Business News - November 2012

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ISSUE 213 NOVEMBER 2012

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ISSUE 213 NOVEMBER 2012

FEATURES

The great divide:

12. From Darkness to Light

counting the cost of divorce

16. The Great Divide: Counting the Cost of Divorce

CONTENTS 4. Editor 5. Biz News 10. New Appointments 15. Business 20. Comment 22. Regulation 23. VECCI 26. Recruitment & Training 31. Legal 32. Tax 34. Leadership 35. Investment 36. Small Biz 38. The Tech Guy 40. Arts 42. Community 44. Wine 46. After Hours 50. What’s On

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BUSINESS NEWS | 3

EDITOR

A win for the local election process In the end, it was a landslide victory to Keith Fagg in the Geelong Mayoral election, with the popular businessman taking a rock-solid mandate into Council.

But the voting result is just the fi rst step in what will be a four-year pilot of the directly elected Mayor model in regional Victoria, and already there have been some interesting shifts in the local political landscape.

FIRSTLY, the calibre of the candidates took a sharp upwards turn. Being a local government representative requires a large commitment of time and energy for what in most cases is a disproportionately small remuneration. Particularly long-serving councillors such as recently retired Barbara Abley, deserve our recognition and respect. But the process of local government elections has also turned away many capable, skilled, dedicated people who would make valuable assets to local councils – and the directly elected mayor model prompted some of these people put their hand up for the role.

it seems, generated a greater sense of hope about the coming four years, and that alone is a win.

Secondly, the conversation changed. Where party politics and power plays have dominated many previous local government elections, all of a sudden we were talking about the future of our city and where we wanted it to go – a wave of positivity swept through Geelong that I have not experienced with any other election, federal, state or local.

It was as if the opportunity to choose the head of Council,

Smith’ is farce at its best. But what John Smith really proved was how easy it is for someone to play a dummy role in elections, and in a close result, that could prove to be seriously unfunny and is something that calls for closer scrutiny.

Local politics the world over has a certain level of whacky character, and this year’s council elections added another element to that with our very own Secret Squirrel, in the form of candidate John Smith.

The election’s mystery man brought a touch of comedy to the process, with ‘Help John Smith’ and ‘I Am The Real John Smith’ posters popping up on lampposts across the city. We all like a laugh, and the presence of a publicly faceless candidate with the moniker ‘John

But what we really need the Victorian Election Commission to scrutinise in its 2014 review of the new process is the preference system.

ISSUE 213 NOVEMBER 2012 BUSINESS NEWS, an Adcell Print Group publication, is mailed to more than 6000 businesses across Geelong, Ballarat and Werribee.

Why we even have a preference system in local council elections is hard to understand – how many of us know anything substantial about half of those who nominate? Scrapping preferences would end the party politicisation of preference allocations, and would largely remove the reason stooges are placed in council elections.

The most glaring reason for scrapping preferences in council elections, however, is the overwhelming confusion amongst the voting public about how preferences work.

It is a system that begs to be abused and too often results in voters in advertently voting for someone they do not support. A simple 1 placed next to the preferred candidates name should suffice – the most votes wins.

Simple.

It may not be a perfect system, but it may just be a system on the improve. Congratulations, Mayor Fagg, and good luck.

DAVINA MONTGOMERY

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BIZ NEWS

Changes set for Fair Work Act In its fi rst response the review of the Fair Work Act, the federal government, via Workplace Relations Minister, Bill Shorten, has announced recommendations to amend unfair dismissal laws, particularly as they apply to small and medium-sized businesses.

MR Shorten announced that the government plans to draft legislation around 17 of the National Workplace Relations Consultative Council’s 51 recommendations from the review.

The government is proposing to impose a uniform time limit of 21 days for lodging unfair dismissal and general protections claims. Also under the proposed amendments, claims that are without merit may be dismissed, and persons making claims that don’t have a strong case will have to bear the costs.

The Australian Industry Group, however, says the government needs to be looking at broader legislative changes to the Act. “The Government’s first tranche legislative response to the Fair Work Act Review is useful but it does not touch the sides on the most important issues,” said Australian Industry Group Chief Executive, Innes Willox.

“The big priorities for the Fair Work Act Review were widely identified by the Australian Industry Group and other major industry representatives.

They included more tightly

defining the issues which can be the subject of bargaining claims, stopping unions holding employers to ransom over greenfields agreements for new projects, implementing a more effective framework for Individual Flexibility Arrangements, and fixing the poorly drafted general protections and transfer of business laws.”

While calling for the government to stand up to unions on industrial relations, Ms Willox said the unfair dismissal amendments to give Fair Work Australia more power to strike out applications and to award costs where applicants have acted unreasonably, and the reduction to 21 days for the general protections filing deadline for applications

“Subject to the legislation being appropriately drafted, Parliament should move quickly to pass the technical amendments announced today so that the most important issues can be focused on without delay,” Mr Willox said.

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BIZ NEWS

A warm welcome for Avalon upgrade The announcement that Avalon Airport is one step closer to a future as an international passenger destination has been warmly welcomed across the Geelong region.

THE federal government issued final approval for changes to Avalon’s lease arrangement with the Department of Defence last month, giving airport operators, Linfox, the green light to develop an international passenger terminal.

Avalon Airport CEO, Justin Giddings, said the decision was critical to Avalon’s continued growth.

“This decision gives us the certainty and confidence we need to go out and secure international airlines to operate out of Avalon,” Mr Giddings said.

“Avalon’s growth into the international market will not only create a better flying experience for travellers, it will help Victoria capitalise on the many trade and tourism opportunities emerging in the Asian region. The next step in the process is for Avalon to secure an international airline, and we can now make that approach in full confidence,” Mr Giddings said.

Federal members, Richard Marles and Darren Cheeseman, commented on the announcement: ‘this is a truly historic day for Avalon

Airport, for Geelong and for our region’, and ‘the significance of this announcement cannot be underestimated’.

The changes to Avalon Airport’s lease means a terminal of up to 10,000 square metres in size and up to $15 million in value can be developed without the need for further Federal Government planning approval.

VECCI strongly welcomed the decision to amend the lease of the Airport in order for it to become Victoria’s second international airport.

VECCI Chief Executive, Mark Stone, said Avalon’s new international status, and plans for a new terminal, will be a huge boost for the Victorian economy, allowing for more flights from growing Asian markets.

“A second international airport in Victoria reduces some of the pressure on Tullamarine Airport, which is currently our only international arrival point for tourists and business travellers from overseas,” Mr Stone says.

It is estimated that, if planned upgrades and international air travel plans are realized, that

the Airport would eventually support 20,000 jobs.

Deakin Vice Chancellor, Professor Jane den Hollander, also welcomed the announcement, saying that an international airport servicing the Geelong region was important to Deakin, as a university seeking to attract international students to the region and undertaking research that would attract major industry to the region.

“Higher education is one of Victoria’s top export industries and a local international airport that uses the services of a known budget airline would secure very significant business to service, not only Deakin University but other Victorian university students’ entry and access,” she said.

Professor den Hollander also said plans to increase international freight movements are fundamental to Victorian industry expansion and underpin the role of Avalon as one of the critical pillars supporting regional growth.

Meanwhile, the Geelong Council has recommended amendments to the Airport Master Plan. The plan, which

sets out a broad framework for the development of the airport over the next 20 years, envisages future uses of the site including hotels, warehousing, light manufacturing, office development, retailing, corporate jet accommodation, aviation education and freight and logistics.

The Geelong Council has stated that it fully supports the future development of the airport, and has worked with Avalon on a compromise regarding the planned retail space on the site in order to minimise any impact of the development on retail across the city’s northern suburbs and central Geelong.

It seems the only point of contention has been who will hold the responsibility for issuing planning permits on the site. Linfox, as the airport operator, wants to assume the role of accepting or declining planning proposals on the site, while the City of Greater Geelong wishes to remain the responsible planning authority.

The ultimate decision on who controls planning permits for the site rests with the state government.

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BIZ NEWS

The increasing importance of financial intelligence

Focus on cybercrime and seniors

Australia’s anti-money laundering agency, AUSTRAC, has underlined the increasingly important role of financial intelligence in combating crime in its latest annual report, released last month.

The Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC), Australia’s national research and knowledge centre on crime and justice, told federal parliament’s Joint Select Committee on Cyber-Safety in its submission to the inquiry that senior Australians, along with the rest of the population, face a number of online risks and threats.

AUSTRAC CEO, John Schmidt, said the report showed that AUSTRAC information assisted many investigations by Australian law enforcement, national security and other agencies, including thousands of Australian Taxation Office investigations, resulting in $252 million in additional tax assessments being raised.

Financial intelligence also assisted in hundreds of Centrelink cases and other major investigations undertaken by law enforcement, including illegal drug importations, firearms trafficking and identity theft, and contributed to whole-ofgovernment taskforces tackling serious and organised investment fraud and international tax evasion.

“This year, 53 million international funds

transfers were reported to AUSTRAC, with a total value of over $3.4 trillion,” Mr Schmidt said. “These are vast numbers, which demonstrate how Australia is interconnected with the global financial system. We must remain alert to both the threats and the opportunities posed by this trend.”

AUSTRAC’s 2011-12 report also shows increasing engagement with industry, including over 1,600 assessments of the compliance of reporting entities with their legislative obligations.

“Australia has a robust anti-money laundering regime,” Mr Schmidt said, “but AUSTRAC and its partners in government and industry must stay ahead of organised crime and keep pace with new technologies and global trends to keep it that way.”

ALTHOUGH the nature of the offences is the same for older Australians as the general population, the extent and consequences of victimisation may be different for this age group.

The committee has heard from the AIC that as cybercrimes are currently reported to a diverse range of agencies, if at all, it can be diffi cult to determine the extent of cybercrime in general, and victimisation of older Australians specifi cally. Furthermore, the AIC says that the age/ victimisation relationship is not straightforward, at least in relation to cyber-fraud and cyber-scams.

The fear of victimisation in seniors may mean that they are less likely to take up new technologies, which may otherwise offer

a number of advantages, such as staying in touch with family and friends, or utilising online services provided by businesses and governments.

Committee Chair, Senator Catryna Bilyk, said that throughout the inquiry, the committee has heard that seniors may be less comfortable than other Australians with online technologies due to the perceived cyber-safety threat.

“I am concerned that seniors may use avoidance of the internet as a protective barrier against victimisation.

Therefore, the committee is looking forward to hearing about the research that the Australian Institute of Criminology has done in relation to cybercrime and seniors,” Senator Bilyk said.

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NEW APPOINTMENTS LIBRARIES Cathy Ferencz has been appointed as Executive Manager, Collection Access with Geelong Regional Library Corporation.

Cathy facilitates equitable access to current information and collection items for the library service and is charged with developing a dynamic and relevant lending collection, researching library and information trends and building digital collections.

LIBRARIES Geelong Regional Library Corporation welcomes Alison Katona to the position of Executive Manager, Library and Learning Services.

As a member of the Executive Leadership Team, Alison’s role includes overseeing Lifelong Learning and the provision of library services via 16 branch libraries and two mobile libraries to members of the community.

LIBRARIES Tineke Barry has joined Geelong Regional Library Corporation as Executive Manager, Corporate Services and is delighted to be part of the current reinvention of public libraries.

Tineke is a Leaders for Geelong program graduate, member of Barwon Health’s Human Research Ethics Committee and Treasurer of local all-girl band, Sweethearts.

10 | BUSINESS NEWS

HEALTH Nigel Allsop recently joined Barwon Health in the new role as the Head of Procurement.

Nigel brings 25 years of local and global experience across varying industries, holds an MBA and is a member of Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply, as well as having an electrical trades background.

REAL ESTATE Arriving at Release Property Management with a strong customer service background, Claire Sim is passionate about carving out a successful real estate career.

Undertaking the role of Assistant Property Manager, Claire exhibits the necessary enthusiasm and key qualities that set Release apart from competitors.

REAL ESTATE A Relocation Consultant assisting executives and their families from domestic and international destinations to settle into work and life in the Geelong region, Sue Health joins Release Property Management as a Leasing Agent.

Sue provides expertise and assistance with housing, education, social and cultural familiarisation, as well as taxation, finance and migration.

NEW APPOINTMENTS HEALTH

AUTOMOTIVE

Barwon Health is pleased to announce the appointment of Daniela Pavlovic to the Barwon Health Board of Directors.

Daniela is a Senior Associate with Harwood Andrews Lawyers.

Daniela’s legal qualifications and academic background provide her with the necessary skills to appreciate the legislative framework and the social and economic context within which the health industry operates.

Ballarat BMW / Volkswagen Autohaus recently welcomed Geelong local, Ashley Brimacombe, to the position of General Sales Manager.

Known throughout the wider business community for his roles with Freedom Furniture (Geelong) and more recently within the Prestige Automotive sector, Ashley’s focus is on delivering a “total ownership experience.”

REAL ESTATE

BANKING

Buxton Highton are delighted to announce the appointment of Grace Van Kalken as Senior Property Manager. Grace brings an energetic and enthusiastic approach to the Buxton Highton team. Having worked in all facets of Property Management for over 4 years, Grace knows what it takes to have a tenancy run smoothly. She believes highly in communication, reliability, trust, honesty and getting the job done.

Philippa Bakes has joined NAB Geelong as a Senior Business Banking Manager.

She brings to the team her broad business advisory experience gained at WHK Geelong and PricewaterhouseCoopers (Melbourne, Hong Kong and the UK). With a background as a chartered accountant, Philippa is looking forward to the challenge of this change in career direction.

COMMUNICATIONS

FINANCIAL SERVICES Genevieve Sutherland joins Podium Business Solutions as an Accountant.

Genevieve recently joined this small business that provides quality bookkeeping by accountants.

Genevieve brings with her 20 years’ experience as a Tax Accountant in large accounting firms in Melbourne, Coffs Harbour and Geelong.

RedStick Strategic Communications welcomes Jessica Taylor to their team as Strategic Communications Adviser. Jessica returns to RedStick after working with Glastonbury Community Services on the organisation’s brand development, marketing, PR and media relations.

Jessica will be specialising in servicing RedStick’s NGO and not-for-profit clients, as well as supporting RedStick’s strategic PR and government relations programs.

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MEN’S HEALTH me in. For a large portion of the seven years that I was in decline, I was actually feeling empowered, I had heightened senses, and felt more on top of things and had more purpose than I’d ever felt.

“That’s the horrible thing about the illness, it lulls you into a false sense of security, but after six years of being on a high, within the space of a few days, I was in contact with the devil, in a living hell where all that I’d see were dried up leaves and grey skies. That was what my mind did to me under the influence of the illness.”

From darkness to light In a quiet and gentle voice, Dr James McLure welcomed me into his parents’ home to share the very personal story of his battle with schizophrenia and how his family has helped him down the long road of recovery.

THE softness of the voice, slowness of speech and the careful way James moves are all common characteristics of a person recovering from a severe mental illness. This slowness in his body has been a new reality for James for a number of years now and belie the shining intelligence, quick humour and strong character of the once promising footballer and academic.

with schizophrenia has humbled them and ultimately made them better men. It is a telling observation of what this family has been through, and how far they have come down the road to recovery.

James’ father is former Geelong Advertiser editor and columnist, Daryl McLure, and James is a former AFL and SANFL player and medical researcher with a PhD in clinical pharmacology, who now draws on his experience with mental illness in his work at Pathways. James and Daryl explained that their experience

“I think deep down that I knew I was getting unwell, but at the time same there were experiences that were so empowering, that I was close to God, and a wizard (much to the delight of his young nephews) and a prophet, that are all part of the illness and that’s how the illness drew

12 | BUSINESS NEWS

Until his mid-thirties, James’ life had been marked by success, but in 1999, following a relationship break up, his behaviour started to change and his reality to shift.

For those six years when he was on a high, James continued to work, including working in Spain for a year before returning to Australia to play for SANFL club, Woodland West Torrens, and to do his PhD at Adelaide’s Flinders University. Gradually James became more reclusive, shutting himself off from his friends and living in the world created in his mind. As James recalled that he probably would have died had it not been for the intervention of his parents, Daryl briefly reached out and touched his son on the arm. It was a simple gesture that spoke volumes of the bond between father and son.

Of course for Daryl and his wife, Liesje, the experience of their youngest child’s illness was a very different one.

“It was my wife who picked it up. It took me eighteen months or so. James was into the academic side of things and a bit of a boffin in an area outside of what I had ever worked in, so I just thought we needed to give him a bit of space and everything would be alright…

But things deteriorated.”

Daryl paused as he recalled those dark days. “It’s pretty shattering to see your son go through that.”

A career journalist and editor, Daryl started to research, reading extensively and learning about what was happening with his son. That understanding, he said, helped him to differentiate between James and the illness.

