Geelong Business News 202 by Adcell Group

ISSUE 202 NOVEMBER 2011 $4.50 (inc. GST)

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BELLARINE PENINSULA

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Why regional cities breed innovation

It’s Moustache Season

Geelong’s Mo’s At Work take on the Movember challenge

The Tax Man

Talking tax with WHK’s tax expert

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EDITOR

There is a time and a place There is a time and a place for everything – and while the time for a new Geelong Convention and Exhibition Centre was probably five years ago, with the need for such a space growing with each passing year – the place at least has been decided. Herne Parade (otherwise known as the drive around along the water in front of Eastern Park) is Council's preferred site for the proposed convention and exhibition centre; and as locations go, it’s a cracker. Nestled at the water’s edge, overlooking Corio Bay with a backdrop of Eastern Gardens, a grand convention centre built on the spot would be a marketer’s dream. Everyone knows that business events and conventions are a big economic driver, and, as Roger Grant at Geelong Otway Tourism has so eloquently and intelligently been arguing for years, Geelong is an enviable location for these events, if only we had a dedicated building to host them.

really get things done, the planning and economic development units of the City, G21, the Committee for Geelong, the Geelong Chamber of Commerce and VECCI – can get down the serious business of securing the funding. We’ve seen it happen with the Waterfront redevelopment, the Geelong Ring Road, with the continuing upgrades of Simonds Stadium, and it is happening now with the Arts Precinct. The fact is that there are some incredibly dedicated, well-connected and highly efficient people down here making these big projects come to fruition. It is always a collaborative effort and the results are there for everyone to see. And this time, the plan for a new convention and exhibition centre has the feeling of being a realistic plan, one that may take time, but one that will happen. Spring Street and Canberra could be taking some lessons from a formerly meek and mild city by the bay. Davina Montgomery

ISSUE 202 NOVEMBER 2011 Geelong Business News, an Adcell Print Group publication, is mailed to more than 5000 businesses in the G21 region. If you would like to receive Geelong Business News at your business please contact us. Publisher Maureen Tayler manager Caroline Tayler editor Davina Montgomery editor@geelongbusiness.com.au

As a young local journo, when the idea of a new waterfront convention centre began to be thrown around, it was a nice idea, but nothing anyone really expected to happen, that it would never get the funding.

FOR ADVERTISING, Vinnie Kerr M 0409 427 473

From a city that used to have things happen to it – manufacturing businesses going down like dominoes, the collapse of Pyramid Building Society and deep, deep recession - we have become a city that makes things happen. Written down, it’s a matter of slightly smarmy semantics, but in reality, for those of us that call Geelong home, it is a seismic shift.

trina@adcellgroup.com.au

The City Council having decided on a preferred site (albeit after many, many years), while being a small step in and of itself, now means that the people that

vinnie@adcellgroup.com.au

Trina Currie M 0402 268 624 T(03) 5221 4408 F(03) 5221 3322 203 Malop Street, PO Box 491, Geelong Vic 3220 www.geelongbusiness.com.au

Read online at: www.adcellgroup.com.au/readgbn

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BIZNEWS

Port of Geelong's weighty trade boost

Hollywood shines on CSIRO's Bat Pack A reference to research undertaken by CSIRO’s “Bat Pack” team highlights the role CSIRO’s Australian Animal Health Laboratory (AAHL) in Geelong, Victoria, would play in a real-world version of Hollywood’s latest disaster flick Contagion. Starring Matt Damon and currently showing in Australia, the movie paints a horrifying scenario of a deadly virus spreading around the globe in a matter of days. The fictitious virus is based on the very real Nipah virus, a relative of Hendra virus.

Although the movie is fictional, AAHL Director,

As the name suggests, the “bat pack” undertakes research to better understand bat immunology and how bats co-exist with the viruses they carry to identify strategies to control viruses, such as Hendra virus, from spreading to other animals and people.

In a real-life pandemic scenario AAHL would

According to CSIRO’s Gary Crameri one of the key areas the team is looking at is establishing and characterising bat cell lines to assist in developing faster, more sensitive surveillance tools to help identify new and emerging batborne viruses. “Although our research has the potential to radically change the risk management of emerging infectious diseases within Australia and worldwide, we never imagined it would appear in a Hollywood blockbuster,” Mr Crameri said.

Professor Martyn Jeggo, said Contagion is a frighteningly realistic depiction of just how fast an infectious disease can take root and spread. “The risk of an emerging disease pandemic is very real,” he said. “Scientists have identified 75 per cent of emerging infectious diseases in people are zoonotic – meaning they spread from animals to humans.”

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governments. “In recent years AAHL has been at the forefront of the discovery and control of such diseases, including SARS, bird flu and Hendra virus. These events have heightened public awareness of the multidimensional linkages between wild animals, livestock production, the environment and global public health,” Dr Jeggo said. “As a national facility our research is focused on preparing Australia to respond to an animal disease outbreak, helping ensure a scenario such as Contagion does not happen in real life.”

Spring Specials

The Victorian Regional Channels Authority has announced a massive 34 per cent increase in throughput at the Port of Geelong, increasing from 10.6 million tonnes in 2009/10 to 14.2 million tonnes in 2010/11. As Victoria’s second largest commercial port, the Port of Geelong creates more than 1,100 local jobs and adds about $310 million to the local economy every year. The VRCA’s annual report showed that the Port of Geelong also recorded 508 ship visits, 73 more than the previous year. The drought-breaking grain harvest saw grain exports increase by more than 400 per cent, while fertiliser throughput also rose by 75 per cent. Currently there is feasibility study exploring the option of relocating the roll-on roll-off car trade from Melbourne to the Port of Geelong. This is due for completion in early 2012.

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BIZNEWS

Blowing the whistle on NBN prices Many customers will pay less for plans on the National Broadband Network (NBN) than existing ADSL 2+ and line rental plans, according to an analysis by leading comparison site WhistleOut. Price analysis of the four internet service providers that have announced NBN consumer pricing iiNet, Internode, Exetel and iPrimus - shows the collective underlying prices for many NBN plans are cheaper, on a per gigabyte usage basis, than their existing monthly ADSL 2+ and phone line rental plans. WhistleOut Director Cameron Craig, says, “On the NBN's entry level speeds (12Mpbs and 25Mbps) we found consumers will actually be paying less than today's ADSL 2+ and line rental plans for the equivalent usage, with savings of 23% to 43% on the entry level speeds (12Mbps). Our analysis centres on what people already pay for copper phone line rental and ADSL usage from the four providers. “However, as the speed options get faster on the NBN, consumer plans get more expensive than today's ADSL2+ prices, with the highest increase being a combined hike of 66% across the four providers over today's prices when you look at top NBN speeds of 100Mbps and mid-tier data usage,” says Cameron. The high-speed network will make internet usage and interaction significantly faster for the majority of Australians. Currently, on the largest usage quota ADSL 2+ plan of 1000GB, it takes 9 days, 22 hours and 36min to download the 1000GB, compared

Get behind the NBN The City of Greater Geelong is calling on Geelong residents to get behind their campaign to make Geelong one of the first cities to be part of the National Broadband Network.

to 7 hours and 9 minutes on the NBN’s highest possible speed of 100Mbps. Movies will take just one to two minutes to download on the top speeds. “While 10 per cent of Australians already have access to high speeds via cable internet in metro cities, 90 per cent of Australians are on speeds from dial up to ADSL2+ with no guarantee of the actual speed they’ll get. Around 569,000 Australians are still on dial-up internet access. The NBN's biggest benefit will be the democratisation of high speed internet access, "says Cameron. Telstra and Optus are yet to announce their consumer pricing for the NBN, but have passed NBN Co’s certification process in readiness to test services and signed landmark agreements with NBN to share infrastructure. The network is forecast to be completed in 2020 and is currently being rolled out in states across Australia under the Regional Backbone Blackspots program and in Tasmania.

A survey question up on the City’s website, geelongaustralia.com.au, asks residents to vote on whether they would like high speed broadband to be available to the Geelong community. Economic Development portfolio holder, Cr Rod Macdonald, said the survey question was a simple way to gauge community support for the NBN. “High speed broadband is the new generation of broadband internet,” he said. “Traditional broadband is delivered via copper telephone lines, while high speed broadband commonly uses fibre optic cable. “It is much faster and more reliable, allowing you to upload and download files at lighting fast speed. High speed broadband will increase productivity in businesses with faster data transfer, better connectivity and more efficient remote access. “It will also make it easier at home with access to on demand TV and movies, better connection with long distance family and friends plus new ‘Telehealth’ capabilities that will provide faster and more efficient delivery of health services. “I encourage Geelong residents to visit our website and support our campaign to make Geelong one of the first Australian cities to get the national broadband network,” said Cr Macdonald

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BIZNEWS New Geelong Business Calendar The City of Greater Geelong has launched a new online calendar for local business events. Businesses are encouraged to check upcoming functions, seminars, guest presenters and networking events. Economic Development Portfolio Councillor Rod Macdonald said the Geelong Business Calendar has a huge amount of potential. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve developed the Geelong Business Calendar to be a free resource for the local business sector,â&#x20AC;? said Cr Macdonald. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Its success will depend on the input of local business. So I urge people to start using it, and submitting their own events and functions for consideration. â&#x20AC;&#x153;By being active and involved in the local business community you can grow your circle of contacts, build relationships and generate business opportunities. I encourage small and emerging businesses to keep an eye on the calendar. Our larger industry groups such as VECCI and the Geelong Chamber of Commerce will be regularly updating their listings and they often host free or low-cost professional development events. As the calendar evolves and becomes more widely used we are hoping it becomes a planning tool for event organisers.â&#x20AC;? The Geelong Chamber of Commerce supports the new online calendar. Executive Officer, Bernadette Uzelac said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;we are very excited that this tool will provide the Geelong business community with a centrally located source of event information.â&#x20AC;? Geelong Business Calendar: www.geelongaustralia.com.au/business Businesses are invited to list their own events. Email details to: cplumridge@geelongcity.vic.gov.au.

Whitelion seeks employers for local indigenous youth Not-for-profit community organisation Whitelion is calling for local employers to sign up for a new program to assist Indigenous young people in finding longterm employment. The Geelong-based Bundji Bundji Employment Program is funded by the Commonwealth Governmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Indigenous Employment Program and matches at-risk Indigenous young people with employers who support their personal situations. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We would like to encourage Geelong employers from all sectors to find out more about the program and how they can help change the lives of young Indigenous people,â&#x20AC;? says Whitelion CEO and co-founder Mark Watt. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Indigenous Employment Program, that has been rolled out in other parts of Victoria, has registered almost 60 young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people since last year, with 14 young people successfully placed in employment so far. â&#x20AC;&#x153;For example, the program recently supported Thomas, a young Indigenous man, in finding work as a forklift driver with the TOLL Group. Thomas had demonstrated an interest in obtaining a career in the distribution industry and with the help of his Employment Worker and TOLL, Thomas is now into his fourth month of full-time, stable employment.â&#x20AC;?

Indigenous youth eligible for the new Geelong program are guided through vocational assessment and a preemployment program by Whitelion, including training for any specific skills required for employment that they may lack. They are then matched with a new or existing employer through Whitelion, with both the young person and the employer supported on an ongoing basis. Whitelion hopes to have 30 Indigenous youth in Geelong assessed in the program and at least 12 young people placed with employers. The original Melbourne-based Bundji Bundji Program is a partnership between Whitelion and Murrenda Aboriginal Community Care Ltd, as is the Geelong program. According to Whitelion, the program provides culturally appropriate support to Indigenous young people who have been involved with, or who are at risk of being involved with the youth justice system by bringing them closer to their communities, culture and traditions. The Whitelion Employment Program has been working since 2000 to provide vulnerable, at risk young people with mentors, role models and long-term, sustainable employment such as direct employment, apprenticeships and traineeships. The Whitelion Indigenous Employment Program was established in 2010. For more information call (03) 9389 4243 or visit www.whitelion.asn.au

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COMMENT Occupy what?

The Occupy Wall Street movement has polarised public opinion: Either you regard the protestors as the new political avant-garde or as just plain silly. Either you believe they have a serious message or you think they are a bunch of nutters. But what if the truth is a bit more nuanced than that? Perhaps the nutters have a point? The silly stuff first: The protesters seem rather confused about what they are protesting against. They camp at Wall Street, which is fair enough if you want to object to financial capitalism. But they also protested in front of the Reserve Bank of Australia and the European Central Bank – not the usual suspects for financial excess. It is also difficult to overlook some nasty anti-Semitic undertones in the rallies. One placard in Martin Place read ‘Occupy Sydney, not Palestine.’ From there it’s just one small step to claim that the financial crisis is the result of a Jewish conspiracy. In any case, what’s the link between Israel, Greece and Lehman Brothers? Behind all this silliness, and frankly the utter nonsense, is a serious message: corporatist capitalism has become a threat to prosperity, democracy and the free market itself. The protesters no doubt exaggerate when they claim to represent 99% of the

people worldwide. However, there really is public unease about the way the financial system works. This week, I heard a representative of an anti-globalisation network complain that banks speculating in euro periphery debt should not be bailed out by the taxpayer when their investments go pear-shaped. It must have been the first time I was in complete agreement with the radical left. There is something very wrong in a world in which heavily indebted governments have to take on yet more debt to save banks from the fallout of other governments collapsing under their debt burdens. This is not a free market anymore. In a free market, banks have a right to speculate – and a right to go bankrupt. What we are seeing instead is casino capitalism with a taxpayer provided safety net. Acceptance of liberal economic policies suffers if good liberal principles can be suspended by powerful vested interests. The Occupy movement, silly as it looks, is a timely reminder of that. Dr Oliver Marc Hartwich is a Research Fellow at The Centre for Independent Studies.

Ring road or local road? According to the Victorian Planning Minister, Matthew Guy, the connection of the Geelong Ring Road to the Surfcoast Highway should proceed along the current proposed route, but should not be a freeway, it should be a local road. Of course, when Mr Guy made this announcement, it was addended with the inadequacies of the former Labor Government in planning this project. The inference is that by employing the wisdom of an Independent Advisory Committee to review the proposed alignment of Section 4C of the Geelong Ring Road, that this Government would get it right. In the eyes of the homeowners who built their hopes and dreams on residential plots in Waurn Ponds, only to hear that their hopes and dreams would in all likelihood be bulldozed to make way for the Ring Road extension, Mr Guy and the Baillieu Government probably have got it right. But independent review or not, do we really believe that a connection from Torquay Road doesn’t require a freeway? Isn’t there a super-suburb being constructed right now just off Torquay Road that will inevitably increase traffic on to a section of road already congested during peak commuting hours? Is the ‘local road’ solution to the contentious Freeway extension little more than a Band-Aid on a bullet wound? Clearly Mr Guy doesn’t believe so – and he may be right, maybe. On the surface of it, and working from the numbers provided on the same media release as Mr Guy’s statements, the traffic projections for Section 4C are of 15,000 vehicles per day in 2040, making it comparable to Barrabool Road (at 23,000 vehicles per day) and Pioneer Road (23,000 vehicles per day). The logical conclusion is that this new road would be like other urban roads in Geelong – not really a ring road at all. What this surface view of the statistics doesn’t show however is the peak nature of road use on significant arterial roads. These roads are very, very busy in the morning peak, and very, very busy in the afternoon peak – unlike other urban roads in Geelong. Even if projections of 15,000 vehicles per day by 2040 did prove correct – although I find it very hard to believe that they won’t prove grossly underestimated – a bottleneck of thousands of cars trying to make their way between home in Armstrong’s Creek and work in Melbourne at 7am and 6pm Monday to Friday is hardly appealing. That’s what people leave Melbourne to get away from. The fact is we build dual carriageways to relieve congestion through traffic peaks. If Mr Guy and the Independent Review Committee have genuinely received accurate data that there is no need for a dual carriageway and traffic movements develop as they foresee, then the shift to a single carriageway is a big win for many homeowners in Waurn Ponds and Grovedale, and a win for taxpayers. If not, those same homeowners may find their hopes and dreams once more faced with the bulldozers, and we will all wear the costs of an exponentially more expensive exercise of constructing a dual carriageway. Davina Montgomery

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APPOINTMENTS Community Services

Accounting

Glastonbury Community Services is delighted to announce the appointment of Dr Sarah Leach to its recently developed Service Development Manager role. The position will lead the growth and development of Geelong’s oldest community services organisation. Dr Leach has been an active participant in healthcare, community and welfare services either in a professional capacity or as a volunteer for over 25 years.

O’Shanassy Chartered Accountant welcomes Nicole Bottrell to the firm. Recently relocating from Melbourne, Nicole brings both industry and public practice experience, having worked for health insurer Australian Unity and midtier accounting firms. As a qualified Chartered Accountant, Nicole works as a Client Manager to ensure clients receive the very best service and advice for their accounting and taxation needs.

Banking & Finance

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APPOINTMENTS

Automotive

Banking

Geelong City Motors is pleased to announce the appointment of Geoff Marshall to the role of Corporate Sales Manager. A sales consultant at Geelong City Motors for the past nine years, Geoff has gained extensive knowledge of the Mercedes-Benz range of vehicles. He has a background working for a multinational, blue chip company with postings in London and Dubai.

Geelong Commercial Banking is pleased to announce the appointment of Adam Perus as the new Commercial Relationship Manager. Adam has over 10 years Banking experience, with the past 5 years being employed within Westpac Commercial Banking.â&#x20AC;¨Adam's primary objectives are to enhance existing client relationships as well as acquire new business for Westpac.

Finance

Financial Services

Tamara joined the WHK General Insurance Team and has over 6 years experience in the industry. As a broker, Tamara helps clients with Commercial, Personal and Farm Insurance and can tailor a package to meet their requirements at a competitive premium. She also reviews existing insurances to provide the best available protection.

Domenica Croce recently joined the financial planning team at Wellbeing Financial Solutions. With 15 years of superannuation and portfolio administration experience, Domenica has taken on the role of Client Services Adviser. As a qualified financial planner, Domenicaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s role is to co-ordinate investment portfolio reviews as well as liaising with clients and their other professionals.

Employment

Real Estate

Nic Jarvis has recently been appointed Divisional Director of Gforceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Staffing Solutions Division.Â Nic has been with Gforce since 2005, commencing as a Consultant before being promoted to Site CoordinatorÂ of the Corio office.Â Nicâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s role includes bringing his team together working towards the common goal of achieving positive outcomes for job seekers.

Matt joined the team at Buxton Real Estate Newtown office in March 2011. Living in Geelong all of his life Matt has been involved in Property Development and renovations for the past 10 years. Although he services all suburbs of Geelong he focuses heavily on Geelong West where he lives and Bell Post Hill where he grew up. Matt enjoys seeing his clients and buyers happy and appreciative of his hard work.

