

T s in p r a s “ c t t

I p r u w [ s

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“We actually take time to explain to the workforce how those terms can actually make everyday sense. We have outlined how those values might be applied if you are dealing with a consumer or a client. And, there is a strong expectation that we also use them to guide our own interactions with each other. So we treat each other with respect, we listen to what [others] say, and we try to be as inclusive as possible around decision making.”

The effort that the organisation puts into its values and employees has borne fruit. In fact, Mr O’Connor insists that the single most important factor behind St Laurence’s success is the dedication of its staff. “I’ve got a very committed workforce who agrees with our mission,” he explains. “And clearly, without them we would not be able to offer as much as we do to so many people. The key to it is our workforce.”

In fact, Mr O’Connor suspects that organisations that fail to maintain operational efficiency will soon fall by the wayside.

“Boards of charitable organisations that don’t understand the present policy environment and don’t understand good governance are unlikely to survive in the medium term,” he A second fundamental reason for success is that the team predicts. “I think, as these changes come in around aged care insists on keeping a business minded approach – even and disability, we are probably going to see a lot of smaller though St Laurence is a not for agencies go out of business. That is what profit charitable organisation. “We “The team has just under taken a happened in the employment industry understand that it has to be run like comprehensive, three year review of when it became highly regulated and a business,” Mr O’Connor explains. the organisation’s values to be sure a market based delivery system, and I “I have been in the industry for 30 that its mission is up to date with think that we are about to see that in years, and my message to the wider the changing times.” other sectors.” community is that charities should no longer be seen as some sort of ‘second best’ organisation. Good charities, those that are going to survive and those that are going to thrive, are well governed businesses that use business principles and models to underpin their operations.”

St Laurence refuses to fall by the wayside as the regulatory landscape evolves. The organisation has been offering a unique blend of consumer centred services for over half a century – and the team is determined to continue the good work.

“We will see our consumers having a much greater say in the services they receive,” Mr Indeed, St Laurence is at the forefront of applying leading edge business practices to its not for profit operations. For O’Connor says of the future that St Laurence faces under the new legislation. “Having a greater instance, the organisation spent the say in services that they receive will also last 18 months developing a “very need to be accompanied by making us “CEO Toby O’Connor insists that sophisticated and automated risk more accountable to how we respond to the single most impor tant factor management system,” a feat that is their needs.” behind St Laurence’s success is a “little bit unusual for an NGO.” This the dedication of its staf f.” system helps the team stay on top By upholding its rigorous set of values of potential risks, which is critically and maintaining superior business important considering St Laurence’s practices, St Laurence is confident that it can deliver.

“At the broad scope and geographical reach. “We are pretty proud end of the day, we like to think that we offer our consumers of that,” Mr O’Connor reports. “We think that it is a really high quality services that respond to their needs.” top quality product which we are happy to provide to other organisations.”

The nature of St Laurence’s work requires these kinds of superior business practices, Mr O’Connor explains. “We work in a highly regulated industry because we are spending tax payers’ dollars.” As a result, maintaining an efficient, well run organisation that provides the most value for money is absolutely crucial; in fact, the demand for high value, low cost services is only strengthening under the current legislation.

“Federal Government is moving toward consumer directed care, so it is putting the emphasis back onto the consumer to make choices about how their money that comes from the taxpayer needs to be spent,” Mr Connor reports.

It is a simple market principle – consumers will want to put money into organisations that will give the most in return. “You really have to be more efficient in how you use taxpayers’ money,” Mr O’Connor points out. “People who rely on us see that we deliver good value for money.

[This is] where the federal government is moving charitable services.”

“We help people in the community stay in their community by organising suppor t in their homes.”

BUSINESS NEWS | 39

COMMUNITY

Business and Community Join Forces One of the meaningful ways businesses can help their community is through employee volunteering. Assisting at events and projects helps meet a range of community needs, while providing participants with a wonderful inclusive experience that develops their personal and professional skills.

T

wo recent examples of the breadth of employee volunteering opportunities facilitated by Karingal’s initiative, BacLinks, were the 2013 Winter Workplace Big Day Out and GMHBA’s meaningful social and physical contributions to Cottage by the Sea.

The Workplace Big Day Out brings together employee volunteers from a range of local businesses, sporting and social clubs, schools and people with a disability from local services to enjoy an inclusive day of fun and challenges. The event showcases the many ways our community can come together to support and engage each other.

“The BacLinks Workplace Big Day Out is a stimulating, enlightening and inclusive day out that challenges all participants physically and socially, and fosters a greater sense of community,” says Karingal CEO, Daryl Starkey.

Generously presented by Powercor, and sponsored by MatchWorks, Harwood Andrews Lawyers and St John of God Pathology/Pathcare, the 2013 Winter Workplace Big Day Out - held at the Leisuretime Centre, Bell Post Hill - saw around 70 employee volunteers and 95 program members from Karingal, Encompass and St Laurence enjoy a range of team-based activities together in a fully supported environment.

The days’ activities were provided by students from SEDA, Sports Education and Development, along with representatives from Badminton Geelong and You Can Too Weight Loss and Fitness. Afterwards, the participants enjoyed a BBQ lunch -donated by WJM Lawyers, and prepared and served by the Rotary Club of Highton -, before they engaged in some hilarious dance routines, courtesy of the Bellyrine Belly Dancing Troupe.

Event feedback highlights the significant benefits of participation in this event, with one employee volunteer describing it as, “a good social workout” that broke down barriers and encouraged “an incredible sense of community spirit”. Another admitted they were “a reluctant volunteer” to begin with, however were eventually “blown away at how much they enjoyed it”.