“It was sad. James had always been a gregarious guy, had always had lots of friends and just to see him towards the end, reclusive in this dingy little place… and then when the negative side, or what James calls the low side hit him, that was scary. He stopped eating, he lost weight, it got to the stage where he wouldn’t drink water and his only friend was a huntsman spider called Serena, which crawled around the walls of the house, and a dead lizard, which he swore was alive and would put water out for every day.

“He had an obsession with cleaning and would wash everything; he would wash his clothes and his bedding every day, and he would even clean pegs with a toothbrush, it was obsessive. This was the devil telling him, as he recounted to us, that he was the scum of the earth, that he was dirty and not worth of being alive.”

For most of his seven years living with the illness untreated, James continued on with his life – albeit a life that at the time involved a merging of his work, his family and his delusions.

Daryl recalled a trip James took to China during that period to attend an international pharmacology conference.

“He had God on his shoulder and he was going to get over there and convert 1.4 billion Chinese and tell them to lay off the Falun Gong,” he laughed.

“But being a communist country, we were scared, but he got a few frights with things and he pulled back, which was a good thing. It was scary and we didn’t want him to go, the university had said not to help him to go, but there was nothing that I could do to stop him.”

While there were constant concerns about their son, Daryl said the months after they brought James home, after his illness had taken over and he was no longer caring for himself, were truly frightening.

“We had driven home with the caravan and James drove in his car behind us, and I remember his saying that all he wanted to do on the way

MEN’S HEALTH

Opposite page: James playing for the Cats. Above left: With Daryl at the Glen Innes Standing Stones. Centre: At his doctoral graduation.

Right: At the Eight Stones book launch with his parents, Liesje and Daryl McLure.

home was to drive into the back of the caravan and kill us all. That was a bit scary, and that night in bed we could hear him walking around the house.

So, the next morning I rang the psychiatrist in Adelaide, and he said that everybody with schizophrenia probably has those ideas, but it’s only those with a predisposition towards violence that will act on them.

There’s not a bit of violence in James and we’ve never worried about that since.”

But even the horrifying thought that their son might harm himself or them was not the worst moment in the journey for Daryl and Liesje. Daryl looked at James as he said, ‘Your worst moment was your psychotic episode here, James.’

“You never want to see any of your children go through anything like that,” Daryl said, visibly moved by the memory.

“It was so scary that it turned James around, and he asked to be taken to the Swanston Centre. I think that was a really good thing that we didn’t have to push him… that was important.”

While James was working at Flinders University, he had been diagnosed with schizophrenia by a Professor of Psychiatry at the University, but while the diagnosis confirmed what Daryl thought was happening with his son, James was not convinced - he thought he was going to be the Director

General of the World Health Organisation and was going to change the world.

Nothing is ever simple with schizophrenic delusions.

There is always, to the person living in those delusions, a seemingly rational explanation.

Understanding this helped James’ parents to cope with the changes they were seeing in him.

Any serious illness has an impact on the people closest to the patient. It is well recognised that the families of cancer patients need support through the process as well.

Sadly, the same can’t be said for the families of people with a severe mental illness. I know this is true, because like Daryl and the McLure family, my family has also lived through some very dark days with schizophrenia. Someone once described it to me as a grief process, even though no one had died, and I can’t think of a better way to describe it.

“There definitely was a period of grief, I think, both for me and for my family, where once I was a top level footballer and an academic doing a PhD and all these wonderful things, and suddenly I was feeding water to a dead lizard. There’s grief, but the way that we’re learning and looking at it now is that it has actually been a transformative process. At the end of it, it’s making us all better people. It’s been humbling for Mum and Dad

and for my family to have me as a person with a serious mental illness. It’s humbling for me too, not being able to do the things that I thought I might be able to do, like be a Lecturer in my field.”

During his recovery, James found a mental health support group called Grow, and explained that with the help of this group and its recovery program, he has come to see his breakdown as really a breakthrough to a healthier and happier life.

“The way that I value my family and my friends, and the relationships and friendships that Mum, Dad and I have now with the three of us and with other family members, how much it means for me to be sharing time with them - I don’t think I would have had that had we not gone through this, and Dad would probably say something similar. It has changed us.”

While much of James’ life had changed as a result of the illness, in many ways he is still the same person he always was. James still had a little over a year to go to complete his PhD when he had his breakdown. The University suggested taking a Masters instead to take the pressure, but James insisted on completing his PhD. Quite unusually, James also remembers the delusions and hallucinations that defined his illness with extraordinary

clarity. Most people recovering from a severe mental illness will have blank patches in their memory that can extend for months or even years. Early in his recovery, James wrote and self-published a book about his experiences, titled Eight Stones, after the eight stones he would carry around in his pocket that represented the family he believed he had – himself, his wife, their five children and even the family dog.

“It was all really fresh in my mind when I was in early recovery, so I thought that this might be something that would help other people, so I wrote it all down.”

Launching the book in Adelaide, the South Australian Public Advocate, Dr John Brayley, said: “James McLure’s book is an important contribution to our community. There is still so much misinformation about psychosis out there. The book explains what it is like at a very detailed level. James has not kept any secrets and his preparedness to tell all I think, is what makes this book so potentially helpful… What is also significant about the book is that the story of illness is in the setting of a personal story.

It is not a clinical description of symptoms and signs where the individual is removed. This is a story of life, hope, family, friends and passion in which illness then plays a part… This

BUSINESS NEWS | 13

MEN’S HEALTH is also a positive story because the illness is put back into place and the spirit of life and the passion for life prevails.”

James’ recovery is a positive story, and besides his family, he attributes much of his recovery to Grow. The national organisation provides peer support, and the Grow program is helping to fill a sizeable gap in mental health services in Australia - that of post-hospitalisation and longterm support for people with a mental illness.

People who have experienced a psychotic or depressive episode are not well when they leave hospital - they are just no longer at the peak of an episode. It takes months to return to something approaching normal functionality, and years to fully recover. They will usually still be experiencing the delusions and hallucinations that are symptomatic of their illness and they will also be trying to deal with the challenges of acknowledging their illness, as well as coping with medications and any side-effects of those medications. Grow provides a non-judgemental, supportive environment for people to share their stories, their successes and their fears with other people who have or who are also living with a mental illness.

Daryl too has seen the positive impact the Grow program has had on James’ recovery, and he and Liesje have become involved in a local Grow group for carers of people with a mental illness, known as Grow Better Together. He has also become an advocate for better long-term treatment plans for people recovering from a mental illness.

As James explained, “It’s one thing to receive help from the professionals, but when you’re speaking to someone who has been through it, and you can meet with that person and empathise, and have a laugh about being God and being a prophet, there’s a lot of healing that comes through that.”

If you or a family member, friend or colleague is experiencing a mental illness, you can contact: Lifeline (24 hours): 13 11 14 Kids Helpline (Under 18 years of age): 1800 55 1800 Just Ask - rural mental health information: 1300 13 11 14 Mensline Australia (24 hours): 1300 78 99 78 SANE Helpline - mental illness information, support and referral: 1800 18 SANE (7263) For more information on Grow, visit grow.net.au or call 1800 55 82 68

DAVINA MONTGOMERY

Movember - a global movement Since its humble beginnings in Melbourne, Movember has grown to become a truly global movement inspiring more than 1.9 Million Mo Bros and Mo Sistas to participate in Australia, New Zealand, the US, Canada, the UK, South Africa, Ireland, Finland, the Netherlands, Spain, Denmark, Norway, Belgium and the Czech Republic. In addition, Movember is aware of Mo Bros and Mo Sistas supporting the men’s health cause across the globe, from Russia to Dubai, Hong Kong to Antarctica, Rio de Janeiro to Mumbai, and everywhere in between.

Movember will continue to work to change established habits and attitudes men have about their health, to educate men about the health risks they face, and to act on that knowledge, thereby increasing the chances of early detection, diagnosis and effective treatment.

In 2012, the Movember initiative is focused on what it takes to be a better man – how the seeking and sharing of knowledge with a loved one, particularly a father or father figure, can play a meaningful role in who we become, and how that sharing of knowledge

can pass insight back up the chain.

Are you mou’d up but not sure where to go? Movember community teams are active throughout Victoria, just hit the movember.com website and click on join a network.

The Geelong G-Mo’s are sending out the call to the Geelong community: ‘Prepare yourself my sons of Geelong, for Mo season is upon us! People@Work, in partnership with Movember and the Geelong Chamber of Commerce aims to unite the Geelong community under Geelong G-Mo’s Network and raise the profile of men’s health in Geelong.

The G-Mo’s network offers words of encouragement throughout Mo Month as well as being a space to share progress pictures and interesting stories. Businesses who join the G-Mo’s can also take the opportunity to gain free market exposure by offering specials or deal offered to all Mo Bro’s for the month of November. These offers will be posted on the official Mo Bro website.

And, of course, there is the end of month Movember celebration on November 30th.

Head online for more details.

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BUSINESS

Business outlook improving A slightly rosier picture of the outlook for both the national and state economies is emerging, according to a new report released by VECCI at the end of October.

THE VECCI – Bank of Melbourne Survey of Business Trends and Prospects shows that while there is still concern over prospects for the Australian and Victorian economies, fewer businesses expect weaker economic activity over the year ahead.

VECCI Chief Executive, Mark Stone, says, “Last quarter more than half our survey respondents held a pessimistic outlook of national business conditions. Now, the majority of businesses expect conditions for the year ahead to remain stable.

“While it is too early to tell if this improvement is sustainable, this could be the beginning of more stable conditions that businesses are hoping for.”

Views on the Victorian economy were similar, with fewer respondents now expecting further declines.

However, while outlook sentiment improved, the

September quarter remained difficult for many businesses.

Widespread declines were reported in general business conditions and sales, along with declines in profitability.

“The good news is that many respondents expect sales and selling prices to improve by the end of the year,” says Mr Stone.

Regional respondents were more likely to expect a weaker national outlook over the year ahead than their metropolitan counterparts, but were more optimistic with regards to the Victorian economy.

“There is great potential for further economic growth in Victoria’s regions,” says Mr Stone. “This was highlighted at the VECCI Regional Business Convention in mid-October, where regional business leaders put forward ways to achieve improvements in regional employment, investment and living standards.”

Different industries

reported markedly different performances over the September quarter. Those in the education, health and community service sectors, and the recreation, personal and other services sectors reported much stronger conditions than the average, while the building and construction industry, and the wholesale and retail trade sector were much more likely to report declines in general business conditions, sales, selling prices and profitability.

“The results of the VECCI Bank of Melbourne Survey of Business Trends and Prospects highlight the challenges faced by Victorian businesses, and the need for policies and practices that focus on productivity

-enhancing infrastructure and investment, encouraging innovation and building a culture of business excellence, collaboration and leadership,” says Mr Stone.

Bank of Melbourne Chief Executive, Scott Tanner, says it is very encouraging to see an improved business outlook, as stronger confidence is a key factor for driving economic growth for the state.

“It’s positive to see business confidence improving. While the economic data for Victoria is mixed, some sectors are tracking well relative to the rest of the nation and globally, Australia’s economic performance rates positively,” says Mr Tanner.

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BUSINESS NEWS | 15

COVER STORY

The great divide: counting the cost of divorce

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16 | BUSINESS NEWS

COVER STORY

One in three Australian marriages will end in divorce, and that figure may be closer to one in two. Like it or not, divorce has become part of the fabric of life. There is nothing new about divorce, with the ending of a marriage being a relatively common place practice in Ancient Roman society, was certainly a feature of Ancient Greek society and to a lesser degree in Ancient Egyptian society. French satirist, Voltaire, once quipped: “Divorce is probably of nearly the same date as marriage. I believe, however, that marriage is some weeks the more ancient.” More recently, screenwriter Nora Ephron perhaps defi ned modern views on marriage in her statement that, “Marriages come and go, but divorce is forever.”

WHILE the ending of marriage may be rich fodder for writers and filmmakers it was estimated in an AMP.NATSEM report in 2005 to cost the nation a whopping $6 billion each year. The emotional cost is incalculable and is far beyond the rationalisation skills of statisticians. But changes to the Family Law Act in 2009 were aimed at reducing the emotional and financial stress of the divorce process. We spoke to two financial and legal experts about divorce in the 21st Century.

Divorce is rife, with around than 50,000 Australians divorcing each year, although, interestingly, the divorce rate actually dropped over the decade from 2000 to 2010, after a sharp peak in 1976, when the number of divorce applications filed shot up to 63,230 and the crude divorce rate (currently around 2.1 per cent) rose to 4.6 per cent (Australian Institute of Family Studies).

all the statistics within a law firm show that is how it is.

“Our primary aim is to meet the client, accumulate the information we need, find out how much things are worth, find out how they got there and who made the contributions, both monetary and nonmonetary, look at the future and then distribute the property according to what best fits that couple – not what is some sort of scientific model prescribed by the court.”

I grew up with kids who were caught up in the tug-of-war of bitterly contested divorces.

Now, that generation are the ones getting divorced, which may have a lot to do with why the public narrative around divorce has changed.

“That is very much the case,

built a successful business together at the time of their divorce. The couple couldn’t stand being married to each other, but were quite happy to continue a working relationship.

They divided their assets but retained an equal share in the business and went on to build a very successful business together, and both re-partnered.

“I’m sure there are plenty of places where people work together but can’t stand each other. Look at Bob Hawke and Paul Keating, or John Howard and Peter Costello, these are classic examples – and probably now Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard, and I’m sure that happens in businesses.”

The happy ending stories do happen, but they are far from the norm, and separation can

“Marriages come and go, but divorce is forever.”

- Nora Ephron, screenwriter

Linten Drever, Principal and Family Law Specialist at Harwood Andrews

says that changes to the law have resulted in some significant changes in the process of divorce. For instance, today only about three to five per cent of all property applications that are commenced in the court are actually decided by the judge as an outcome.

Lawyers,

“That’s because, the majority of the time, most family lawyers who are specialist family lawyers, will always start out on the basis of trying to get a resolution – that’s your aim. You won’t read that in the tabloid media because it isn’t deemed newsworthy. You won’t ever read the headline: ‘Lawyers work hard to get resolution at minimum cost in minimum time’.

People just wouldn’t believe it.

But in this particular area, the court statistics show that, and

and [those kids now] are probably broken up into two groups. There are ones where they are hardened by the process, who put their emotions in a box and move through life with that wariness, or there are those where the outcomes have been good, in that it was done properly and while their parents couldn’t get along, the reality is that they’ve moved on and repartnered, and the children live within a positive environment of that re-partnering,” Linten said.

As well as mandating a series of mediations during the divorce process, the changes to the Family Law Act also notably recognised de facto relationships as equal in every way to a marriage.

Linten tells a story of an anonymous couple that had

have a crippling impact on a business. The standard model of a 50-50 split of assets, where one partner must be bought out can be an easy way to end a business – and result in both parties losing all future earning.

The question begs then, how many people walk into their lawyer’s office knowing what they really want at the end of the divorce process?

“Not that many,” Linten said.

“One of the things that the Family Law Act states is that there must be a clean break.

You can’t have a settlement based around something that may or may not ever occur in the future; the Court’s not going to happy with that. But, let’s say you have a situation where the husband and wife are directors and shareholders in a company, that it’s a good business and

one that probably employs a lot of people. The Court will allow you to have an order that says that the husband and wife shall each retain their share in Blogs Pty Ltd, and retain their share for the period that they wish to retain it, and have a right to sell it provided there is a first option for the other party to acquire that share in their business for market value. In that sort of settlement, we’ll have what are called operative clauses, or mechanical operations clauses, which say that the dividends from the business shall be distributed equally between the husband and wife, so you’ll have how the money comes out as part of the court order. It works well, and I can think of at least ten cases in big business settlement cases where we’ve done that, where we’ve kept operations alive, kept income coming from the businesses to the spouses, and off they go with their other assets that they keep.”

Regardless of the level of equanimity of the couple involved, distribution of assets in a separation can still be an incredibly complicated process that can take years to complete.

The process of unbundling multiple companies, family trusts, multiple superannuation funds and farming properties brings with it a multitude of questions around compliance with business law and attendant tax and stamp duty liabilities.

“When you have a standard case of a house, maybe an investment property, some super and a couple of cars, then the model is pretty straight forward. But in a business situation, you’ve got a completely different process… you have to treat it like any other separation of a business partnership.”

The question of what something is worth is often where the complications lie. If it’s a house, then a straightforward

BUSINESS NEWS | 17

COVER STORY independent valuation can answer the question, if it’s a superannuation fund, you read the value on the statement, but when it’s a business, the question of how much it’s really worth has given rise to an industry of its own, forensic accounting.

But, of course, the one aspect of the process for which there exists no model is emotion.

“We call it restructuring the family enterprise,” Linten said.

“If it’s restructuring a normal enterprise, the only emotion tends to be dollars – it’s driven human nature, ‘I need to look after myself’. But within family law you add personal emotions to it as well. Probably the worst case is where you’ve got a complex business structure and you’ve got a very complex dispute in relation to the future parenting arrangements for the children as well. One’s got to be done before the other and we will work really hard to resolve the children’s issues first. We get councillors involved, we get people off to mediation as soon as possible, and we work with both parties to establish interim arrangements that can be worked through, so we can get some stability there for the children.