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FEATURE

Fostering innovation and entrepreneurship Jerry Engel is the founder of the Entrepreneurship Center at the University of California (Berkeley) and a Professor of business and entrepreneurship at the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business. Professor Engels was in Geelong last month to speak at the SEGRA (Sustainable Economic Growth for Regional Australia) Conference 2011. The Technology Entrepreneurship Forum, the keynote event of the conference, brought together Professor Engel, along with the founder of RedBalloon.com.au, Naomi Simson, the founder of the Melbourne Angels investor group, Jordan Green, Research Leader for the CSIRO-Australian Institute of Sport Partnership, Dr Ian Blachonette, and the Victorian Minister for Technology, Gordon Rich-Phillips. The day also brought together the finalists of The $50,000 IT Invention Test, who presented their IT pitches. The Invention Test is a competition aimed at helping innovators and entrepreneurs across Australia commercialise ideas, concepts or early stage projects that have a focus on IT. On his previous visit to Geelong last year, Professor Engels spoke of the potential for the city’s ICT cluster to become a leading Australian centre for innovation and entrepreneurship. A year later, he said that is becoming a reality. “Over the last couple of days I had a chance to talk with local representatives and government folks available in regional economic development from all around Australia, and I’ve heard a lot of admiration actually for what you’ve already accomplished here in Geelong with the activities with the ICT cluster and the innovation competition.

“The address at the conference was really about how to empower and encourage entrepreneurship in your region and how that can be a source of economic development. We’re really focussing on the role of the entrepreneur and new venture. We looked at the role of government as an enabler and a convenor; they’re not a solver of problems, and they’re not a source of innovation, but they’re a source of enabling and convening communities to collaborate and work together.” Professor Engels said that role for government is a straightforward one, although there are many different ways to approach the task. “There are a lot of ways of convening and enabling. Sometimes it’s about providing direct resources, like financial resources. But more importantly, we talked about who it’s very easy to stifle innovation, so you really first have to focus on not killing the baby, more than worrying about how to generate the innovation, it’s how not to kill it once it gets going. So, we talked a lot about innovation killers and innovation enablers, but we also talked a lot about clustering of innovation, which is looking at economic clusters going beyond the industry concentration. So the industry concentration is sort of a less fundamental definition, but then looking at getting some of those same efficiencies and some of those same capabilities going across industries – and really looking at the new venture creation process as an industry almost in and of itself. Then you start looking at having specialised resources dedicated to new venture creation. “History is full of great examples, and that is what a teacher does, is use history as a lesson

for the future. That we don’t really have to create a new process, all we have to do is look back at processes that have worked. We looked at examples from the 19th century and the 20th century and the 21st century. We looked at everything from Edison through to Google. We looked at everything from the radio and television to Facebook, and recognising that we’re in a new era right now. Just like television brought in a new era, just like the telegraph brought in a new era, just like the railroad brought in a new era, the internet brings in a new era. It enables not just the creation of new internet businesses, but all sorts of ancillary enterprises which point to new processes. And we looked at three or four areas specific to Australia. We looked at things as straight forward as the great mining boom we have and how we can exploit that; we looked at issues like your great universities and how to exploit them; and we looked at global collaboration and how to exploit that, and how it’s going beyond just the regional economic development, but linking regions within Australia, and linking Australia to global markets and global resources.” Professor Engels told one story of entrepreneurship that connected his work as a teacher at UC Berkeley and Australia. “A student of mine at Berkeley ended up being a great Australian entrepreneur. Matt Caspari founded Aurora Algae biofuels. The company was founded through utilising university-based technology to compete in a business competition. He entered the contest at that time, the business gained visibility through that competition – just like your IT Test here in Geelong – and attracted outside investors. "Those outside investors looked at this business, and they started to experiment with it, and what they discovered was the fact that it being a biofuels concern, using algae technology was not the best idea; but there were simpler, more direct business opportunities in chemicals, in the production of chemicals and chemical products, using this biological process. "Why did it become an Australian success story? Because it was the reverse of what usually happens. Often new Australian ventures going to the United States for capital and for expansion, but here, a US venture has come to Australia for expansion. Matt now lives north of Perth where he raises his family and is the Managing Director of Aurora Algae Australia, a major division of Aurora Algae, the multi-million dollar venture capital funded enterprise.” Aurora Algae is the leading the world in the development of high performance, sustainable algae-based alternatives to commonly used

FEATURE

farming chemicals. The business uses arid land, land that would otherwise be unusable as farming land, as the site of its algae ponds. The algae feed on carbon dioxide and produces oxygen, and when farmed, the algae are used to produce commercial quantities of Omega-3 fatty acids for use in pharmaceuticals and health supplements. The waste products of the algae farms are also used to produce fish feed for aquaculture and biodiesel. The scope of innovation and entrepreneurship is continually evolving, and today entrepreneurship is conducted in a global market – a global market in the grip of major uncertainties. I asked Jerry how the uncertainty in international markets creates opportunities for Australian entrepreneurship in what is a relatively buoyant domestic economy. “Well, you have a real advantage, right. Because a lot of entrepreneurial opportunities are how to exploit what we call adjacency; in other words, when you have a concentration like the mining sector that is booming, what are the businesses that may not be in mining exactly, but exploit that expertise, so like metal fabrication or welding. Very specific things related to the supply of the booming mining market, but that can be redeployed against other adjacent markets that have got nothing to do with mining. So, building off of what you have, those things that have a firm economic base at the moment, even though they’re cyclical and in the long-term may not always be there, but starting with what you have now and then leveraging off that is definitely a major opportunity that you have here in Australia and a major advantage.”

Of course, opportunities for entrepreneurship do not only exist around booming markets, times of economic adversity also bring opportunity.

commodities So markets in carbon through taxing are being created for example, and these are ripe new territories for entrepreneurs.”

“Disruption is the mother of opportunity. There will be these external shocks or these external forces that cause disruption, and you will see the entrepreneur he grabs them and takes advantage of them,” Jerry said. “The most obvious examples of that, and the most buoyant, are new business models on the internet. You know, doing old things, but utilising the internet. So, whether it has to do with the media, and the media business is being recreated, that’s pretty obvious. And many services, including financial services are also being recreated in new ways. That’s a major shift, it’s global, the markets are global and the opportunities are global.”

Professor Engels is an expert in business entrepreneurship, and he says that while the opportunities are there for everyone to see, the three tiers of government in Australia can help foster the innovative ideas of entrepreneurs identifying and removing obstacles to business development.

In the same way that the advent of Cloud services is changing the way businesses are operating around the globe, the imperative for sustainable practices and innovations is changing manufacturing and on the ground business operations on a global scale. “Sustainability is a value and an approach that is really essential in business today,” Professor Engels said. “It’s a broad term and it can mean many things to many people, but exploitive short-term strategies do not build sustainable value. By looking at things like the disposal of waste and carbon into the atmosphere – looking at these things and creating business opportunities out of what was previously the invisible cycle, because it was dumped out of sight, now we are making markets in those

“The biggest thing that every government can do is to look at what it already does, and look at what is in the way of innovation, and minimise those things as much as possible. The other thing that is important is for government to make sure that what they are doing to enable and support innovation doesn’t compress or get in the way of private investment. "For instance, supplying a grant to a start up may compress the opportunity for someone to invest in it, but providing leverage to an investment - matching every dollar of private investment with a dollar of public money, for example - helps support the start up while still encouraging that private investment. “The third thing government can do is to build a culture that celebrates entrepreneurship and celebrates value-creation, and having that celebration instituted in the institutions that embrace serious discipline and teaching – the education institutions.”

Davina Montgomery

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ADVERTORIAL

Local team gains global resources Ricoh Business Centre Geelong joins Ricoh Australia Group

receivables, or audit your printing to measure your costs and carbon emissions.

Ricoh Australia recently acquired Ricoh Business Centre Geelong, and this investment in the Geelong region means that new and existing customers can benefit from a combination of local knowledge and competitive pricing direct from the manufacturer. The business still has the same service and support staff based in Geelong, offering over 30 years experience dealing with Ricoh products.

With a range of software solutions available, Ricoh can help your organisation identify better ways to improve your business’ administration tasks. One example is ESA TransFormer, developed by Ricoh’s Sydney-based team of developers. ESA TransFormer can be embedded onto a Ricoh MFD where it can scan hard copy documents and convert them into a Word, Excel or PDF file, and sent to your email address. Because it’s converted at the MFD, there is no seat-based licensing required like other similar Optical Character Recognition (OCR) programs. Your staff can easily transform hard copies into usable, storable soft copies.

Who is Ricoh? With branches in all state capitals and a wide dealer network around the country, Ricoh Australia provides wide national coverage and service support, including a direct service team of over 200 staff. Globally, they are one of the largest providers of office equipment and employ over 100,000 people. What does this mean for the Geelong business community? Ricoh’s motto is ‘think global – act local’. Now you have access to a complete range of the best equipment, software solutions, services and innovation that can be found in Melbourne, Singapore or New York, but with a local focus and understanding. This global offering is tied to Ricoh Australia’s mission of helping customers print and manage documents for less – less cost, less complexity, less waste and less CO2. Managing the printing and handling of documents can be time consuming and expensive for any business, but it’s a cost centre that you can easily and affordably gain control, with our help. One great service that can greatly help businesses control their print environment is the Ricoh Print Management Plan (PMP). Instead of buying or even leasing office equipment, Ricoh provides the latest models of multifunction devices, tailored to the demands of your business, with no capital outlay. You are charged a “cents per copy” base, which includes everything from parts, toner and consumables, labour and service. What’s more, it’s fully tax deductable and offers a range of flexible payment options. PMP is cost effective. Even if you paid cash or financed your existing equipment, we can, in the majority of cases, finalise these agreements for you and supply you with a new multifunction device (MFD) for the same cost or less than your current printing and copying fleet. If your office still uses a separate fax, copier and printer, Ricoh can provide a device that consolidates all of these functions into one space-saving device, to keep your office real estate to a premium. This will also save money on reduced costs from energy consumption, consumables and service. Ricoh can also team up with your organisation to help you improve and add automation to your accounts

The more you improve how your business handles the information it receives, distributes and stores, the more you can save in costs, as well as lowering your organisation’s impact on the environment. And environmental sustainability is one of Ricoh’s strongest traits and where we are a consistent global leader, with a long list of awards to show for it. Our experience in this area can be to your benefit, as carbon footprint measuring becomes a business – as well as national – imperative. Ricoh’s Top Tips to Cut Costs and Carbon emissions: Rationalise your office automation: By consolidating your office equipment with an a multifunctional device you’ll reduce electricity, toner, and waste materials, which will ultimately reduce your bottom line costs. Reduce Paper Waste – Start printing on both sides of a sheet. It’s simple but effective: set ‘duplex’ as your default preference for all your office printers and copiers. Reduce Paper Waste – Prevent uncollected printouts. Everyone gets annoyed when they

see uncollected and forgotten printouts on the office printer and MFD. One way to prevent this is by using Ricoh’s Enhanced Locked Print (ELP) feature. ELP means that when a document is sent to print, it is stored on the printer and will not be printed until it is ‘unlocked’ by a user at the device. Reduce Paper Waste – Digitally archive documents. Invest in a digital archiving program to reduce the need of accessing hard copy documents. Not only will it be easier to find files, but you’ll free up office space used for storing hard copy documents. Reduce Paper Waste – Use recycled or sustainable paper and recycle paper. There are different certifications available, including the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI), Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Program for Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) and ISO 14001. Reduce Power Use – Power Save mode. Make it a policy in your office to have every office printer on power save mode when it sits idle for 20 minutes. Reduce Landfill – Toner consumable products recycling: Ricoh's Consumables Recycling Program ensures that 100% of toner cartridges, toner bottles, waste toner containers, photoconductor units, fuser units, maintenance kits and other consumable products used and returned will be recycled, achieving a recycling ratio of 98%. Reduce Landfill – Machine recycling: Make sure your office equipment has a recycling policy. Once a Ricoh machine has reached the end of its usable life we guarantee to recycle up to 98% of the component parts as part of our free Machine Recycling Program.

MEDICAL

Supporting men with cancer “Unfortunately your results show that you do have a positive reading for prostate cancer.”

Whilst it is unfortunate that the statistics on prostate cancer are increasing, this is in part due to the greater awareness in the community, thanks to promotions by organisations like the Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCFA) http://www. prostate.org.au (who the Geelong support groups are affiliated with) and Movember http:// au.movember.com, actively promoting the testing of men from the age of 40, because if discovered early, there are many effective treatments.

These are the chilling words many men hear each year. As most men do not have prior symptoms, the general reaction is “why me?” and you walk out of the surgery stunned, thinking what do I do now? The good news is there are many wonderful resources available to assist men in the next step on what to do, but probably the most underrated one is right on our doorstep - the Geelong Prostate Support Group (GPSG), a voluntary group of men and women who have met regularly for eight years to support men and their carers with non-medical advice on prostate cancer and friendship at virtually no cost ($10 a year to cover admin). Once diagnosed, you will be in the hands of some very dedicated medical people who all do an amazing job in handling a difficult subject, as any life-threatening disease can be. But if you can talk to another bloke on his experiences, it can be very reassuring and, in many cases, assist you on what is the next step and the best way to approach it – no two roads are generally the same, there are many variations to a common path. The reality is that you have to choose the next step, which can often mean being faced with many options that you know little about. Being exposed to using words you have never heard prior to now, and giving in to the

temptation to head straight to ‘Dr Google’ can mislead you and cause further angst. Combined with the advice from your professionals, nothing beats talking to another bloke who has been there, done that. It is a sad reality that a great majority of men believe they do not need a support group: “I can handle this”, “I don’t want to sit around with a bunch of people discussing cancer”, which is so far from the truth. By attending a support group, you have the terrific opportunity of creating contacts with other men who have actually experienced the road you are now on and can give you practical, non-medical advice, their experiences, contacts and at various stages, the bloke-type support talk you need – when YOU need it.

The Geelong group meets on the last Friday of each month in the Clancy Room at the rear of St John of God Hospital at 10am. The Bellarine group meets on the second Thursday of the month at the Ocean Grove Community Centre at 7.30pm. If you would like to know more about either of the Geelong-based groups, please contact Bruce Kinnersley 0417 551 255 or kinnersley@bigpond.com or Roger Northam 0419 254 525.

In these meetings, members privately share between them their experiences and updates, they also include interesting speakers on related subjects and - to the surprise of many lighter moments of blokes just enjoying each other’s company.

Roger Northam Member of the Geelong Prostate Support Group

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COVER STORY

It’s as Aussie as football, meat pies, kangaroos and Utes. There’s nothing else like it. It’s undeniably masculine. It’s a little bit cheeky, seriously smart and it’s changing the face of men’s health around the world. It’s Movember, and it’s happening at a workplace near you. All across Geelong, carefully cultivated designer stubble has been shaved down, burgeoning moustaches are emerging on upper lips, and every time we see one it makes us think about men’s health (and, potentially, shaving products). Mo’s around town are being compared, celebrated, or, in the case of the reluctant mo, lamented over in offices all over Geelong. Up until now, Movember fundraising in Geelong has happened in small groups, as a good laugh for a good cause amongst a few friends or colleagues. But if the double act team Mo Sister Christine Shaw and Mo Bro Karl Waddell from people@work have anything to say about it, Geelong will become an epicentre of mo-ness. Bendigo might become Bendimo for the month (and all credit to them – what a fantastic move), but Geelong will bring together a citywide network of Mo’s At Work. The aim is to bring together all the local companies supporting Movember, and to encourage those that aren’t involved to get involved, all in the name of raising money and awareness for men’s health. Chris and Karl are something of a double act. These two workmates are taking their love of a laugh to a whole new level in support of Movember by launching Mo's At Work. And while Chris and Karl are very serious about

making Mo's At Work a success, they are equally serious about making sure it’s a whole lot of fun for everyone involved, with a monthlong celebration of Geelong’s Mo Bros and Mo Sisters, and culminating in a big end of the month Movember party on Friday November 25 at the Wool Exchange with everybody who has taken part in the campaign invited. This will be no ordinary corporate event, and no ordinary party for that matter; this is The Moscars, complete with a red carpet parade of the best mos of the season… “We thought that rather than just our company getting involved in Movember, we would try to get companies all over Geelong to do it, and then come together to work out how much money we’ve raised together. And just have a great time doing the whole process, take some photos, support each other. When you see each other around town to have a bit of a talk about it, put photos up on the Mo’s At Work network for everyone to share,” Chris said. “It was really about finding a way to bring people together as a community. You only have to look at the football club and how much that brings everyone together as a community, so we thought that if we could make this a community thing in Geelong for Movember, and we would be there to head it up and be the leaders of it, and create a central point that everyone could feed in to and use as a resource, and they could come to us if they had any questions,” Karl said. “Chris’ brother actually works for Movember, and she came up with the idea that we could closely with the organisation on ways to build the campaign and the Mos At Work project in Geelong. We’re hoping to hold an event at the end of the month, and have a bit of a mo parade perhaps and just have some fun around the whole campaign. We’re looking at booking

a space to do that so people can get together and celebrate. “We all know that the bigger picture of Movember is all about promoting and raising money for men’s health.” “Karl and I are really into making the whole program something really quite fun. We’re both enthusiastic and love to have a laugh, so I think that’s why we wanted to do it. And you know, Bendigo is changing its name to Bendimo for the month and Geelong didn’t have anything like that. What Geelong has got is lots of fantastic companies and if everyone can come together for Movember it could be something really fantastic. So we thought we’d start it off and see what happens,” Chris said. Chris and Karl sent an email to the Geelong Chamber of Commerce about their idea and the Chamber has thrown its support behind the Mo’s At Work campaign, forwarding the invitation to join to the Chamber’s 600-odd members. The pair have also contacted as many Geelong businesses as they can to see if they can get them involved. “People@work is part of the Gforce Group of companies, and Gforce have always been participative in the Movember campaign,” Karl said. “We have a few people who have been affected by prostate cancer and depression, and it’s really personal for those people. We just want to encourage people to speak out about men’s health and raise awareness, and help everybody to understand that it’s okay to not be well, and to not feel isolated and alone when you’re not well. “Everyone you speak to knows someone who has suffered from depression or an anxietyrelated issues or who have been affected by cancer. Of course cancer in men is not only about prostate cancer, but prostate cancer is, I

suppose, the most male-specific cancer. So, everyone knows someone who has suffered,” he said. Karl and Chris are also tapping into the business and workplace connections that the Gforce Group have around Geelong to drum up support for and participation in the campaign, taking the message to the apprentices through the apprenticeship training centre as well as the many businesses who deal with Gforce. “It’s a matter of getting out and about and talking to people about what Movember is all about and why they should be involved,” Chris said. “And there’s a responsibility too,” added Karl. “We have a corporate responsibility to give something back to the community and promote wellbeing. We see it as a real way to represent the people who work at Gforce; that it’s not just all about making money, it’s about contributing to the local community.” “And having fun doing it,” said Chris. “Yeah, that’s the main thing,” Karl agreed. “You’ve got to have a laugh,” said Chris. “Having a party’s good too,” Karl pointed out. And the double act continued…

