Business News - February 2013

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Rethinking Education

ISSUE 215 FEBRUARY 2013

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ISSUE 215 FEBRUARY 2013

FEATURES 14. Mayor’s Comment 16. Rethinking Education 21. Recruitment & Training

CONTENTS 4. Editor 5. Biz News 10. New Appointments 12. Feature 20. Opinion 26. International Women’s Day 28. VECCI 29. Regulation 30. Tax 32. Recruitment 34. Small Biz 36. Education 37. 2013 Masters Games 38. The Tech Guy 40. Arts 42. Community News 44. After Hours 50. What’s On

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EDITOR

Election 2013: Let’s get ready to rumble!

Whatever else the year will bring, one thing we can be certain of is that 2013 will bring a federal election.

I just love an election year.

I know there are many who don’t, having caused enough eyebrows to peak and eyes to roll at my unbridled enthusiasm for the latest developments in the political race. I know that while enthusiasts are reveling in the drama of it all; pouring over commentary and pitching into tea room dissections of who said what that there are as many, if not more, who are silently, and occasionally not so silently, begging us to just shut up.

Sorry guys, not this year, because 2013 is shaping up to be an election to remember.

Two years ago it was hard to imagine a scenario in which a Julia Gillard-led Labor could win the next election, and the expectation was that an election would be held well prior to the Oakeshott and Windsorset 2013 timeline. Yet the PM has survived, has named September 14 as the election date, and Tony Abbott, Julie Bishop, Joe Hockey and co. have watched their unassailable lead erode. While recent polling suggests the Coalition are still in the box seat, they are losing ground and once again facing the possibility that they could lose.

The PM’s tenacity in the face of relentless assault has, in the long run, seen her garner the respect of a larger proportion of the voting public than could have readily been foreseen.

Abbott’s bulldog tactics that were so successful in the first half of the parliamentary term have now turned and bitten him on the proverbial. The question then begs, can an old bulldog learn some new tricks, and can he learn them in time?

the NBN roll out budget and taking a direct action approach to climate change. The big questions of where the money would come from will need to be answered. And while Abbott and co. will run a hard line on the economy, they may find this a tougher angle than expected, given the beat up over the carbon tax impact and Australia’s relatively low unemployment, low interest rates and strong global position.

The campaigning proper has begun and the approach of the two sides differ as markedly as their party’s hardline ideologies.

Gillard has taken a slow burn approach, setting out her campaign focus last year, with the economy and jobs set to feature largely, with the razzle dazzle coming in the form of the big ticket disability insurance scheme and education reforms.

Election years are fantastic years for those who play both sides of the fence, and you can be certain that local councils and lobby groups in marginal seats across the nation will be writing up their wish lists in anticipation of a pre-election spend fest. However, with households and businesses cutting back and saving where they can, both sides will have to take care what they promise.

Tony Abbott, on the other hand, is going for the big splash, with a new vision for the country that would see union powers decimated, the public service slashed, big spending on infrastructure (albeit funded by as yet unsourced private funds, which could mean a push for superannuation to be invested in infrastructure), the removal of the carbon tax, slashing

Both Labor and the Coalition are going to have to budget hard to achieve their big promises, and those promises will be a hard enough sell, without blowing out their bottom lines on the road, rail and infrastructure promises that lobbyists will be negotiating for.

DAVINA MONTGOMERY

ISSUE 215 FEBRUARY 2013 BUSINESS NEWS, an Adcell Print Group publication, is mailed to more than 6000 businesses across Geelong, Ballarat and Werribee.

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BIZ NEWS

Push to accelerate red tape cuts

Sticky fingers costs retailers billions annually THE Australian Retailers Association is urging retailers to remain vigilant, with theft estimated to account for 3 per cent of retail turnover each year. ARA Executive Director, Russell Zimmerman, said that given that retail is a 243 billion industry, it can be assumed that retail theft amounts to around $7.5 billion annually.

AN announcement by the Victorian Treasurer that agencies including WorkCover, VicRoads and the EPA are being urged to cut more of the red tape that is stifling business growth and competitiveness may be cause for cautious optimism. VECCI Chief Executive, Mark Stone said the announcement of new guidelines and a focus on agencies that regularly interact with business was welcome.