Another significant community contribution involved employee volunteers from GMHBA enjoying some quality time with staff and children from Cottage by the Sea, and completing some much needed maintenance works around the seaside facility.

Located in Queenscliff, Cottage by the Sea provides short term camps to over 1,000 children aged 5 to 12 years from around Australia who are experiencing family difficulties such as domestic violence; emotional trauma; sudden death or departure of a parent; social/economic disadvantage; cultural and/or refuge difficulties; as well as giving adult family members precious time out.

“We know that community groups like Cottage by the Sea are vital in shaping social wellbeing,” said Mark Valena, Chief Executive Officer at GMHBA. “The work they do to support kids in need, provide educational, recreational activities in order to build on their self-esteem is important to their future health and wellbeing. This is why we were so passionate about being involved.”

Cottage by the Sea Manager, Bill Kerr, agreed, stating that strong emphasis is placed on co-operation, teamwork and respect for self, others and the environment.

“Each child who attends one of our camps is accepted as an individual with differing needs, expectations and responses, and they are provided with the opportunity to grow, learn and play – away from the stress of their everyday lives,” he said.

The employee volunteers shared the children’s excitement with an excursion to the Marine Discovery Centre, followed by a homemade pizza lunch and some fun and games.

Find out more about how your business can contribute to community in a meaningful way by contacting the BacLinks team on 5249 8989.

40 | BUSINESS NEWS

COMMUNITY

Donations callout: Geelong Multiple Sclerosis shop Multiple Sclerosis Australia (MSA) has a vision for a world without multiple sclerosis.

An estimated 23,000 Australians are living with the debilitating disease, which affects the central nervous system. Its cause and cure remain elusive; in order to continue research into this devestating disease, funding and donations are vital.

Recently, the Geelong shop has begun selling furniture and larger household items. Such items have sold extremely fast and the store is eager to receive more donations of this nature to sell in store.

Apart from raising much-needed funds, the shop offers people the chance to recycle goods, reducing landfill and decreasing our carbon footprint. Clothing that doesn’t sell is sent to Africa.

The shop also gives people the opportunity to gain retail experience, including immigrants, those with disabilities, and others who simply enjoy volunteering their time and are giving back to their community.

St John of God Geelong launches community appeal

Please take donations of goods to 96 Pakington Street, Geelong West. Furniture and household items are particularly welcomed.

St John of God hospital Geelong has launched a community appeal to help raise further funds to support its $65 million redevelopment.

For more information about MS and how you can help, visit www.msaustralia.org.au.

The redevelopment will deliver a private emergency department, medical centre, hydrotherapy pool, chapel, café, and reception centre.

Regional Achievement & Community Awards now open Nominations for the prestigious Regional Achievement & Community Awards are now open. The state wide search has begun for regional and rural community contributors.

Pay tribute to those supporting and enhancing the social, economic, commercial, or environmental prosperity of their region, by nominating them for an award in one of seven categories.

The Regional Achievement & Community Awards have become the most esteemed regional awards program in Victoria. Don’t allow an individual or group who have inspired you and made a difference in your region to go unnoticed, nominate them before 13 August. Cash prizes of $2000 or airtime packages on PRIME7 are available to category winners.

There are seven categories open: Prime Super Community Group of the Year Award, Ricoh Australia Environment and Sustainability Award, Medibank Healthy Participation Award, Fantastic Furniture Indigenous Achievement Award, GippsTAFE and University of Ballarat Regional Achiever Award, Regional Victoria Living Expo Business Achievement Award, Regional Victoria Living Expo Leadership and Innovation Award.

The Hon. Peter Ryan MP, Deputy Premier and Minister for Regional and Rural Development and Patron of the Awards, encourages people to nominate.

“The Awards aim to acknowledge and encourage those who are helping reshape and inspire our communities. If you know an individual or group making a real difference in your community, I encourage you to nominate them,” he said.

Importantly, it will also create at least 125 jobs for Geelong, including nurses, physiotherapists, speech pathologists, occupational therapists, as well as non-clinical positions, including administration and support services roles.

Frank Costa OAM is the Public Appeal Chairman and says St John of God is an important Geelong institution with a history of delivering high quality services and support to the community.

“The hospital has a great reputation for care, and plays an important role that extends into the community, including postnatal counselling, youth support and outreach, with much of this work going unheralded,” said Mr Costa.

Mr Costa says the redevelopment is not only important for Geelong, but will support communities across Western Victoria.

“It’s also important to consider that the continued building of a strong private not-for-profit hospital helps to free-up services in the public sector, and that helps to support and strengthen our overall healthcare system,” Mr Costa said.

This is the largest commitment ever undertaken by SJG Geelong, according to the hospital’s Chief Executive Officer, Stephen Roberts.

“Our vision is to strive to make St John of God the best regional private hospital in Australia, delivering the best care we can, with almost $100 million being invested over the last five years to bring that goal to life,” Mr Roberts said.

In addition to the 125 full-time positions that will be created, Mr Roberts said the flow on effects would support another 70 jobs elsewhere in the local economy.

“The redevelopment will also inject an additional $34.8 million into the local economy annually,” he said.

For nomination forms contact the Awards Office on 9720 2277, or nominate online at www.awardsaustralia.com.

BUSINESS NEWS | 41

THE TECH GUY

The Tech Guy

Every month, our Tech Guy, Jon Mamonski, brings us the wildest, most mind-blowing gadgets he can find...

hinge, and a bar area with the usual power and Wi-Fi on/off buttons; there’s and a Turbo button for over clocking and the button icons glow a bright orange.