This is the genius of the Movember campaign – linking a very serious message with something fun, funny and intrinsically masculine like moustaches to raise money and get men talking about their health. More money means more support programs and more research towards developing treatments and potentially cures for prostate cancer and depression. “The way that Movember has done that is by making men enjoy the campaign, to have a bit of a laugh and communicate with each other by growing a moustache. The moustache becomes a way that men can start talking to each other, it becomes a focal point,” Chris said. “It’s not that much to ask, just sacrifice your looks for a month,” Karl added. “One of the guys at the Chamber, his wife has never seen him without a moustache and he’s actually going to shave it off for the Movember campaign, which is fantastic,” Chris said. “And that’s something people who know him are going to talk about, and that leads to talking about what the campaign is all about, and that’s why it works.” What Karl and Chris are trying to do with Mo’s At Work is not just about promoting Movember. Serious illnesses such as depression, anxiety-

related illnesses and cancer have serious impacts within workplaces. By encouraging people to get involved in the Movember campaign at work, it generates conversations about men’s health at work, and raising awareness of and discussion around these issues is how the process of seeking out advice and support, and putting in place programs to support male employees who become ill to get well and get back to work. “The Chamber of Commerce have been incredibly supportive of this program. Bernadette Uzelac, the Chamber’s CEO, has been rallying support for the program and it’s people like that who really help to build momentum around campaigns and programs like these,” Karl said. “What we want to happen is for lots and lots of companies to set up their own teams and have their own fun with the campaign within their own company, but have that linked up through Mo’s At Work to all of the other Geelong teams, so at the end we can collectively say how much money Geelong has raised. The bigger that end result is, the more resources Movember will put in down here for the next campaign and just grow it from there,” Chris said. “There are a

ltivated All across Geelong, carefully cu down, designer stubble has been shaved ging on burgeoning moustaches are emer e one it upper lips, and every time we se h... makes us think about men’s healt whole lot of companies across the city who only have four or five men working there, but by being part of a collective campaign, they can put their photos up on the website and really be a part of something big.” “And women getting involved is just as important – the Mo Sisters – because we all know that as a general rule us men are not very good at organising health checks and that sort of thing,” Karl said. “And we nag – we nag and nag and nag until you go,” Chris interjected. “That’s right, and the ladies are so good at coordinating and motivating and organising us…” “And saying, ‘God, you look gorgeous with that mo, I just love it’” “Maybe we should wear it all year!” Karl laughed. “Look, we’ve got to positive about it, even if we do get a bit of stubble rash, because we want the guys to be a part of it again next year,” Chris said. Mo Sisters play a big part in the Movember campaign. Not only, as Chris pointed out, to

support and encourage our fellas to get involved and grow a mo during Movember, but often it’s the women in the offices who are getting the team together, organising the fundraising, keeping the websites up to date, posting the photos and stories and keeping it all going. And while the health messages are centred absolutely on men, health issues like depression and cancer don’t simply affect the person who is has the illness, it affects everyone in that person’s family, in their relationship, amongst their friends and in the workplace. “That’s really what this is all about. We want the campaign to be more than just being about the individual, and we can’t wait. It’s going to be an awesome month,” Karl said. “And then at the end of the month we want to have that big party that gets everyone together to celebrate what we’ve all achieved. They don’t have to travel down to Melbourne to celebrate Movember; we will have a big party right here in Geelong. We’d love it to be really big!” added Chris. If you want your workplace to join the Mo’s At Work network or to offer your support, contact Chris or Karl at People@work ph: 5221 5599or

log on to the Movember website (www. movember.com) and search Geelong Mo’s At Work Network.

An original Mo Bro on Movember: Helping to launch the Geelong Mo’s At Work Network in Geelong was Movember Chief Operating Officer, Jason Hincks. One of the original 30 Mo Bros, Jason said the organisation has big plans for the 2011 campaign. “Movember’s really is starting to develop globally. While Australia has historically been the biggest campaign, last year we saw the Canadian campaign almost surpass it. We had about $25 million raised in Australia and about $24 million raised in Canada. So it was pretty close, it came right down to the wire. We expect that this year there is going to be some pretty tough competition. The Canadian campaign is really strong. The UK campaign is started off very strong out of the gates and the US is starting to come along as well. Last year we did $72 million globally, and we expect to somewhere close to $100 million globally this year,” Jason said. That sounds like a challenge – gloves thrown

down and moustache combs at dawn anyone? It may become the moustache equivalent of the ashes, or dare we say, The Moust-Ashes? “Absolutely! We did a good job of holding the Canadians off last year, but we need to do the same thing again this year.” It is nothing short of extraordinary what Movember has become – from a simple fundraising exercise amongst a group of mates to a global campaign, it has not only raised hundreds of millions of dollars for research and health support programs around prostate cancer and depression in men, it has raised the awareness of and conversation around these sensitive men’s health issues to a level unimaginable ten years ago. “I think that at it’s core it’s the fun and irreverence of the campaign that’s given people an excuse, in a fun way, to have a chat about their health. We find that there are two reasons for people to be engaged with the campaign. They are either into the fun of growing a mo and having a party and all that kind of stuff around it, or you have people who have a deeper connection with the cause. They’ve been touched by prostate cancer or depression issues themselves. “We’ve certainly seen a move to men being much more comfortable talking about their own health. Every year we get lots of people calling and sending us emails, talking about how for the first time they’ve been able to engage with their fathers or their grandfathers around health issues, and around those issues that people usually shy away from. The other thing that has been a nice movement for us in the campaign is identifying the month of Movember with the time that men go and get their health check. Previously – and I just have to look at myself and the other guys in the Movember organisation, and you know we’re highly engaged in our health and we’re talking about it every day of the year – but even with us we find ourselves slipping and that it’s been 18 months or two years between health checks. But now, when Movember hits it’s not only time to grow a mo and raise some funds and awareness, but it’s also time to go and get your health check.” The passion, enthusiasm and drive to continue growing Movember as an organisation and as a global awareness campaign is unmistakeable in the people who have dedicated their career to the cause, but just as unmistakeable is

how good a time they all seem to have doing their job. “Working with Movember has been a life changing experience for me. From a career perspective it’s very fulfilling. It’s a global organisation, it’s an organisation that has a very unique approach to fundraising, and it has a very strong brand. But at the same time, it’s easy to get out of bed in the morning when you know that essentially you’re trying to cure cancer and cure depression in men. It’s a nice combination of those two things, it’s great. “In 2010, the Movember campaign centred around ‘The Modern Gentleman’. We’ve really tried to maintain the fun of the campaign, but also include some lessons around how a man should behave. We want men to be gentlemen. We’re all for growing mos and having fun, but it’s also about understanding some of those lost aspects of being a gentleman – having good manners, having some respect and some grooming tips that are perhaps more sophisticated than the 1970’s mo,” Jason said. “This year the campaign focuses on the country gentleman. We’ve gone off the beaten track into what we like to call ‘Moustache Season’, which is a focus on the country. We found that last year that blokes in the country were saying that they liked the campaign, but that it was very metro-centric and they were asking ‘What about us country guys?’ So while the focus is again around etiquette and manners, we’ve also got some statements around the campaign around ‘the craft and the pride’. It’s about craftsmanship and those master craftsmen that were making things that will last a generation. There’s a campaign statement that I really like which is, ‘I’d rather have one masterpiece than a hundred massproduced pieces’. And our messages this year are around country etiquette – so, how you should leave a gate when you find it and some tips for surviving in the wilderness like how to tie a knot and how to find water. This is very much an evolution for us guys that perhaps grew up in the city to understand a bit about what country life is like. “There are two things we really want to move the dial on there. We want to be able to make guys in the country feel more comfortable about saying, ‘Hey, I’ve got a bit of a problem here, I need to talk to someone’ and also

access to services as well. That’s really one of the big issues in the country, because not only do you have blokes that are often a bit tougher nuts to crack in terms of having that initial conversation, but when they do take that step and say that they’d like to have some help and some more information, it’s about having access to those services. Through the beyondblue helpline and also through men’s shed online, we’re trying to provide access to services in the country that will allow those country blokes to be able to have the same benefits that men do in the city. “In terms of our goals in spreading health messages, there are some consistent ones around raising funds and awareness for prostate cancer and depression. We have also had an evolution in outcomes, which is about survivorship, and we have two exciting things that we have happening this year. One is a bigger focus on survivorship – so, this year will see the first year of the Prostate Cancer Specialist Nurses, where nurses are going to be installed throughout the country and their job will be to help men navigate through the prostate cancer experience – right from diagnosis, through to treatment and beyond, because that’s certainly an area where men quite often find themselves lost in the process. The other exciting area that we started last year, but will actually see some to fruition this year, is a global action plan or GAP. It’s a collaborative research project, where we are bringing together the best of the prostate cancer researchers to work together to look at public domain findings. “What we’ve found previously is that Movember has become the number one funder of prostate cancer globally, outside of government, and we’re doing prostate cancer research in the UK, in Canada, in the US and in Australia. But the fear is that you’re doing the same piece of research four times. So that idea of GAP is to really make sure that there is a collaborative and a sharing focus for research. And also, historically, research has been a very competitive and secretive environment, because publishing papers and new findings mean more funding. We’re trying to turn that model around by saying that we’ll fund the research, but you have to commit to collaboration.”

- Davina Montgomery

BUSINESS OF THE MONTH

Barwon Computer Solutions is pleased to announce its recent appointment as a Gold Channel Partner with Acer Computer Australia. This is the highest level of accreditation from Acer with Barwon Computer Solutions becoming the first Acer Gold Partner dedicated to the people of Geelong. Adam Tattersall, General Manager, Barwon Computer Solutions says “The new relationship between Barwon Computer Solutions and Acer is significant when you consider Acer’s market leadership in Education, as well as their growing market share in Government and Corporate environments.” What is also relevant for Government departments and local councils is that many of Acer’s computer range are manufactured locally in Sydney. Acer strives to manage its products through each stage of their lifestyle including the assembly of its PC and server range, use and end-of-life treatment and design. Tim Clifton, Technical Services Manager, Barwon Computer Solutions points out that with over 200 client servers and thousands of user PC’s and notebooks under management, Barwon Computer Solutions’ IT environment makes it one of the largest virtual IT Departments in Geelong. One of the more popular IT support arrangements is its proactive Managed Services Agreement which covers specific areas of a client’s IT environment that they wish to

selectively outsource. This is often more cost-effective than adding another IT support person, and also helps existing support staff with access to a pool of specialised skills for project work, ancillary support or backfill and holiday cover. Acer has a wide range of quality and cost-effective equipment from tablets to notebooks and projectors to servers. Markus Schwaiger, Sales Manager, Barwon Computer Solutions says: “Our ability to supply Acer equipment is a very relevant offering for our clients, and with our Gold Status, we can provide the most competitive volume pricing nationally, backed by our support and services.” Barwon Computer Solutions will also be holding an official launch event on Wednesday 30th November at the Four Points Sheraton, Geelong Waterfront to celebrate the new partnership. Since 1984, the company has been providing Geelong regional businesses IT equipment, software and local support services. As one of Geelong’s oldest and most stable IT organisations, the company has prided itself on providing high-quality hardware for its small, medium and large business clients, which read like a Who’s Who of Geelong and Australian businesses.

Call Markus Schwaiger, Barwon Computer Solutions, on 5221 8400 for more information.

BUSINESS OF THE MONTH

Call Markus Schwaiger, Barwon Computer Solutions, on 5221 8400 for more information.

ADVERTORIAL

Executive living on the Links at Geelong The Geelong Golf Club Residential Estate is proving popular with business executives who want to live in this prestigious estate located in the heart of Geelong. The draw card for many business executives is the opportunity to play golf before or after work on the soon-to-becreated, Graham Papworth-designed, nine-hole golf course that is expected to be operational in 2013.

“The other main attraction for business executives is that the Geelong Golf Club Residential Estate will be governed by an Owners Corporation, aimed at ensuring all individual housing designs are generally compatible and of an acceptable quality, and the golf course and other community owned facilities remain well maintained in perpetuity,” Ms Ritchie said.

Ruth Ritchie, Sales Manager at the Geelong Golf Club Residential Estate explained, “We’ve been overwhelmed by the level of interest from Geelong business owners and executives looking to buy into the estate. Geelong business owners and executives are placing a high value on the amount of green open space the estate offers, as well as the provision for a high speed fibre optic network.”

The established green environment surrounding much of the golf course and the residential house lots provides land buyers with instant mature landscaping, with many established trees to be supplemented with further plantings to enhance the existing environment.

Ms Ritchie also went on to say that, “The estate was proving popular with Geelong residents who commute to Melbourne for work, with the North Geelong train station located 1km from the estate.

“We are now conducting personal tours of the site for prospective buyers to appreciate the views from individual home sites,” Ms Ritchie said. The Geelong Golf Course Residential Estate is located on the corner of Ballarat Road and Thompson Road in North Geelong and

comprises 320 residential lots, a nine-hole golf course, a golf academy and driving range, and a proposed indoor/outdoor lawn bowls facility, providing residents with a range of activities and is set to become one of the most prestigious executive residential addresses in Geelong. Land prices $475,000.

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ADVERTORIAL

A new destination for CBD The iconic Bank of New South Wales building on the corner of Moorabool and Ryrie Streets, more recently trading as KFC, is set to become one of the largest Telstra Stores in the nation. Telstra Store Geelong CBD is scheduled to open on Thursday December 1st.

National Award Winners for â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Best Customer Service 2010â&#x20AC;&#x2122; and â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Best Customer Service 2009â&#x20AC;&#x2122; and also awarded overall â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Best Shop in Australiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; in 2009 by Telstra.

The new store will be locally owned and operated by the same award-winning team at Stratel who run Telstra Store Waurn Ponds and Telstra Business Centre Geelong. The addition of the new store will create approximately 15 new jobs and hopefully be one of the catalysts which will help bring life back to this part of the city.

It is a very exciting time in the Australian telecommunications industry. Telstraâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Next G Mobile Network is a world leader and we are well placed with the evolution of Smartphones, including the new Apple iPhone 4s and tablet computers. LTE (4G) has now launched and is available in the Geelong CBD.

Why Expand

Homes are becoming more connected, with devices like T-Hub, T-Box, multimedia and bundle offers. And the NBN is coming soon, with some new estates in and around Geelong already planning for high-speed fibre optic services.

About Stratel We are a locally owned company that first commenced trading as Telstra Store Waurn Ponds on the 3rd July 2000. Our Telstra Business Centre at 17 Fenwick Street opened in late 2002.

As a local company we have always seen Geelong as a city full of opportunities. The rapid population growth across the region is creating an expanding need for market-leading telecommunications which is why at Stratel we are expanding into Telstra Store Geelong CBD. As well as providing a one-stop shop for Telstra customers, the store will also provide opportunities to progress the careers of our experienced and highly motivated staff, and to continue employing more local people.

By the time the new store opens the Company will employ over 60 local staff and is headed by Directors Ross Marking and Matthew Bousejean.

Customer Service Since the day we opened our doors customer service has been our number one priority. It is our key focus; we believe that the level of customer service we provide is the fundamental reason behind our success and continued growth. How do we know itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s working? We have received thousands of customer compliments and customer referrals; we were Telstra

Why the CBD? As with the majority of locals, we have been saddened by the decline in the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;old heart of Geelongâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. We feel someone needs to take that

first step in making the top end of town a destination again. For most customers, Telstra is a destination store, and we intend to build an iconic store on one of the most prominent street corners in the city. We will be making a significant financial investment in order to make this happen.

The Store Telstra Store Geelong CBD will be one of the largest Telstra Stores in Australia. The Store will be open 7 days a week and will trade late on Fridays until 9.00pm. Monique Riches will manage the new store, transferring from our Waurn Ponds store along with several other staff. Conscious that parking is perceived to be an issue in the area, the members of our team have walked the block each day of the week over the last two months and found there are always carparks available along Moorabool Street, in the Little Ryrie Street carpark, and at the Haymarket carparks.

Contact Us When the new store opens we will also be launching a new phone number for our 3 locations: 1300 GEELONG (1300 433 566). Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ telstrageelongcbd. For the remainder of the year we will be drawing random weekly prizes for people who like us (excludes staff). Prizes include Tablet Computers, Mobile Phones, XBOX, gift vouchers and much more.

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LEGAL

Easements and covenants made easy The meaning and interpretation of easements and restrictive covenants registered on title have often been a source of discussion for practitioners and their clients. Fortunately, land owners may soon find it easier to understand their rights and obligations under recommendations from the Victoria Law Reform Commission. The Commission tabled a report recommending a 'rethink' of the relationship between easements and restrictive covenants created by private agreement and rights and restrictions created by planning law. Easements are property rights permitting the use of someone else's land without occupying it. Easements can be characterized into two different groups; private easements, such as a right of way over or under a neighbouring property to access a public road; and regulatory easements, granted to providers of essential services over land in order to install and monitor cables, pipes and other assets.

The creation of easements can be categorized into three groups: easements that are expressly created, such as a transfer on sale (express easements); easements that arise by implication (implied easements); and easements that arise from 20 years use under the rule of prescription (prescriptive easements). Under that Transfer of Land Act, all easements, 'howsoever acquired', exist over land even if they do not appear on the register. If land is sold, the purchaser acquires the land subject to these rights, whether they are recorded on title or not. A restrictive covenant limits the way a land owner can use the land. Land developers commonly use restrictive covenants to restrict the use of a lot in a plan of subdivision for the benefit of all other lots. The laws governing easements and restrictive covenants were created before the growth and

development of planning controls. Consequently, they must now work alongside a variety of powers and restrictions governed by the 'planning umbrella', but being enforced by a variety of public entities. The Victoria Law Reform Commission Report recommends a number of changes to reform this area of the law. The recommendations aim at distinguishing property law from planning law. Private easements and restrictive covenants would be regulated by property law, with easements and/or restrictions required for public planning purposes regulated by planning law. Recommendations also include limiting the number of easements that may exist without being recorded on title and simplifying the wording of easements and restrictions. If accepted, the recommendations will aid in clarifying the law, reducing costs and making it easier for land owners to know their rights and obligations.