“The biggest change that has happened is a recognition by the Family Law Act, and obviously the government who make these amendments, is the fact that a shared care arrangement is deemed to be something that is normal rather than abnormal. In the old days, prior to the mid-2000s, you always started with a situation where the child or children will go with Mum and Dad gets every second weekend, and the view was, ‘Why would you try to change that because the Court’s not going to change that for you’. That wasn’t actually fact, because the Courts would regularly provide shared care when someone actually applied for it, but nobody applied for it because there was this perception of ‘What’s the point?’”

Where once the non-primary parent – usually the father – would have to apply to the Family Court for a shared care

18 | BUSINESS NEWS

arrangement and be able to show why it should be that way. Now, a shared parenting arrangement is presumed to be the case, and if it is not going to be the case, then it must be shown to the Court why it shouldn’t be the case.

“I think there is a greater sharing of parenting skills these days. Most blokes know how to change nappies and turn a dishwasher on, wash and hang out the clothes and do the shopping. But thirty years ago, twenty years ago, even ten years ago, many couldn’t say that, because they didn’t have those skills,” Linten said.

“People say to me, ‘Geez, it must be bloody tough, you’ve all these people with all these huge emotional problems’, and I tell them that’s the best part, because I’m dealing with people about people things, about human nature. We get them at rock bottom and our job is to start living the new life with

to go and try to work out a way to not blow the structure apart. It’s literally sitting down with a cup of coffee with the other lawyer for a couple of hours and working out what everyone needs and how we can get to a settlement that works for both parties.

If we haven’t got a deal and we are so far apart that we’re not going to get a deal, then we might apply to the Family Court. The Court will then refer you back to that settlement process with two compulsory stages, a round table case assessment conference chaired by somebody from the Court and then there’s a conciliation conference, again chaired by somebody from the Court.

“So you’re still having that resolution conversation, but it’s compulsory. You can’t skip a stage and it forces people to talk. It’s only the ones that don’t get a resolution through the mediation or conciliation

“He taught me housekeeping; when I divorce, I keep the house.”

- Zsa Zsa Gabor, actress and seven-time divorcee

them, and that’s fantastic. That’s the sort of stuff we lawyers talk about all the time.”

So, what can people can do to ease the process of divorce?

“If they’re involved in a business or in business development, one of them needs to go to a lawyer, and preferably both of them, early, need to go to their own individual lawyer, and it needs to be a family law specialist. The reason for that is that the earlier that a family lawyer can identify the model that is going to help the two of them, and the earlier that the two lawyers can have that conversation, then the earlier you are going to get a resolution. What we will often do in a case where there is a considerable amount of assets and businesses and so forth, is that we will quickly get together with the other lawyer to get a feel for how things are going

process that go before the Court for a decision, and that’s three to five per cent of all cases.

“In the complex business cases, that Court puts you on to a complex property list, and the judge that manages that list orders that mediation occur, but it’s mediation with a highly experienced Barrister usually, who will have a significant involvement in business law, and you’ll have that mediation with the forensic accountants, each party’s accountants, the lawyers will be there, the mediator will be there, and the Judge will make an order that the case be listed for them before they judge the following day.

“If you haven’t settled, the Judge will want to know why before they’ll allow you to be one of those five per cent. You don’t read about that.”

Leading financial commentator and Chairman of the Federal Government’s Financial Literacy Board, Paul Clitheroe AM, says that the more aware both partners are about their family’s financial position going into a divorce, the less lengthy, costly and harrowing the process is likely to be.

“The problem is, of course, that from an external viewpoint, a lot of divorces get held up by relatively small issues that probably have more emotional meaning than logic. For example, at times you will get people absolutely stuck on the idea that they should get 51 per cent and the other person should get 49 per cent, or you will have a husband and wife or the family together might own an unlisted business, and there might be a valuation on both sides that is quite different. What we often find is that because people don’t have a strong understanding of what they’re financial situation is going into divorce, you can see significant difficulties in the mediation process.

“Apart from the fairly obvious disputes about the value of things, there is little doubt that what really slows the process down happens around the stage that I’m at now, with the youngest child just finishing school, and that I think is clearly the next big divorce stage.

The kids leave home and you look at each other and decide whether you like each other or not, and quite often in some of these longer marriages, which are probably a little more traditional in regards to money, you will find that if the female has been at home caring for the children, she will sometimes have absolutely no idea of what the family unit is worth.”

Paul said that while money is generally not the trigger point that causes the relationship to break down, research looked at by the government’s Financial Literacy Board shows money is often a nagging issue in a marriage. If you have a good understanding of the family’s finances, I think you’re less likely to actually get divorced, because that communication

COVER STORY is there, and if divorce is inevitable, then you’re both in the same ballpark when it comes to mediation around how to split this stuff up. If you go into mediation with little idea of how much things are worth, then it’s doomed to failure.”

As a founding partner in one of the nation’s largest financial advisory firms, ipac securities, Paul has had countless divorcing couples being referred to him for advice on how to divide assets, couples that perhaps in the old days would have spent 5 or even 10 per cent of their assets fighting over the division of 2 or 3 per cent of their assets.

“I think if both partners go in and they can see that you can spend $5000 arguing over something that is worth several thousand dollars, and you are both going to spend $5000 arguing over several thousand dollars, it actually may make far more sense to concede during mediation.

“You can’t reduce the emotion, but you can have people going in feeling reasonably comfortable about what stuff is worth as they go into mediation.

Before you go in, your lawyer is probably going to have a rough idea of how things are going to look when you come out – so, if you can have a bit of work done for you that shows you that things are either going

to be okay for you, or if they’re not going to be okay, what do you need to do about it in terms of regaining employment or selling a house or cutting down on expenses, then can be very helpful.”

Paul said that while the Financial Literacy Board is working to increase financial literacy particularly through the new National Curriculum, and that increasing numbers of Australians are visiting the government’s Money Smart website for information on budgeting, finding lost

“When I was growing up in the country town of Griffith, there were two taboo subjects at the table – one was sex and the other was money. Now, as a modern parent, we have 13 year-old asking us about safe sex at the table. We gulp twice, but modern parents actually manage to handle that quite well. But when the 13 yearold says, ‘Yeah, yeah, that’s disgusting, but Daddy, how much do you earn?’ It’s actually quite a difficult question.

So, while the awareness is improving, we certainly have

“Ah, yes, divorce… from the Latin word meaning to rip out a man’s genitals through his wallet.”

- Robin Williams, COMEDIAN

superannuation and credit management, he believes we remain years away from the widespread practice of couples discussing their financial situation and their money attitudes during the formation of their relationship.

“Do we think that inside relationships people are communicating about money reasonably effectively? The simple reality is that money is pretty much a taboo subject at the dinner table. It really is.

not broken the money taboo.

“So often we don’t talk about money openly to protect those that we love, but it so often backfires in a divorce situation.

The number of times that I’ve found people being sent to us by lawyers and they had no idea that there was significant debts in the family – they had no idea that the business was struggling.

Many of them are supporting children and while they are worried about the impact on the kids, they believe that financially

they will be okay, and when in fact they find that they will not be okay, because of a whole bunch of money secrets, it’s emotionally devastating.”

Paul said the more certain people are when they go into a divorce and the more certain they are about what their financial situation means to them personally as they come out of divorce, they are far more likely to have a good mediation result.

“That’s the big picture snapshot that we have. We feel that, broadly speaking, if people talk more about money before a relationship and during a relationship, we actually think that is more likely to be a successful relationship, which I would love to think means lower rates of divorce. Whether you are a male or a female, the more you know about your financial situation, it’s just a better place to be.”

The Money Smart website at moneysmart.gov.au contains helpful advice on financial issues.

The Family Law Courts website at familylawcourts.gov.au provides information on the legal process of divorce.

For advice on your personal circumstances in relation to a separation, it is advised that you seek advice from a family law specialist and financial advice specialist.

DAVINA MONTGOMERY

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COMMENT

News travels You’d think that with the Australian retail sector facing life threatening structural shifts in shopper buying habits, customer service might be of great importance to the ‘shop-front’ retailer. A recent shopping experience to Australian men’s outfitter (we’ll call them “Toads and Deckett” to protect their identity) suggests that this might not always be the case.

ARMED with enough money to purchase two much-needed shirts in September, I went into Toads & Deckett and duly purchased two plain white shirts for $125.00 each.

“A good result,” I thought to myself, as the shirts were nice, well fitted and their purchase was, all in all, a pleasant lunchtime experience.

10am when an observant work colleague noticed the shoddy workmanship, I made a prompt trip to Toads & Deckett to collect what I was sure would be a new shirt to replace the poorly produced garment they had proudly dished up only two weeks ago.

Two weeks and only three gentle-cycle washes later, however, the right cuff was virtually hanging on by a thread. As it was about

The uber-groovy sales dude told me he would fix the shirt – I could pick that up in a week or so – but a new one was out of the question.

Alas not!

How safe is it?

There’s a never ending push from almost every fi nancial services provider to encourage customers to service their fi nancial needs via the internet. Right now in Australia you can get insurance, apply for a home loan, invest money, buy shares, buy gold, monitor your bank account and do just about anything you can think of via the Internet. The big question is, and has always been, how safe is it?

THE answer, it appears, is that despite the millions spent by the banks and the internet providers on triple encryption systems and fi rewalls so signifi cant that they seem impenetrable – the system is not particularly safe.

The problem isn’t in the systems necessarily, it’s in the users; people have a habit of revealing too much about themselves, everything from their birthday to their children’s birthdays on the internet and posting it there for the whole world to see.

The biggest leak we all have is the biggest social network site in the world: Facebook.

Facebook now knows an extraordinary amount (date of birth, marital status, number

20 | BUSINESS NEWS

of kids, street address and, in lots of instances, physical location, fi nancial status, purchasing intentions and credit card details, just to name a few things) about 800 million people.

Given that Facebook has 800 million users (and no real presence in China) how long is it, do you imagine, before it starts to change the way it operates, to move from providing a social service to a social search program?

Think of social search this way – if you were to write on your Facebook page that you were looking for a home, or had moved house, or needed a new fridge, do you think it’s possible that Facebook might target ads to your page for those services? Do you

With anger management near the top of my pile of required personal developments at present, I politely expressed my utter dismay at his decision, and given he had powerfully (yet, pretty coolly) strutted to serve another lucky customer, I did the same and returned to the office to face afternoon meetings in what

was trip number three).

I did eventually get my replacement shirt (I’m wearing the lucky thing today), but it was a timely reminder of something that would serve us all well to remember in our current and prospective interactions with clients: news of good (or even terrific purchase experiences

“The uber-groovy sales dude told me he would fi x the shirt – I could pick that up in a week or so – but a new one was out of the question.” was now pretty much a sleeveless vest.

I called the sales office of Toads & Deckett and spoke to the NSW Sales Manager, who assured me the uber-groovy sales guy had not complied with the company policy of replacement rather than repair, so the following day I took the shirt back (yep, that think that it’s possible that Facebook might sell your name and contact details to a service provider? Or enable a bank to contact you directly through one of their sponsored links?

Social search already happens when you ‘like’ things or change your status update from single to engaged or married. What’s unclear at this stage just how far advanced these services are.

This blogger has a small number of friends who work in the US in jobs that range from the American Military to Google.

The Google people I speak to regard Facebook as a dark, malevolent and dishonest force, which is quietly aggregating data for dishonest purposes – in truth, this appears to stem from the fact that Facebook has a richer network of social data than Google and may migrate this to be better at search than Google.

The friend from the American Military suggests that not only is Facebook a great friend to the spying

does not travel nearly far enough, but news of bad experiences certainly does.

As for whether Toads & Deckett will be winning much more of this blogger’s business – I will most likely look to buy fine Egyptian cotton shirts elsewhere – perhaps online.

agencies, but also pointed out something more interesting: “When you are being given a service for free, isn’t it entirely possible that you are the product that’s being sold? ” In the past, this kind of story has been confi ned to people who called in sick and then posted pictures of themselves at the beach or who posted their opinions of their colleagues on social networking sites – or used open source programs like Skype to share pictures that should only be viewed by consenting adults. But now it seems to be getting more serious.

When you fi nish this post, go to your Facebook page and change the settings to private. Sharing pictures of your kids in the bath is great for your aunt to see, but there are people out there who might not share your views.

These articles are written by and reprinted courtesy of the insightful minds at Burning Pants. www.burning-pants.com. Burning Pants is a product of Core Data.

BURNING PANTS

COMMENT

A dangerous idea A few weeks ago, I was a panelist at the Festival of Dangerous Ideas. The title of the session was ‘Abolish Private Schools.’ It became apparent within the first few minutes that a large number of people in attendance at the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall that day held that sentiment as their personal motto.

AS a defender of nongovernment education I was not just the devil’s advocate, I was the devil incarnate!

Pasi Sahlberg, the Englishspeaking world’s oracle on Finnish education, gave the introductory address. He argued that Finland’s high average and high equity in scores in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is due to universal comprehensive public education and the status and calibre of school teachers. With Sahlberg as the protagonist, the premise of the session was this: Finland has very few private schools, and they are not publicly funded. So, if Australia had no private schools, couldn’t we too achieve these things?

The first question posed to the panel was, what would Australia’s education system be like without private schools and school choice? My response was that it would

be pretty boring. I like the variety in Australia’s schools, and highly value the freedom parents have to be able to choose their child’s school.

It’s fair to say I wasn’t a crowd-pleaser.

Most of Australia’s students in both public and nongovernments schools do well by international standards.

What we have, unfortunately, is a group of students whose performance is well below that of their peers. These students are typically from low socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds and attend schools with similarly disadvantaged students.

These struggling students need and deserve better, but abolishing private schools would do nothing to further this cause.

The different levels of socioeconomic inequity in Australian and Finnish schools reflect the different socioeconomic inequities in our societies. If all non-

government schools became public schools overnight, there would be very little transfer of high-SES students into low SES schools.

And - here’s the clincher – the public school system would become even more cash strapped. Instead of subsidising students to attend non-government schools at an average of $6,500 per student, each of those students would be entitled to the full public education rate – more than $11,000 per student at last count.

Voluntary private investment

in education would be replaced with scarce public money.

If you were trying to increase the impost on taxpayers with absolutely no educational benefit, it’s hard to think of a better way than this… a dangerous idea, indeed.

At least I can cross ‘be heckled at the Sydney Opera House’ off my to-do list.

Jennifer Buckingham is a Research Fellow at The Centre for Independent Studies. www.cis.org.au

Long-term plans are being made to ensure Corio Bay’s shipping lanes remain safe and efficient as expected ship sizes increase. The Victorian Regional Channels Authority has carried out a series of studies on the likely trends in ship sizes in the various industries serving the Port of Geelong. It’s all part of the VRCA’s role in planning for the future of one of Geelong’s key infrastructure facilities, generating billions of dollars for the region by handling 16.1 million gross tonnes in 2011/12 supporting about 5,000 local jobs.

The Port of Geelong is the largest regional port in Victoria and is among the larger multi-cargo bulk facilities in Australia.

Because they are more economical, newer larger ships are replacing older and smaller ships and that has ramifications for the Geelong access channel. The VRCA has commissioned and produced a computer simulation to model the issues around introducing larger ships into the port, in conjunction with Port Phillip Sea Pilots and Force Technology in Denmark. With bigger ships on the way the VRCA needs to understand how the access channels will cope and how the access channels will cope and how larger vessels can be safely navigated into the Port, KEEPING especially in difficult conditions.

While planning for the next 16 to 20 years takes place, the VRCA has already invested heavily in a series of strategies to maintain and improve safety in Corio Bay. Weather and tides in the bay can change rapidly and a ship can take two or three hours to navigate the channels. Combined with Geelong’s 1500 shipping movements annually as trade volumes increase the emphasis on safety becomes essential to ensure that the port’s main artery, the shipping channel, is kept clear and maintained so all ships can be confident of safe and efficient passage in and out of Geelong at all times.

GEELONG WATERS SAFE FOR EVERYONE

The channel has state of the art high tech beacons with GPS controlled, solar powered lights. The traffic management system uses equipment such as automatic identification system (AIS), very high frequency (VHF) radio, mobile telephone, satellite communications, state of the art online tide and wind gauges and a sophisticated docking device at the refinery berths.

As well as managing the commercial shipping channels, VRCA also helps with the continued development of the Port of Geelong. The VRCA is closely involved in most regional business organisations including the Geelong Chamber of Commerce, Committee for Geelong, G21 Regional Alliance and Geelong Manufacturing Council and with the importers and exporters who do business in the port.

Photo: Katrina Lawrence.