Workhorse or Racehorse?

Most Geelong business people have a notebook for the road and a PC for the desk, and for good reason. The notebook just doesn’t cut it for serious data and image crunching, until now that is.

MSI have been making quality notebooks for years, not that we’ve seen many in our neck of the woods until recently. The MSI GT70 is a 17.3-inch workstation that is faster in every respect than any computer you’re using now. It’s blazingly fast in fact – and, on bench testing, simply blows away any competition, be it notebook or desktop.

With a little help from Intel’s new ‘Ivy Bridge’ 4 core, 8 thread CPU, it idles at 2.4 GHz, out to 3.4 GHz when given full throttle. And this is aided by two sold state hard drives for the operating system and apps, and a separate 750 GB drive for storage. The quad core NVidia graphics card just chews through an image or video, no matter how complex. Combine all these features with MSI’s turbo drive engine and GPU boost, and the GT70 just leaves everything else in its wake, bar none.

The dark grey, brushed-aluminium body looks different to the ultrabook style; as a racehorse notebook should. Lift the lid and you’ll find two thumping stereo speakers that sit below the

42 | BUSINESS NEWS

The keyboard is quite extraordinary as each key has a multi-coloured LED under it and the colours can be altered, with MSI carving up the keyboard into thirds, allowing you to choose a colour for each section - including the level of brightness - so that each section can have a ‘breathing’ effect.

Now that’s a serious wow factor for any geek.

The keyboard mechanism comes from Steel Series and its large keys have a tactile, responsive click with each press.

There’s a full number pad and full row of function keys on this keyboard, making it a benchmark amongst other notebook keyboards currently available.

The GT70 has a comprehensive range of inputs/outputs with HDMI and VGA, an eSATA port, an ethernet jack, a pair of USB 2.0 ports and a tray-loading Blu-ray rewritable optical drive, (perfect for archiving precious data). On the left edge, there are four gold-plated audio ports (headphone, microphone, and a proper line-in and line-out for good sound levels), a memory-card reader and three USB 3.0 ports.

The screen has a 1920x1080 native resolution, as you’d expect, and the sound is surprisingly good, as MSI use the Dynaudio sound system in the GT70. The bank of storage is outstanding, with two 64GB solid-state drives (SSDs) configured in RAID 0, and with a 750GB Sata hard drive and 16GB of DDR3 RAM. Maximising horsepower has not been left to chance here, so you can multitask to your heart’s content.

The MSI GT70 is a formula one workstation that just blitzes all on comers and will satisfy your need for speed like no other.

It’s available now from PCD Computers, 90 Mercer Street, Geelong.

THE TECH GUY

Back in black

$95 computer?

No way Believe it or not, you can buy a computer- better known as a Raspberry Pi - ready to plug into your monitor or TV screen for just $95.

As you can see from the photo, it’s no bigger than a pack of cards and is now the new craze for geeks worldwide. My test unit came from the aforementioned PCD Computers, with the Linux based OpenElec media server software. If you don’t have a ‘Smart TV’, this little unit does that job; and is much better designed for a lot less outlay, because the media server resides on an economical SD memory card.

You can use the HDMI output for crisp hi-def 1080p movies, or use the standard analogue outputs, and there’s an ethernet connection too, so you can link to your router and out to the world of YouTube and beyond.

The OpenElec media server can run with just a mouse, however, if you would rather tinker within a Linux operating system, just add a keyboard and play to your heart’s content. With two USBs there’s also the opportunity to add a USB hub or a Wi-Fi antenna and, voila, no Ethernet cable required!

For those of you old enough to remember the first Compaq laptop that weighed in at 10 kilos, we have come a long, long way since then.

The Raspberry Pi has enough grunt to play high definition movies that simply could not be done on anything this size in the past. What a revelation.

For $95, you get the Raspberry Pi hardware, power supply and SD card operating system, available now from PCD Computers, 90 Mercer St., Geelong, p: 5222 5189.

You know that fraction of a second when you realize, only too late, that your handset is headed toward the sink, or worse, the loo. A bag of rice or a warm oven are common therapies, which rarely work; but take it from me, DryBox has the answer, in the U.S. that is.

Using a box that will dry a phone in 25 minutes or so, using a combination of heat, vacuum pump and light, DryBox claims up to 80 per cent success for recovering your waterlogged smartphone.

So long as a handset is left

There’s a revolution brewing in office printing. Sustainable minds are turning off from energy hungry laser printing and the gaze is now firmly set on new, fast and ‘green’ stationary head, inkjet technology.

HP’s latest OfficeJet Pro X 576dw multi-function printer is an affordable and compact workgroup inkjet, with speeds that rival production colour lasers. HP claims that printing at ‘General Office’ quality can reach a swift 70 pages per minute (ppm), making it the ‘fastest desktop colour printer’ on the market.

In a regular inkjet, the page is fed through the printer, while small heads move side to side, spraying ink - whereas HP’s new range use stationary heads, which cover the width of the page, coating it with ink as the paper moves through without pausing, making it as fast, if not faster, than a laser printer.

With fewer moving parts than an equivalent laser, the Officejet X576dw is also lighter, with a clever and individual ‘cubby hole’ design that creates the

perfect storage space for spare paper.

The paper tray holds 500 sheets and there’s an inbuilt 50-sheet automatic document feeder (ADF). The HP X576dw is controlled by a colour touchscreen display that’s intuitive and easy to navigate.

Because there’s no fuser to heat, the X576dw starts printing quickly, with quality results.