Joanne Dorn Lawyer

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SMALL BIZ

Dominate or perish in an e-commerce world At this time of year it is important to look at what next year may bring. Over the last few years it has been almost impossible to extrapolate what the New Year will bring from the events of previous years by extending trend lines and forming a reasonable predictions. There has been far too much turmoil and uncertainty as exemplified by the fluctuations in the Aussie dollar – with its record highs and tumultuous lows. Many of the events of this year have pushed us in to uncharted territories. We are waiting for the Greek default that we all know is coming and uneasily watching the cyclical nature of the monetary easing of the US government (wouldn’t you like to be able to print more money when things are a little tight?). Closer to home, our government is lurching from one weak policy to another and perhaps the only steady aspect is in Australian politics is the consistent and useless negativity coming from the leaders of the Opposition. Will they ever get the message that it is time for them all to lift their games? Finally, in the later part of the year, we have a Clean Energy Bill passed through the Lower House, and for better or for worse, at least there the cloud of uncertainty has been cleared. I personally think a carbon tax is a good thing for two reasons; across our nation it will sponsor a raft of creative solutions that may launch our flagging drive for innovation, and personally I want my grandchildren to have a ready supply of oxygen and a liveable climate. But, sadly, I don’t think they passing of this Bill will bring an end to the schoolyard tactics of the naysayers.

My prediction is that small business will be swept along on the tide of internet-mediated sales. I am not sure what the current figures for E-commerce are, but in 2010 it was estimated that they were somewhere between $19 billion and $24 billion - of which half was sent to international retailers. (IBIS world and AC Nielsen). The figures around online retailing have been growing. Some of the major retailers have been complaining about the leakage in local sales, and we certainly see that some are closing stores. For local businesses the effects are similar. Before we pass this off as an incidental and insignificant effect to Geelong businesses, or think that it is only books, music and t-shirts that people are shopping for online, if you dig deeper the trend to purchase on line is far broader than fashion items. A recent friendly neighbourhood chat exposed that the people in my street were buying car parts, lawn mower components, electrical appliances, printing, cameras and many other things. As consumers, the process excited them, and - other than the occasion hiccough - they planned to extend the range of their purchases. While online purchasing may have started with younger people, it is well entrenched in all ages. As small business operators, we know that the game is always changing; but the rate and extent of this change is unprecedented. We also know that a change of this magnitude just does not disappear. Welcome to the newest new world. Okay, we accept that the world is on our doorstep. If you can’t beat them, then you have to join them. So, we go and buy a few

guidebooks on setting up an online store. Now the enormity of the task becomes apparent. There is so much crap written about online marketing. “How to build a viral marketing campaign in three easy steps” - Step One: pay the consultant heaps of money. Even the seminars and online training programs are filled with truthiness (love that word!), rainbows and unicorn poo. The trouble is, if we wait for more reputable training organisations to get their heads around e-commerce it will take 35 years at least. Most higher education is still teaching marketing models that were revolutionary in the 1960’s – if you don’t believe me take a look at the national curriculum business training package! However, there is some science creeping in to e-commerce. Please sit down if you aren’t already, because the real secret is that online is just the next step along the evolution of good marketing. So, if you are up to date with the most recent Philip Kotler study, then you will be well positioned. As an example of a reasonable study of e-commerce, try Zarrella’s Hierarchy of Contagiousness: the science, design and engineering of contagious ideas – Dan Zarrella. (PS: I am aware that the last third of the book is weak – but it is a start). This new e-commerce stuff requires that we change. Most local businesses rely on the advantage of arbitrage, but in this new world that doesn’t work any longer. The marketing maven, Seth Godin, points to the value of the book market. It has remained stable for the past 20 years, yet with online sales and now Kindle books, there are more than 100 times the number of books published per year than 10 years ago. Mix this with the fact that the average price for a book has increased. The only logical conclusion is that most authors sell very few books and a small fraction of the authors sell truckloads. This is the most important aspect to this e-commerce thing; it is to know what will sell truckloads of your product. Once it was okay to have a small business that achieved small sales, and if you were content then things worked fine. Now, you may have a small business, but if you aren’t willing to dominate your market then you are nowhere. Success in e-commerce is a bit like a light switch; it is either on or off. You either do it well or you are wasting your money. The e-commerce horse has not bolted, we are in the early days, but this New Year will show us that more and more businesses will be getting on the track. Clint Jennings Australian Business Development Centre www.abdc.com.au

VECCI

Time for tax action The Federal Government’s recent tax summit in Canberra produced a mixed bag of results, with the same old anti-business rhetoric from unions spoiling some potentially pleasing initiatives on payroll tax.

first, which the Commonwealth is currently resisting. We hope that common ground between the states and the Commonwealth is reached soon, and this development represents a first step on the path to successful reform.

Most state and territory treasurers, including Victoria’s Kim Wells, have given in principle support to the idea of harmonising state taxes, including payroll taxes and land taxes. As Queensland’s Treasurer Andrew Fraser suggested, the taxes would ideally have uniform legislation in each state, with each state setting their own tax rate and threshold. The concept was also supported by Federal Treasurer, Wayne Swan. Having identical state tax regimes would make running a business across state boundaries far easier, and encourage competition between the states to attract industries and trade.

The summit looked at all aspects of Australia’s tax system, with many suggestions for reform being offered. Company tax was a major focus, with many participants, including former Treasury department secretary Ken Henry, urging deeper cuts to the rate than those promised so far by the Federal Government. Dr Henry said a deeper company tax cut would benefit workers more than businesses, and that view was the consensus of public finance theorists.

“Competition between states has been a significant driver of previous tax cuts, including payroll tax,” Mr Wells said. Payroll tax has been, as prominent financial expert David Koch says, “a crazy disincentive to hiring staff” and any move to simplify it – hopefully with a view to eliminating it in the future – is a good thing for employers and employees, who may receive more in their pay packet as a result. Ai Group boss, Heather Ridout, said it had become clear to her that the burden of payroll tax was falling on consumers and workers, rather than her members. Much will need to happen before harmonising state taxes can occur, as some state treasurers say their economies need a larger share of Commonwealth income taxes and GST revenue

Sadly, and predictably, such a move was immediately opposed by union representatives at the summit, with ACTU President Jeff Lawrence declaring “self-serving business interests” were behind the push. “Whether the union movement wants to accept it or not, business tax charges are a constraint on investment and that’s an investment in both capital…and labour,” ACCI CEO, Peter Anderson, said in response. The independent committee chaired by Ken Henry also showed the benefits of a larger company tax cut would also include increased foreign investment and entrepreneurial activity – both sure to generate job growth. It’s a shame the ACTU and other unions aren’t willing to recognise these broader economic benefits. The Victorian Treasury department advised the incoming Baillieu Government immediately

after the election that tax cuts were needed in a range of areas; otherwise Victoria would become the highest taxing state in Australia by the middle of the decade. Treasury advised the Government that it should pursue a strategy where the overall tax take was no higher than the national average. Victorians are expected to pay $15.4 billion in taxes this financial year, which equals 4.6 per cent of the state’s economy – higher than the national average of 4.07 per cent. The Baillieu Government faced a fiscal squeeze early in its term, with Commonwealth Grants Commission payments cut, Commonwealth infrastructure payments deferred, expenditure black holes and infrastructure costs associated with summer floods. Our strong view is that payroll taxes deserve attention, as they are a tax on jobs. Another area identified for improvement was the high rate of stamp duty, including business stamp duties, and cutting business red tape, which Treasury has calculated as costing the state economy $4 to $5 billion each year. We’ve previously proposed many options for cutting red tape, including a single payment form for state taxes, a priority list of SME red tape reduction targets, and a reduction in the number of state regulators. Planning and environmental laws also come under the Treasury microscope as areas for greater efficiency. To its credit, the Baillieu Government has already begun work cutting red tape, but as the Treasury advice reveals, there is more to be done.

James Gulli VECCI Regional Manager South West region

TAX

Transfer pricing There is a revolution occurring in relation to international transfer pricing rules. It is almost 30 years since the transfer pricing provisions were inserted into domestic tax law, which require firms engaging in international dealings to do so at ‘arm’s length’ to prevent profits shifting from Australia. Since its introduction, the Australian Tax Office has generally interpreted these provisions using hypothetical profit-based modeling to arrive at an appropriate arm’s length price. However, recent decisions by the full Federal Court and the Administrative Appeals Tribunal have thrown into question traditional transfer pricing methodology. WHK has surveyed recent case law and argues that it may now be time to revisit pricing based on outmoded methodologies.

The revolution in transfer pricing The starting point is Division 13 of the Income Tax Act 1936, which sets out the legislation enabling the ATO to reduce any inflated price that Australian taxpayers pay for goods and services purchased from overseas related parties. It also enables the ATO to increase the undervalued price that Australian taxpayers may receive from overseas related parties when selling Australian goods or services. To create clarity for pricing methodologies, the ATO have enabled taxpayers to enter into Advance Pricing Agreements (APAs), which are agreements made between a taxpayer and the ATO on an appropriate transfer pricing methodology prior to the occurrence of a related party transaction. It enables risk averse

taxpayers to obtain ATO approval on a particular methodology for similar transactions over a 3 to 5 year period. The majority of APA’s calculated the transfer price using the transactional net margin method (TNMM). However, recent court decisions indicate that this may not be the most appropriate method in cases where a robust ‘comparable’ is obtainable.

The SNF decision The SNF case (FCT v SNF (Australia) Pty Ltd [2011]), the first case before the Federal Court in relation to a transfer pricing matter, involved a wholly-owned subsidiary of a French company that declared substantial losses in relation to the purchasing of chemical products from its parent company and distributing them locally to customers in Australia. The ATO determined, in applying the TNMM methodology, that SNF Australia’s net profit margins were not high enough in comparison to similar Australian businesses involved in similar arm’s length transactions. The ATO concluded that the losses were the result of the parent company overcharging for some of the chemicals distributed in Australia and subsequently raised substantial transfer pricing amended assessments. In essence, the ATO argued that when a business is faced with persistent losses, it would not have continued to purchase products from an arm’s length supplier at a price that led to the perpetuation of these losses. However, the court held that the most direct way to determine whether an arm’s length price had been exceeded was to examine comparable transactions. In doing so, the court put forward the primacy of comparable transactions and an

examination of the transaction itself, rather than consideration of the overall profitability of the Australian entity. It also accepted that the losses were the result of other commercial factors, rather than just the prices paid to the head company for the chemicals. Ultimately, the court accepted the taxpayer’s argument that there was no need for identical comparables and that “differences which were material should be taken into account through a process of adjustment”.

The Roche case In the case of Roche Products Pty Ltd v Commissioner of Taxation [2008], the ATO also claimed that the taxpayer was paying more than an arm’s length price for pharmaceutical products purchased by the Australian company from overseas associated entities, relying upon the TNMM methodology and applying this method across all business divisions. Whilst not adopting a direct comparable price in relation to the arm’s length amount, Downes, J applied a 40% gross margin on all acquisitions. In deciding this was appropriate, he relied on an expert adjusted Comparable Uncontrolled Price (CUP) and evidence from third parties.

What can we learn from these cases? There are several key points from these cases: • The primacy of the ‘comparable’, in demonstrating compliance with the arm’s length requirement, as opposed to any net margin method. • Potential revision of some of the main transfer pricing guidelines that have existed since 1991. • It is possible for Australian subsidiaries to have sustained losses while paying arm’s length prices to their overseas associates. • Businesses need robust data to support readily understandable transfer pricing reports.

For more information, contact the WHK Tax Consulting team.

EDUCATION SKILLS & TRAINING FEATURE

Interesting times in the skills debate The term ‘national skills shortage’ gets thrown around quite a lot in this country in a way that suggests that businesses will be surprised by the news that there is a shortage of qualified job seekers in their industry. When a local accountancy firm is looking for a wealth planner, you can be sure that they are less concerned about a ‘national skills shortage’ of wealth planners, than they are about finding a suitably qualified and experienced job candidate within their employment catchment that will allow the firm to grow their business. Andrew Rimington, Senior Manager of Employment, Education & Training at VECCI, says business conditions vary significantly not only between states, as we are seeing across the resource and non-resource states, but also across regions within the states. The variability is easily missed if we focus too much on national data. “The experience of a significant provincial region like Geelong and surrounds is a bit unique too. You have great chunks of large industry and automotive – Alcoa and other major manufacturers there – and there has been structural adjustment or restructuring happening in those sectors and they’ve also been impacted on adversely because of the

parity of the Australian dollar and the fluctuations therein, which obviously makes exports more expensive,” Andrew said. “But we’ve been in a globally competitive market for quite some time. Part of the major difficulties that Australia and the Government are trying to grapple with is that there has been no significant improvement in workplace productivity and there have been a whole lot of constraints around that. The advent of the Rudd Labor Government and the abolition of WorkChoices, and then the introduction of Fair Work Australia and modern new awards, have imposed some strictures and lack of flexibility in the industrial relations system. There are anomalies that need to be addressed, and it’s been only recently that the Commonwealth Government has recognised that these need to be taken seriously. “The Skills and Industrial Relations Minister, Senator Evans, has flagged that the proposed review of legislation by Fair Work Australia will be conducted next year, but not necessarily by Fair Work Australia, so we’re still waiting on further announcements on that part of the reform process.” The many variables that come into play when we talk about skills shortages and

unemployment figures mean that even the experts have about as much chance of predicting what is to come as there is of saying with any certainty what will win the Melbourne Cup in 2012. We just don’t know what we will be facing in the coming months. All we know is what has happened in recent months, and what the employment conditions are like now. We know that there is, definitely, a two-speed economy in place in Australia, and there is a lot of concern about those non-mining sectors that are struggling to cope with decreased discretionary spending, rising operating costs and the impact of the high Australian dollar. Many economists are keeping a close eye on movements in unemployment figures, but even there, it has become a case of expecting the unexpected. “The most recent figures surprised everyone in dropping by point-one of a per cent, seasonally adjusted, because the trend has been upward until then,” Andrew said. “I suppose that what it means is that the pressure that the Reserve Bank may have been under to reduce interest rates on Melbourne Cup Day, that pressure eased off because unemployment has settled a little bit. So they might wait another month before deciding, to look at further economic

Free Recruitment Service Available to Geelong Employers Diversitat JSA is a Job Services Australia provider to the Geelong region and works with local employers to provide recruitment services using a pool of job seekers and advertising on the Australia Job search website, screening and shortlisting candidates. As a youth specialist, Diversitat JSA works closely with young job seekers to identify key industries where employment opportunities are the most abundant. Employment advisers assess clients’ interests and skills, and develop long term career goals with a focus on moving into apprenticeships and traineeships where there is high demand highlighting the various career paths available and long term benefits of working in certain industries. “We have found the uptake of adult apprenticeships is increasing with job seekers emerging from declining industries and developing new skills and qualifications in areas where employment prospects are long term.

Local employers are benefiting from taking on mature apprentices where reliability and life experience add extra value to workplace performance.” says Kirsten Hargraves, Employment Services Manager from Diversitat JSA. “We don’t charge employers to assist them in finding suitable candidates, it’s a free service.” Diversitat has also branched into the Labour Hire* market where temporary workers are supplied to Employers for a fee without the administrative burden involved in putting them on as their own employees. Employers can contact Kirsten at Diversitat Employment on 0408 364 696 to discuss their recruitment needs. *Conditions apply

TRAINING FEATURE

data before making a decision to reduce, to hold, or in fact to increase, if there is a strong underlying inflationary pressure.” Unemployment rates can be skewed by an array of factors, one of which is as simple as the time of the year. As we approach the end of year Christmas period, retailers, food service and hospitality businesses, tourism businesses and many other businesses, start putting more staff on in preparation for the busy (or busier, at least) months ahead. Then there are the workplaces that took steps to minimise their exposure to wage pressures during the global financial crisis now looking to consolidate their workforce. At the time, many businesses had the forethought to look beyond the initial panic of the onset of the GFC chose not to cut jobs, but in many instances, either downgraded full-time positions to part-time positions, or only hired part-time or casual workers. Three years down the track, many of those positions already have or are returning to full-time status. “That was a trend obviously, and the reason why unemployment didn’t rise so dramatically through 2009 was because employers did cut back on casuals and did shift many people to part-time hours. Then, through last year, when we saw almost a record of 330,000 jobs created as the economy picked up to more normal buoyant economic conditions, then

The reason why unemployment didn’t rise so dramatically through 2009 was because employers did cut back on casuals and did shift many people to part-time hours. Then, through last year, when we saw almost a record of 330,000 jobs created as the economy picked up to more normal buoyant economic conditions

there was both an increase in full-time and a take up again of part-time employment,” Andrew said. “What we’ve seen, for instance in last month’s figures, was 22,000 new jobs, but half of those were part-time. So industry is responding in that way, and that surprised a few economists, who were predicting that unemployment would remain the same or, in fact deteriorate further. Some of the recent analysis that’s been done by some commentators has pointed out that a good part of the increase in unemployment has been in the wealthier suburbs or the wealthier socio-economic standard suburbs of Melbourne and Sydney, where many women, for instance, who had been working part-time have actually lost work, and there was a trend for

professionals to be losing work. In some of those suburbs, unemployment has gone from 2 per cent to 5 per cent in the last twelve months. “The latest figures have shown that unemployment actually increased in Victoria, New South Wales and Tasmania, but decreased in the resource states, and this is part of the impact of a two-speed economy.” Anecdotally, this trend of ups and downs within the wider economic picture are hiding localised peaks and troughs in business activity and employment. Andrew said that business conditions in Geelong are a good example of that. “One of the comments that I gleaned around the 2006-07 period in Geelong around the rampant skills shortages there in that period, was that by and large, the larger companies didn’t have a problem. So when Alcoa or Ford or Shell ran an ad and they were swamped with applicants, but it was the poor SME business in the suburbs or in the industrial parks that got stuck with the shortage if they were to lose staff.” The lure of the high wages on offer in the resource sector and associated industries is pulling workers from Victoria and New South Wales into Queensland and Western Australia. It’s something like a gold rush - people are

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TRAINING FEATURE following the money (although with fewer carpetbaggers, as Mr Rimington quipped). “The concern there is that there needs to be a lot more rigour applied to identifying what is particularly happening not only in industry sectors or occupational groupings, but also within what is happening in regional areas – so what is happening in Geelong or Ballarat or Bendigo, quite apart from what the national trends are saying,” Andrew said. “I deliver information sessions to overseas professionally-qualified migrants who arrive because the Immigration Department has approved them for visas and permanent residency because of their qualification in a skills shortage area, then they get here and they struggle to find work. Why is it so? So, it’s about having a much better intelligence about what the trends and issues are, but it’s also a matter of the State Government having a role in separately looking at the state’s skills shortages and then auspicing health, medical, nursing workers or whatever is required to meet those short-term skills gap problems.” The elephant in the room of the skills shortage conversation is that 2011 marks the beginning of the Baby Boomer generation reaching the traditional retirement age of 65. While stock market losses and the falling balances of superannuation accounts means many more Boomers will stay in the workforce than was