“Given that the cost of regulations on the state economy has been estimated to be as high as $3.3 billion per year, there is a compelling case for efforts to accelerate reform across all levels of government.

“Feedback from Victorian business confirms just how significant the impact red tape

can be on job creation and investment.

“A recent survey by VECCI suggests the compliance burden has increased in recent years and the task of complying with regulatory requirements – particularly among time and resource poor small business – has even led to the deferral of investment and changed hiring plans.

“The push to have regulators outline by 1 July 2013 how they intend to reduce red tape is encouraging, as is the recent appointment of John Lloyd as Victoria’s Red Tape Commissioner to oversee the reform process.”

The Victorian Government has a clear target to reduce red tape by 25 per cent by 2014.

“Retailers are busy people, but simply writing off the problem gives into thieves. That’s why the ARA together with the NSW Department of Justice and Attorney General are providing a free Preventing Retail Loss and Financial Risk resource to retailers.”

While the resource has been developed interstate, it is available to all retailers, with a free loss prevention online training course also available.

“Prevention is the best remedy for combating the financial risk posed by retail theft and this joint industry-government initiative offers the convenience of a handbook offering useful guidance as well as the self-paced online training for retailers ranging from shop floor employees through to store managers and owners.

“The 30-minute online training

module puts retailers back in control of their stock and will enable them to work to prevent in-store theft, understand the benefits of investing to deter theft and determine how loss impacts on financial performance.

“It’s also important for retailers to be cautious when accepting returns and exchanges as savvy thieves in the US are using fake receipts or returning merchandise that was stolen or purchased with counterfeit money,” Mr Zimmerman said.

Retailers who would like a copy of the free Preventing Retail Loss and Financial Risk resource or to learn more about the a free loss prevention online training course, can contact the ARA Retail Institute on 1300 368 041 or email training@retail.org.au.

BUSINESS NEWS | 5

BIZ NEWS

Nominate a local business hero

What are you paying for?

The Telstra Australian Business Awards are open for nominations and communities are being urged to nominate outstanding businesses in their local region.

MEMBER for South Barwon, Andrew Katos MP, is spreading the message of encouragement to recognize outstanding local business with a nomination.

By nominating a local business, you’re giving them a unique opportunity to prosper.

Finalists and winners get to boost their national profile and expand their network by mixing with successful alumni of the Awards.

“Let’s get behind the entrepreneurs and innovators in our community who are making a difference to our local and national prosperity,” Mr Katos said.

There are fi ve Award categories: HTC Start-Up Award – For businesses that have been operating for between one and three years and have up to 200 employees; News Limited Micro-Business Award For businesses with fi ve or less employees; MYOB Small Business Award - For businesses with more than fi ve employees, and up to 20

employees; Commonwealth Bank Medium Business Award - For businesses with more than 20 employees, and up to 200 employees; and Telstra Regional Award - For the most outstanding regional business located outside the metropolitan areas of the capital cities in each state and territory.

Each entrant gets an individual 70-page Business Health Check that evaluates the performance of their business and helps them to grow for tomorrow.

Nominations are now open and entries for the 2013 Telstra Business Awards will open on 11 February and close on 4 April.

To nominate or enter the Awards go to telstrabusinessawards. com or call the Telstra Australian Business Awards team on 1800 262 323 for further information.

New research funded by the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) has found nearly 29 per cent of small businesses owners are suffering the same customer service and complaint-handling problems experienced by general consumers, even though the vast majority are paying for business-grade services.

THE study, conducted by telecommunications market analyst firm, Market Clarity, also found 32 per cent of small businesses say that even a one-hour fixed broadband outage would have a serious or “catastrophic” impact on their business, a figure that more than doubles in the event of a 24-hour outage. Surprisingly, more than 50 per cent of small businesses say they have no back-up plan if their fixed broadband went down.

Small businesses are readily embracing the digital economy, with 92 per cent of the 260 respondents using 3-5 distinct telecommunications service types (fixed voice, fixed broadband, VoIP, mobile voice, mobile broadband and EFTPOS). While the vast majority of business customers are for the most part satisfied with the overall quality of their telecommunications services, the study highlights significant customer service and complaint-handling problems.