The high-capacity black cartridges last up to 9,200 pages and the colour ones up to 6,600.

The bottom line is about cost per print, and here it’s a clear winner over colour laser printers, coming in at around half the cost of its laser brethren.

The street price for the X576dw multi-function printer is $785, and whilst you can pick up a cheap colour laser printer for half that, the high priced toner cartridges will get you in the end. HP’s X series OfficeJets are proving a serious challenge, with an environmentally sustainable outcome that lasers cannot match.

alone after getting wet and gets to them within 36 hours, the likelihood of recovery are very good.

By the way, iPhones have the best recovery record - especially the iPhone 5 though whether that’s because it’s a sealed device or because so many exist is a mystery to them.

Drybox hopes that stores set up the devices and share the revenue, with pricing set by the Dry your dealer, but would typically cost wet phone between $20 and $40. Come on Geelong entrepreneurs – here’s your chance!

BUSINESS NEWS | 43

THE TECH GUY Call from anywhere

Finally, a satellite phone that’s capable of communicating in places that your iPhone could only dream of. The Spot phone comes from satellite communications giant, Globalstar, and is one of the company’s first consumer phones - taking the intrigue and mystery out of buying one of those fancy sat phones that can, seemingly, only be got by James Bond’s enemies.

If you like to hike into remote areas, go fourwheel driving in the bush or travel where Telstra isn’t,

then the Spot phone is for you.

It’s frighteningly easy to find dead zones in south east or central Victoria, just wander into your nearest national park and stroll up a marked trail for a while.

The Spot Global won’t add a lot of heft to your pocket and battery life is rated at four hours of talk time and 36 hours of standby. For emergency workers, adventurers, fishermen and plain old thrill seekers a satellite phone can be a lifesaver – literally.

Flexible displays

LG says that this new flexible OLED HD screen tech will debut in a smartphone by the end of this year. The 5-inch display has a plastic construction, which allows it to be both bendable and unbreakable, and cheaper to manufacture

than their glass counterparts. The clumsy among us will benefit as well.

Dropping a smartphone, the glass above the screen often cracks, but the OLED panel would stay intact, now that’s mighty helpful.

ASUS Padfone A real smart watch

What is a smart watch?

Maybe GEAK, the Shanghaibased subsidiary of content giant, Shanda, has the answer.

Simply called the GEAK Watch, it has a surprising number of features, the most notable being Wi-Fi. This lets the Android 4.1 system download apps directly, or even receive updates.

You could also create a wireless ad hoc network to do instant messaging with fellow users nearby, and the watch can apparently do voice-to-text input – Dick Tracy style.

There’s Bluetooth, device pairing, GPS and an FM radio with a headphone jack.

Sensory features include monitoring your sleeping patterns, pulse, blood pressure, body temperature, mood and number of steps walked and all tucked into the 8mm-thick body of the watch accompanied by 512MB of RAM, 4GB of storage to boot.

Sounds too good to be true?

The Geak will be priced around $350, but we probably won’t see it here for a good while yet.

44 | BUSINESS BUSINESS NEWS NEWS | 37

Almost exactly two years ago, ASUS introduced the PadFone - the world’s first phone that could fully power a tablet module from its own OS, but the concept took a while to materialise.

Three iterations on, ASUS is offering the PadFone Infinity, with a 1.7GHz quad-core Snapdragon 600 SoC, as well as a new brushed-aluminium body. The PadFone Infinity comes with a 5-inch, 1080p display and a bigger built-in battery - 2,400mAh. The main camera uses a Sony 13-megapixel IMX091 sensor with a bright f/2.0. On the other side of the phone, the front-facing camera has a 2-megapixel, f/2.0 module.

Compared to the 4G iPad, which weighs in at 662g, the PadFone Infinity’s combined weight of 677g (145g plus 532g) is very competitive.

For those who’ll miss the laptop form factor, there’s always the folder case or TranSleeve case, which lets you prop up the PadFone Station and then hook up the device with a Bluetooth keyboard. You can also connect a USB keyboard via an optional adapter.

The PadFone Infinity is probably the best phone ASUS has ever made thanks, to a brand-new industrial design on the phone itself. The street price for the combined phone and tablet is $999.

ARTS

Images from Metropolis Gallery’s IM}PRESS{IVE and Life][Still Life: Linda Robertson & Raja Norzlipah exhibitions.

Metropolis Gallery 10th Anniversary and Concurrent Exhibitions 5 - 20 July Metropolis Gallery is proud to announce its 10th anniversary as a commercial gallery in Geelong.

This important milestone will be marked by a grand opening on July 5 at Metropolis Gallery of two concurrent exhibitions: IM]PRESS[IVE: Printmakers from the Geelong Region and Life][Still Life: Linda Robertson & Raja Norzlipah.

In the front gallery, the exhibition IM]PRESS[IVE: Printmakers from the Geelong Region, presents an impressive lineup of local artists who have an established printmaking practice: John McClumpha, Sue Ernst, Alex Game, Janet Goldman, Anita Lacovella, Debra Jackson, Rhondda Millen, J. Gaye Nieuwenhof, Laura Osborne, Robyn Sandford and Keren Zorn.

Artists’ edition prints have always been an exciting and popular medium of expression for artists and widely collected by an appreciative public for their inherent qualities coupled with affordability.

In the back gallery, Life][Still Life: Linda Robertson & Raja Norzlipah brings a classical approach to drawing and painting. Linda Robertson has worked with the figure in pastel and charcoal for many years. Her drawings have an influence of the Italian Renaissance, Edgar Degas

and workshops she has taken with contemporary Australian artist, Godwin Bradbeer.