It wasn’t so long ago that the great Australian dream – after owning your own home – was to retire comfortably, and preferably by age 55, so there were plenty of years left to play golf, fish, potter around in the garden, spend time with the grandkids and do a bit a travelling. You don’t hear that much anymore.

expected before the GFC, there will still be a large exodus of experienced, qualified workers retiring. The issue of being able to accurately track and identify where skills shortages are arising will become increasingly important as more people retire. “It is a matter of recognising a couple of things here. One is that the Baby Boomer generation from pre-GFC, at the time of the skills shortages of 2006/07, had an anticipated retirement age of 55 years, by last year that got blown out to 61 years, and a University of Tasmania study that got a bit of media last month has shown that retirement intentions have blown out even further. So we will get a significant number of Baby Boomers delaying retirement because of lack of income security. Remember that many people who mortgaged their homes under Howard to have lumps of $150,000 to put in to

Train your staff with experts As Victoria’s largest regional TAFE, The Gordon plays a key role in assisting businesses in Geelong and surrounding regions to build a talented work force and help drive business goals. With more than 500 teachers and trainers who are professionals in their industry and are still in constant contact with their industry trends and developments, The Gordon is equipped to provide relevant training that is specific to each organisation. Senior Business Development Manager Cam Quinten and his team work with numerous large and small organisations one-on-one to identify their training needs. Their approach to training is simple and effective, using a three step process that will ultimately address key issues or contribute to business growth. ‘The first step is to identify an organisations training needs, including what they want and how they want it.’ ‘We then match that training need, where possible, to an accredited course. This might mean identifying an existing course, tailoring a course, or creating a new course from scratch.’ ‘Finally we identify funding opportunities that will provide the most cost effective solution for the client,’ said Cam. The Gordon’s approach to training ticks all the boxes when helping organisations build a talented workforce and a benchmark for great performance. ‘For us it’s simple; individuals get personal satisfaction from obtaining a qualification, it motivates them and lets them see that the company is making an investment in them.’

their super funds saw it basically halved in value. So they’ve got a double jeopardy, they have to work longer and now they have to pay off those mortgages. From what I hear anecdotally and from commentary is that many of these people are selling up the family home, paying off the debt, but are also looking to gain employment “We ran a Grey Matters project for the State Government last year for twelve months until June, placing people over 45 and over 55. Three quarters of those people had qualifications – out of 260 or so registrations, we have four or five who had doctorates, quite a significant number with degrees, then diplomas and advanced diplomas etcetera – but the key point from our research with that group was that many of them weren’t aspiring to go back into the high level, high pressure jobs that they’ve had in the past; they were looking to do something different and to scale back. So there’s still some interesting work to do to assist people certainly in their forties and fifties who want to continue to work and contribute, and to make sure those people have the appropriate level of support and advice and perhaps career advice as well.” It wasn’t so long ago that the great Australian dream – after owning your own home – was to retire comfortably, and preferably by age 55, so there were plenty of years left to play golf, fish,

‘That motivation and faith in the company creates a good culture and ultimately provides the organisation with employees that want to learn more skills and participate,’ said Cam. General Manager of Bartlett’s Environmental John McCoy believes training their employees with The Gordon was an integral part of taking their business to the next level. ‘The training we did with The Gordon supports the business in terms of the developing practical skills, but there were also additional benefits including improved communication and teamwork.’ ‘The training also provided the chance to deliver innovation within the business, and in fact helped us identify better ways to run our business,’ said John. Training with The Gordon provides a number of key benefits: Flexible Learning Options From workshop based training, to on-the-job training with minimal to zero time away from the workplace, one of The Gordon’s priorities is to match the right training with the right format for maximum effectiveness. Tailored Training With more than 200 accredited courses currently on offer at The Gordon, many training packages and courses can be tailored to the needs of employees and organisations. Funding Opportunities A range of government funding options are available making training a very cost effective investment. For information on training solutions available to your organisation phone Business Development at The Gordon on 5225 0750.

TRAINING FEATURE

What many are looking at doing, however, is to change their working life â&#x20AC;&#x201C; offering their years of experience and considerable skills in their industry as a consultant, or changing careers altogether.

potter around in the garden, spend time with the grandkids and do a bit a travelling. You donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t hear that much anymore. In the same way that Australian mothers once rarely worked while their children were young, now working people are rarely looking to retire at age 55. What many are looking at doing, however, is to change their working life â&#x20AC;&#x201C; offering their years of experience and considerable skills in their industry as a consultant, or changing careers altogether. It may have started with CEOs and surgeons buying fish and chip shops in beachfront towns, but it has now become the new dream of semi-retirement for many. The idea of withdrawing completely from the workforce is becoming less and less popular. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I go to a barber here in the city and heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 67, heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a lovely fellow and has been a barber all of his life. I said to him, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Well, when are you going to retire?â&#x20AC;&#x2122; He said he

couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t retire, because if he retired and stayed at home every day, he would no longer be the boss!â&#x20AC;? Mr Rimington said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;So he enjoys getting out, heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s seeing people, heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s earning income, heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s paying his costs and all that sort of stuff and it helps fund a trip back to Italy every year for him and his wife.â&#x20AC;? Things have changed in workplaces everywhere over the last decade, and particularly over the past couple of years. Peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s attitudes about working later in life have changed. Career changes are happening later in life. Once the kids have grown up and the mortgage pressure is gone, people are starting to look back at whatever career it was they wanted to get into when they were younger and thinking, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Why not give it a go?â&#x20AC;&#x2122; Only a few weeks ago, I worked into work and stopped to have a chat to one of our printers on the way in. He had been a printer for 25 years, and just taken on a new job as a first year apprentice baker. He said he had always loved to cook, and he could afford to take a significant pay cut to have a go at something else for the next 20 years. It has happening. We are indeed living in interesting timesâ&#x20AC;Ś

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AGB Human Resources â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Skills Recognition. 7E ALL HAVE SKILLS $ONlT SELL YOURSELF SHORT 7ANT THE RECOGNITION FOR YOUR LIFElS WORK AND THE EXPERIENCE YOU HAVE TALK TO US ABOUT 3KILLS 2ECOGNITION ! FORMAL QUALIĂźCATION FOR THE SKILLS WHICH YOU ALREADY HAVE 3AVE TIME AND MONEY IN THE PROCESS OF OBTAINING YOUR QUALIĂźCATIONS 3OMETIMES IN LIFE WE GET BUSY JUST DOING THE JOB GETTING ON WITH LIVING AND ALL THE RESPONSIBILITIES THAT INVOLVES )T IS NOW TIME FOR YOU TO TAKE THE OPPORTUNITY OF GETTING A NATIONALLY RECOGNISED QUALIĂźCATION THAT PIECE OF PAPER WHICH WILL HELP IMPROVE YOUR CAREER PROSPECTS !'" (UMAN 2ESOURCES IS OFFERING RECOGNITION FOR A LIFElS WORK IN FORMALISING QUALIĂźCATIONS FOR THOSE WHO HAVE HAD A JOB FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS BUT DONlT NECESSARILY HAVE THAT PIECE OF PAPER THAT GOES WITH IT 4HE 'OVERNMENT IS CURRENTLY PROVIDING THE OPPORTUNITY FOR

THE RECOGNITION OF SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE BY TRANSFERRING THOSE VERY PRACTICAL TALENTS INTO QUALIĂźCATIONS AND THE FACT THAT THEY ARE BACKING IT WITH THE FUNDING TO ACTUALLY ATTAIN THE QUALIĂźCATION IS SOMETHING TO EMBRACE .OW IS THE TIME TO MAKE YOUR SKILLS FORMALLY RECOGNISED THROUGH THE 3KILLS 2ECOGNITION PROCESS

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o #URRENT AND FORMER JOB DESCRIPTIONS o 4RAINING ANY EITHER ON THE JOB OR OFF o ! NY FORMAL OR NON ACCREDITED QUALIĂźCATIONS ATTAINED o 2EFERENCE LETTERS o 4ESTIMONIALS o 6OLUNTEERING ETC "ASICALLY ANY FORM OF DOCUMENTATION THAT SHOWS COMPETENCY IN THE SPECIĂźED AREAS WILL HELP 4HE SKILLS RECOGNITION PROCESS CAN USE EVIDENCE FROM FORMER EMPLOYMENT POSITIONS THAT CAN DATE BACK AS FAR AS YEARS 7E ARE HERE TO WALK YOU THROUGH THE PROCESS SO LETlS TALK ABOUT YOUR NEEDS 3PEAK WITH YOU SOON )NTERESTED #ONTACT -ARYANNE ON OR

TRAINING FEATURE

Skilled migration boosting the regions The Geelong Region Skilled Migration Project is part of a Victorian Government funded program. The City of Greater Geelong auspices the project on behalf of the Geelong Region to assist regional employers source, attract and retain overseas skilled professionals to address skill shortages that cannot be filled from the local labour market. The City of Greater Geelong is one of ten organisations delivering skilled migration assistance to regional business communities across regional Victoria. Cr Rod Macdonald, Economic Development Portfolio with the City explains, “The Regional workforce is ageing, with one-third expected to retire over the next decade. The workforce is more mobile than ever and the nature of work is becoming more skilled. Our region will struggle to meet the future skilled workforce needs from within the local market. “The project is one of a number of initiatives being delivered in collaboration with key stakeholders to up-skill the workforce to meet local needs. Skilled overseas professionals provide an immediate solution where a local vacancy cannot be filled. A

Michael Smith Directory of Dentistry, Barwon Health with dentist Dr Robert Thong.

recent annual survey of employers found there are 700 existing or anticipated (in 2012) skill shortages in the local labour market. Half of these are for vacancies in the health and social assistance sector, followed by trades in manufacturing and a range of professional services such as engineers. Barwon Health, St John of God and the new Epworth/Deakin teaching hospital will be requiring additional professionals in a range of occupations over coming years. Skilled and experienced overseas professionals will assist in not only filling the shortages in the short term, but also in training and up-skilling members of our own community.

Michael Smith is the Director of Dentistry at Barwon Health. “I have not had an experienced, local, skilled dentist apply for a public dentist vacancy for over ten years. Overseas skilled professionals have been the backbone of the public health service for several years. If we didn’t have these skilled professionals our services would be drastically affected”. Michael confirms that is has been useful to have people from different countries with varying skill sets working within the organisation. The project assists regional business with the possibilities of overseas professionals to meet critical skill shortages and advocates on issues relating to skilled migration and shortages. A full report outlining the results of the employer survey can be downloaded from the City’s website. Employers having difficulty filling vacancies should register their skill shortage with the program. To find out more about how the Project may be able to assist your business call (03) 52724866 or email: skilledmigration@ geelongcity.vic.gov.au. For more information about the Project or to register a skill shortage go to www.geelongaustralia.com. au/business

TRAINING FEATURE

Overcome the ‘hiring people like me’ bias Embracing the business benefits of inclusion could make mandatory diversity quotas redundant, says recruiting experts, Hays.

Australian respondents thought organisations do not do enough to help women reach the top or that more could be done.

In it’s Hays Journal, the recruiter provides insight on how diversity in the workforce has an increasingly global relevance, but there is much debate about how it can best be achieved in business.

“Inclusion goes beyond gender box-ticking. If employers are actively encouraged to seek out candidates who will bring different perspectives and ways of problem-solving to the mix, the net result would be that more women – as well as more varied cultural backgrounds – would hold senior roles. This brings the focus to the benefits diversity can bring a business.

“Gender quotas are very much the public face of the diversity agenda, but many remain sceptical about their effectiveness when it comes to driving performance, change and share value,” said Nick Deligiannis, Director of Hays in Geelong. “Some organisations fear that a box-ticking approach to recruitment is not compatible with the aim of acquiring the very best talent. "Others say that set quotas harm the notion of promotion on merit, can lead to ‘tokenism’ and can simply result in the same women taking on more boardroom roles, rather than bringing in new blood at higher levels. “Yet the perception remains that not enough is done to promote gender diversity. In a recent Hays survey, 64 per cent of over 1,100

“The business case is compelling – in March a global poll of 241 companies by law firm Eversheds concluded that there was a clear correlation between smaller, more diverse and more independent boardrooms and share price performance and company success. “A genuine engagement and willingness to embrace diversity and inclusion when it comes to recruitment and promotion leads to the business benefit of different ways of thinking. But sometimes, it can require a shove from above, such as quotas, to encourage employers to make diversity reality.”

BRIDGING THE SKILLS GAP Those employers that have ruled out the possibility of recruiting candidates who require training will need to adjust their thinking as the shortage of skills hits home says Tim James, Senior Regional Director of Hays in Geelong.

Our recently released Hays white paper, Bridging the skills gap, identifies six strategies to help organisations overcome skills shortages. Coming in at number one is flexibility, which is a critical success factor in this changing market. It applies not only to how you recruit, train, develop or retain people, but also how you adapt to the changing market. It will separate those employers who succeed from those who aren’t even aware of what’s working and what’s not. In our white paper we recommend employers consider three flexible strategies as part of their plan to bridge the skills gap: Transferable skills: Existing employees have already demonstrated their commitment and ‘fit’ with the organisation. When considering what skills are transferable, look at what is really essential and what is desirable in a potential candidate. Consider candidates who have the desired behaviours and transferable skills, not just the specific background initially required, who can fill the role with a little technical training.

hays.com.au

Recruiting based on potential: Our second flexible strategy is to recruit based on potential, particularly for entry level roles. When using this strategy, an employer recruits and then trains graduates or less experienced staff, rather than waiting for a candidate with specific and exact experience to become available. Critical to this method of recruiting is identifying candidates with the appropriate cultural fit. Communication, initiative and level of ambition along with other soft skills applicable to the role - such as integrity or ability to participate as part of a team - are all good indicators of a candidate’s potential cultural fit. Flexible working options: Our third flexible strategy is to consider flexible working options. By embracing flexibility, an organisation can not only retain critical skills but can widen the pool of potential talent to include candidates that need flexibility to remain in the workforce. Telecommuting, flexible working hours, part-time employment, job sharing and compressed working weeks are all proven flexible workforce strategies.

Other insights to be gained from the latest Hays Journal include: • What CEOs want from HR: views from eight business and HR leaders; • Transforming organisations: HR at the heart of change; • Workforce planning: uncertainty increases the need for flexible workers; • Psychometric tools: the appliance of science; • Regional snapshot on China: we look at how the profound demographic changes in China are creating a huge demand for skilled workers. Multinational businesses are scaling up their workforces in a country that offers huge opportunities alongside mounting challenges. View the Hays Journal at www.hays.com.au.

Hays, the world's leading recruiting experts in qualified, professional and skilled people.

A six-point strategy Flexibility is one of our six strategies to bridge the skills gap. The others are: have a plan to identify the key roles and likely requirement patterns in your organisation; create an employment brand to attract likeminded candidates; source far and wide and include the under-utilised talent pools of overseas skills, mature age candidates, female candidates and former employees; train and develop; focus on retention. Contact Alex Clark at Hays in Geelong on 5226 8000 or alex.clark@hays.com.au for more details.

COMMENT

Booming workforce For some time now, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been warned about a demographic time bomb otherwise known as the Baby Boomers, those who grew up in Australia post World War II, during the 1960s and 1970s.

An article published in the Weekend Australian late last month suggests that market forces are sending Boomers back to work to resurrect their superannuation nest eggs. This is certainly true for a large part of the population.

The fear has been that an ageing population will have ramifications for health and welfare, aged care, immigration and social policies, not to mention distort Australiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s non-working population â&#x20AC;&#x201C; just as they increased its working population in their youth. Yet the opposite seems to be happening, with the retirement â&#x20AC;&#x201C; or should we say non-retirement â&#x20AC;&#x201C; of this generation now the talking point among media commentators.

The latest data on superannuation returns from Chant West shows the typical Australian fund posted its worst return in the third quarter of this year since the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers. Those who were relying on their pre-GFC super balances were given a rude awakening when the domestic share market suffered the wrath of global toxic debt and caused a shakedown of tectonic proportions. They have continued to

watch in despair as funds have struggled to navigate the various hurdles thrown at them since, the most recent being the US and European debt crises. In fact, CoreDataâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s own research on pre- and post-retirees found one in three people did not believe they would have the ability to choose the date of their retirement and would be forced to work as long as possible â&#x20AC;&#x201C; no doubt a reflection of the fact that they feel their future income is at risk. In addition, 86% of pre-retirees intend to continue working once they retire from full time employment, with around half (52%) planning to work part time. However, thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s only part of the story. The truth is, there is a cohort of the population that plan to keep working, not because they have to, but because they want to. These individuals tend to be higher net worth, many of them small to medium business owners, and for them, the thought of stopping work is simply unfathomable. The luxury of choice is something that is oft reserved for the rich, and this data bears that out. While this trend may help smooth the anticipated distortion in the employment market, unfortunately it will do little to help ease the burden on health and aged care. This has been another article from the insightful minds at burning-pants.com. Burningpants is a product of CoreData.

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COMMENT

Kissing the notion of a fair society goodbye! Australia’s fabled fair society could be under threat if the nation’s education system does not have a balanced approach to preparing future generations for life beyond the schoolyard. That’s the view of the Deakin School of Education in its submission to the Productivity Commission’s Schools Workforce Issues Paper, the outcomes of which are due to be announced soon. “Already, research by the OECD is showing that Australia is falling behind countries like Finland, which not only have high levels of conventional achievement but also the lowest levels of educational inequality,” said Professor Richard Bates, who contributed to the submission. “Anglophone countries, especially the UK and USA but now, increasingly, Australia, have the least integrated education systems with consequent lower levels of comparative achievement and higher levels of inequality.” A balanced or integrated education system mixes the needs to develop a skilled workforce with also giving students the advanced social skills necessary to being active citizens. The Deakin School of Education argues that we should be looking for both an economic and a social rate of return for investment in the schools workforce. “We need the Productivity Commission to take note of this, and our submission that says the development of social skills is as important as the development of a skilled workforce in maintaining social cohesion,” Professor Bates said. “The Productivity Commission seems to take the view that if we have a skilled workforce, the rest will take care of itself. That is simply not the case and if we continue to put high value

on employment skills without an equal promotion of social skills, then not only are we reducing the rate of return on investment in the schools workforce, we are heading towards the end of a fair society in Australia. “There are already some pockets in Australia where this is happening, where schools have appalling facilities, where the police can tell you the crime rates are growing as young people become more disenfranchised.” The Deakin School of Education says there are a number of general issues that need to be addressed. First at the systems level, two issues are of prime importance: The need for greater system integrity coupled with adaptability in the face of increasing diversity and also redress of the gross inequalities in infrastructure and recurrent resources. At the schools level, to meet the requirements of the National Declaration on the Educational Goals for Young Australians to develop active citizens as well as productive workers, schools

need the resources and networks to be able to attend to the intellectual, social, cultural, physical and emotional needs of students. Curricula need to be more flexible and teachers better equipped to react to individual environments. Additionally, with the arrival of social networking, schools and teachers need to be able to help students develop good judgment on the value of all the new information available to them. “If we want active citizens as well as a productive workforce, if we believe social cohesion and inclusion are as important as higher living standards, then we need to make sure our schools workforce has all the social as well as the economic resources it needs and that these are distributed fairly,” Professor Bates said. “Otherwise we can kiss any notion of the fair society goodbye.” This article has been republished courtesy of Deakin Research News: www.deakin.edu.au/ research

LEGAL

A Cocktail for Disaster? Drugs and Alcohol in the Workplace The Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (Vic) requires employers to take positive steps to provide and maintain safe working environments for workers and to ensure that others are not exposed to risks to health and safety arising from the workplace. It is self-evident that drug and alcohol consumption results in impaired judgment, coordination, concentration and alertness. The residual effects of drug and alcohol consumption away from the workplace and outside working hours can create serious occupational health and safety risks in the workplace, as well as impacting on employee performance, and productivity. Employers ought to assess the risks in their individual workplaces of employees attending work under the influence of drugs or alcohol. The most obvious workplaces where such risk assessments should occur are those where employees are driving vehicles, using any form of machinery, handling hazardous substances or working at heights. However, most workplaces involve some elements of risk.