The types of customer service problems experienced were

difficulty contacting their provider, being passed between departments, having to call multiple times or being on hold, billing issues and resolution response times.

“The time spent trying to get telecommunications problems fixed particularly impacts small businesses, as it is frequently the owner or a senior employee who is forced to spend time on resolving these issues; the smaller the business, the greater the impact,” said ACCAN chief executive Teresa Corbin, whose organisation funded the study.

Small business complaints now make up almost 14 per cent of all complaints received by the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman, with 27,008 complaints received during the last financial year - an increase of 18 per cent compared to the previous year.

“What this tells us is that more small businesses are experiencing problems that they can’t resolve with their provider directly,” said Ms Corbin.

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BIZ NEWS

Do Aussies need to de-techtox?

Stormwater harvesting saving precious resource

Many of us like to wait to take our summer break until the end of the school holidays. If you are counting down to holidays, give some thought to turning off the phone, laptop and tablet and actually giving yourself a break.

The City of Greater Geelong’s stormwater harvesting system installed in Eastern Park last year has already paid dividends, with 296,000 litres of water from the dam used since November 2012.

THE 2012 Stayz Holiday Habits Report reveals that Australians are struggling to escape work or to resist heavy use of social media while on annual leave, often to the detriment of relationships with their travelling companions.

The research found that almost half of all holiday makers (47%) are phoned with work related questions by colleagues while they are on leave; and almost a quarter (23%) say working causes arguments with partners or friends while on holidays. More than half of all Aussie workers (51%) confess to checking their emails everyday while on holiday and more than a quarter (29%) spend 15 minutes or more scrolling through their inboxes daily while on leave. In addition, the research found that while on holiday, 42 per cent of Australians spend 15 minutes or more on social media every day with over half (52%) checking their social profile at least once a day.

Dave Dunstan, Marketing Director, The Stayz Group said,

“It is not surprising that almost one in five (18%) Aussies say that they are unable to relax and switch off from work despite being out of the office and on holiday.”

Social currency is the new status symbol and is increasingly becoming the preferred platform for holidaying Aussies to share holiday experiences in real time, with 61 per cent uploading holiday photos on-the-spot, while over one third (36%) use social media to ‘check in’ to attractions, making sure their peers know their every move.

As with work, constant use of technology provides a bugbear for holiday companions with one fifth (20%) irritated by their travelling companions using technology, often at the expense of enjoying regular holiday activities or having a conversation. Additionally, 29 per cent of Australians say that forgetting their mobile phone would make their holiday experience worse; illustrating how central technology is to many Aussie holidaymakers.

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THE Council advised that the recycled stormwater has been used to water a variety of trees that were planted around Eastern Park late last year that have required extra watering to help them establish, particularly during the extremely hot days over summer. The stormwater harvesting system has also been used to maintain street trees around Geelong.

Gardens is in the top five water users for Council, and once this system is at full capacity we will be able to supply around 90 per cent of the gardens’ water demands. This is a significant saving financially and environmentally.”

Environment and Sustainability portfolio holder, Cr Andy Richards, said the stormwater harvesting system had proved to be a big success.

“The system has allowed us to keep the new trees around Eastern Gardens alive without having to worry about the amount of potable water we were using and the costs incurred.

“Although we are not dealing with the same major drought problems as in previous years, stormwater harvesting is an environmentally and financially sustainable way to keep our trees and parks thriving.”

“The Geelong Botanic

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BUSINESS NEWS | 7

COMMENT

Flushing Innovation The economist magazine recently posed the question of whether we humans, as a race, will ever invent anything truly useful again.

THEY posed this question accompanied with a picture of a man sitting on the humble flushing toilet, and went on to ponder whether humanity could again reach the heights of innovation that would change humanity to the extent that the flushable loo did way back in 1596.

The article then goes on to say that nobody has recently come up with an invention half as useful as the flushable toilet, and that there is a real danger that the speed of innovation is slowing down.