“I use illumination and shadow in a way that reflects the theatrical nature of my subjects, who are often dancers. This interests me more than drawing the human figure simply as anatomy. A life model exerts a great deal of energy and effort in holding a motionless position, so I use line and tone dynamically to express the energy contained within this stillness.

My interest in drawing the human figure has been to depict the internal, emotional landscape of form, hovering as an illuminated presence in space,” Robertson said.

Raja Norzlipah’s contemporary realist, still life paintings are inspired by artists like Caravaggio and Rembrandt, and are based on a traditional style of oil painting using the rich and dramatic chiaroscuro (lightand-shade) approach to create powerful and moving paintings with balance and harmony.

“My aim is to present the audience with an emotional experience when viewing each of my paintings,” Norzlipah said.

Metropolis Gallery, Geelong www.metropolisgallery.com.au

Midsummer – a play with songs July 10 – 14 This mid-winter offering from GPAC’s 2013 Deakin University Theatre Season is a

fast-paced yet charming love story that gives audiences a great reason to brave the winter chill.

The play is written by one of Scotland’s leading playwrights David Greig and top Edinburgh singer/songwriter Gordon McIntyre.

Bob and Helena meet at a wine bar. He’s a failing car salesman waiting to pick up the keys to a stolen car. She’s a divorce lawyer with a taste for other people’s husbands.

She’s totally out of his league; he’s not her type at all. They absolutely should not sleep together. Ever…which is why they inevitably do.

This is the story of two strangers whose one-night stand turns into a fabulous lost weekend of stolen money, car chases, wedding bustups, Japanese rope bondage, midnight trysts and selfloathing hangovers.

Written by one of Scotland’s leading playwrights, David Greig, and top Edinburgh singer/songwriter, Gordon McIntyre, Midsummer – a play with songs, is absorbing, lyrical and irresistibly funny, and it’s in Geelong for five performances only.

‘Midsummer (a play with songs), barrels forth like a mad couple hurtling hand-inhand through The Meadows of Edinburgh, each with a battered acoustic strapped to their back, laughing at the bus they know they’ve already missed.’ - Time Out Melbourne Drama Theatre, GPAC www.gpac.org.au

Bethany Arthouse Film Festival - The Giants 16 July It’s summertime. Brothers, Seth (16) and Zac (13 and three quarters), have again been left to fend for themselves by their neglectful single mother at the family’s cottage in the verdant and isolated Luxembourg countryside.

Just like every holiday before, they’ve resigned themselves to another mundane summer, but things shift dramatically after they strike up a friendship with local kid, Danny, and the most perilous - and greatest - journey of their lives begins. Together, as the boys scavenge for food, steal their grandfather’s car and pursue hare-brained schemes to make money, they find their bravado repeatedly punctured by the rigours of an adult world they cannot comprehend.

Lushly shot with an almost Malick-esque appreciation for the magic of nature, and filled with bittersweet humour and a feel for the rhythms of working class life, THE GIANTS is an extraordinary ode to the idleness, adventures and fears of youth.

Belgian (French) with English subtitles.

Winner - Best Film, Directors’ Fortnight - 2011 Cannes Film Festival.

The Playhouse Theatre, GPAC www.gpac.org.au

BUSINESS NEWS | 45

ADVERTORIAL

Break the technology barrier and succeed A Geelong seminar is being held to help Geelong business owners struggling to adapt to the ‘new rules of business’ resulting from dominance by online shopping, social media and websites.

‘The Business Accelerator Seminar’ will be held on July 17 to assist Geelong business in breaking through technology barriers and transform their business into a smarter, faster and more streamlined operation.

Seminar host, Stephen McHenry from McHenry Partners, said the Global Financial Crisis and the technology revolution had changed the business playing field, and it was important for business owners to embrace change to survive.

“The explosion of online shopping on the back of the high Australian dollar has had a massive impact on the retail sector,” Mr McHenry said.

“Social media has changed the marketing landscape forever, websites are the new business card and history tells us, to be successful you need to accept and embrace change.”

‘The Business Accelerator Seminar’ will be delivered by next generation strategist Dale Beaumont, who will outline strategies and tools to help Geelong business owners negotiate their way through the technological jungle.

The seminar will include live demonstrations of smart tools, software programs and websites that are producing exceptional results for Australia businesses.

“You’ll also see why video should be a key part of your future marketing plans and you will get tips on how you can dominate Google in your industry,” Mr McHenry said.

“Most business owners get trapped working in their business, but you also need to be working on your business. In the digital age you need to work smarter, not harder, and if you’re chronically busy producing mediocre results, then this seminar is for you.”

‘The Business Accelerator Seminar’ will be held on Wednesday, July 17, from 8am to noon, at the Mercure Hotel, corner of Gheringhap and Myers streets, Geelong.

Tickets are $595 but McHenry Partners are giving 30 Business News readers FREE access to this seminar. To claim a free ticket go to www.trybooking.com/DARB For more information about the seminar visit www.mchenry.com.au.

Crowe Horwath – Doing Business Internationally The amount of importing, exporting and foreign investment happening in our region may surprise you. In today’s business environment, technology, communication, trade and investment have brought the world to our doorstep.

Crowe Horwath is at the forefront of providing a national and international network of advisers to Geelong. On 1 August WHK (formerly Day Neilson) changes its name to Crowe Horwath. Yes, they’ve changed names a few times over the years, but who is Crowe Horwath and what can they provide?