Policy development There is no such thing as a one size fits all policy and care must be taken to ensure that the right policies and procedures are developed for each workplace, taking into account the nature of the workplace and its individual health and safety requirements. For example, where employees are required to undertake tasks for which coordination, alertness and concentration are particularly important (e.g.: driving), it may be appropriate to introduce mandatory drug and alcohol testing and implement a zero tolerance

approach to drugs and alcohol, while a less severe approach may be appropriate for employees engaged to perform less dangerous tasks, such as administrative tasks in an office environment. Where drug and alcohol testing is introduced, care should be taken to choose fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory methods for testing, and for selecting individuals or groups to undergo testing. Consideration should also be given to the potential for objections or refusal to undergo testing and a secure chain of custody should be put in place in respect of any samples taken for testing. Good drafting is important in any workplace policy and a drug and alcohol policy should be written in clear and understandable terms, setting out the employerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s expectations, the obligations of employees, and identifying the disciplinary or other consequences that may flow from a breach of the policy. Vague or subjective terminology, loopholes and overly complex or restrictive procedures should be avoided.

Implementation As is the case with any workplace policy, education and awareness are the keys to ensuring that a drug and alcohol policy is worth the paper it is written on. Clear explanation and training should be provided to all individuals covered by drug and alcohol policies and procedures, including those who have a role in enforcing them. Employers and employees both need to be aware of their obligations with respect to occupational health and safety. Policies and procedures should also be regularly reviewed and updated to keep up with

changes to the law and the requirements of the workplace.

Enforcement Decisions of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission and Fair Work Australia have repeatedly confirmed that employers are entitled to rely on reasonable drug and alcohol policies in support of the discipline of employees, including dismissal in appropriate cases. However, in some cases, employees have succeeded in unfair dismissal claims where the drug and alcohol policy relied on was unclear or unreasonable, procedures were not properly followed, or where the employer did not follow a fair procedure in relation to the employeeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dismissal. Drug and alcohol policies and procedures should be applied and enforced consistently, so that employees know what to expect and there is less scope for an employee to claim that he or she has been treated harshly in comparison to others. Inconsistency in application and enforcement may result in a particular dismissal being perceived to be unfair or discriminatory, even where a valid reason existed for the dismissal.

Summary The adoption of appropriate drug and alcohol policies and procedures is an important step towards ensuring occupational health and safety compliance and minimising the risk of accident and injury in the workplace. Emphasis should first be placed on developing and implementing policies and procedures that are suitable to the particular requirements of your workplace, and then on enforcing those policies and procedures in a fair, reasonable and effective manner. Jim Rutherford, Principal and Accredited Specialist in Workplace Relations and Criminal Law

Sonia McCabe, Lawyer

COMMENT

Just Beginning? According to John Kenneth Galbraith, an economist who knew a thing or two about recessions, inflation and deflation and the role of interest rates and Governments, the only reason for economic forecasters to exist was to make horoscopes look reliable. At the moment, any cursory examination of Australian media would give an investor no clue about the future of markets, shares, property or debt – we are told variously that interest rates will rise, fall or remain the same, that shares are undervalued, overvalued or in extremes an outdated idea. The honest answer is no one knows at all what the future of economic markets holds because there are simply too many variables at work and the pace of change isn’t something that we have seen since the reconstruction of Europe in 1949, so all the best intentions of the forecasters everywhere are, by and large, nonsense. The reality is to be useful to anyone, you are going to have to both shorten the time frame you are talking about (what’s going to happen this quarter) and lengthen the time frame – talk about the five year view you are taking. If you are running a business – or managing one – you are going to have to develop four core strategies: 1. Be clear about the assumptions you are basing your decisions on and why. 2. Communicate clearly and frequently to those most affected by the turmoil. 3. Get the team to focus on the future and bridge past what’s going on now. 4. Let people who are valued by the team know that they are valued and that they have a promising future. Just how bumpy it’s going to get is frankly anyone’s guess – but all the signs are pretty grim. Investor confidence is almost as low as it was at the beginning of the GFC and the bond yield predictions, the best indicator of market direction betting, are bleak.

Downward Spiral If success breeds confidence then the lack of confidence in global markets right now implies significant failure – or at least a petrified fear of failure. Decoupling is now a major risk (as you would have read in a multitude of media sources already) due to stagnated growth in some Western economies, making it almost mathematically impossible for countries like Greece, since they aren’t growing at a rate that makes it feasible, to pay down their colossal public debts. Fear of default has created a crisis of confidence, pushing bond yield spreads higher for some indebted nations and triggering a likely self-fulfilling prophecy of default. Over the

next few weeks, work is being done behind the scenes to recapitalise some European banks to a level that could facilitate a Greek exit from the Eurozone. Let’s jump forward to November, and a presumption that Greece will be allowed to exit in an orderly fashion (still very painful but not as painful as an impromptu forced exit triggered by another global financial crisis). The reality is that global debt (government, corporate and personal) is vast – currently running at 266% of worldwide GDP. In the UK, the Government’s robust bid to tackle its own share of this debt – having bailed out half a dozen banks at the height of the previous crisis – could potentially cripple its economy, as the Tory-Lib Dem coalition has slashed Government spending too fast and too hard, according to many observers. The structural shift away from many public sector jobs to a hopeful stronger reliance on private sector jobs is yet to manifest (not surprisingly), and combined with high inflation has put a squeeze on many UK households not seen since the 1920s, according to available data. The resultant risk is that the UK economy may slip back into recession, making it more difficult to raise the taxes needed to pay down the debt – a double whammy. And while there is only a 17% chance of an impending UK recession, according to the World Bank, the velocity of events during the first financial crisis could see the likelihood of a recession rise dramatically if confidence in the system (well, at least the viability of Europe) is allowed to take root. Cutting spending is fine; the decision to do so was broadly supported in the UK, however the

challenge facing many Governments, including the UK, is how to cut costs and grow at the same time? Greece will not achieve this balance. The level of structural reform required to make it a competitive economy will require at least a decade, according to those close to the matter – too long a period for markets and creditors wanting to be paid. The head of the IMF, Christine Lagarde, stressed this point strongly when stating that sovereign fiscal responsibility needs to be married with a plan for growth – otherwise sooner or later, debt obligations could force more nations into a similar situation to Greece if markets lose faith and government bonds yields intermittently rise steeply, as happened for Italy, Portugal and Spain recently. If the current crisis of confidence is allowed to persist past November – when the G20 meet in France to formalise loose measures put in place in September in Washington – the outcome could be catastrophic. In 2008, events reached a crisis point very quickly indeed once the dye was cast and Lehmans was allowed to fail. This time around, a full blown crisis of confidence will breed more than was seen first time around, as it is likely to trigger the greatest winter of discontent the UK and the rest of the world has ever seen. Decoupling for Japan has been a disaster over the past two decades; a decoupling for Europe and the US at the same time would drag all emerging markets down with them too. Confidence, as they say, is everything. [This has been another article from the insightful minds at burning-pants.com. Burning Pants is a product of CoreData.]

FEATURE

Carbon tax, corporate tax, state taxes, tax reform – there has been a lot of talk about tax over recent weeks. For most of us, tax is something we have to pay and we really like to get a little bit back after each financial year. But for people like Tristan Webb, WHK National Tax Director, understanding the twists, turns and roundabouts of the Australian Taxation System is his job. In terms of hot topics of tax conversation, nothing has generated more heat than the carbon tax. We’ve heard far too much about the politics of the carbon tax, we’ve heard plenty about it from the big emitters, but what many SME businesses are finding hard to get a handle on is what the introduction of a carbon tax in July 2012 will mean for them beyond the expected and inevitable energy price rises. What will the compensation packages hold for business owners, if indeed it holds anything at all? “It really is a vexed question at the moment. When you do the research on this and you go to some of the relevant departments, it certainly is very difficult to get any information on how these compensation packages will be administered. That’s the experience that we’ve had so far and it’s been a case of going to different government departments only to find that the standard reply that we get is, ‘I’m not at liberty to advise you on that, because the legislation has yet to be assented to.’” Tristan said. “What we have done is to go through the legislation, and also some of the supporting documents that were released by the government prior to the legislation being released, and looking at just what is available. “The vast majority of our clients are in the small business space and, unfortunately,

there is not too much available for them. It tends to be more your emission-intensive trade-exposed manufacturers that are getting direct assistance from Government. In the small business space, there probably are only three things that I have been able to find that small businesses can be looking at. “The first one is the Small Business Write Off, and that applies to the purchase of something that would ordinarily be on a capital account. A good example is a freezer or something like that, costing around $6,000. You might decide to buy it because it’s very energy efficient with a five-star energy rating, which means lower power costs in the future would be one of the benefits that you get for it. And if you are spending $6,000 on it, you are also getting a $1,800 instant tax benefit in terms of the write off on that. “If you go and try to find anything else for small business in the compensation packages, there’s not a lot out there. There are the Energy Efficiency Information Grants, and we’ve made some enquiries on those. We were actually looking at them because we’ve got a number of smaller businesses that would like to, for instance, get a carbon footprint done of their business to find out where exactly they need to improve. They were looking at the possibility of accessing some of these Energy Efficiency Information Grants in order to do that. What we understand will happen, when they start to be administered, is that the applications will go to the different industry associations. So, for instance, a retailer would go to the Australian Retailers Association and have to apply through them, and then it may be someone like us, probably in conjunction with an environmental firm, who would actually do the carbon footprint, and the business would get access to that directly through the industry association.

“The third thing that is there for small business, and you can only find this out if you actually go around and look at some of the Treasurer’s speeches, is that the Treasurer is saying that the effect of people being overcompensated for the carbon tax will be similar to the [direct cash payments] that were handed out during the GFC. In other words, the people that will be in a better position are the ones that have less disposable income; [and as a result of this overcompensation] they will be the ones that will be most likely to be spending. The idea is that for people like retailers, this should be a little shot in the arm for them as well.” So for existing SMEs, there is not a lot to look forward to from the carbon tax compensation packages as they stand. This is perhaps unsurprising, given that so much of the rhetoric around the development of compensation has been focussed on two primary areas, protection of emission-intensive trade-exposed industries, and funding to promote the development of new sustainable technologies and processes. This is why the packages include the establishment of an $800 million Clean Technology Investment Program. “The problem with a lot of these different [compensation programs] is that they involve government assistance, but generally the ratio is that you get $1 for every $3 you spend. When you look at it, it’s similar to the Small Business Write-Off as well; you have to be somebody who is doing quite well to be able to go and invest in a new plant that may be energy efficient,” Tristan said. For those businesses that do not have surplus capital to invest, and particularly for businesses already struggling with decreased discretionary spending - who are seeing their profits falling and costs rising - there is little,

FEATURE

if any, assistance to be found. “Certainly that seems to be the case, at least at the moment,” Tristan said. “Quite often we come to the end of looking through quite a lot of these documents and scratch our heads and think there really isn’t a lot there for these particular clients. Many of these packages do seem to be directed to the bigger emitters, rather than the smaller businesses.” With direct assistance largely unavailable, perhaps it is within the tax reforms that are promised to coincide with the introduction of a carbon tax that business owners can find some good news. “What you do have is the changes in the personal tax rates, and the general theme that you can see there is that for individuals that are up towards the $180,000 mark and above, they’re not really going to be any better off at all under the carbon tax – in fact, once the carbon tax actually comes through, they will be a lot worse off, because the total compensation for some of them will be about $3 a year. Whereas when you look down below the $80,000 level, these people are the ones that are actually going to be better off on a yearly basis once the carbon tax is introduced. “This is based on the individual’s income, not household income, and my understanding is that the way the rebates will work is that they’re not going to be adjusted, apart from the low-income tax offset. I haven’t actually done the maths on that yet, so I’m not sure how it will work, but basically the low-income tax offset is only being adjusted because you’ve got this great big leap in the tax-free threshold – that’s going up to $18,000 from around $6,000 – so it’s really just a bit of playing around between the interaction of the low-income tax offset and the tax-free threshold. “Raising the tax-free threshold in this big jump is a good thing overall. And what came out of the Tax Forum was that Wayne Swan said that he would increase the threshold up to $21,000, although he hasn’t set a date for that yet. That was an aim, he said, but it wasn’t quite a promise. That being said, a lot of this reform in personal taxation is where I think it’s going to be very difficult for the Coalition when they talk about getting rid of the carbon tax, how are they actually going to do that?” It is the fundamental point in the push and pull between the policy positions of the Government and the Opposition. It’s all very well for Tony Abbott to make headlinegrabbing statement such as his infamous ‘pledge in blood’ to repeal the Gillard Government’s carbon tax package, but this is

a very complex series of changes to the Australian tax system that will come into effect in eight months’ time. Even if the Coalition can wrest power from the minority Labour Government before June 30, the Coalition will not have a chance of gaining a Senate majority for another six years, by which time the tax and the adjacent compensation packages would be so deeply entrenched in the Australian economy that it is hard to see a way in which any government could attempt to dismantle it. Without a Senate majority, an Abbott-led Coalition Government would need the support of the Labour Party to repeal the tax; a foreseeable outcome about as likely as Pauline Hanson becoming Prime Minister with Mark Latham as her Deputy. “I think it’s going to be much more difficult than what the Coalition think. There would be very obvious political pain in doing it. What Wayne Swan has said is that once the Government raises the tax-free threshold to $21,000, you are going to take 1 million people out of the tax system. So what is Tony Abbott going to do? Is he going to put those people back into the tax system?

"In terms of hot topics of tax conversation, nothing has generated more heat than the carbon tax..."

At the same time, pensions are going up, as a result of these tax reforms and compensation packages, is he going to reduce people’s pensions? That would come at huge political cost,” Tristan said. “What we’ve also noticed is that there seems to be a few slips in what the Coalition are saying. One minute they are talking about licenses to emit and that businesses shouldn’t buy forward licenses – these eligible emission units – so businesses shouldn’t buy these in advance in order to save money once the carbon tax becomes an ETS (emissions trading scheme) in three years’ time. But then you would have seen people like Julie Bishop in media interviews talking about carbon credits. Now they are something completely different and they are already law, so what we have is farmers who are already making investments in order to generate what we call these ACCUs, or Australian Carbon Credit Units. These farmers are making these big investments in order to generate carbon credits, and then you have Joe Hockey and

Tony Abbott saying they are going to repeal pretty much everything. I don’t know how they can do that.” Tristan is a tax legislation expert, someone who spends his working days analysing new and proposed tax legislation, listening to political policy announcements, and trying to rationalise what these changes and proposals will mean for the clients of WHK – the tax payers and the small business owners. In times of major policy shifts and structural reforms to the tax system such as we are encountering now, it is a complex and difficult task for someone who’s sole occupation is understanding what is being talked about. How are the hundreds of thousands of already very busy small business owners of Australia supposed to filter through the spin and the heated claims and counter claims? The package of Clean Energy Bills that was introduced to Parliament last month is comprised of 19 pieces of legislation, add to that the Carbon Farming Initiative that successfully progressed through Parliament in September. Then there is the Coalition’s Direct Action Climate Change Plan, which Tristan said is difficult to factor into the picture anyway, as it is comprised of less than thirty pages of scant detail and has a mammoth $98 billion difference between the Coalition and Treasury costings. And when it comes to the tax system, as we all know, the devil is in the detail. Speaking of devil in the detail, another area of the tax system that just about everyone wants to see reformed is state taxes. The rationalisation of our current system of state land taxes is long overdue. We have a system with such inherent anomalies as penalising purchasers of a home to live in, but rewarding the purchase of property as an investment. It is the anti-Robin Hood – robbing the poor to give to the rich. “I think that Rob Oakeshott is someone who knows what he’s talking about on this issue and I think makes a lot of sense when he talks about it, which is one of the reasons he probably insisted on having a Tax Forum,” Tristan said. “He talks about the fact that we’ve got about 125 different taxes on businesses in Australia, and only about ten of those raise around 90 per cent of the revenue. So we have another 115 taxes that raise only ten per cent of revenue. You don’t have to do a lot of math on that to realise that there is a lot of inefficient taxes. They can be inefficient because they cost a lot of money to administer and they don’t raise a lot of revenue, but they can also be inefficient because of the way that they distort the economy. “A good example in relation to the property

FEATURE market is, of course, stamp duty. If, for instance, you have a pensioner who wants to move out of their larger family home and into a new unit somewhere, why is it that the tax system actually penalises them for doing that? But it does, because they have to pay stamp duty. There are a lot of examples of that, and often they are quite arbitrary in the way they operate as well. “A low income person who buys a $3000 or $4000 car in New South Wales is liable to pay $200 or $300 in stamp duty on that, then on top of that you have disincentives in the form of insurance duty if they want to insure the car, where insurance is something the tax system should probably be encouraging. So why do you have insurance duty as well? “There has certainly been a lot of talk around this area of state tax. The problem is trying to work out solutions to it. When both sides of politics quarantine the GST and say they are not going to broaden the base and not going to increase the rate, then the states will say ‘How then are we going to fund getting rid of these taxes?’ A lot of academics are talking about setting aside a portion of income tax for the states, but I just can’t see that happening either,” Tristan said. “So I think we are at an impasse. One thing that I noticed about a lot of the tax debate was that people still really analyse tax according to their own political loyalties. This is something that Ken Henry touched upon at the end of the first day of the Tax Forum. He said that he could have predicted that the unions would be jumping up and down about corporate tax and saying that we are low taxed in this area, and that the business sector would be saying that we need to reduce corporate tax, and both sides being at loggerheads, when there is no real reason for them to be at loggerheads because a lot of the tax gets passed on to the labour force anyway.’ “That is also the case with the state taxes, where the right has traditionally always had a predisposition towards the states and federalism. But to me, from a practical point of view, it really doesn’t make sense. I remember reading a piece from the Centre for Independent Studies from someone who wrote that they were in favour of tax competition between the states, because it accords with an Adam Smith view of the world where people compete, and that competition itself produces a sort of invisible hand. I would have thought that the simple solution - and I know it’s unfeasible - would be to reduce revenue to the states so that we become much less governed and centralise everything. But I don’t think that sort of proposal will ever see the light of day, because of that historical legacy where we do have states, unfortunately.”