Well, here at burningpants, we will have to take the opposite side of that argument. In fact,

8 | BUSINESS NEWS

if we hadn’t been reading the article on a tablet computer, downloaded over 3G while sitting on a bus on the way to work – an innovation of recent times – then we could have ripped the article out of the magazine and used it in concert with the great invention of the past which they have promoted as the height of human ingenuity!

The problem with their view of the state of human innovation in recent times is that they are looking at history through the lens of a 24-hour news cycle, where their idea about recent history is much shorter

than the lens that they are evaluating past innovations through.

For example, in 1439 Gutenberg invented the printing press. This was a huge step for humanity in being able to communicate with each other. Now you may call me mad, but I think that the development of the internet in the early 1990s is a similar event in terms of shrinking the world and facilitating communication.

After the printing press was invented it took over 100 years for the fi rst newspaper to be printed. In contrast, it has taken less than 20 years for the internet to go mobile, with smart phones facilitating communication amongst different groups of people to a similar degree that the

newspaper did back when it fi rst went to press.

If you look at the world through the lens of the 24hour news cycle, then thinking back over 2012 you might be hard pressed to think of an innovation that could change the world to the extent of the flushable toilet. However, if you take a longer-term view of innovation in history, it would be a struggle to think of another period over the last several thousand years where technology improved at such a rapid pace.

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NEW APPOINTMENTS HEALTH Kevin Freele is the new Executive Director, Mental Health, Drug and Alcohol Services (MHDAS) at Barwon Health.

Kevin will be overseeing and bringing MHDAS forward with the appointment of an addiction specialist in April, the co-location of the Psychology Clinic and the Medicare Local in May and the introduction of a new Mental Health Act next year.

HOSPITALITY

Chairman Michael Betts is delighted to announce the appointment of Rebecca Casson to the role of Executive Director of the Committee for Geelong.

Ms Casson comes to the Committee after more than 15 years of high-level experience, including senior responsibilities in international partnerships, political management, strategic projects and policy.

HOSPITALITY

Mercure Geelong is pleased to announce the appointment of Kerrie Benfield to the position of Conference Sales Manager.

Mercure Geelong is also pleased to announce the appointment of Kylie Nicol to the position of Conference Sales Co-ordinator.

Kerrie has returned to Geelong after some years away working on islands in Northern Queensland.

Prior to joining the Mercure team, Kylie has spent 2½ years working at the Melbourne Aquarium and the Royal Geelong Yacht Club in similar positions.

Kerrie brings with her a wealth of conference and events experience to boost Mercure Geelong’s events leadership position in the region.

REAL ESTATE Whitford is proud to introduce another experienced and successful person to our Torquay sales team.

A perfect fit for Whitford, Steven Menegazzo provides quality service and premium results together with honesty and integrity throughout the selling process.

10 | BUSINESS NEWS

ADVOCACY

REAL ESTATE Driven to provide an unsurpassed level of customer service, Michael Ferris boasts a professional approach to real estate. Regarded by his clients and colleagues alike as energetic, reliable, researched and straightforward. His success has been based on integrity, honesty and by keeping his vendors firmly up-to-date with frank and consistent contact.

NEW APPOINTMENTS BANKING

TRAINING

Bank of Melbourne is delighted to announce the appointment of Rocco Trinchera as the new Branch Manager Geelong Branch.

Bruce Graham is the latest edition to Diversitat Training as a Business Development Consultant.

Rocco is a very experienced banker and has held a number of senior positions with other major Banks inclusive of lending, deposit and sales management.

Having worked for the last decade in this capacity he has developed a strong understanding of the role that the Vocational Education Training System plays, in supporting both industry and the general community in developing work skills and education pathways.

EDUCATION

FINANCIAL PLANNING

Andrew Barr, National Chair of the Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia and former Principal at Scotch Oakburn College in Launceston, will lead The Geelong College in 2013. An experienced educator and leader, he was Deputy Principal and Head of Caulfield Campus at Caulfield Grammar School prior to his move to Tasmania.

He has a Bachelor of Economics (Hons), a Diploma of Education and a Master of Educational Studies.

The Financial Planning Association (FPA) has appointed Brian Quarrell CFPÂŽ as the Geelong Chapter Chair for 2013.

Mr Quarrell has been the Geelong Chapter Chair for the past 12 years.