Crowe Horwath International is ranked among the Top 10 global accounting networks, consisting of more than 150 independent accounting and advisory services firms in over 100 countries. Crowe Horwath member firms are known for their local knowledge, expertise and experience, balanced by an international reputation for highest quality service.

So, are they too big for Geelong? “Not at all,” says Managing Principal, Barry Kittelty. “Crowe Horwath, as we are soon to be known, specialises in the SME sector – that is our core focus. Most of Geelong and surrounding region are small and medium businesses. Our staff are locals, many of our clients are locals, we are heavily involved in and supportive of the local community and contribute to the local economy.”

Crowe Horwath specialises in meeting the needs of small and medium businesses and individuals. The majority of their clients are private and family businesses, professional service firms and high net worth individuals. However, they do provide services to large corporations, listed entities, government agencies and not-for-profit organisations.

WHK have been operating under two brands for some time, with capital city firms branded Crowe Horwath, whilst the regional firms continued to operate under WHK. WHK have now decided to operate one brand from 1 August 2013. The change is not about being bigger. It’s about connecting the firm and clients to the right resources when they need them.

WHK have a unique model, providing traditional accounting and business advisory services, with the addition of finance and lending, risk insurance, general insurance broking, agribusiness, estate planning and tax consulting. For instance, a family business may need to restructure due to intergenerational succession planning. Normally this would involve consulting many professionals to cover expert tax advice, accounting issues, refinancing and financial planning. The Crowe Horwath model allows all these services to be provided by one firm; saving the client both time and costs.

Being national, Crowe Horwath can also call on niche expertise from any of their offices around Australia, whether the advice needed requires mining expertise, corporate advisory, or merger and acquisition transactional work.

Dale Beaumont

As a publicly listed company, Crowe Horwath has strict internal control and compliance requirements – international best process methodology is utilised throughout the entire firm, including the most rural offices.

So, accounting and finance has moved to a whole new level.

46 | BUSINESS NEWS

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AFTER HOURS

End of Year Update Breakfast IT was a far cry from business as usual when guests from throughout regional Victoria, and from across a broad cross-section of business and industry, gathered at the Harwood Andrews End of Financial Year Business Update Breakfast last month.

Held at The Peninsula Room at Four Point By Sheraton Geelong, guests not only enjoyed a sumptuous start to the day, but were also provided with all the

news on the new Harwood Andrews Lawyers Melbourne premises, and the exciting future directions of the firm.

The annual Business Update Breakfast, held at the end of the financial year, was also an opportunity for guests to pick up valuable information from Harwood Andrews Principals on Workplace Relations, Taxation, Superannuation, Land Use Planning and the Personal Property Security Register.

Sonia McCabe (Harwood Andrews) and Kathy Taylor (M1 Solutions)

Jonathon Lumsden (Colliers) and Joanna Monahan (Harwood Andrews)

Meredith Crittenden and Joanne D’Andrea (Harwood Andrews)

Mark Osborne (FH Tucker & Sons)

Jason Corless and Dan Simmonds (Harwood Andrews)

“If You’re Serious About Growing Your Business You Simply Can’t Afford To Miss This Event On July 17!”

“Social Media has changed the marketing landscape forever, websites are the new ‘business card’ and history tells us, to be successful you need to accept and embrace change.”

The Business Accelerator Seminar is hosted by Geelong Accounting firm McHenry Partners and will be presented by Australia’s next generation business strategist Dale Beaumont. With more than 31,000 subscribers to Dale’s business improvement newsletter, this is a great opportunity to learn the marketing strategies of Australia’s fastest growing small businesses.

Wednesday, July 17, from 8am to noon, at the Mercure Hotel, cnr of Gheringhap and Myers st.

Visit www.mchenry.com.au for further information and booking details.

McHenry Partners are giving 30 Business News readers FREE access to this seminar. To claim a free ticket go to www.trybooking.com/DARB

48 | BUSINESS NEWS

AFTER HOURS

Photos by Elisha Lindsay - EL Photography

Complete Care for all ages and abilities Local aged care provider Multicultural Aged Care Services (MACS) has announced the launch of a new service, which provides in-home care to people of all ages and abilities.

Joy Leggo, CEO of MACS said “We are delighted to announce our new Complete Care division is now operating. This is an exciting development for MACS and the Geelong community. For almost 20 years we have been caring for Geelong’s older citizens. Now we can apply our expertise to helping all people in our community, regardless of their age.”

Commercial Photography Staff portraits Product shots Marketing shots Joy Leggo

Events & Functions Weddings & Portraits

The new service, born out of a need in the community and the introduction of the National Insurance Disability Scheme, will offer a complete range of in-home care services.

“We have care options to help our clients get out and about, so our staff will accompany clients to social lunch outings.

We help to lighten the load at home, by lending a hand with tasks like meal preparation and child minding. Naturally we also provide disability care, respite care, overnight care and Case Management and Coordination and much more.

“Many of our employees come from nonEnglish speaking backgrounds, so the care we provide is culturally responsive, sensitive and appropriate. We deliver smiles in all languages,” Mrs Leggo said.

To find out more call MACS Complete Care on 1300 622 778 or visit www.macs.org.au

Jordan Mavros

“In the air, on the ground, in the studio.”

Studio - 162 Bellerine St, Geelong elisha@elphotography.com.au 0439 353 958 Alyson Burchell, Michele van Liessum

Tara Iacovella and Karin

elphotography.com.au

BUSINESS NEWS | 49

WHAT’S ON

08 – 28 JULY Tastes of Central Geelong Enjoy a feast of food, flavour and fun in Central Geelong.