P: (03) 5225 3500 | Level 2, 235 Ryrie Street Geelong Victoria 3220 | admin@regionalchannels.vic.gov.au | www.regionalchannels.vic.gov.au

BUSINESS NEWS | 21

REGULATION

Getting it right on jobs ads Hiring staff is an important part of most businesses having the right people can make or break a small business. While it is important that your message reaches a wide audience, it is crucial your advertisements do not mislead or deceive jobseekers.

A carefully written job advertisement can save time and money for your business and for prospective jobseekers.

Under the Australian Consumer Law (ACL), businesses are prohibited from misleading job seekers about employment, specifi cally about the availability, nature or terms and conditions of employment. Whilst most businesses would not deliberately mislead job seekers, sometimes a job advertisement can potentially mislead audiences by leaving out important information or being placed in the wrong section of the newspaper or website. When placing advertisements for job opportunities, businesses should take care to include accurate, relevant information about the vacancy and ensure it appears in the most appropriate context.

of the work? Advertisements can mislead potential job seekers when they don’t clearly describe the job on offer. Advertisements should clearly describe the employment type - such as full-time, part-time or casual - and the work involved in the position, such as driver, clerk, or receptionist.

Where possible they should identify the relevant industry and provide as much information as possible. For example, advertisements for sales staff should include at least basic information about the product being sold.

Is the advertisement under the appropriate classification? The category of jobs in which your advertisement is placed is just as important as the actual wording. An ad for a commission-based position among offers of full-time/ part-time work can potentially mislead many job seekers.

Recruitment advertising checklist

The ‘employment’ offered could in fact be:

The checklist below presents four simple questions businesses can ask themselves when placing job advertisements, to avoid inadvertently misleading job seekers.

- Positions vacant/ employment (salary/wages);

Does the advertisement adequately identify the business or recruitment agency? Job advertisements should clearly list the advertiser, be it the business looking for staff or a recruitment agency. Details should include business or company name, the full name of the contact person and telephone number, and a street address.

Does the advertisement adequately identify the nature

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- Independent contracting (work done by people using their own tools or their own business and who should issue an invoice with ABN or ACN); - Sales/marketing/ commission-only (remuneration based on percentage sold); - Business/self-employment opportunities (buying goods or paying to enter a scheme); - Employment services (e.g. modelling portfolios, employment agencies, resumés or prospective employer list);

- Training and tuition (includes all education courses).

If you are unsure about the most suitable category, your industry association may be able to provide assistance identifying the nature of the advertisement.

Does the advertisement detail terms of remuneration?

Many potential job seekers are misled due to a lack of information about remuneration. This is particularly common when the position is offered on a commission-only basis.

The advertisement should include some details about the remuneration for the role. This could be the actual salary or wages to be paid (e.g. $55 000 per year or $400 per week plus overtime) or that income is negotiable or based on the age/skills/experience of the applicant (e.g. salary negotiable, wages

information provided on the linked website is subject to the same requirements as the advertisements and must not be misleading. If the information presented by way of a link contradicts the main message of the advertisement, it may contravene the ACL. Penalties The ACCC, the state and territory consumer protection agencies and any other individual or group can take legal action against businesses for placing misleading job advertisements. It does not matter whether a false or misleading statement was intentional or not. If a job advertisement has the potential to mislead, it is a breach of the ACL. Fines of up to $1.1 million may be imposed on companies who mislead or deceive job seekers about the availability, nature or

“A carefully written job advertisement can save time and money for your business and for prospective jobseekers.” negotiable, award conditions, casual rates). In these cases, broad estimates or details of the applicable award may be helpful. Other remuneration descriptions could be that payment is on a commissiononly, or ‘base + commission’ basis or that payment is on a piece-rate basis (e.g. $28 per 1000 leafl ets).

Online advertisements The internet is now one of the primary avenues through which job seekers view advertisements.

Online advertisements raise some issues unique to this medium.

Advertisements featuring web links to further information about the job opportunity should meet the minimum information requirements described in the checklist above. An online job advertisement featuring only a web link is unlikely to meet these standards. Additionally, the

terms and conditions related to employment.

Job seekers who have suffered loss or damage as a result of such advertisements may also be able to seek damages or other orders.

Where can I fi nd further information?

Initially, discuss your requirements with the newspaper or website staff member taking your ad most newspapers and job websites have guidelines which may assist you to ensure your ad complies with the law.

The ACCC has produced a booklet called Misleading job and business opportunity ads – How to handle them. You can access this publication online by visiting the ACCC website at www.accc.gov.au or order a hard copy at no charge by calling the ACCC Infocentre on 1300 302 502.

VECCI

Regional business priorities laid out In October, VECCI staged its third Regional Business Convention, where elected delegates from every part of the state came to Geelong to present on the business issues that matter most to them.

IT was fantastic to hear the sheer number of ideas and suggestions from the delegates, which have helped inform VECCI’s newest policy document Securing success: Reforms to accelerate regional growth and increase competitiveness, which was released at the Convention.

The document is broken down into four key elements, which we believe are essential to the continued prosperity of regional Victoria.

Investing in regional human capital Strong population growth in our major regional centres has attracted highly-skilled and adaptive workforces that have underpinned local employment trends, but more must be done to invest in Victoria’s greatest regional asset – our people.

Now is the time to undertake more detailed analysis of existing and foreseeable skills gaps and examine more closely the capacity to promote greater skills transferability and mobility across different industries, occupations and geographic areas.

Initiatives like additional ‘commencement bonus’ payments to be provided to regional employers to boost regional trade apprenticeship commencements would increase the skills base of people in our regions.

Helping migrants settle in the regions and boosting funding to primary health services would also help improve regional human capital.

Facilitating regional infrastructure Existing forms of infrastructure are beginning to feel the strain, while some

regions are experiencing growing pains associated with expanding populations.

We need to establish a model of integrated infrastructure planning to better prepare our regions for anticipated growth over the medium to longer term.

Larger businesses need more detailed and timely information on regional business location opportunities, costs and benefits. Regional businesses must have the opportunity to leverage off major investments through all phases of the project process – design, construction, operation and maintenance.

Infrastructure projects identified as important for our region include: - Completion of the Geelong Ring Road and connections to the Bellarine Peninsula - Completion of the Western Highway duplication (Burrumbeet to Stawell) - Avalon Airport development - Ballarat major events precinct - Ballarat Station project - Geelong Future Cities Arts and Cultural precinct - G21 Trails Network Nurturing regional innovation The current difficult economic climate should not deter new energy, ideas and risktaking from flourishing in Victoria’s regions. Innovation investment – in hard capital and soft or human capital – is needed for different types of regions, depending on their assets, in order to realise new competitive potential and foster new growth.

We recommend that an Asset Map of regional

Premier Ted Baillieu and VECCI Chief Executive Mark Stone.

Victoria be produced to better understand the competitive value of regional Victoria’s assets, including human, capital, and natural resources. This evidencebased exercise needs to include strategies to ensure that assets are suffi ciently linked and leveraged to the new opportunities presented by the Asian century.

Development of an integrated regional food and resource plan is also recommended to identify opportunities for new value-adding processes in the farm, manufacturing and service sectors, while a focus should also be given to ensuring Victorian regions get their fair share of the National Broadband Network rollout.

Business links with regional universities are essential to encourage and support business research and development.

Advancing regional leadership Competing in the global economy requires regional leadership models that drive growth and prosperity.

In recent years, regional Victoria has made good progress in bringing likeminded people together to discuss, proactively plan and shape the future, but the challenge is to build on this momentum and get more people thinking, planning and acting regionally.

The three Cs - conversation,

connection and capacity – are vital in this regard.

An initiative that would assist is the establishment of cooperative arrangements for key Victorian regions to support their structural transition and economic diversification, which would include all three tiers of government in partnership with business, unions and the wider community, should be looked at.

A regional business ambassador program, where regional business leaders are supported to act as industry champions for regional areas, gathering and sharing trade and business development information with key policymaking agencies and other businesses, would also ensure regional needs are always heard and well represented.

Our thanks to everyone from across Victoria who participated in the 2012 Regional Business Convention, and we at VECCI will make sure to continue to represent your business needs at all levels.

JAMES GULLI VECCI Regional Manager, Geelong & South West Region.

VECCI offers a range of workplace relations services, from a telephone helpline to one-on-one consulting. For more information, visit vecci.org.au.

BUSINESS NEWS | 23

FEATURE

Putting creativity and innovation at your fingertips

3D Printers are here The Bits from Bytes range of 3D printers provide an affordable way to ignite imaginations and turn your desktop designs into three-dimensional models.

The 3D TouchTM printer and RapMan 3.2 printer kit open up a new world of possibilities for students, educators, designers, engineers, hobbyists and entrepreneurs who want the flexibility and efficiency of in-house production and manufacturing.

BARWON COPYING SOLUTIONS is Geelong’s fi rst authorised re-seller of the Bits from Bytes 3D printer range.

We also provide a professional after-sales support and advice service.

If you want to know more about how a 3D printer can work for you, call us to set up a time for a free information session and demonstration.

Please contact us on: P: 5222 2103 E: admin@barwoncopiers.com.au

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105A Shannon Ave Manifold Heights Victoria 3218

Like us facebook.com/barwoncopiers

P: 5222 2103 E: admin@barwoncopiers.com.au W: barwoncopiers.com

Follow us @BarwonCopiers

FEATURE

The new education revolution I may be showing my age but I’m of an era when schoolroom tools were not much more than a blackboard and maybe a basic computer.

MY own son is now at primary school where computers, interactive whiteboards and tablets are the norm as schools maintain the momentum to keep up with technological advances and ensure their students are prepared for the wider world.

The introduction of accessible and affordable 3D printers will make the classroom even more exciting by giving students the ability to turn concepts and desktop designs into objects they can hold, examine and evaluate.

The technology to create 3D objects from digital data was initially developed in 1984 by US inventor Charles Hull. Two years later, Hull founded the company 3D Systems to develop the first commercial 3D printing machine. Throughout the 1990s and early part of the 21st century, the technology was refined and developed. For much of this time, use of the technology was limited to some parts of the engineering and scientific sectors.

Only in the past few years has 3D printing become accessible to a wider audience with the introduction of smaller and more affordable printers.

3D printers are now used across a range of fields. They use pliable and heated plastic layered upon itself to create an array of objects that are either digitally designed or scanned from solid items.

Much of their use to date has been for rapid prototyping but increasingly they are being used to create end products. So much so, that some forecasters see 3D printing as the future of manufacturing.

For educators, this brings new challenges and opportunities.

The value of this technology is already being embraced by schools in the UK and US where 3D printers are used across a variety of subjects from science, maths and engineering through to geography, art and creative design.

The Bits from Bytes (BfB) Rapman printer was developed in liaison with students and teachers at Clevedon School in the UK and received a prestigious BETT (British Education Training and Technology) award in 2010 for excellence in educational ICT. The Rapman is now available commercially in kit form and continues to be used in Clevedon’s classrooms.

The school’s Design and Technology Coordinator, Dave White, was instrumental in the development of the Rapman and

describes 3D printing as providing a fast route to ‘iterative designing’.

“Students are able to design 3D parts, print, test and evaluate them. If it doesn’t work then try again. Something that wasn’t really viable before using this technology.

This approach inevitably increases innovation in the designs that the students produce. Students in my school are now producing designs for new products that would not have been possible for them to make before we started using BfB machines.”

“Once they have mastered 3D designing

metal objects and uses a unique process for manufacturing metal parts at its Hawthorn campus. Swinburne’s Professor Syed Masood told The Age newspaper in August this year that the Direct Metal Deposition machine and 3D printing in general had the potential to bring new life to Australia’s manufacturing sector.

The internet is rife with arguments on the advantages of using 3D printers in schools including as a means to promote the creativity and ingenuity of students and to initiate a new buzz of excitement in the classroom. More importantly, it helps schools and teachers future-proof students and prepare them for their ongoing careers, many of which are likely to use 3D printing technology.

Internationally, 3D printing is already a mainstay in the medicine, science, arts and engineering sectors and every day new uses are being identified. Online educational website, The Conversation,

have produced print and dh ave prod duced d their th heir i first 3D p rint i they keep coming back for more! Holding a realistic 3D model in your hands communicates infinitely better than a computer image - a real wow factor.”

reported thatt palaeontologists t d in i October O t b th l t l i t at the University of Texas used a 3D printer to recreate fossilised molluscs to enable them to more accurately study the body of a long extinct creature.

Among the schools’ more innovative uses of its printer is in geography classes.

Clevedon downloads topographical satellite imagery and using a special software program, converts the images into 3D prints. It used this technique to print before and after versions of Mount St Helens to show the impact of the 1980 volcanic eruption on the terrain.

World-wide, today’s students are among the innovators in the 3D printing arena.

Just as our classrooms have embraced advances in computer technology to ensure students are well-versed in using computers as part of their daily lives, this new revolution in printing will need to be part of our education system if our students are to be competitive in tomorrow’s world.

3D printers are now used in schools throughout the UK and are also becoming an asset to schools in the United States as a means of generating new interest in the STEM (Science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields.

SUBMITTED BY PAUL CARTWRIGHT

Incorporating 3D printers in school curricula is still in its infancy in Australia but is already available to tertiary students.

For example, Swinburne University has developed its own 3D printer that creates

BUSINESS NEWS | 25

RECRUITMENT & TRAINING

Santa comes early for Geelong businesses needing new staff YEAR after year, professional recruiters like Maree Herath hear the resigned sighs from business owners in Geelong, “oh we’ve left it too late to find a new person before Christmas!”

- Start date of incumbent

Most companies throw their hands in the air and believe finding a new team member simply cannot be done. Yet Maree, who has worked in recruitment for over 17 years, has revealed the hidden industry secrets for getting the right person at this normally crazy time.

- Interviews with shortlist of candidates

“Non-negotiable diary planning is essential to bringing job briefs to completion” says time management expert and Director of Harvest Recruitment, Maree Herath. The key dates that get marked in the employer’s calendar include:

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- Notice period - Offer accepted - Offer presented - Tests and Checks

- Screening applicants - Sourcing candidates “In time critical events it is more productive to work backwards from the deadline than forward” Maree says as she explains the secret to getting new employees on board for the New Year.

Employers who are aware of key bottlenecks to hiring are also better placed she explains. She reveals that some of the secrets her and her colleagues use to help

businesses recruit before Christmas include: - Placing employment advertisements on a variety of channels to maximise response - Putting a tight closing date for candidates to apply - Reviewing the advertisement responses in one day and allocating interview times over consecutive days - Ensuring all stakeholders have blocked out their diary for candidate interviews - Planning the interview and questions to ask - Rating the candidates immediately after interview and moving quickly on those in the top three.

David, a Plant Manager at a Geelong processing facility who recently needed a new member of the management team urgently outsourced the most time consuming parts of the process in order to achieve his goal. He couldn’t believe such a fast, quality turnaround was possible.

“This was probably the best, simplest recruitment process we have seen. Harvest Recruitment had a quality field of applicants, shortlisted and reviewed to our requirements in record time. They also coordinated interviews as time and resources allowed with an effective follow up process. Six months on we couldn’t be happier. Why isn’t all recruitment done this well,” David says with surprised enthusiasm.

David and many of Geelong’s managers in professional or specialist industries are seeking a ‘business partner’ who understands their business; who can teach them how to recruit better themselves, assist them fast track a recruitment assignment or who they can rely on for a fully outsourced recruitment solution. As a Geelong Business Excellence Awards finalist, two years’ running boutique firm, Harvest Recruitment, is demonstrating it can… and just in time for Santa too!

RECRUITMENT & TRAINING

How AGB can help you…..

IN days of old education was for kids. You did year nine or ten then got a trade or finished school, did some uni and went into a profession. Job security was very high and people stayed in the same industry, or even the same company for their working life.

So much has changed since then. The exponential rate of change in technology has driven changes in the way things are done in every industry. This means skills that are cutting edge can be redundant in a matter of years.

Regular training remains the best way to stay on top of your game.

Economic collapse and a faltering and tentative recovery is the story of this time.

Uncertainty is the predominant feature of working life. Ongoing professional development is the best inoculation against downsizing. On a more positive note, it is also the best way to position yourself for promotion.

Many employers would support their staff doing professional development and may even have a training budget to assist with the cost.

For those not so lucky to be employed, training can be your pathway to a rewarding career.

Mothers returning to work once

be qualified to enter into their preferred industry at ground floor and work up from there.

The other group of people who would do well to consider training are managers, not for themselves but their team.

Training builds the capacity of your workers and can lead

“Ok, so you are working full-time, have a family and other commitments. Who has time to go to class? You have built up considerable skill and knowledge over the years in different roles. You can cash that in and get a nationally recognised qualification through recognition of prior learning (RPL).”

Ok, so you are working fulltime, have a family and other commitments. Who has time to go to class? You have built up considerable skill and knowledge over the years in different roles. You can cash that in and get a nationally recognised qualification through recognition of prior learning (RPL).

their children are in school can refresh their skills in their old career, or use the opportunity to launch into a new direction.