Mark Rantall, CEO of FPA, said he was pleased to welcome Brian back to his role as Geelong Chapter Chair.

TRAINING

ACCOUNTING

AGB Engineering is pleased to welcome Done Laovski as a Principal Engineer.

Sarah Trevena has joined Jovic Accounting, having spent the last ten years working in roles as a practicing accountant and a financial controller with established accounting firms in Geelong and Werribee, with experience covering Tax Returns, payroll, Bas, PAYG, IAS, Superannuation, cash flow management, budgets, accounts management and using MYOB and Quickbooks.

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FEATURE

The Cloud as a service It sounds insubstantial, ethereal and, frankly, just a little bit wet. But when it comes to IT, The Cloud bears little resemblance to massed water droplets floating in the sky.

A more appropriate analogy would be a space cloud, or nebula. These clouds of dust, gas and other material attract matter from all around them, becoming so massive they have the power to form new stars and planets.

THE potential of what is happening with cloud computing – esoteric term that it is – is fascinating, but for many business people who don’t quite understand what it all means, the thought that their private business information is floating around somewhere on the internet is less than comforting.

So, just what is cloud computing? We asked Adam Tattersall, General Manager of Barwon Computer Solutions, to explain what it means to launch into the cloud.

“The general public use cloud services a lot and don’t even realize it. ‘Cloud’ has become a bit of a dirty word for some people and because they don’t understand it, they want to stay away from it.

“What is cloud computing?

Basically it’s having our data and our programs hosted by someone else. We’ve been using it for a long time. For example websites sit on a cloud hosting service. That’s

12 | BUSINESS NEWS

cloud computing – you’re not hosting it yourself; therefore it’s in the cloud. At the end of the day, it’s just offsite hosting instead of onsite hosting.”

It’s normal to feel unsure about new and unfamiliar things – particularly when you’re talking about sensitive business and client information. But in reality, if you access the internet, and even if you haven’t, you’re probably already on the cloud. Facebook, for example, is a cloud service.

You log into facebook via the internet browser or App. Every business listed in the Yellow Pages has a presence on the cloud and everyone who is a client of a bank is on the cloud.

You’re already there.

And yes, it may feel like you are opening up access to your business information by holding it on the cloud rather than on a server on your business premises, but as Adam explains, if you do it right, then that perception couldn’t be further from the truth.

“It’s like anything else in life, you have to use reputable companies for hosting your data. Companies like Microsoft, for example, have spent approximately $8 billion on six data centres around the world. They’re putting their livelihood into this. These systems are synchronized live around the world, so if one of the data centres are involved in a disaster, you are automatically redirected to another data center around the world, and in terms of its operation, we would all be none the wiser.”

These multi-billion dollar global systems come with extraordinary levels of security – the kind of security that couldn’t even be conceived of in an office-based server. As Adam points out, if someone really wanted to hack in to your data, it would be far easier to get that from a server in office than to get it from a reputable cloud provider.

“In the old days, banks acted like a cloud-based host; you took your money there because it was safer and far more secure than keeping it at home. Now we are doing that in an electronic form, we don’t hold our own data on our own premises because the cost of putting in the same level of security as a cloud provider

puts in would be just too expensive.

“Unless you are a very large organization, the costs and the time required to manage these systems are simply unfeasible, and the largest companies were amongst the first to move on to the cloud because they saw the value in it.”

Security is just one of the reasons that businesses, organisations and governments are moving their data on to the cloud.

One of the big attractions of switching to cloud systems is the benefit of pay-as-yougo IT options. For example, rather than having to purchase new equipment and software upfront then depreciating the costs over three years, you have the option of paying for services as you go, much as you would with say a capped mobile phone service.

“Where it’s all heading is that you can now run your whole business on cloud and just have a tablet at your office, if you even have an office. You can pay for your Microsoft Office and you can pay for your accounting package on a monthly subscription fee. You pay for what you use, and you contract that for 12 months, and as long as you have fast enough internet, you can do it all up in the cloud now.

FEATURE

Security and cost savings are big advantages, but when it comes to shifting business operations on to cloud services, the really impressive advantages are likely to be found in time saving and flexibility.

“The roll out of the NBN is an asset to this type of technology,” Adam explains.