For three weeks every July, Tastes of Central Geelong showcases the huge range of restaurants, cafes and food experiences on offer in Central Geelong. Degustation dinners, cooking classes and demonstrations, afternoon teas, coffee crawls and children themed food activities will all be on offer.

Go dry in July for the Andrew Love Cancer Centre Take a month off alcohol and help raise funds for the Andrew Love Cancer Centre in Geelong.

If you are over 18 years of age, we encourage you to sign-up for Dry July and ask your work friends, mates, and family to sponsor you.

Dry July is a national fundraiser, with support from media personalities and celebrities.

It’s run online and you can sign up individually or as a team.

When joining, it’s important you select the Andrew Love Cancer Centre as the recipient of your fundraising efforts.

This is a perfect opportunity for companies to get involved, groups of friends or sporting clubs. There is even a headto-head option where you can challenge another individual or team to raise the most money.

Dry July participants raised an enormous amount of $84,000 for the Andrew Love Cancer Centre last year. www.dryjuly.com

July Scarf Festival 2013 Exhibition Now into its fifth year in Geelong, after a very successful run at its former home at Craft Victoria in Melbourne.

The key event for the festival is an exhibition of original handcrafted scarves, created to reflect the maker’s own unique experiences, and featuring a range of awards for the best scarves in each of the 50 | BUSINESS NEWS

11 categories.

The Festival will also incorporate a People’s Choice Award, allowing visitors to vote for their favourite entries.

More than 300 scarves will be on display submitted by individual craft-makers from around Australia and overseas.

Most of the scarves will be available for purchase, although all will remain on display until the end of the exhibition.

National Wool Museum, Geelong www.geelongaustralia.com.au/ nwm/

07 – 11 JULY Southern University Games Since its inception in 1991, the Southern University Games has been renowned for providing a friendly, but competitive, environment for student athletes from all over Victoria, South Australia, and Tasmania. Owned by Australian University Sport (AUS), the peak governing body of university sport in Australia, the Games are a key event on the Southern University sporting calendar.

Recognised as the perfect opportunity for student athletes to compete in a participation based event against like-minded students from across the south region, the Games has built up a reputation as an event not to be missed, attracting over 1500 competitors each year.

Ballarat www.ballarat.vic.gov.au

This year the event will be even bigger and better than the last two last years.

Central Geelong www.centralgeelong.com.au

11 – 27 JULY Coffee Crawl Are you a coffee connoisseur?

Discover a selection of Central Geelong coffee hot spots. On this coffee crawl, meet the baristas, watch a demonstration of coffee art, the cold-drip process and, best of all, sample a variety of blends, roasts and brews at some of Geelong’s best-loved cafes. Come away from the walking tour with a new appreciation for coffee and its many flavours and styles.

Coffee Crawl dates: 11, 13, 18, 20, 25, and 27 July.

Central Geelong www.gpac.org.au

13 – 14 JULY Extravaganza 2013 (Eat, Drink, Discover) An event to celebrate the best the Geelong region has to offer!

Foodies and wine enthusiasts will be delighted with the latest addition to the Geelong winter calendar. Extravaganza – Eat Drink Discover brings the regions winemakers, producers, brewers, and chefs together in one indoor venue.

Launching on Saturday, 13 July, with the Extravaganza Best of the Best Regional Highlights Dinner at Baveras, the intimate four-course dinner will feature the finest regional produce served by masterful local chefs and accompanied by the region’s cool climate

wines. Local chef inclusions at this early stage include house Head Chef, Darius Sarkis from Baveras, and Andy Pye of The Bellarine’s newcomer, Terindah Estate.

The main event on Sunday, 14 July, Extravaganza will take visitor tastebuds on a whirlwind journey through the countryside of the Bellarine, along the aweinspiring Great Ocean Road, through the rainforests of the Otway’s and majestic valleys of the Golden Plains resting back in the picturesque Corio Bay with producers from the Central Geelong district. Visitors will enjoy regionally produced beer, wine, cider, breads, fresh produce, cheese and more with the producer’s onsite to talk, sample and sell their wares.

The Extravaganza program also includes an open demonstration ‘Kitchen Corner’ hosted by Poh Ling Yeow, runner up of the first MasterChef series and current host of the hit ABC TV show, Poh’s Kitchen.

Cunningham Pier, Geelong Waterfront www.extravaganzageelong.com.au

19 JULY An Afternoon Tea with Julie Goodwin Enjoy an intimate afternoon tea with Australia’s original Masterchef winner, Julie Goodwin. Julie Goodwin is the epitome of the busy Australian mum. The nation’s favourite home-cook and best-selling author divides her time between appearances on TV and food events, writing books and recipe columns, and spending time with her family. Enjoy afternoon tea as Julie provides insights laced with her trademark honesty, sense of humour and humble cooking style. Grab your girlfriends and enjoy afternoon tea on the gorgeous Geelong Waterfront.

Cost: $40 per person includes a selection of savoury and sweet goods, glass of sparkling on arrival, candy buffet and ‘goodie’ bag.

The Pier, Geelong www.gpac.org.au

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WHAT’S ON

19 JULY G21 - Stakeholder Forum Join the second annual G21 annual Stakeholder Forum, where Regional Economics and Leadership will be on the agenda. This is a unique chance to hear exclusively from a small selection of leaders in their respective fields about issues and trends impacting on the G21 region.