If you do not have sufficient experience to RPL, look for a class that suits you, such as one that runs at night once a week, or only one day a month.

School leavers who missed out on their first choice can use vocational training to articulate into a degree. Or after a year or two of vocational training

to increased productivity and also reduces risk as they become more competent. If you put your existing workers on traineeships as well as building up your workers you can claim government incentives.

BUSINESS NEWS | 27

RECRUITMENT & TRAINING

Vocational Education and Training in the real workplace providing effective pathways and support into ongoing employment COMMUNITY Veracity’s activities currently include: The Community Store Opportunity shop 21 Apollo Place, Whittington The community store offers affordable recycled or secondhand goods for sale as well as retail and warehousing training and employment opportunities.

Café on the Common 21 Apollo Place, Whittington Offering a range of affordable food to the local community, an office lunch menu delivery service, hospitality training and employment opportunities.

Transport and Logistics Centre 23-25 Albert Street, Moolap Partnering with Second Bite

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and providing warehousing services, Transport and Logistics training, Driver Operations training and employment opportunities.

In addition Community Veracity works with the Whittington Works group in identifying and improving projects for the Whittington community, the recent initiatives being a Womens Mentoring Program.

Community Veracity conducts the following fundraising activities.

These activities also form part of the work tasks for our employment projects.

Give Me 5 - Small Change = Big Difference The concept is simple, those five cent coins that

float around in the bottom of your bag, in the car coin tray or take up room in your wallet, just place them in our tin and help us raise funds to go towards, the women’s mentoring program, the community store and café on the common, as well as new community projects.

Yellow Bin Road Clothing Drive Program The Yellow Bin Road Clothing Drive Program makes it easy for your business to support a community organisation, working with local people who are in need of a helping hand and provide a service to your staff. The program is quite simple, we place one of our yellow bins in your workplace, your staff brings in unwanted

clothing and fill the bin, and we come and collect the bin.

Christine and the AGB group are extremely proud of the work that Community Veracity does in offering opportunities to the community in line with the Mission and Vision statement.

Some of the organsiations that also work closely with Community Veracity to support its activities include: Second Bite, Geelong Community Foundation, Matchworks, VECCI, and Foundation 61.

If your business would like to participate or for more information please call Community Veracity on 0477 010 007 or email info@communityveracity.com.au

RECRUITMENT & TRAINING

Why not try our free recruitment service?

DIVERSITAT is a multi-faceted Geelong based organisation mostly recognised in the community as a Registered Training Organisation with a wide scope of training programs, the organiser of Pako Festa, and a settlement service to newly arrived migrants. What is little known is that Diversitat is also an employment services provider funded by the Australian Government, as a member of Job Futures, to deliver the Job Services Australia (JSA) program. The program assists job seekers with career development and job search, and provides local employers a free recruitment service.

The Diversitat JSA program also specialises in providing employment services to Youth

and CALD (Culturally and Linguistically Diverse) job seekers.

So what can an employer expect from our recruitment service? Our Business Development Officers will talk to you about your business to gain an insight into your practices and what you’re looking for in a prospective employee. With 18 years experience in the employment services industry we understand that each business is unique and as such each employer will have varying recruitment practices and needs. It’s our job to get to know your business well and adapt our service to suit your recruitment needs.

We source candidates from

our pool of job seekers and internet advertising on the Australian Job Search website.

Diversitat Employment can also assist with putting on a trainee or apprentice.

We work closely with our Traineeship department and local Apprenticeship providers to customise programs designed and delivered within your own business environment taking into consideration your management, staff future planning, policies and working environment.

Our Business Development Officers will put together the information you need including incentives to make an informed choice before putting on a trainee or apprentice.

An effective way of selecting the right employee is to utilise short term work experience placements so you can see firsthand how the candidate works in a practical sense and how they fit in with your

team before making the commitment to take them on as an employee. Diversitat can fund short term work experience placements for eligible job seekers.

Diversitat Employment’s JSA recruitment service is cost free and obligation free which enables employers to utilise our service as part of their overall recruitment strategy.

Diversitat Employment has also branched into Labour Hire for employers looking for a no fuss option to hiring employees. Many small businesses simply do not have the time or resource required to administer wages and the associated employee benefits. For a fee, Diversitat will hire the employees and contract them out to you taking care of all the wages and associated administration so you can get on with your core business.

For more information contact Kirsten at Diversitat on 0408 364 696.

Need assistance with recruiting staff?

Save time with our free, professional recruitment service.

Our Business Development Officers will visit your business onsite to get an understanding of your needs.

We will screen, short list and refer quality candidates from our database of clients, arrange interviews and provide information on traineeships, apprenticeships and incentives for your business.

CALL US NOW TO FIND OUT HOW WE CAN ASSIST YOU Belinda on 0400 087 715 or Colin on 0438 011 023 www.diversitat.org.au

BUSINESS NEWS | 29

RECRUITMENT

The ABCs of great EAs There are three fundamental requirements to being a great Executive or Personal Assistant, according to recruiting experts Hays Office Support - the ability to prioritise, remain calm under pressure and stay focused.

ACCORDING to Lynne Roeder, Regional Director of Hays Office Support, gone are the old clichés of PAs doing clerical work, answering the phone and picking up dry cleaning. Employers are now essentially looking for a right hand – someone who can keep them on track and assume some of their role from time to time. And today, being an EA or PA is viewed as a challenging and rewarding career in its own right.

“This means to be successful as an EA or PA you not only need the right technical skills, such as knowing how to use the latest office software and being internet savvy, but you must also possess the appropriate soft skills to meet the role’s requirements,” says Lynne. “You need to be a confident communicator, dedicated, focused and able to multi-task.”

Ability to prioritise As they can support anyone from an executive manager to a number of senior executives or management team, the role of an EA or PA can stretch from taking dictation, preparing correspondence and managing diaries to handling a budget, updating websites, conducting internet research, commissioning work on their manager’s behalf and representing the executive at meetings and other events.

“Given an EA or PA’s varied workload the ability to prioritise tasks depending on how urgent they are is vital,” says Lynne. “That’s why the best EAs and PAs always know their deadlines and plan for them in advance. If you want to be great in your role it will also help you to prioritise not only your day, but your week and even month. And don’t

30 | BUSINESS NEWS

forget to stay flexible as plans can change at a moment’s notice and you may need to re-prioritise.

“Also, a good way to prioritise is to ask yourself approximately how long each task will take, which tasks have nonnegotiable deadlines and what are the consequences if those deadlines are missed? ‘Can I delegate some tasks?’ and ‘which tasks have the most direct impact on the business’ are also good questions to ask to help you prioritise.”

Remain calm under pressure Reporting to an executive or an executive team can be stressful and a lot of pressure as most leaders are driven, focused and fast moving.

“It’s advisable to not take it personally if the intensity turns negative,” says Lynne. “By learning to manage your own internal stress, you will present a strong exterior, which is what the job demands. Therefore, it’s important to employ some stress management techniques. Good time management of your workload and that of your manager’s can also reduce stress and help you stay calm under pressure.”

Stay focused The EA or PA position can become blurred as they not only report to an executive, but are also part of a larger organisation, which means sometimes being asked by others to do miscellaneous administrative duties.

“While this is usually part of your job, remember to stay focused throughout the day and prioritise,” says Lynne.

“Part of being focused also involves anticipating what your manager will require that day or week. This way you can be

prepared and look smart at the same time. This will also ensure you are ready to jump in and help out when needed.”

What else it takes to succeed Here are some other tips from Hays Office Support to be a great EA or PA: Be tech savvy – Be sure to keep up with technological changes in office software, especially if your manager expects you to be the expert in this area. Also, be prepared to be the first person to trial new software and show them how to use it.

Have good written and verbal communication skills – Even though computer programs come with punctuation, spelling and grammar checks these skills are still very important. Make sure you proofread all correspondence to ensure accuracy of content and alignment with previous correspondence or the company’s policies and procedures.

Understand your responsibility – As an EA or PA, you’re often viewed as a member of the executive team, privy to information that’s not shared with co-workers. Remember that anything you do or say will be considered a reflection of the executive you assist.

Therefore, it is important that you do not participate in gossip, as your words will carry a heavier weight than those of others.

Work smarter – The role of an EA or PA can be extremely busy and, if you can streamline the things you need to do or come up with strategies on how to do them more effectively, this will not only save you time but could earn you recognition and acknowledgement from the executive team as a top performer in your field.

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

LEGAL Types of Will Trusts

Will Trusts: effective estate planning As the name suggests, a Will Trust is created through a Will, however, unlike a Trust created by a Deed of Settlement executed during your lifetime, it does not come into effect until death.

THIS form of Trust is recommended in estate planning where incomeearning assets are substantial because it offers flexibility, asset protection and income tax advantages. Will Trusts are funded by estate assets or payments to the estate in consequence of death.

They are administered by the executors of the estate or trustees appointed by the Will and operated in accordance with the terms set out in the Will.

The greatest advantages associated with Will Trusts are the ability to provide asset protection for intended beneficiaries and income tax advantages (particularly where one or more beneficiaries are under the age of 18 years).

How a Will Trust Works Upon the death of a spouse, the assets of the deceased pass to a Will Trust. The surviving spouse will normally be the sole Trustee and sole Appointor of the Trust, meaning he or she has absolute control of it.

In this capacity, the surviving spouse has the power to distribute income earned from the Trust to themselves or any beneficiary (including children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and their spouses) nominated in the Will.

When the surviving spouse dies, the Wills of each parent would generally provide for the surviving spouse’s assets to pass to separate Trusts for each child.

Will Trusts can be divided into several main categories, ranging from very restricted trusts designed to protect a vulnerable beneficiary to general discretionary trusts.

Examples of Will Trusts include: 1. Testamentary discretionary trust - very similar to a family discretionary trust, which is often used during a person’s lifetime.

The primary beneficiary effectively controls the trust.

2. Capital protected testamentary trust - similar to a life interest. The executor is generally the trustee, holds the assets in trust for a nominated beneficiary and on the death of the nominated beneficiary, the capital passes to the remainder beneficiaries.

the adult taxfree threshold, currently being $20,800. Many grandparents are establishing Will Trusts to directly allocate money for the education of their grandchildren as opposed to it being passed through the parent at normal tax rates.

Protection of Assets If a family member is in a bad relationship, inclined towards gambling, under the influence of drugs or alcohol, declared bankrupt or in an occupation where they may be the subject of a claim, a Will Trust affords asset protection. Whilst the assets are held in the Will Trust, they are not the assets of the beneficiary and can remain in that state to protect them.

Your Estate Planning Like any other trust, Will Trusts can and should be tailored to suit your circumstances

“The greatest advantages associated with Will Trusts are the ability to provide asset protection for intended beneficiaries and income tax advantages (particularly where one or more beneficiaries are under the age of 18 years).”

3. Special purposes trusts - the executor holds the assets in a trust established for a particular purpose, such as the education of grandchildren.

and those of your estate and beneficiaries. Will Trusts can be an effective estate planning tool for you and your family, so please call us on 5273 5273 to discuss.

4. Protective trusts established to provide for certain named beneficiaries where protection is required. The trustee will have the discretion to use the income and the capital for the benefit of the named beneficiary.

5. Superannuation death benefits trust - established to receive superannuation benefits. Beneficiaries are limited to “tax dependants” so no tax is paid on the superannuation benefits.

BRONWEN CHARLESON

Advantages of Will Trusts Tax Advantages & Use for Education Where income is distributed to a minor beneficiary, the beneficiary is entitled to

Disclaimer: This article contains general comments only. Specific legal advice should be obtained in relation to any matters associated with the topic discussed.

BUSINESS NEWS | 31

TAX during the evening if they experience difficulty or have any concerns.

- Consider whether a coach/ bus should be organised to take employees home, or whether you should provide cab charge vouchers or reimbursement for taxis.

Don’t take risks with your employees As the festive season approaches, many workplaces begin to plan their end of year parties. While this is a great time for workplaces to celebrate, relax and socialise outside of the usual working environment, it is also a time of increased risk for employers. Here are some of the risks employers should be aware of when planning workplace celebrations and some steps that can be taken to minimise these risks.

AS a first step, employers should be aware that they may be liable for any misconduct, injury or harassment that may occur at a work party. Health and safety laws and the overall welfare of employees are still the responsibility of the employer at the office Christmas party, even if the party is outside regular working hours or held offsite.

As part of responsible workplace management, and additionally before a social event, employers should take all ‘reasonable steps’ to protect the overall welfare of employees. These steps should include having comprehensive OHS, EEO, harassment, drug and alcohol policies in place. It is really important that these policies are communicated to staff and actually enforced – it’s not enough just to have the policies in a manual somewhere.

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Maintaining the overall welfare of employees is made somewhat more difficult with the rise in social media usage and camera/video phones. The proliferation of mobile devices adds an element of e-harassment and these camera/video phones ensure there is rarely a social function that isn’t captured on film in some way. This has created a new forum for sexual harassment at the touch of a button, and suggestive SMS, MMS and emails may also constitute harassment in the technological age. For example, an MMS containing a sexually suggestive image may be unwelcome and offend the recipient and therefore constitute sexual harassment. Employees should be reminded that distributing inappropriate images after the event may also be offending behaviour.

A group email sent on the

night could be costly for the employer in the morning.

- Prior to the function, email (or otherwise communicate with) all employees and provide links or copies of the company’s EEO, OHS and other relevant policies (including IT policies to reduce the risk of e-harassment).

Ensure the email states that policies of the workplace will continue to apply at the event.

This means that inappropriate behaviour will not be tolerated, including behaviour that may be interpreted as unwelcome, including behaviour of a bully or harassing nature.

Some strategies you may wish to implement to assist you in managing your workplace party include:

- Ensure it has been communicated to employees that alcohol will not be considered an excuse for bad behaviour.

- Have a set start and finish time for the event. This will help to limit an employer’s liability for any incidents that may occur after the workplace party.

- Point out that employees also have duties under OHS laws and can be prosecuted for breaches, independent of the employer.

- Have a set venue for the event, and if the venue is part of a larger complex, e.g. a particular function room in a reception centre, ensure you clearly communicate the physical boundaries of the event.

- Ensure there is not an excessive amount of alcohol provided. Alcohol must be served responsibly. You may consider setting a drink limit per person or providing drink tokens to employees prior to the event.

- Ensure there is plenty of food and non-alcoholic drinks available.

- It is important that designated personnel in management positions remain sober and display the correct behaviour at the event. It should be communicated to employees, prior to the event, which management personnel will be in attendance and to whom they should go

- Inform employees that any after-parties or postwork functions are not the employer’s responsibility.

As part of this process, be mindful of whether you will permit managers or supervisors putting their card behind the bar in a post function event (as this may continue the employment link for compensation purposes).

- If an unfortunate event does occur at the event, it is of paramount importance that the employer investigate and deal with this situation swiftly and in accordance with the policies of the workplace and applicable laws.

Hopefully this will assist you and your employees to enjoy the festive season.

TERESA GROVE Principal, WHK Employment & Workplace Relations

LEGAL

Paid parental leave for modern families From 1 January 2013, fathers and same-sex partners will be entitled to apply for paid parental leave. New fathers and partners, irrespective of gender, may apply for a maximum of two weeks paid leave.

UNDER the National Employment Standards, fathers and partners are already entitled to 3 weeks unpaid parental leave and mothers (or the parent who will be primarily responsible for the care of the child) are entitled to 12 months unpaid parental leave. Mothers (or the primary caregiver) may also request an additional 12 months unpaid parental leave, which request may be refused by the employer on reasonable business grounds.

The Paid Parental Leave Act 2010 provides primary caregivers (usually the birth mother) with an entitlement of up to 18 weeks of paid parental leave. This amendment to the Paid Parental Leave Act 2010 does not affect the ability of a birth mother to also apply for paid parental leave through Centrelink.

As employers would be aware, paid parental leave

is a government entitlement and not a requirement for the employer to pay out of its own pocket. While the employee is entitled to leave, the employer is not required to pay the employee while he/ she is taking parental leave. If the employee wishes to apply for payment while he/she is on parental leave, he/she must do so through Centrelink. The amount of pay an employee on parental leave will receive is referrable to the national minimum wage as determined from time to time. The changes to the Paid Parental Leave Act 2010 will provide fathers and those parents who are not the child’s primary caregiver with the opportunity to take leave at the time of their child’s birth in situations where they may otherwise have been prevented from doing so due to the family’s financial circumstances.

Fathers and partners may now apply to Centrelink for paid parental leave, should he/she

be expecting a child in 2013.