“When we have fast enough internet to feasibly do these things, you could have a business with, for example, ten people working for you, all living in different towns, states, or even countries. You can have all your data in one central location via the cloud, with your staff having access to it from wherever they are in the world. You won’t need to have a physical office and server, you can have any

We specialise in:

number of people working for you based anywhere in the world, you can pull in whatever resources you need for your business specifically, because you can share your data online.

It’s really good for businesses with multiple offices as well.”

The ease of working from multiple sites, and even multiple countries, has an extraordinary potential to revolutionise hiring and recruitment, particularly for SME businesses. Ask any small business owner or manager and they can give you countless examples of how hard it can be to find the right person for the job they need done. Finding that right person could become a lot easier if the whole country, or the whole world became your potential recruitment pool. The reverse is also true; your dream job could be in London but your home is by the beach in Victoria. If you can work around the time difference, you can do the job from where you live.

Commentary on workplace flexibility could also become a thing of the past.

Of course, nothing is ever as easy as that sounds. And let’s face it; most of us aren’t there yet anyway, although we may be surprised at how quickly we get there once the NBN is fully operational. Whether we are ready or not, the future is on our doorstep and knocking to get in.

One feature of cloud IT that has had a big uptake is in data backup services.

Previously, data backup was something that involved a separate hard drive at home or at the office. It was clunky and required dedication to continually backup – usually by one person. In terms of both efficiency and effectiveness, it was a far from ideal system.

Fast forward a few years and online backup becomes readily available. Online backup is already available, but is subject to internet speed limitations. Gmail was one of the first hints of what would be possible, with its seemingly inexhaustible capacity to store old emails. Then the whispers started – well, whispers amongst business owners and managers, but more like jumping up and down, yelling and waving by IT professionals – all asking, why don’t you back it all up online?

With no single hard drive that can crash or be stolen, burnt in a fire, swept away in a flood, destroyed by a fallen satellite or eaten by a rogue band marauding wombats, your data – and for an increasing number, your business - will survive, even if your home or office may not have.

As the wider population shifts on to cloud services,

the way that we compute will also change. Australians have already fallen in love with tablets, and what’s not to love? The new wave of smart, responsive, highly portable computers are great fun and a useful tool, but lack the capacity to cater for many everyday work functions… or do they?

“We are all going to have tablets eventually, and eventually those tablets aren’t really going to hold any data,” Adam said. “Basically, all you’re going to use them for is as a portal to log in to where your programs and your data are. If someone steals your tablet or you drop it and smash it, you just get another tablet, put your log in credentials in and away you go again.”

“My whole workstation now is a tablet. I don’t use a normal computer or a laptop; my tablet is my computer, it’s my desktop, my home machine, everything. When I come into the office I drop it into a dock and use a full-size keyboard and screen. When I’m at home it’s just a tablet, when I’m out and about I pull out my stylus pen and handwrite notes on it.

It has everything I need.”

And to think I was just excited that you could download and read books on them!

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“It’s like getting a Foxtel subscription; you can get the basic package, which will provide X, Y and Z, and you can choose other packages that would be of value to you.

You total all that up and there is what it will cost you each month. It changes your IT from being a capital expense to being an operational expense.

That’s a massive advantage, and particularly so for any start-up business. They don’t have to go and outlay a whole lot of money for equipment, they can just pay a monthly fee,” Adam said.

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BUSINESS NEWS | 13

MAYOR’S COMMENT

A region of advantages and opportunities Greater Geelong is part of a global economy.

Even the most casual observer of the business world will be aware that economies at all levels - city, state and nation - are facing real challenges.

THE causes are diverse and well documented – globalisation, the rise in online retailing, the pressure on heavy manufacturing, strong Australian dollar to name a few - there are many factors that are occupying the minds of business owners, governments and workers.

We need to be realistic, but we in Greater Geelong can be optimistic. There is no doubt in my mind - and this is a view shared by others in government and in the private sector - that Geelong has many of the key attributes necessary to withstand the pressures of the global financial climate.

We have in our favour an increasingly diversified economic profile, where no single industry sector dominates. We have fantastic transport infrastructure comprising air, road, rail and sea links. The quality of the combination of these in our municipality occurs in few other places around Australia.