Radical as it may seem, it is something you hear a lot when you start to talk about state taxes, as people question whether state taxes are more about funding state-based bureaucratic systems rather than funding services and infrastructure within state boundaries. Would the provision of services and infrastructure development really be so very different if the second tier of government was removed? It’s a question I am wholly unqualified to answer, but it’s an interesting question all the same. “That is one of the interesting things about

these sorts of discussions – you get ordinary practical people who can see the possibility of something like [centralisation], but when you get up to that upper echelon that happens at a Tax Forum level, those people don’t realise it, but they are actually quite lost in their own ideology I think,” Tristan said. Davina Montgomery Readers should not act on the basis of this information as the contents are of a general nature and do not reflect individual circumstances. Liability limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation other than for the acts or omissions of financial services licensees. WHK Pty Ltd ABN 84 006 466 351

TECH GUY

The latest and greatest gadgets according to our Tech Guy, Jon Mamonski.

Thin, thinner, thinnest What’s faster than a Mac Air, thinner and cooler than a MacBook Pro and fits a 14-inch screen in a 13-inch frame? Regular GBN readers know that CULV (consumer ultra low voltage) notebook chips are changing the playing field for faster machines with thin design. With each manufacturing cycle comes the newest, coolest, thinnest laptops and bragging rights to the thinnest 14-inch notebook this time goes to Dell’s XPS 14z - with all the trappings and extras you’d expect of an $1199 powerhouse. The 14-inch HD display fits into a 13-inch laptop form factor while offering 10 per cent more viewing area than a 13.3-inch display. The extra screen real estate that the LG Shuriken display provides is superb and having virtually no bezel means you can enjoy a noticeably larger screen than you’re used to on typical 13-inch machines. And starting at just 1.98kgs, only 23mm thin and up to six hours and 42 minutes of battery life, the XPS 14z also has the easy portability of a 13-inchlaptop. The uncompromising performance will help busy professionals achieve their personal and

professional pursuits in a visually striking slim, yet powerful form in an anodized-aluminium finish. Dell’s XPS 14z base model has a 2.4GHz Core i5-2430M processor, 4GB of RAM, a 500GB 7,200RPM hard drive and integrated Intel HD 3000 graphics. Moving on up, you can option in the 2.8GHz Core i7 processor, up to 8GB of RAM and either a 750GB 7,200RPM drive or a 256GB SSD. For even more stunning visuals, you can get that GT520M card with 1GB of video memory and you can also elect to add NVIDIA’s Optimus

graphics-switching technology. Regardless, you’ll get an 8-cell battery that will last you over six and a half hours and slot-loading DVD burner (Blu-ray isn’t an option yet). The backlit keyboard is now an essential on premium laptops and the XPS 14z does not disappoint. The competition? MacBook Pros are $200 dearer and run hotter, Mac Air’s don’t have an inbuilt DVD drive. The Dell XPS 14z does boast the thinnest 14-inch notebook on the market and, at $1199, it’s hard to beat.

iPhone versus iPhone Is it worth upgrading to the iPhone 4s? If you’re out to impress with a new phone design, there’s no difference in looks between the iPhone 4 and 4s - although Apple does claim that the 4s is 3g lighter. Under the hood, the iPhone 4S now has a A5 dual-core chip compared to the single core A4 processor in the iPhone 4, so it’s the same chip that the iPad 2 has and Apple claims it can deliver up to twice the power and seven times faster graphics. The other big upgrade is the phone’s camera. The 5MP camera on the iPhone 4 has been lifted up to 8MPwith a bigger aperture of f/2.4, the illumination sensor has been ‘improved’ and there’s additional face detection. Importantly, it will be able to shoot in HD 1080p as opposed to HD 720p, and it will have added video stabilisation that the iPhone 4 camera doesn’t have. The iPhone 4S has a whole lot more storage room if need it, with up to 64GB of internal storage, but still comes with 16GB and 32GB varieties. Its 3G speed is also twice as fast at 14.4Mbits/s compared to 7.2Mbits/s - depending on your mobile carrier and your location. There’s a swag of new software and a new operating system, so it is sorely tempting if you’ve got an iPhone 4 and utterly irresistible if you have an iPhone 3 or 3s.

TECH GUY

The stack hat For you extreme sports types - you know who you are - there is now a great stack hat camcorder designed to capture that devastating wipeout that you’re desperate to get up on Funniest Home Videos. GoPro has updated its line of high definition helmet cams to help you capture each bonebreaking moment. The new helmet cam promises to capture 1080p 16:9 footage from atop your sweaty brow at both narrow (90-degree), wide (170-degree) and medium (127-degree) angles and can snap up to ten 11 megapixel photos per second. The camera’s mini-HDMI port, composite out, USB, SD card and HERO ports will help you share the pain with like-minded voyeurs. The HD Hero2 comes in three $350 configurations: outdoor, motorsports, and surf editions, all of which are compatible with existing accessories.

Cam or Corder? Like many new camera shapes, this new camera/cam device, with its long-barrelled lens attached to a svelte body, might look familiar. It’s JVC’s GC-PX10, the camcorder that’s also a camera or the camera that’s also a camcorder… I’m not quite sure. Here’s the drill. It will shoot 1080p video up to 60 fps, writing to SDXC or 32GB of internal memory and it will take 8.3-megapixel stills at 60 fps without dropping out of video mode or switch into still-shooting mode - and you’ll get the full 12-megapixel pictures at 30 fps for two seconds - but wait, there’s more! If slow motion’s your game, you can fire away in 640 x 360 resolution at 300 fps for up to 2 hours.

Adding grunt These stunning columns can pull in FM, digital (DAB and DAB+) broadcasts and stream Internet radio. ‘Not enough’ I hear you cry? Well, you can hook up your iPod, iPhone or iPad too and pull in music wirelessly from the library on you computer. Want more? It pumps out a total of 40-watts of audio using four drivers powered by a pair of Class-D amps. But let’s be absolutely honest here, you want it because it looks great. The hidden-until-activated OLED screen, aluminium body and black rubber design are what got you in, right? This $550 music centre is all about drawing attention. The K2 is available now, with the Revo RadioControl app on iTunes too.

Jon Mamonski {byline from last issue}

Now how much would you pay for so much diversity in one camera … er, camcorder? Try a smidgeon over $1000 when it arrives hopefully before Christmas.

ART NEWS

Stage set for a Perfect night 20 November Geelong Friends of the MSO – Annual Recital 2011

Photo by Neil Bennett

The MSO Chorus’s Annual Recital pays homage to Spanish Rennaissance composer, Tomas Luis De Victoria, who wrote music celebrating the journey of pilgrims to the city of Santiago de Compostela – St James of the Field of Stars. The MSO Chorus recreates a taste of the rich melange of European music known in Spain’s magnificent abbeys and cathedrals along the pilgrimage routes. On this night, receiving its world premiere will be ‘To the Field of Stars’, is an exquisite commission from an outstanding English composer Gabriel Jackson.

Eddie Perfect will return to GPAC on Thursday December 1 to help launch the 2012 Alcoa Theatre Season. GPAC will unveil another spectacular line-up for its 2012 season. And while theatre-lovers will have to wait until the launch to find out full details of the program, General Manager Jill Smith has confirmed that the new season will deliver more fantastic performances from Australia’s best companies with national and international artists. Ms Smith said the 2012 Alcoa Theatre Season would again have a strong emphasis on intriguing real-life stories, while the line-up would include internationally renowned performers. “The program includes some absolute gems and we can’t wait to reveal all,” Ms Smith said. The multi-talented television and theatre performer and musician Eddie Perfect, known for his many theatre roles as well as Channel 10’s hit-comedy Offspring, will host the launch. Earlier this year Eddie premiered his new solo show, Misanthropology, earning him the 2011 Helpmann Award for Best Cabaret Performer. GPAC’s Theatre Season launch starts at 6pm sharp and entry is free. However RSVPs are required on 5225 1227 or boxoffice@gpac.org. au The 2012 theatre season continues GPAC’s 31-year partnership with Alcoa, which was recently acknowledged at the national Australian Business Arts Foundation Awards.

This November at GPAC (www.gpac.org.au): 10 November Troy Cassar-Daley & Adam Harvey - Sing the Greatest Country Songs of All Time

Two of the most respected and talented singers in Australian country music circles are taking to the stage together once more, as Troy Cassar-Daley and Adam Harvey sing some of their best-loved songs from the all-time greats of country music. The Playhouse, GPAC.

18 – 26 November

The Grinch

Medimime Productions Inc. presents The Grinch, a modern pantomime based on the Dr Seuss story "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas". Bitter and twisted after being exiled from Whoville, The Grinch is determined to ruin Christmas and blame it all on Santa. The Mayor of Whoville, Aunty Nora, Annie and Colin try to save the day with the help of Santa and his Elves, and the Snow Queen and her Imps. Or, perhaps it will be sweet little Polly Watt’s kindness that will melt the Grinch's frosty heart? Proceeds will be donated to Barwon Health's Community Rehabilitation Facility. Drama Theatre, GPAC

The Basilica of St Mary of the Angels, Yarra Street, Geelong

22 November

Celtic Illusion

From the creative minds at Eureka Entertainment comes Celtic Illusion, an exciting new irish dance sensation. Starring former lead dancer from Lord of the Dance and Aussie magician Anthony Street, this innovative stage spectacular that has never been seen before will have you captivated from the moment the curtain opens and take you on a journey that will leave you with shivers down your spine. Deakin’s Costa Hall, Geelong Waterfront

27 November Rhythm Express

Bruce Mathiske's

Virtuosity abounds with guitar virtuoso Bruce Mathiske's brand new 5-piece outfit delivering stunning "world music" arrangements from artists as diverse as Sting, Peter Gabriel, Muse, Paul Simon, U2, Robert Palmer, Deep Purple and, of course, Bruce Mathiske. Drama Theatre, GPAC

28 November

Pam Ayres

Ever wondered what goes on backstage during Geelong Repertory productions? Over the moon by Ken Ludwig could give you an insight into the shenanigans, which may or may not be present behind the scenes at a Woodbin show! This fabulous farce is set in the backstage of a live theatre and features megalomaniac leading lady Charlotte and her philandering drunken husband and leading man, George. Fate intervenes and gives these has-been thespians one more shot at starring roles. A great array of crazy characters surrounds our dynamic duo as marvellous misunderstandings pile on madcap misadventures and peculiar pratfalls. The play is nothing less than a love letter to live theatre.

Pam Ayres returns to Australia with her latest show, coinciding with the publication of her autobiography The Necessary Aptitude. Ayres has had an extraordinary career as a comic writer and performer on television, on stage and in print. Enormously popular, Ayres includes British royals among her fans, having performed several times for HM The Queen, including a private performance at St. James's Palace in London, and was awarded the MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours in 2004. "If you get the chance to see Pam Ayres, do: don't think you're the wrong generation to appreciate it, trust me, there were all ages in that hall and no-one left that hall without sore ribs from laughing. Anyone who can be on stage for 2 hours (one interval of 20 mins) at age 60 and have an entire theatre curled up in small, squeaking balls of glee deserves goddess status." - Sunday Mail

Woodbin Theatre, Coronation Street, Geelong West

The Playhouse, GPAC Geelong Performing Arts Centre

18 November – 03 December Over The Moon

ART NEWS

This November at the Geelong Gallery:

Cultural Glimpses

Retrospective – David Turner

A joint exhibition of Pastels, Oils and Watercolours by Jill Shalless and Louise Price

David Turner was born in the United Kingdom in 1946 and arrived in Australia in 1956. He trained as a sculptor and a painter at RMIT (1967) and the Gordon Institute of Technology (1971). He has successfully combined studio work with an active teaching career. Among his solo exhibitions he has shown with Rex Irwin Gallery in Sydney, QDOS Gallery in Lorne, and also on previous occasions with the Geelong Gallery. His work appears in many collections including those of the Albury Art Gallery, Queensland University of Technology and the New Parliament House in Canberra. He has a strong association with the Geelong region having taught at Bell Park High School and as Head of Visual and Performing Arts at the Gordon Institute of TAFE, Geelong. Turner is currently a lecturer in Visual and Graphic Arts with the Gordon Institute. Initially working as a painter and focussing on the colour field, Turner later expanded his rendering of an eclectic subject matter by working in screenprints and gouache. Through his works, he surprises the viewer with his often unexpected depiction of food, cigars, mankind and found objects, and his ongoing interest in geometric forms is evident. The retrospective permits us to observe the artist’s many influences, including his interest in symmetry theory and North American Indian culture. [David Turner, Buffalo man, 2008, gouache. Courtesy of the artist]

2011 Geelong acquisitive print awards The $3000 biennial acquisitive prize winning work, Hold Up etching by Bruce Latimer, will be on exhibit this month as part of the print awards exhibition. The prize and exhibition has been hosted by the Geelong Gallery since 1997, and this year four works were added to the Gallery’s collection. The acquisition of these four works, made possible through the support of the Geelong Gallery Grasshoppers and an anonymous donor, continues the Gallery’s long-standing commitment to the printmaking medium. The exhibition is on display until 20 November.

Both Louise and Jill have chosen to respond to this topic with images of recent experiences; for Louise this includes travel to Europe and Asia depicting intimate moments and broader scenes capturing the tapestry of daily life in many cultures. Jill's focus is much more localized with an emphasis on the café culture -in particular The Wintergarden, venue for the exhibition. Their evocative images celebrate colour, light and form inviting the viewer to celebrate with the artist our wonderful, diverse world. Where: The Wintergarden, upstairs, 51 McKillop Street, Geelong

IMAGEination An exhibition of photographic work produced by students of Brougham School of Art and Photography at BRACE. The exhibition combines photography and digital imaging work created as part of the student’s Certificate IV in Photoimaging studies. IMAGEination will be on display in the foyer area of BRACE until Friday 25th November, 2011. Where: BRACE Education & Training, 47 Brougham Street, Geelong.

Picadilly Market Piccadilly Market returns to Deakin Waterfront on November 20, in perfect time for Christmas shopping. With more than 70 stalls of beautiful and unique jewellery, adults and children’s clothing, homewares and gourmet food, the 6th Piccadilly Market is sure to provide gifts for everyone on your shopping list. And you won’t even have to wrap them yourself, with on-site gift wrapping available. Where: Deakin WaterfronT.

The O’Donohue & Kiss gift – international and Australian prints This exhibition features a selection of international and Australian prints from the 17th century to contemporary, generously gifted to the Geelong Gallery by collectors Conrad O’Donohue and Rosemarie Kiss. Among the many works on view are prints by esteemed artists Salvator Rosa, Thomas Rowlandson, Honoré Daumier, Gustave Doré, Tim Jones, Lynne Boyd and Theo Tremblay. [Amédée de Noé (Cham), The Emperor of Russia raising his rear, 1855, hand-coloured lithograph and pen and ink. Collection: Geelong Gallery Gift of Conrad O'Donohue and Rosemarie Kiss, 2010

Art around town: Adrian Lockhart Recent drawings and prints

Coastal

As relaxed as a day on the beach, Adrian Lockhart takes his minimal, expressive line and soft washes of colour to where warm sand calms and ocean currents move the body through space. Lockhart’s intimate, lyrical drawings and prints reflect his love of the ocean and beach life. He brings sensuality to these very tactile works and the sureness of his touch can make each mark say so much. Works can be viewed online at www.metropolisgallery.com.au and keep a look out in the Metropolis Gallery window for two surfboards that will feature Adrian’s figurative drawings. Adrian Lockhart : Coastal runs until Saturday 19 November. Where: Metropolis Gallery, 64 Ryrie Street Geelong

Adrian Lockhart Surf Figure1. Pencil and acrylic wash. 76 x 56 cm.

COMMUNITY

Ford and Alcoa lend helping hand It has been an extremely busy time for business-community partnerships recently, with BacLinks facilitating a number of projects that have seen both Ford and Alcoa helping our community out, as well as hosting the Big Boys Don’t Cry Forum aimed at raising awareness of men’s mental health issues in the workplace. As part of their commitment to our community, employee volunteers from Ford’s Geelong Plant recently spent two days helping out two of Geelong’s most important local charities. "Volunteering is a great opportunity for our employees to support and make a contribution to their local communities. We are excited to be assisting local charities to achieve meaningful outcomes to benefit their clientele," said Cheryl McKenzie, Ford’s Corporate Reputation Associate.

to do,” said Rikki Raadsveld, Rainbow Riders Executive Officer. The next day, another group of employee volunteers from Ford could be found helping out in the kitchen of the Salvation Army Northside Centre, preparing and serving lunch for around 40 homeless and disadvantaged people, predominantly from the northern suburbs. The lunch assists people to overcome difficulties such as food scarcity and provides a weekly forum for social engagement, friendship and emotional support. Ford’s support gives regular volunteers a much needed break and offers attendees an opportunity to expand their social networks, as the volunteers shared the meal and good conversation with them.

Good food, good company when Ford employee volunteers helped out at the Salvation Army Northside Community Centre vital clearing of overgrown vegetation and clean-up of rubbish along a section of the ‘Bob McGovern Walk’, the path around the bay from Cunningham Pier to Rippleside.

On the first day they put their trade skills to good use as they assisted Rainbow Riders to makeover a picnic area in preparation for the organisation’s planned 10th birthday celebration.

Clearing and cleaning of this path is an ongoing task, as the Lions Club believes it is vital that the places where people choose to walk are developed, maintained and promoted as ‘walkable’ environments.

Despite wet weather the brave volunteers put in a hard day’s work, clearing the overgrown area by mowing large areas of grass, restoring garden beds, weeding, mulching and a host of other jobs.

“We are always looking for volunteers to help us with initiatives like this one. The help from Alcoa assists us in taking action against obesity” said Pete Johnston, Lion’s Breakfast Club President.

Alcoa and Geelong Lions’ Breakfast Club joined forces to clean up a section of the Bob McGovern Walk On the other side of Geelong, Alcoa’s call for community organisations to register their needs resulted in three community projects undertaken in a single day.