The process for applying for paid parental leave is relatively straightforward; the parent may apply online or otherwise download the relevant form from the Department of Human Services website and lodge in person. Fathers/ partners may be eligible for the two weeks pay while on parental leave where he/she: - is the biological father of the child or the partner of the birth mother; - is the adopting parent or partner of the adopting parent;

Generally, fathers and partners may take unpaid parental leave from the date of the birth of the child up until 3 weeks after the birth of the child. However, where it is agreed between employer and employee, the father/ partner may take the 3 weeks unpaid leave at another time. The employee should be aware, however, that he/ she will only be entitled to paid parental leave within 50 weeks of the child’s birth.

Employers approached by an employee prospective father/ partner regarding parental leave, should refer the

“As employers would be aware, paid parental leave is a government entitlement and not a requirement for the employer to pay out of its own pocket.”

- is the parent in a surrogacy arrangement or the partner of the parent in a surrogacy arrangement; or - is the same-sex partner of the birth mother, biological father or adopting parent.

The father/parent must also be an Australian resident; meet the “work test”; have an individual, adjusted taxable income of less than $150,000 per annum and be on unpaid leave during the period he/she is receiving the payments.

employee to Centrelink for further information and seek legal advice from a workplace relations specialist if unsure of the employer’s obligations.

JIM RUTHERFORD, MONIQUE AUSTERBERRY Jim Rutherford, Principal and Monique Austerberry, Lawyer.

BUSINESS NEWS | 33

LEADERSHIP

Authenticity is the key What does it take to be a leader that can be not just effective, but inspiring? This is the question that Sydneybased leadership and communications expert, Walter Bellin, sets out to answer in this new book, Climb a Different Ladder. Having shared his insights into leadership with clients including Department of Defence, Medicare, CSIRO, Toshiba, Microsoft, and McDonald’s, he now shares some with us as well.

OVER the past 25 years I have used the following exercise on my leadership development workshops many times: I ask groups of 5 or 6 participants to identify someone from the present or anytime in the past who they all agree is (or was) a truly great leader – and then I ask them to come up with the four or five traits or qualities that made them great leaders.

There has been an amazing consistency in both the leaders chosen and the qualities or characteristics that made them great.

in or value; that their motives or intentions are exactly what they say they are; they “walk the talk”; they do (or at least attempt to do) what they say they will do.

The most common leaders chosen were leaders of great social movements such as Mahatma Ghandi, Nelson Mandela and US civil rights leader Dr Martin Luther King Jr. The typical characteristics identified as making them great leaders were: integrity, courage, a deep commitment to their cause and a clear and compelling vision of the future they wished to work towards.

How do people perceive our authenticity – or lack thereof?

What is authenticity?

Authenticity implies two basic things when applied to a leader such as those identified above.

Firstly, it implies something about their qualities as a person, the quality of their values, and the quality of their actions that follow from these values. It implies that they have good motives and intentions, which are broad and inclusive of the welfare of all whom they lead and all who are affected by their leadership.

Secondly, authenticity implies that the leader is real, that they are exactly who they claim to be and exactly how they present themselves. This means, among other things, that what they say they believe in or value is exactly what they believe

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A leader who demonstrates this authenticity will earn the trust of the people they lead. The vision of the future they want others to join them in creating will be both mentally attractive, credible and emotionally compelling. Their authenticity will inspire people, win their loyalty and people will follow them because they want to.

There are two primary means by which people will perceive our authenticity as a leader. The first is very obvious: they will simply watch our actions and, over time, compare these with what we have said.

There is a second subtle, but equally powerful, factor that affects people’s perception of our authenticity, and does so more quickly than comparing words with actions. When we speak, in addition to the words we are using, we express non-verbal cues contained in our voice qualities and body language - especially facial movements - that others pick up subconsciously.

This occurs through our brain’s right hemispheric function, which subconsciously but simultaneously picks up these non-verbal cues, while our conscious mind is listening to the words. According to extensive studies by psychologist Albert Merabian, only 7 per cent of a message’s meaning is conveyed by the words and 93 per cent by nonverbal cues.

When we are speaking, the right brain of our listeners is subconsciously picking up and assessing the congruence of these non-verbal cues with the words they consciously hear.

If they are congruent, there is a greater likelihood that the listener will accept and be positively influenced by the message. Conversely, if they are incongruent, the listener will experience a kind of internal dissonance, and be more likely reject the message and, perhaps, become sceptical or cynical about the leader.

What you can do to assess, develop and demonstrate your own authenticity In spite of how busy you may be, it is important to do a regular internal audit. At a quiet time and place that is regularly set aside for this, ask yourself: what is really important to me?

What are my most important priorities? Do I actually feel, value or fully believe what I am telling the people I lead?

Should I be changing my message to make it more congruent with the above? To succeed with this internal audit, you need to be really honest with yourself.

Do a regular external audit of you daily behaviour. Most people are boss watchers.

They will be constantly comparing your daily behaviour with the messages you are giving them about what is important to you and what you believe and value.

Seek feedback about this from people you trust to be honest with you.

Finally, as part of this external audit, open your diary and compare the use of your time with your messages to others.

Does how you use your time demonstrate commitment to your stated priorities, beliefs and values? If not, reprioritise your time usage to become more congruent with your message.

Such changes will usually initially take you out of your comfort zone – but, as a leader, the payback to you in winning people’s hearts and minds will be manifold.

Walter Bellin is the CEO of Corporate Crossroads and author of the new book Climb a Different Ladder: Self-awareness, Mindfulness and Successful Leadership (Jane Curry Publishing $29.95). For more information visit www.corporatecrossroads.com.au

INVESTMENT

NRAS comes to Geelong for investors The generous Federal Government NRAS scheme (National Rental Affordability Scheme) is now becoming available to the general investment public in Geelong.

DIRECTOR of NRAS Residential Investments, Lex Pritchard, said NRAS tax-free incentives provide cash flow positive outcomes for investors purchasing properties available within the program. Pritchard also stated that due to the incentive being a fixed amount, the lower the price point of the property, the greater the benefit to the investor.

“For example a $375,000 home in an inner suburb rented for $400 pw would be offered for $320 pw under NRAS (-20%) with the government providing the equivalent of a $192 pw top up adding to a total of 25% above market rental. As the incentive is tax free, this has the effect of enhancing negative gearing benefits, while significantly increasing cash flow.”

Pritchard currently has a limited number of properties covering Geelong, Ballarat, Bendigo and Melbourne that,

thanks to NRAS, are all cash flow positive with the rental subsidy scheme locked in for 10 years and indexed to the rental component of the CPI basket.

Pritchard also stated it was not widely known NRAS was available for the general rental market, so it is available to all potential tenants, as the only definable criteria for tenants is that they fall in to a designated income range.

An additional benefit for investors is that NRAS can be discontinued at any time if the purchasers wish to dispose of the property, or assume residency themselves.

Pritchard’s firm NRAS Residential Investments is currently offering a limited number of 3 & 4 bedroom homes in Geelong. All properties are offered in quality developments being built by major listed and unlisted developers and builders.

Designed to provide 50,000

subsidised rentals for low and middle income Australians by 2014 the NRAS scheme has been somewhat constrained by the inability of institutional investors to gain momentum with the program. Now, with availability being made to individual investors, the program should gain considerable traction in the market place.

The current NRAS tax-free subsidy is $9981 a year for each property that is deemed appropriate for an incentive, the property is then leased for 80% of the market rental.

This in effect means that the Government tops up the rentals by $192.00 a week, tax free.

With the deadline for the subsidies due to expire in 2014 investors wishing to be involved in this extraordinary investment program need to act quickly.

More information can be gained by accessing nrasresidentialinvestments. com.au or ring 1300 887 808.

Disclaimer: This article contains general comments only. Financial advice should be obtained in relation to any matters associated with the topic discussed.

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GEELONG CATS PO Box 461 Geelong 3220 gfc.com.au

BUSINESS NEWS | 35

SMALL BIZ

“One by one, the candidates were presenting their business plans. They had practiced their elevator pitches and had the passionate narratives in tune with wonderful colourful presentations, but not one of them farted. Not a squeak or a full beery blatt was to be heard.”

I like farting When it comes to grandchildren, there is nothing more likely to bring a naughty little giggle and waves of marauding fun as they borrow the iPhone and app and surprise Grandmother as she bends over to sit down.

ONE of my favourite Leunig cartoons (of which there are many, because he is Victoria’s best cultural resource) is of a busy city tram where one half is boring and conservative and the other part is a convivial party with streamers and drinks and above the patrons is a sign that says ‘Farting Zone’, the dull section sign reads ‘Non–Farting Zone’.

I was a guest reviewer at a program for entrepreneurs last week and I kept reaching for the iPhone app… By heck I needed it.

One by one, the candidates were presenting their business plans. They had practiced their elevator pitches and had the passionate narratives in tune with wonderful colourful presentations, but not one of them farted. Not a squeak or a full beery blatt was to be heard.

Where is the fun in this process? Perhaps we can call this Fartism. Let us step, for a

36 | BUSINESS NEWS

moment, into the age of isms.

We live in the age of isms. Let me share some of the bigisms of the moment: Dangerism: this is the inordinate reaction to perceive danger or risk. Notice the concept here is pivoted on the perception and not the reality, as in all those things we don’t do things in our business because of potential liability.

We know of a local gym that has offered services to local school children, but now stops patrons under the age of 18.

You guessed it, in response to a recent insurance decision, or at least so goes the manager’s comments. Hey - I wonder if I have an obese child can I sue them for their lack of access?

Businesses have to have policies dealing with potential risks that are infinitesimal, when perhaps the greatest risk is the time spent writing the policies and not attending customers. You can imagine

that there is a related feature of guiltism. If you don’t waste time writing all these boring policies, how would you feel if one of your customers was bitten by a Gila monster or a Death Adder? Now, driven by guilt, I spend the weekend developing our company policy on staff that choose to keep poison dart frogs as pets. (A hint: we don’t give the usual three warnings.)

My next pet hateism is amateurism: literally everybody in the world is an instant expert because of the internet. I can put my quest into Bing and, within seconds, I have some website that steps me through the perfect plan.

I first thought that I was going to start a fish and chip shop, but I could only find a plan on a shoe shop, and perhaps that is why my chippery has a fitting room. But the plan was insistent… Just a clue, if you are going to use the internet to develop a business plan, or even company policies, you should at least change the formatting as the embedded HTML coding is a clue to where you got your ideas.

The last ism I would like to present to you is Pretendism: this is where our intending

business people could actually go out and do it.

Yes! That is, get a spade and dig a garden or two; instead of spending days or weeks business planning, they could actually start doing the stuff.

If you drill down this ism, you get to the current market research practice. I put my market research questionnaire online and within a few short hours I get 35 responses from interested customers. These practitioners show the result with glee, never alerting us to the fact that the respondents are from a Nicaraguan Asylum for internet dependent junkies.

To them it is evidence. To these people dancing through the internet sites and bringing back pieces of evidence is a little like my dog bring my slippers – it is accompanied by the wagging tails and cute grin and complete with soggy, drool covered shoes.

So, it is time to draw my serious business advice, with a late plea that you note that I haven’t touched Political Correctism or escapism…

CLINT JENNINGS Australian Business Development Centre www.abdc.com.au

Specialised Lighting Solutions 1300 302 852 sls@slsgrp.com.au www.slsgrp.com.au

SLS create energy saving lighting solution for Bendigo Hospital St John of God Hospital in Bendigo has unveiled their latest environmental project, focussing on sustainability and the reduction of CO2 emissions. They have installed a new lighting solution, which has been customised specifically for the hospital’s needs.

The initiative was orchestrated by St John of God Health Care, Australia’s third largest private hospital operator and fourth largest provider of pathology services.

They partnered with lighting distributor Specialised Lighting Solutions (SLS) to supply the project and worked with electrical installers Trivantage.

At the helm of the project was Dean Farnsworth, the Group Environmental Engineer for St John of God Health Care, and Paul Stewart, National Business Development Manager at SLS. The Bendigo Hospital is the first location to trial the new lights, with some cases showing a reduced power consumption of up to 76 % per light fitting. Part of validating the project was to carefully measure outcomes and the hospital has already reduced overall electricity consumption by 11.13 %, which equates to a significant saving in both dollar terms and CO2 emissions. These initial savings are expected to increase over time as electricity prices and CO2 emission charges increase.

“Although the project is nearly complete, we still have a small number of lights to change. Once these final globes are in place we expect to get close to 12 %.

Based on the 11.13 % figure though, we’ve reduced the annual electricity usage by 264,416 kWh and the CO emissions by approximately 322.6 tonnes per annum.

At 12 % these figures will only look better again!” said Farnsworth.

SLS supplied a staggering 2,661 units of lights from a variety of manufacturers for the job. Fluorescent lights of varying types and halogen globes were replaced with their LED (light emitting diode) alternatives. Aside from the proven energy savings of LEDs, they also have a considerably longer service life.

Farnsworth explained that selecting SLS came down to multiple factors, “We trialled about seven different suppliers’ lights. While some other manufacturers’ products were very good, we believe that SLS’ products are the best. Aside from product quality, we needed to ensure that our capital investment had the backing of a large organisation and also needed to work with an organisation that could provide extensive product choice, supply and lead times,” he continued.

“One thing that really took me was when I went to SLS; you could see the research they had undertaken for my specific requirements. They were living and breathing lights!”

For their commitment to the environment, St John of God was announced as a finalist for the 2012 Victorian Premier’s Sustainability Awards, under the Large Business Category. The new lighting solution was a contributing factor to this impressive nomination.

For more information, please contact: Paul Stewart National Business Development Manager Specialised Lighting Solutions (SLS) 0411 486 940 paul.stewart@slsgrp.com.au

THE TECH GUY

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

IS IT A TABLET? IS IT A MOBILE PHONE? NO, IT’S A PADFONE

Mobile phones are so powerful these days that it was just a matter of time before Asus decided to make your mobile the engine for displays and keyboards. So, here it is the Padfone. The PadFone package can turn your phone into a tablet, your tablet into a laptop and your stylus into a phone. Going to Taiwan? You can already get your hands on a PadFone, although it won’t come cheap. Depending on the other bits you buy, the PadFone package can cost up

38 ||BUSINESS BUSINESSNEWS NEWS

to about $980. The PadFone is really just a mobile phone with tapered edges and a metallic finish and the phone’s back feels like a cross-section of the Transformer Prime tablet.

The PadFone Station is what puts the Pad in PadFone. The 10.1-inch tablet looks a lot like a Transformer Pad, from the 16:9 aspect ratio to the shades of grey and black that form its hard plastic body. The Station (tablet) is completely powered by the PadFone. All your files,

apps, even your Wi-Fi or data connection is provided by the phone, so you won’t need to pay for a second data plan. A door opens at the top of the tablet’s back where you slip the ‘Fone’ into place. Once the phone is connected and the door closed, the Station springs to life as tablet.

the phone when the two are docked. Other accessories include a keyboard and stylus, which is also, cleverly, a Bluetooth headset that connects to the PadFone or you can manually connect it to the ‘phone’, (though you’ll look a bit strange talking with a pen in your ear).

The Station has a 10.1-inch, 1280 x 800 display and a loud speaker pointing out the back, which takes over all audio from the phone. The large battery, (6600mAh) also charges

The Padfone is the way of the future and you can expect a plethora of this kind of phone/ tablet/keyboard combinations to surface in 2013.

THE TECH GUY ISN’T CARDBOARD AMAZING?

There’s simply very few man made objects that don’t have cardboard in it - and that includes your digital camera.

An Israeli chap called Izhar Gafni folded cardboard everywhich-way in order to discover a strong enough design for a bike, and now it’s almost ready for mass production.

This maintenance-free bike uses a “Colonel’s secret” mix

of organic materials to make it waterproof and fireproof, and it’s lacquered to give it a friendlier appearance.

Supposedly, you’ll shell out about $20 and it weighs about 9kg (that’s half the weight of your current treadle).

The solid tires are made of reconstituted rubber and there is a car timing belt instead of a chain.

GOOGLE STREET VIEW… UNDERWATER!

If you love scuba diving, or just enjoy the underwater view, then Google’s latest streetscape is for you.

Google Street View is ready to take you on virtual scuba expeditions through six living coral reefs with the first underwater panoramic images to become available.

Google has created the scuba experiences using undersea pictures from Heron, Lady

Elliot and Wilson Islands on the Great Barrier Reef, Molokini Crater and Hanauma Bay in Hawaii and the Apo Islands in the Philippines.

Combined with views from Chichen Itza and Teotihuacan, the new underwater tours might make for a desktop getaway fantasy - and don’t you deserve that at 4pm on a Friday afternoon!

ENDEAVOUR’S LAST TRIP

Well, this is seriously the end of a space tech era over the past 31 years that our children and grand children would take for granted. The space shuttle, a wonder of modern science that captured to imagination of the world, is going to its final resting place, the California Science Centre in Exposition Park, L.A. The L.A. Times captured this remarkable feat in a time-lapse video, and it’s

quite a sight to see the orbiter sailing past suburban houses and fast food drive-ins. Along its 20 kilometre cross-town trip from LA International Airport (LAX), the shuttle, atop a special transporter had to manoeuvre past trees, electricity poles and of course hundreds of enthralled residents.