Keynote speakers include: James Kirby - Managing Editor, Australia Independent Business Media; The Hon. Catherine King MP - Minister for Regional Communities and Territories; Andrew Tongue - Secretary of Department of Premier and Cabinet; and Cr Keith Fagg Mayor, City of Greater Geelong Four Points by Sheraton, Geelong www.g21.com.au

19 – 21 JULY Rotary Club of Hoppers Crossing Inc Antiques and Collectables Fair The 21st Annual Rotary Club of Hoppers Crossing Antiques and Collectables Fair is returning to the City of Wyndham. Come along and see the range of antiques and collectables provided by many of our most respected dealers. They are priced to sell so visit us and see what’s on offer.

The Wyndham Civic Centre, Werribee www.hopperscrossingrotary.org.au

and storyteller, Russell McGregor, and his 22 piece orchestra will lead children through fun facts about Johann Strauss, interactive participation, song and even a Blue Danube Waltz dance lesson!

outsourcing and working with agencies; short-list job applications; use strategic selection techniques; and realise the consequences of poor recruitment and selection.

Parents and children will be thoroughly delighted with this entertaining yet educational piece straight from Vienna, Austria. One show only!

Designed for HR professionals, small business owners wanting to gain important HR skills, managers and supervisors with recruitment and selection responsibilities, this interactive learning experience offers a participant training guide, recruitment and selection resources, and refreshments.

GPAC www.johannstraussensemble. com.au

21 JULY Werribee Park Heritage Orchard Grafting and tree sales day Werribee Park Heritage Orchard is a beautiful antique orchard dating from the 1870s. It was renowned for its peaches, grapes, apples, quinces, pears, a variety of plums and several other fruits, as well as walnuts and olives.

Over the past few decades the orchard was forgotten and through neglect - fell into ruin.

Recently this historic treasure was rediscovered. Some of the old heritage fruit varieties have survived; mainly quince, pear and apple.

At this free event where you can learn to graft fruit trees, select suitable rootstock, have new trees grafted or budded including apples, peaches, pears and others, buy heritage fruit tree scion wood for home grafting, or buy one-year-old grafted trees.

21 JULY

Werribee Park

Johann Strauss Ensemble: Little Johann Children will delight in the magic of the music of Johann Strauss with this delightful presentation by the internationally acclaimed, Johann Strauss Ensemble.

www. werribeeparkheritageorchard. org.au

What would it be like to be Johann Strauss - arguably the first ‘pop star’ in Europe? Strauss would command audiences of 80,000 people at his concerts, making him the undisputed, most popular classical performer; the “Waltz King” of his time.

Children will adore this comical and exciting recreation of those days. Charismatic conductor

23 JULY Successful Recruitment and Selection Techniques Develop skills to successfully manage your role in the recruitment and selection process; comply with legislation and business policy; design and manage an effective recruitment and selection process; calculate the real cost of replacing employees; source candidates; understand the link between a position description and key selection criteria; advertise jobs strategically; consider

Mercure Geelong www.trybooking.com/47381

27 JULY ART Friends - you love ‘em - but when they do something completely unexpected, you wonder how you ever became mates in the first place.

Serge has bought a modern painting for a huge sum of money. His best friend, Marc, hates it. Marc can’t believe that any friend of his could possibly want such a thing… Enter Yvan – the mutual friend, the go-between, the meat in the sandwich.

Brought to the Potato Shed

by Tasmania’s newest theatre company, Blue Cow, and starring some of Tasmania’s most gifted performers, ART is a classic combination of belly laughs and thought provoking ideas about relationships, all wrapped up in a fresh and exciting new script.

Potato Shed, Drysdale www.geelongaustralia.com.au/ potatoshed/

27 JULY Melbourne to Ballarat Cycle Classic The annual Melbourne to Ballarat Cycle Classic, now in its 103rd year, is Australia’s longest running handicap open road race.

This grand dame of cycling will test nearly 300 riders, who will brave one of the toughest courses in Australia, racing from Rockbank to the gates

of Kryal Castle, along the Western Freeway.

Riders will leave Rockbank on the western outskirts of Melbourne at 11am, making their way along the 98 kilometre route to the finish, near the Medieval Adventure Park, Kryal Castle, from around 2pm onwards.

Ballarat www.cyclingballarat.com.au

29 JULY Royal South Street Competitions As a well-established Australian cultural event, the Royal South Street Competitions run for 14 weeks annually, hosting 40,000 onstage appearances.

The competitors showcase fourteen theatrical disciplines, including voice, music, and movement. The Society utilises multiple venues throughout Ballarat, including the historic Her Majesty’s Theatre. Come along and be entertained.

Her Majesty’s Theatre, Ballarat www.royalsouthstreet.com.au

06 AUGUST Effective Interviewing Techniques Build skills to effectively manage the job interview process; comply with legislation and business policy; design and manage an effective interview process; work with an interview panel; create interview questions; use interviewing techniques, including behavioural questioning; evaluate interviews through STAR methodology; and overcome the challenges of difficult interview situations.

Designed for HR professionals, small business owners wanting to gain important HR skills, and managers and supervisors with recruitment and selection responsibilities.

Inclusions: interactive learning experience, participant training guide, interviewing resources, and refreshments.

Mercure Geelong www.trybooking.com/47382 BUSINESS NEWS | 51

Commercial and Corporate Asset Protection and Business Succession Tax, Superannuation and Trusts Estate and Succession Planning Intellectual Property and Franchising Workplace Relations and Employment Commercial Litigation and Dispute Resolution Local Government and Public Sector Building and Construction Property, Land Development and Leasing Planning and Environment Family Law Wills and Probate

Dedicated / Reliable / Talented / Community Connected (03) 5225 5225

70 Gheringhap Street, Geelong

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