Ford employee volunteers working hard to clean up Rainbow Riders’ overgrown picnic area

Rainbow Riders, a small charititable organisation, provides innovative equine and farm programs to re-engage at risk and disadvantaged young people in the Barwon Region to help them develop positive life skills. “Most of our limited resources go directly into providing our unique programs and it’s great to have the support of BacLinks in coordinating these team volunteering efforts. We are very grateful to have had Ford employees helping us out to get the work done that we simply don’t have the time or resources

“Answering a call for help is second nature to the Alcoa volunteers all year round, but these projects coincided with the Alcoa Month of Service when all employees are supported to get out and share their skills and experience. The wide variety of projects kept everybody interested.” said Cynthia Crowe, Alcoa’s Community Relations Officer. Facilitated by BacLinks, the projects saw employee volunteers start their day at the Whittington Primary School where they assisted in the refurbishment of a classroom soon to be used as a new school-based youth resilience program ‘Come and Play’. On completion of this project they then moved on to Karingal Riverview Respite where their skills were further utilised in the garden and the restoration of an ageing dining table earmarked for Karingal’s Ocean Grove House, which offers respite accommodation for families and carers of people with disabilities over 12 years of age. The final task saw the volunteers join forces with Geelong Lion’s Breakfast Club to carry out

The Whittington Primary School got a helping hand from Alcoa employee volunteers Sharing resources such as manpower and specialised skills can make a positive difference to our community. For more information on how your business can contribute in a meaningful way please call the BacLinks team on 5249 8989 or visit our website www. baclinks.org.au

COMMUNITY NEWS Court House’s $6.5M facelift The Old Court House on the corner of Gheringhap and Little Malop Streets has undergone a major redevelopment. The historic building may look relatively unchanged from the outside, but on the inside almost everything is brand new, while still retaining the heritage features of the building. Under the $6.5 million project, the entire interior of the building has been completely renovated including the theatre, back of house facilities, art gallery and administration areas. The old police cells have been demolished to make way for a new theatre rehearsal space, a new staircase and lobby have been built and there is now improved access to the building and outdoor café area. The Old Court House building is home to internationally renowned Back to Back Theatre, as well as Court House Arts and the Court House Café. The redevelopment has been funded by the State Government and the City of Greater Geelong managed the project. The City’s Arts and Culture portfolio holder, Cr Barbara Abley said, “The works have completely transformed a tired old building into an open, light-filled space that will host theatre, exhibitions and other community events. “This is the first stage of the cultural precinct redevelopment - the next will be the long awaited major upgrade of the Geelong Library and Heritage Centre. These significant projects will totally revitalise this precinct, providing a wonderful boost for Geelong’s arts and culture scene,” she said.

Diversitat opens Northern Community Hub The Minister for Regional Australia, Hon. Simon Crean MP, officially opened Diversitat’s Northern Community Hub on October 26 on the site of the former Geelong Migrant Hostels. The Northern Community Hub is the first of its kind in Australia in terms of welcoming newly arrived refugee communities to the country and linking them in with older, more established migrant communities.

will allow for a 300m2 Community Shed to be constructed on the site that should be completed in late 2011/early 2012. The Community Shed will provide an additional community gathering space and directly connect the existing community garden with classroom space so that groups can hold classes in conjunction with hands on activities. Diversitat would like to sincerely thank Counsellor Stretch Kontelj who has been instrumental in bringing about the conclusion of the initial Northern Community Hub build being a past president of the Geelong Ethnic Communities Council. Special thanks were also extended to Cr Kylie Fisher for her support for the project.

Recognition for youth mentor The Minister for Youth Affairs, Ryan Smith, last month named local volunteer, Jeanne Winters, the 2011 Mentor of the Year. Ms Winters volunteered to mentor 19-year-old Andie for 120 hours as part of a driving instruction program run by the City of Greater Geelong. When Andie became homeless and suffered a mental illness, Jeanne remained committed to helping Andie and was a constant source of support and guidance through her difficult times. “Like many mentors, Jeanne made a real difference in the life of a young person, encouraging self-belief, determination and enabling them to achieve their goals,” Mr Smith said. “From 2010 to 2011 nearly 7,000 young people and 6,500 volunteer mentors were engaged in youth mentoring. Youth Mentoring Week is a valuable opportunity to celebrate the positive impact of mentoring on young people, the contribution of mentors, and to recruit new mentors,” Mr Smith said.

“It also aims to seek support for establishing community and business partnerships. In the coming months I will be leading consultations with businesses, philanthropic organisations and the community sector to develop a shared vision for the future of youth mentoring.” Mr Smith also announced funding of $90,000 for research into the benefits and effectiveness of youth mentoring in Victoria. The Helen MacPherson Smith Trust will match the government’s contribution of $90,000 for a research project aimed at gathering evidence of the economic and social benefits of investment in mentoring. This research will inform future policy development.

Mental illness research fund The treatment of people with a mental illness will be improved through a major research fund unveiled last month by Mental Health Minister Mary Wooldridge. Announcing details of the $10 million fund at the Royal Melbourne Hospital Academic Centre Research Symposium 2011, Ms Wooldridge said it delivers on a Coalition election commitment to provide a greater research focus to mental illness. “I believe the outcomes of this program will make a significant contribution to mental health care in the years to come,” Ms Wooldridge said. “The Mental Illness Research Fund will support a small number of significant grants, possibly three to five, to facilitate high quality and innovative research, which can translate into real improvements for Victorians with a mental illness.” Ms Wooldridge announced that an expert advisory committee chaired by Professor Bruce Tonge would provide advice on the Fund, including on the research agenda for the grants, with support provided by Neurosciences Victoria (NSV).

The $3.9 million project was funded by the Australian Government, State Government, City of Greater Geelong, Give Where You Live, Percy Baxter Trust, Geelong Community Foundation, Dawn Wade Foundation, Ian Potter Foundation, Jack Brockhoff Foundation and Diversitat. Not just a community facility, the Northern Community Hub was constructed using passive and active solar design principles and was designed to be as sustainable as possible. The grounds boast a community garden that is used as the site for AMEP horticulture classes for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) clients attending classes. Diversitat is also very excited to have received additional funding that

Cr Barbara Abley at the new look Old Court House.

WINE

Local bubbles are no fizzer With the Spring Racing Carnival galloping along, and the celebratory season just around the corner, you can almost here the loud popping of corks - a sound synonymous with this time of year. As you wander down the aisles of you local wine store, you’ll notice that perhaps there’s a greater choice compared to this time last year, with more imported wines than ever at great prices making our decision to buy local a little bit harder. I’ve attended a few wine shows this year and in my opinion the Aussie bubbles is as good, if not better, than some of our foreign friends. So why is it that French Champagne still dominates the tables (and wine flutes) of Australian consumers? Here is a quick lesson in how Champagne and indeed many new world sparkling wines are made.

As with all winemaking, the hard work and skill starts in the vineyard. Grapes are harvested early when there are high levels of acid in the grapes. Grapes may be harvested at higher yields also. The press is often close by the vineyard so the grapes can be quickly pressed and separated from their skins. Red wine grapes like Pinot noir can be used in the production of white sparkling wines because their juice is initially clear and is only later tinted red through exposure to the grape skins. While some skin exposure may be desirable in the production of rosé wines, most sparkling wine producers take care to limit the amount of skin contact. The primary fermentation of sparkling wine begins like most other wines. After ferment, the base wines are then blended to form what is called a cuvee. While there are examples of bubbles such as Blanc de Blanc made from only Chardonnay, most sparkling wines are blends of several grape varieties, vineyards and vintages. Champagne producers with access to an enormous range of grapes will use wines from several hundred base wines to create a blend that best shows their "house style" of their nonvintage wine. It is through the process of secondary ferment that sparkling wine differs from still wine production, and this process gives the wine its characteristic "bubbles". One of the by products of fermentation is the creation of carbon dioxide gas. While this gas is able to be released during the first

fermentation, efforts are taken during the second fermentation to retain the gas and have it dissolve into the wine. This creates a massive amount of pressure within the wine bottle (on average around 5 atmospheres) and wine producers take care to package the wine in strong glass bottles. When the wine is open and poured into a glass, the gas is released and the wine becomes sparkling. This is the most common way to make sparkling wine and is often referred to as Methode Champenoise. Like with soft drink, sparklings can be carbonated, but these are usually of inferior quality and produced this way due to a very tight budget and low sale price. Most producers follow the traditional methods, and you can by some great local bubbles at reasonable prices. Tasmania make some crackers, and if you remember that sparkling wines are best from cool to cold regions, you could find something exceptional much closer to home this celebratory season. Adrian Marchiaro When not immersed in his work as Winemaker's Assistant and jack-of-all-trades at the award-winning Witchmount Winery, Adrian presents wine tasting evenings at Lamby's Restaurant + Bar [check on renaming of Lambys to Black Sheep Café?]

[Editor’s note: There were some superb local Geelong bubbles on show at last month’s Toast to the Coast that are well worth stocking up on for the festive season as well.]

eVeRY FRIDaY FROM 5pm

Free Entry, Free Wine Tasting, Free Gourmet Platters For Patrons, Free Live Entertainment Each Week 5th August – D’Arenberg, McLarenVales Darling See why this producer is up there with the best in Australia Entertainment: Chic 12th August – The revolution has arrived and Cider is its name! A selection of new and traditional ciders made from pears and apples Entertainment: Warm Sands 19th August – Two shades of grey, the taste of today Taste Pinot Gris and Pinot Grigio wines they are still as popular as ever! Entertainment: Chic

AFTER HOURS

And they're racing The sun shone emphatically, the wind blew even more so, and few of those on course for the 2011 Centrebet Geelong Cup Day minded either terribly much. The focus of the day was firmly on the form â&#x20AC;&#x201C; racing-wise, fashion-wise or otherwise! Whether you were sitting on the lawns enjoying the Spring Carnival action, or enjoying the atmosphere of the marquees, there were smiles all round, although few bigger than that of Craig Williams when his ride, Dunaden, raced the front and claimed the Cup and a favouriteâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s spot on the first Tuesday in November. Photos by Terry Broun Jr

Above: Another stylish Cup attendee

Above: Geelong Cup winning jockey Craig Williams

Left: Don Dwyer, Tony Bennett (Coffs Harbour), Warren Chalker (Syd),Wade Gudgeon (Syd), Steve Miller (Dubbo) and Colin Gibbs (Syd)

Above: Eye-catching headress

Above: Beverley Henry from Templestowe

AFTER HOURS

Win, Win, Win ‘At the Alcoa Australian Corporate Head of the River for Give Where You Live everybody wins.’ At October’s 14th Annual Alcoa Australian Corporate Head of the River and the TAC-sponsored Dragon Boat Regatta, the winners of the coveted Alcoa Cup over 1,000 gruelling metres were 8-crew, Alcoa Maintenance Militia in the 8-crew comp and Barwon Health in the 4-crew comp. The Give Where You Live Challenge Cup was won by 8-crew, Dennis Family Homes’ Bert the Builder 8-crew and Austeng Flyers 4-crew. The new Dragon boat Regatta was closely contested, but in the end the TAC ‘Wipe-off Five Cup’ was won by the crew from VicRoads. However, the real beauty of this event is that everybody wins. For all of the crews who took part, it has been a fantastic team building opportunity. As well as the rowing, it is a great day out for families and spectators with BBQs and kids entertainment, with the spectacle of the bright costumes and the dragon boats with their drums beating and paddles flying.

Above: Alcoa Maintenance Melitia

But of course the ultimate winners are the individuals and families in the Geelong region experiencing disadvantage who are supported by Give Where You Live’s 70-plus Community Partners.

Above: Barwon Health.

Above: Shell Refinery.

Above: Dennis Family Homes

Above: Austeng

AFTER HOURS

2011 Toast to the Coast Celebrations The 2011 Toast to the Coast celebration of Geelong region’s fine wines and produce brought folks from far and wide, as they soaked up the Spring sunshine on the Saturday, and were just soaked by the Spring rain in the Sunday. Rain or shine however, there were smiles all round, as guests meandered between their choice of the 13 locations offering fare from the 27 participating local wineries. At Austins Wines in the Moorabool Valley, it was an enviable way for guests to revel in the glorious afternoon sunshine, superb wines and tempting food. GBN photographer, Terry Broun Jr travelled out to Austins to capture just some of the party atmosphere. Photos by Terry Broun Jr

Above: Austins Wines staff Below: Dariwill owner Jason Grant ensures libations are on hand

Above: Crowds from far and wide came to enjoy a wine or three

Above: A toast to the Toast of the Coast Austins Wines staff

Left: Scott & Richard Austin

Above: Michelle Brozina, Lisa Duerden, Rhonda & Natalie Visintin enjoyed a mellow afternoon

‘Partnering with you to achieve financial wellbeing’ Wellbeing Financial Solutions. 255 Moorabool Street Geelong, Phone: (03) 5222 7466 Email: info@wellbeingfs.com.au

Nicole Pertzel*CFP , DipFP ®

Financial Advisor SMSF Specialist Adviser™ *Nicole Pertzel is an authorised representative of Australian Unity Personal Financial Services Limited (ABN 26 098 725 145) AFS Licence No. 234459, 114 Albert Road, South Melbourne VIC 3205.

AFTER HOURS

Guests get into the swing of charity gala The St Laurence Gala Dinner was a night of premiere entertainment hosted by John Blackman and featuring a special performance by the James Morrison trio, including Emma Pask whose performances are reminiscent of the classic era of jazz, when swing was top of the charts.Â Various fundraising activities including live and silent auctions were conducted throughout the evening and a total of $16,771 from auctions and donations on the night was raised! Some great auction prizes were sold, including a signed James Morrison trumpet and Cadel Evans memorabilia. Catriona Rowntree perfomed an impromptu version of the Geelong Football Club theme song - much to delight of guests. The night also featured various VIPs in attendance including: Senator The Hon. Stephen Conroy, Paula Kontelj and Stretch Kontelj OAM, Hayden Miller and Catriona Rowntree and husband James Pettit.Â The dinner was supported by St Laurence partners; Ryrie Office Machines, Allianz Workers Compensation, Yellow Pages, Telstra Country Wide, Kwik Kopy, Drummond Golf, Signfic, Adroit Insurance, Roderick Insurance and Outline Print design.

Above: Liz Jardine, Tanya Jardine, Damien Jardine and Isabella Jardine

Above: James Morrison, Louise Roderick and Keith Roderick (who won the bidding on the signed trumpet)

Above: Stuart Johns, Helen Fenton and Danny Taylor.

Above: Don and Judy Blackmore

Above: John Blackman

Right: Andrew and Fiona Balaam

WHAT'S ON

From 11 November 2011 Wrecks, Reefs and the Mermaid Exhibition From the Australian National Maritime Museum comes an exhibition of photographs by Xanthe Rivett, illustrating two archaeological expeditions by the Museum to remote coral reefs off the coast of Queensland. The expeditions set out to locate the site of His Majesty’s Colonial Schooner Mermaid, wrecked in 1829 on the Great Barrier Reef, and to survey the sites of His Majesty’s Ship Porpoise and the merchant ship Cato, both wrecked on the reef in 1803. Where: National Wool Museum. Details: www.nwm.vic.gov.au

To 04 December Retrospective: David Turner - Four decades of artistic practice, including screenprints, gouache and paintings. Where: Geelong Gallery. Details: www.geelonggallery.org.au

President's Luncheon: Ted Baillieu MLA, Premier of Victoria For this third in the series of three President’s Luncheons to be held during 2011. Where: Captain’s Room, Skilled Stadium. Details: www.geelongaustraliacom.au/gbc

05 – 19 November

18 November – 03 December

Adrian Lockhart – Exhibition. Where: Metropolis Gallery. Details: www.metropolisgallery.com.au

Over The Moon - A fabulous farce is set in the backstage of a live theatre. Where: Woodbin Theatre. Details: www.gpac.org.au

09 November

18 – 26 November

VECCI Day To Day Management & Supervision of Staff 1-day training course - This program will give new and existing managers practical advice and information to help staff develop their skills. Where: Geelong Conference Centre, Eastern Park. Details: www.vecci.org.au

The Grinch - Presented by Medimime Productions. Drama Theatre, GPAC. Details: www.gpac.org.au

10 November IT: Building your customer base through innovative technology solutions – Geelong Chamber of Commerce’s Survive & Thrive presents a Q & A session. Where: Income Solutions, 153 Mercer St, Geelong. Details: www.geelongaustralia.com.au/gbc

12 November Central Geelong Farmer’s Market – Stroll among the stalls and sample some of the region’s finest produce. Where: Lt Malop Street central. Details: www.geelongaustralia.com.au Walking Home – Walk to raise awareness of homelessness in our region. Where: Queenscliff to Johnstone Park via Rail Trail. Details: www.walkinghome.org.au The Weather and Your Health – Two-time Green Room Awardnominated play. Where: Potato Shed, Drysdale. Details: www.geelongaustralia.com.au

15 November Starting your Business Workshop - The Starting Your Business workshop answers all these questions and gives you the direction to ensure you avoid the mistakes most new businesses make. Where: Geelong City Hall. Details: www.business.vic.gov.au/businessevents Adverse Action: Dismissal Claims - So what is adverse action and how could your business be affected? Where: Geelong Conference Centre, Eastern Park. Details: www.vecci.org.au

18 November Artefact Market – Artist’s Market. Where: All Saints Hall, Newtown. Details: www.geelongaustralia.com.au

19 November Gala Day Parade and Family Fun Day – Where: Malop Street Central and Steampacket Gardens, Waterfront. Details: www.geelongaustralia.com.au

20 November 2011 Cotton On Foundation Run Geelong – Fundraising event for the Geelong Hospital Children’s Ward redevelopment. Where: Skilled Stadium. Details: www.rungeelong.com.au President's Luncheon: Ted Baillieu MLA, Premier of Victoria For this third in the series of three President’s Luncheons to be held during 2011. Where: Captain’s Room, Skilled Stadium. Details: www.geelongaustraliacom.au/gbc

27 November Bruce Mathiske’s Rhythm Express – Where: Drama Theatre, GPAC. Details: www.gpac.org.au

28 November Pam Ayres – British comedienne returns to Australia. Where: The Playhouse, GPAC. Details: www.gpac.org.au

04 December Financial Review Corporate Cycling Challenge – Inaugural open road corporate team cycling event. Where: Steampacket Gardens, Waterfront Geelong. Details: www.corporatecyclingchallenge.com.au

09 December 2011 Food of the World Festival – Enjoy fine international cuisine. Where: Diversitat Wholefoods, 2 Baylie Place, Geelong. Details: www.diversitat.org.au

To publicise your event in GBN’s What’s On in December email: editor@geelongbusiness.com.au

NEW TELSTRA STORE GEELONG CBD COMING SOON

COMING TO YOU IN DECEMBER 2011 Corner of Moorabool & Ryrie St, Geelong CBD Call 1300 GEELONG (1300 433 566) for more information ™ and ® are trade marks and registered trade marks of Telstra Corporation Limited ABN 33 051 775 556.