PHOTOS FOREVER AND EVER AND EVER

There’s nothing new about huge quantities of data and images in a tiny space, but how long will it last? Current optical, magnetic and flash storage media have limited shelf lives, so Hitachi has announced a new way of locking up data and vision in quartz glass for hundreds of millions of years. The data can be etched with a laser in three layers on the crystals at

a density slightly higher than a CD, then read out with an optical microscope, meaning that future generations could restore the info without needing a special optical drive. The technology could come to market in three years, according to the research lab, but would likely be targeted at companies first, who would need to send in their data to be encoded.

BUSINESS BUSINESSNEWS NEWS|| 39

ARTS

Death of a Salesman, November 8-11.

Deakin to star in GPAC theatre season Geelong Performing Arts Centre (GPAC) has announced that Deakin University will be the naming rights sponsor of the annual Theatre Season for the next two years. The partnership secures the future of the annual Theatre Season that brings some of our leading performers and theatre companies to Geelong.

IN welcoming Deakin’s support, GPAC General Manager Jill Smith described it as a ‘significant contribution to the performing arts in Geelong’.

Deakin Vice-Chancellor, Professor Jane den Hollander, said the university was pleased to support GPAC in providing access to the performing arts.

“As the city transforms from its traditional manufacturing and agricultural base, an increasing number of key employers, including Deakin, are recognising the crucial role arts and culture plays in terms of the region’s economic development. And as part of this, they are becoming supporters in the growth and development of the sector,” Ms Smith said.

“A rich university experience, which includes access to excellent art and culture, is an important part of our offer as we grow student enrolments at our Geelong campuses,” Ms den Hollander said.

“Without our corporate partners, GPAC simply would not be able to offer the high calibre productions it currently enjoys. This year’s season has included world-class performers and next year’s program is shaping up to be equally brilliant.”

Ms Smith said that as part of the partnership, Deakin and GPAC were developing avenues for students, staff and their families to enjoy live theatre throughout the year.

40 | BUSINESS NEWS

“The partnership with GPAC is a wonderful opportunity for the wider Deakin community to experience innovative and contemporary theatre at its best and adds significantly to our existing program of arts partnerships in Melbourne and Warrnambool.”

Deakin and GPAC’s relationship stretches back more than 20 years, with the arts centre managing shows and events at Deakin’s 1500-seat Costa Hall, the centrepiece of its Waterfront Campus. Deakin’s Faculty of Arts has also sponsored individual shows in the Theatre Season over the past three years. In 2012 Deakin

Side By Side By Sondheim, November 5-9.

provided additional support for the overall season - known as GPAC’s Alcoa Theatre Season in partnership with Deakin University.

GPAC also thanked Alcoa for its contribution to the subscription season and other GPAC programs, a partnership stretching back more than 30 years.

“The current era is a difficult one for many businesses and particularly the manufacturing sector in particular. Alcoa’s long-term support was a credit to its commitment to Geelong and to the broad community through access to the arts,” Ms Smith said.

GPAC’s Deakin Theatre Season will be launched on December 6 in The Playhouse.

The 2012 Theatre Season is set to crescendo in November with two classic productions - Belvoir’s sell-out Death of a Salesman and the smash hit musical Side By Side By Sondheim.

The Geelong season of Arthur Miller’s masterpiece was postponed in August after Friels collapsed on stage in Sydney. He has since made a full recovery and GPAC is excited to be able to present the show in November as part of the season.

Also in November, Enda Markey presents Side By Side

By Sondheim, an inspired production celebrating legendary Sondheim musicals from the early part of his career and features

many Broadway classics, including Losing My Mind, I’m Still Here, Being Alive and Send In The Clowns.

Performing these wonderful songs are three of Australia’s leading musical theatre stars: Michael Falzon (We Will Rock You, Chess, Rock Of Ages), Lucy Maunder (Dr Zhivago, Rocky Horror Show, A Little Night Music) and Geraldine Turner (Sweeney Todd, Anything Goes, Into The Woods).

Narration is by Jessica Rowe, who explores the themes in Sondheim’s work, with more than a few entertaining anecdotes about his incredible talent.

Stephen Sondheim is the most acclaimed composer on Broadway. He has won eight Tony Awards (more than any other lyricist/composer), many Grammys, a Pulitzer Prize and an Oscar.

The original production of Side By Side By Sondheim premiered in London in 1976 to overwhelming success and went on to run for another four years. To this day, it remains one of Sondheim’s most performed shows.

Side By Side By Sondheim comes to GPAC for five performances only in Drama Theatre, November 5-9.

Death of a Salesman comes to Geelong from November 8-11 in The Playhouse.

Tickets are now on sale.

Contact GPAC Box Office on 5225 1200 or visit gpac.org.au

ARTS

Frederick McCubbin, A bush burial, 1890, oil on canvas.

Collection: Geelong Gallery. Purchased by public subscription, 1900]

Bishop and Reis To 02 December Geelong Gallery presents The Max Bell Gallery (Gallery X series) – Bishop and Reis, an interactive installation where the viewer literally becomes a part of the work on display.

Collaborative artists, Cameron Bishop and Simon Reis, have created a replica of the Max Bell Gallery, along with digital animations that re-interpret two of Geelong Gallery’s iconic paintings, View of Geelong (1856) by Eugène von Guérard and A bush burial (1890) by Frederick McCubbin. Much like a matryoshka or Russian set of dolls, the installation suggests that within the Max Bell Gallery is another interior of the gallery, and yet another interior again, and so on beyond that. Visitors to the Gallery will also be encouraged to interact with the sculptural elements of the installation and, as a result, be filmed in real time and view themselves as subject in A bush burial.

Geelong Gallery. geelonggallery.org.au La Prima Opera - ‘Ovation’ 14 – 15 November Independent opera company, La Prima Opera is coming to GPAC with a lineup of some of Australia’s finest opera singers.

‘Ovation’ is a show packed with all the hits and highlights of opera that everyone knows, even if they have never set foot in an opera house. Written by Philip Wheeldon, compered by Christopher McKenna with Len

Vorster at the piano and led by Australian-born international soprano, Alison Rae Jones, ‘Ovation’ includes favourite arias, duets and trios from Don Giovanni, The Magic Flute, Carmen and more, and also stars mezzo soprano Caroline Vercoe and bass baritone Paul Hughes.

Geelong Performing Arts Centre. gpac.org.au The Songs & Stories of Peter Allen 15 November (Ballarat) & 16 November (Geelong) Todd McKenney reprises his role of Peter Allen on stage with The Songs & Stories of Peter Allen, currently touring nationally. A 2-hour extravaganza featuring an 8-piece band and dancers, this brand new show includes the classics, some new songs and untold stories with a different take on Allen’s life and career. McKenney became a household name in Australia playing the flamboyant Australian star in The Boy From Oz from 1998 to 2000, one of Australia’s most successful musical theatre productions, performing in excess of 700 shows to over 1.2 million theatre patrons. Unbeknownst to many, there is an uncanny synergistic back-story between McKenney and Allen, much of which will be revealed within the show.

Her Majesty’s Ballarat. hermaj.com / Deakin’s Costa Hall, Geelong Waterfront. gpac.org.au

Ian McNamarra Macca On Tour 15 November Ian McNamara hits the road with his Gumboot Band and his musical mate Digger Revell, ‘the man with the big hat’, with a concert tour to celebrate his more than 30 years of Australia All Over the legendary ABC Sunday morning radio show that connects Aussies all over this wide brown land, and around the world. A Macca concert will showcase the songs that have touched him and his listeners, spin a yarn or two and bring to the stage his genuine love of country that makes Australia All Over part of the Sunday morning ritual for so many people.

Wendouree Centre For Performing Arts. wcpa.com.au Special Guest Author Paulina Simons

Otello Verdi Part of the Met HD film series showcasing the best of New York’s Met opera season. Verdi’s towering masterpiece, based on Shakespeare’s tragedy, makes its fi rst Captured Live in HD appearance.

Semyon Bychkov conducts an extraordinary cast led

by Johan Botha in the title role of the jealous Moor of Venice, opposite Renée Fleming in one of her greatest roles, Otello’s innocent wife Desdemona.

Falk Struckmann sings Iago, Otello’s disloyal ensign, and Michael Fabiano is the captain Cassio.

SMB Courthouse Theatre hermaj.com Bare Witness 15 November

International bestselling author Paullina Simons has sold over two million copies of her novels in Australia, and her most popular novel, The Bronze Horseman, has been voted as one of the top ten love stories of all time. Join her at the Plaza Library to hear her promote her new novel, Children of Liberty. Light refreshments will be served.

(Only books purchased from Collins ABC Werribee will be signed. Books will be available for purchase at the event.)

In the digital era of the 24 hour news cycle, how do photojournalists square their commitment to the truth with the media’s voracious need for a graphic image? When the threat of death is a daily reality, why do they do it?

Landing in Sarajevo and joining a pack of seasoned war journalists, rookie photographer Dannie Hills sets out to capture the perfect image. Each photograph she shoots becomes a kaleidoscope of dreams, memories and emotions – exciting, painful, and forever haunting...

Plaza Library. experiencewyndham.com.au

Her Majesty’s, Ballarat. hermaj.com

16 November

BUSINESS NEWS | 41

COMMUNITY NEWS

Picture Left to Right: Alcoa employee volunteers carried out maintenance works at the Eumeralla Scout facility , Gareth Andrews, founder of Life Again, addresses the Big Boys Don’t Cry Mental Health Forum for Men, GMHBA volunteers turn out to makeover the Hendy Street Primary School grounds

Filling the gaps In these tougher economic times, community groups and organisations need to focus resources on their service delivery, leaving little time and capital to meet other tasks and objectives.

BUSINESSES have the potential to help fill the gaps in their local community services, while at the same time providing an excellent opportunity for their employees to realise personal and professional rewards.

By coordinating a wide range of in-kind support opportunities, BacLinks, an initiative of Karingal, makes it easy for businesses to engage with local service groups and organisations to make a real difference in our community.

Employee volunteering in projects and events is a popular option for many businesses, as it allows staff to step out of their usual roles to achieve amazing results for the community, gives them a chance to see what is going on in their community and allows them to make a genuine contribution.

“By lending a helpful hand, employee volunteers provide community organisations with additional manpower, specialised skills and enthusiasm,” said Sheree Holdsworth, BacLinks Manager. “This can often mean some task that has been put aside for a long time can be accomplished,” The month of October provided

42 | BUSINESS NEWS

a number of opportunities for employee volunteers to get involved in some very worthwhile projects.

Firstly, GMHBA employees turned out at the Hendy Street Primary School campus to give the school grounds a facelift much needed to create a more pleasant play area for the students. The team spent the day repainting decals and seats in the yard, raking and sweeping along the pathways, as well as planting succulents in the front and side garden beds.

“We wanted to give the Hendy St Primary School grounds a real enhancement, because a fun and appealing play area is absolutely essential for the children’s development,” said GMHBA Health Insurance Chief Executive Officer, Mark Valena. “This project will also double as a great team building activity for our employee volunteers.”

Another employee volunteer opportunity saw Alcoa Angelsea employees carry out maintenance works at the Eumeralla facility, utilised frequently by young scouts, school and children from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Eumeralla manager, Scott Brain, and his wife live on

site at the camp and do the best that they can to maintain the 300-acre site, however they rely heavily on external volunteers to assist with the enormous task of running the ‘working camp’.

“With summer approaching, it’s vital we get the site fire-safe, so we are thrilled the volunteers from Alcoa assisted us to cut back the surrounding scrub and remove the environmental weeds and undergrowth,” Scott said. “This also gave us a chance to tackle larger projects like painting the multipurpose games and activity room.”

On a different note, BacLinks, in partnership with Barwon

Gareth Andrews, Founder of Life Again; Toni van Hamond, Barwon Medicare Local; Barry Knight, Alcoa Point Henry; and Dr Jane Opie, local practicing GP. Each contributed a wealth of experience and knowledge about the impacts to individuals, families and business from mental health issues.

Tony McManus, Chair of headspace, was MC for the event, which was presented by the Alcoa Foundation and sponsored by the City of Greater Geelong, MatchWorks, VicWest Community Telco, Business Technology Specialists and Karingal Training.

“Employee volunteering... allows staff to step out of their usual roles to achieve amazing results for the community... and allows them to make a genuine contribution.”

Medicare Local, Life Again, the Geelong Manufacturing Council, Mercure Hotel Geelong and McManus Consulting Services, facilitated the Big Boys Don’t Cry – But They Should mental health forum for men.

Leading up to National Mental Health Week, the forum saw around 115 representatives from Geelong industry and commerce come together for a luncheon at the Mercure Hotel to learn how to identify and deal with men’s mental health issues, both personally and in the workplace.

Guest speakers included

“The forum aimed to engage men in the region to reflect, lead and change attitudes to mental health and help them to seek support for their emotional well-being,” Toni van Hamond said.

To find out how your business can support our local community in a meaningful way please contact BacLinks on 5249 8989 or visit our website www.baclinks.org.au

COMMUNITY NEWS

Multi Sport Festival ENTRIES are now open for the 3rd Geelong Multisport Festival, to be held from Friday 8th to Sunday 10th February 2013, bringing triathlon and festival events together at the traditional home of triathlon – Geelong.

This fantastic festival of fundraising and sport encourages getting outside and

getting amongst it, regardless of your fitness or training level.

The Target Foreshore Fun Run/Walk includes 5km and 10km distances, or get your workplace into shape with the Target Enticer Corporate Triathlon.

Set up a fundraising challenge for you or your team and

support Give Where You Live.

For the serious triathletes, the URBAN Geelong Long Course offers 50 exclusive spots into IRONMAN Asia-Pacific Championship Melbourne six weeks later. 30 Las Vegas IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship slots are also on offer.

Returning for the third year running is the Subaru Olympic Distance Triathlon (1.5km swim, 40km cycle, 10km run) which complements the long course event, and acts as Race 3 of the National Qualifying Series.

Entries for all Geelong Multi Sport Festival events are open at geelongmultisport.com.au

Where are our young achievers?

Homelessness hero claims award

DO you know a young person up to 28 years of age making their mark or a valuable community contribution?

If so, why not show your appreciation by nominating them for a Victorian Young Achiever Award.

PAUL Kimber’s many years of commitment to helping people experiencing homelessness across the Geelong region has been recognised at the 2012 Regional Achievement and Community Awards, with Paul winning the prestigious Medibank Healthy Participation Award.

The Awards aim to recognise Victoria’s outstanding young achievers and give them a pat on the back for their efforts.

Nominations are being sought throughout Victoria until Friday 7th December 2012 in the following categories: - Harcourts Leadership and Innovation Award - Rent the Roo Sports Award - BASF Science and Technology Award - Academy Graphics Regional Achiever Award - Victorian Government’s Small Business Achievement Award - Saward Dawson Community Service and Volunteering Award

The Awards will culminate at a Gala Awards Presentation Dinner in April 2013 at Etihad Stadium. Finalists will be presented and winners announced in what will be a glittering affair. All nominees that do not make the finals but who are able to attend will also be presented with a framed certificate on stage in recognition of their achievements.

Each category winner will receive a $2,000 prize grant and a trophy. One of the category winners will be chosen as the Victorian Young Achiever of the Year and will receive an additional $2,000.

Nomination forms and posters are available from category sponsors, online at www. awardsaustralia.com/YAA_vic. php or contact the Awards Office on 9720 1638 or email vicyaa@awardsaustralia.com.

Three hundred and twenty guests enjoyed the Gala event, including official guest Damian Drum MLC, Parliamentary Secretary for Regional and Rural Development, with Natalie Forrest from PRIME7 hosting the Awards.

“These awards recognise community commitment and contribution and we congratulate Paul Kimber, and all of the nominees, for their achievements.

champions,” said Mary Davis, Regional Manager, Medibank.

Paul has been volunteer manager of The Outpost - an outreach centre based in the heart of Geelong - for 16 of its 22-year history.

He is on-call 24/7, dedicating over 40 hours a week to providing emergency assistance for homeless people. Paul assists with food, medical assistance, accommodation, counselling and referrals.

Paul encourages people in need to get together and meet in a safe place, share a meal and seek medical help when needed.

Paul manages 80 volunteers and sees that over 24,000 meals are served to the needy every year.

We are delighted to sponsor these Awards that have unearthed many community

BUSINESS NEWS | 43

WINE

Our coast with the most If you’ve been living under a rock or in a cave and haven’t heard, the weekend of the Melbourne Cup long weekend is Toast of the Coast time. The Geelong region’s premier food and wine festival and a perfect opportunity for locals to experience all the fabulous wine and produce that our region has to offer.

SO, while I’m tooting the horn about the Geelong region, I thought I might share with you some interesting statistics.

I’ve dragged some figures from the Geelong Wine website. If you haven’t visited it yet, I can highly recommend it as the first port of call for regional winery information and overall great content. It also outlines in detail all the events and goings on for the Toast Of The Coast this year.

In James Hallidays latest book, 91 per cent of Geelong wineries received 4+ star ratings, which is amongst the highest for all Australian regions. 56 per cent received a perfect 5 star rating, which is very difficult to achieve.

Five wines from Geelong rated as the highest in their variety, which is amazing.

Brown magpie even received a mention as a dark horse to watch for the future.

There is no doubt that even though wines have been made in our region since the late 1800’s, the wines have never been better. This is something I experienced first hand whilst judging at the Cool Climate wine show this year. A special Riesling that was awarded gold and then top gold for best Riesling later gained best white of show and then overall best wine of show. To my surprise, it was the 2012 Austins Riesling made in the Moorabool Valley.

It continues to amaze me that the Geelong region exhibits so much diversity and produces world-class wines using a vast array of varieties.

Now we have over 60 wineries in our region, which is really split up into three distinct areas, the Bellarine Peninsula, Moorabool Valley and the constantly expanding Surf Coast. There is no doubt

that Pinot Noir, as a variety, has led the great interest in our region, but varieties such as Riesling, Chardonnay and Shiraz are gaining in both recognition and popularity.

There is still a degree of experimentation on some vineyards, with varieties such as Zinfandel, Merlot and even Gewurztraminer having yielded some surprising results. I’ve even been involved in making some botrytised desert wine at one winery.

This year, it’s the 11th anniversary of this amazing

festival, so if you haven’t been before now is the time. You can purchase a full weekend pass or perhaps just drop in to your favourite winery for a tasting. Not only is there a vast array of wines on showing but local art, food and music will also contribute to the sensory feast. Most wineries are involved and there is a program listing all that’s on offer at the Geelong Wine website. If you’re lucky there might be an opportunity to taste new wines from the exceptional 2012 vintage also.

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‘Meet’ in Geelong’s most spectacular conference & events venue

Call our Events Sales Team now to arrange a site inspection, you’ll be surprised what The Pier has to offer

Conferences & seminars Exhibitions Cocktail parties Product launches Major events Private functions Voted #1 Best Regional Venue in Victoria.

Cunningham Pier, 10 Western Beach Foreshore Rd, Geelong (03) 5222 6444 enquiries@thepiergeelong.com.au www.thepiergeelong.com.au

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H9H5< )5,'D< )520 SP Free Entry, Free Wine Tasting, Free Gourmet Platters For Patrons, Free Live Entertainment Each Week 2 November – Spring has sprung!

Celebrate the spring carnival season with an array of sparkling wines Entertainment: Warm Sands

16 November – Red and White Red vs White... Delicious Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris/Grigio Entertainment: Warm Sands

9 November – Our favourite wines from Baveras Brasserie Baveras Brasserie is a causal fine-dining restaurant on Cunningham Pier. The restaurant manager David Wainwright has selected his favourites for you to sample Entertainment: Chic

23 November – NZ vs Australia Sample New Zealand and Australian Sauvignon Blanc wines Entertainment: Chic

credo.GBN.09.12

Voted by readers of Spice News.

AFTER HOURS Photos: Elisha Lindsay, elphotography.com.au

Greg Evans (Stegbar), Dave Farrell (Stegbar).

A little step in a long success story Iconic award winning builders, Glenvill, are proud to announce their newest Franchise Operator, Little Constructions.

MARK & Leesa Little joined the Glenvill family in July 2012 as the Glenvill Geelong Franchisee, launching their new Showroom on October 25.

Sharing the launch evening were local suppliers, business associates, trades people, past clientele and staff members.

double storey homes.

Located in the high profile address 172 La Trobe Terrace Geelong, inspection is a must.

Mark will talk you through the maze of building and expose you to the extensive range of Glenvill acreage, single &

“We wish Mark & Leesa every success and that Glenvill will be behind them all the way.”

Mark and Leesa Little (Glenvill).

46 | BUSINESS NEWS

“At Glenvill we pride ourselves on developing strong partnerships with excellent local builders, that’s what’s made Glenvill Regional a success over the past 20 years,” said Glenvill Franchise General Manager Paul Marturano.

For more information and contact details, visit: glenvillhomes-geelong.com.au

Leesa Little (Glenvill), Paul Marturano (Glenvill).

AFTER HOURS

Pam Hocking, Colin Hocking, Neil Noelker.

Ebony and Andrew Dwyer (M.A.P Financial Solutions).

Mark Lyons (Beaumont Tiles), Marty Widdison (Laminex).

Hugh McDougall (Glenvill), Warren Walters (Tile Lab).

Richard Poynder (Austral Bricks), Paul Marturano (Glenvill), Hugh McDougall (Glenvill).

BUSINESS BUSINESSNEWS NEWS|| 47

AFTER HOURS Damien Butler, Ballarat.

Enabling infrastructure for regional prosperity New infrastructure is needed to tackle short-term gaps and push-forward existing investment-ready projects to future-proof Victoria’s regions, says the Victorian Employers’ Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VECCI).

SPEAKING in the lead up to the 2012 VECCI Regional Business Convention, held in Geelong in October, VECCI Chief Executive, Mark Stone, said, “Infrastructure alone does not guarantee growth, but when coupled with the people skills and know-how existing in our regions, it becomes a powerful tool to unlock new business opportunities in markets at home and abroad.

to discuss and debate the challenges and opportunities expected to shape regional growth into the future.

“Pushing infrastructure projects forward requires clear road maps based on agreed priorities, needs assessments and stakeholder buy-in. This is why a coherent strategy that integrates investment projects and spreads their benefits throughout our regions is so important.”

Victorian Premier, Ted Baillieu, and Opposition Leader, Daniel Andrews, attended the Convention, where VECCI released recommendations to support sustainable growth and improvements in competitiveness across all of Victoria’s regions; focusing on facilitating regional infrastructure, investing in regional human capital, nurturing regional innovation, and advancing regional leadership, connectivity and collaboration.

The 2012 VECCI Regional Business Convention brought together the output from a series of workshops held around the state in which regional business leaders were invited

Delegates elected from the workshops will had their chance to inform policy-makers of the key infrastructure priorities for our regions, along with the linked reforms needed to leverage more effectively off existing people, knowledge and natural resources.

Opposition Leader Daniel Andrews.

Premier Ted Baillieu.

48 | BUSINESS NEWS

AFTER HOURS

L-R: Terry Hickey (Business Events Geelong), Radford White (GMHBA), Terry Demeo (City of Greater Geelong), The Premier of Victoria, the Hon. Ted Baillieu, Greg Ure (Caron Laboratories) (back), Ken Dickens (Corio Waste Management) (front), Kathryn Egan (WHK Pty Ltd), Mark Sanders (Third Ecology and President Geelong Chamber of Commerce), Grant Boyd (Bethany Community Support).

Event Delegates from all regions.

BUSINESS BUSINESSNEWS NEWS|| 49

WHAT’S ON NOVEMBER Permian Monsters Ok, so you know all about the Dinosaurs, but do you know about the Permian Monsters?

This exhibition presents the relatively unknown and bizarre creatures of the Permian that lived before their more famous ancestors, the dino¬saurs.

The aim of the exhibition is to educate people about this geological period, its bizarre creatures and the greatest extinction Planet Earth has ever experienced.

National Wool Museum, Geelong. nwm.vic.gov.au

04 – 30 NOVEMBER Ballarat by the Glass Enjoy Wine, Food & Music Days at local Cellar Doors, and a Duck & Pinot Dinner.

Don’t miss the Ballarat Wine Expo at “The Lane” at the The George. ballaratwineries.com

08 NOVEMBER Chamber of Commerce November After 5 After 5’s allow Chamber members the opportunity of networking with other business owners to promote themself and their business.

These events are very popular and normally attract 200 – 250 people.

Royal Geelong Yacht Club. geelongchamber.com.au

Permian Monsters running throughout November at the National Wool Museum.

50 | BUSINESS NEWS

09 NOVEMBER VECCI – Exceptional Customer Service A comprehensive and interactive workshop-style program to ensure you have the skills and knowledge you need to deliver the kind of customer service that will set your organisation apart from the competition.

Geelong Conference Centre, Eastern Park. vecci.org.au/Training

10 NOVEMBER Central Geelong Farmer’s Market Stroll amongst the stalls and sample some of the regions finest fresh produce and unique gourmet treats.

Little Malop Street, Central Geelong. centralgeelong.com.au Walking Home Walking home is a walk to raise the awareness to homelessness in our region. The walk begins in Queenscliff, proceeds along the Bellerine Rail Trail to conclude on Steampacket Gardens, Waterfront Geelong. walkinghome.org.au

10 – 11 NOVEMBER Streets Are Alive In its 3rd year, Streets Are Alive will showcase local artists and performers in quirky and unusual spaces around town.

Little Malop Street, Central Geelong. streetsarealive.com Bellarine Relay for Life An overnight community event where teams walk or run to raise funds for The Cancer Council Victoria.

Collendina Reserve Minerva Close, Ocean Grove. cancervic.org.au Two Day Sign Language One (Auslan) Learn the basics of Auslan, the Language of the Deaf community of Australia, in this intensive course. The same curriculum as our regular Sign Language One (Auslan) course is taught in just two days!

Eastwood Leisure Complex, Ballarat. vicdeaf.com.au Werribee’s Annual Craft Festival Werribee’s largest undercover craft festival is always held on the first weekend after Melbourne Cup Day. All craft is handmade and of the highest quality, and the day

includes children’s activities, including face painting.

The Wyndham Leisure and Events Centre. werribeecraftfestival.tripod.com

11 NOVEMBER Harvest A delicious world of wonders & delights featuring Bootleg Alley, The Secret Garden, The Campfire Stage, Gourmet food & drink stalls, Holistic, retro and vintage markets, sideshows plus surprises & debauchery galore.

Various locations. harvestfestival.com.au

15 NOVEMBER VECCI – Green Office Briefing The Green Office Briefing was developed in response to the requirements of small to medium-sized and large business who wish to educate their staff to become more environmentally conscious and empower them to implement green practices in the office. The two hour briefing clarifies common myths around the usage of electrical appliances and is an essential guide to manage paper use, electricity consumption, waste disposal and transport attitudes in and around the office.

Geelong Conference Centre, Eastern Park. vecci.org.au/Training

WHAT’S ON Aboriginal Art and Culture A free Aboriginal art and culture exhibition and information about local Koori culture. Try painting Aboriginal art with local artist and elder Brian Lovette. Listen to story telling, follow the rainbow serpent, walk the totem trail or visit the Bush Tucker Garden.

Bellarine Living and Learning Centre. geelongaustralia.com.au

16 NOVEMBER Twilight Street Market Food stalls, craft, plants, novelty and unique attractions fill the Piazza under the “Grand Old Gum Tree” while free live music and roving entertainment delights visitors.

The Piazza, Werribee. twilightstreetmarket.wordpress.com

17 NOVEMBER Gala Day, Morris Finance Parade and Family Fun Day For almost 100 years, Gala Day has been a highlight of the year for families and is now an important fundraiser for the Geelong Hospital. The Morris Finance Parade through the city centre features popular children’s characters including Elmo, Santa and Mrs Claus, Bananas in Pyjamas, Fireman Sam, Monsters Inc. and lots of special guests, followed by entertainment, food and activities on the Waterfront for families.

Central and Waterfront Geelong. geelonghospital.org.au

18 NOVEMBER Run Geelong With the GMHBA 6km walk, the Telstra Store Geelong CBD 6km Run, and the Burke Britton 12km run there is an event for every fitness level, with 100% of the entry fee goes directly to the Geelong Hospital Children’s Ward Redevelopment.

Geelong CBD. rungeelong.com.au Linton Town wide Garage Sale Maps available at the school and takeaway on the day only.

Linton. ballarat.vic.gov.au

20 NOVEMBER

25 NOVEMBER

The Happiest Christmas

Uniting Prints Dog Walk 2012

All your favourite performers bring their own slant on Christmas to create the happiest, funniest, most tuneful celebration.

Bring the two-legged and four-legged family members together for a fun day out while raising much-needed funds for the Geelong Animal Welfare Society (GAWS).

Potato Shed, Drysdale. geelongaustralia.com.au

21 NOVEMBER

Eastern Park (starts at the Rotunda). gaws.org.au

Geelong Young Professionals Q&A with Kent Kingsley, AFL player and entrepreneur, being interviewed by Channel 7 news presenter, Rebecca Maddern on his sporting and entrepreneurial career.

Truffleduck, Fyansford. geelongaustralia.com.au

23 – 25 NOVEMBER Queenscliff Music Festival It’s back, the weekend-long celebration of local, national and international music that takes over the historic seaside town of Queenscliff every November. Amongst the big acts this year are Missy Higgins, The Cat Empire, Gurrumul, You Am I, Something For Kate, Baby Animals, British India, Lisa Mitchell, Tzu, Owl Eyes, Diesel, Shannon Noll, Mia Dyson, The Fauves and even Bananas In Pyjamas live stage show.

Queenscliff. qmf.net.au

White Ribbon Day The Zonta Club of Geelong is providing information about White Ribbon Day and the eradication of domestic violence, especially against women.

Eastern Beach/Waterfront. zontageelong.org.au

30 NOVEMBER International Day of People with Disability 2012 Drop in to the open lounge room in Little Malop Street and enjoy the music, dance and art. Chat to people from Geelong’s disability services organisations and those living with disability about what it’s like living, travelling, studying and socialising when you have a disability; and what support services and programs are available.

Little Malop Street, Central Geelong geelongaustralia.com.au

24 NOVEMBER Blue Ribbon Foundation Christmas Masquerade Ball Invite your colleagues, customers, friends and family and help raise funds for the Geelong Hospital Children’s Ward redevelopment. Dress in After 5, dinner suit or masquerade, with prizes for the best dressed. Includes a 3-course meal and drinks.

Geelong Arena. barwonhealth.org.au

event is the first Speed Trials to be held on the Waterfront since 2003 and promises to be a unique weekend of food and wine, fashion, live music, concours d’elegance and motorsport, as well as a Classic Motorshow, tours, displays, exhibits and lots of classic cars and motorbikes.

Richie Boulevard, Geelong Waterfront. geelongrevival.com.au

05 DECEMBER Geelong Chamber of Commerce December After 5 event, sponsored by GMHBA. geelongchamber.com.au Business Network Forum Breakfast The final Geelong Business Network breakfast event, hosted by Maxim PR and Marketing. geelongbusinessnetwork.com.au

07 DECEMBER Christmas Fest by the Lake This is a twilight event of great significance and importance for Ballarat, its people, and its businesses. Rain, hail, or shine, it’s guaranteed to be a family evening of fun, beautiful produce and original creations from over 100 stalls.

Pleasant St PS by Lake Wendouree. christmasfestballarat.com.au

Artefact Market Geelong’s Art & Design Collective - selling high quality local handmade.

All Saints Hall, Newtown. geelongaustralia.com.au

01 DECEMBER aMAZEing Ballarat Fun, charity event which combines elements of a treasure hunt, physical challenges and mental puzzles set amidst the parks, buildings and streets of Ballarat.

Parks and streets of Ballarat. eurekaorienteers.asn.au

01 – 02 DECEMBER Just Cars Geelong Revival Just Cars Geelong Revival 2012 brings the spirit of the speed trials back to the Geelong Waterfront. The

2012 Diversitat Food of the World Festival The 2012 Food of the World Festival will offer a delightful menu of fine cuisine from around the globe transforming a CBD alleyway into a global treasure.

Wholefoods, Bailey Plc., Geelong. diversitat.org.au

08 DECEMBER Momentum, Denis Walter Carols by the Bay Welcome in the festive season with an evening of Carols with one of Australia’s favourite carollers, Denis Walter.

Eastern Beach Reserve. deniswalter.com

BUSINESS NEWS | 51

Article Heading Subheading, Subheading, Subheading, Subheading, Subheading, Subheading, Subheading, Subheading, Subheading, Subheading, Subheading, Subheading.

THE RIGHT PERSON CAN TRANSFORM YOUR BUSINESS SPEAK TO THE EXPERTS We are Geelong’s leading experts in recruiting qualified, professional and skilled people.

We operate across the private and public sectors, dealing in permanent positions, contract roles and temporary assignments.

Over the last year our Geelong office we placed around 95 local job seekers into permanent jobs with local employers and around 150 people into contract roles and temporary assignments. Our service is based on our belief that the right job can transform a person’s life and the right person can transform a business.

Our recruiting experts are available in the following areas: • Hays Accountancy & Finance • Hays Architecture • Hays Construction • Hays Engineering • Hays Information Technology • Hays Office Support • Hays Trades & Labour To find out more about our services and how we can bring you together with the right people contact us at geelong@hays.com.au or 03 5226 8000.

hays.com.au 52 | BUSINESS NEWS