The Port of Geelong is a very significant economic asset for Greater Geelong and sets us apart from many other cities of comparable size both in Australia and overseas. Already, the Port of Geelong is Victoria’s premier bulk cargo port and Council continues to work with the Port of Geelong, Victorian Regional Channels Authority, and other stakeholders to encourage opportunities to expand operations at the port.

Geelong’s post war success was built in large part on our manufacturing sector.

We have a great tradition of making things and I do not want to see us lose this expertise.

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Manufacturing is changing – that’s a fact of life for cities worldwide, especially those in the western world.

However, in the future I expect Greater Geelong will remain a force in manufacturing. Whether that is through the development of new products or new processes, it is important, both for our local economy and for the nation, that we retain our manufacturing expertise.

Population growth in the Geelong region continues at a rate higher than the state average, due in part to our numerous major residential subdivisions. Our policy of promoting higher density living in the CBD will in time also drive growth.

There is no doubt that our region is a drawcard for people wishing to balance their working life with their family life. We have a ready supply of residential land and the necessary infrastructure for every life stage. This includes outstanding educational and health facilities.

Geelong’s proximity to Melbourne and to major regional centres is a distinct advantage and our celebrated lifestyle is a key factor in our ability to attract and retain a skilled workforce.

Working to improve and deliver a sustainable growth for Greater Geelong’s economy is a major focus for Council. In this context, Council is currently working on plans to establish an appropriate structure for our economic development activities under the banner of Enterprise Geelong.

There has been much work done behind the scenes on Enterprise Geelong in recent

weeks and I expect that in the next month or so this will be brought to Council.

A major part of our economy is the CBD. There’s no doubt that Geelong’s CBD is a priority for the community and people can be reassured that Council is very keen to lead its reinvigoration. While data shows that the total number of businesses in the CBD has increased in the last decade, there are clearly areas of concern, particularly due to the changing retail landscape and other factors.

Council is working with a number of stakeholders to develop a sustainable, achievable plan to revitalise our CBD. Major change will clearly not be achieved in the short term, but with good planning, in the medium to

long-term I believe we will see significant improvement.

Winston Churchill, who knew much about the value of optimism and perseverance, said this: “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”

Our regional economy has always been and will continue to be in transition.

But I am convinced we have great opportunity before us. Council will be working hard to build on Greater Geelong’s many advantages and we look forward to working with the community to help build a strong, resilient and sustainable economic future.

CR. KEITH FAGG Mayor City of Greater Geelong

COMMENT

Legitimation crisis What happens when the citizens of a country lose trust in those in key positions of authority and responsibility?

WHEN I was growing up in England in the 1950s, there was a widespread (and perhaps slightly naive) faith in the integrity of people in authority. Not anymore.

The rot began with the revelations of sexual abuse perpetrated (and then covered up) over many years by priests in the Catholic Church.

Shortly after that, the bankers were exposed as greedy and dishonest, trading in debts, which they knew to be toxic, and conspiring to distort market lending rates so they could squeeze out bigger profits and bonuses for themselves at the expense of their customers.

Hot on the heels of the banking crisis came the revelations about Westminster MPs fiddling their expenses. British voters discovered their elected representatives had been embezzling thousands of pounds from taxpayers by claiming to live in houses they rarely frequented, or by submitting expenses for dredging their moat, building a duck house, or even paying for their husband’s porn.

Next came the exposure of serious neglect and abuse in the nation’s hospitals and elderly care homes.

One investigation last year reported that hospital patients were being left in their own excrement and denied access to drinking water. Another suggested that nurses with impressive paper qualifications often lacked compassion, a sense of vocation, or even basic caring skills.

Then the BBC came under the spotlight - first, when allegations surfaced of sexual abuse by Jimmy Savile and others on BBC premises, and then when the Corporation responded to criticisms by falsely and recklessly accusing

a senior Conservative politician from the Thatcher years of involvement in a child sex abuse scandal without bothering to check the veracity of its ‘evidence.’ Meanwhile, the nation’s press has been put through the wringer by the Leveson inquiry, which has exposed the grubby practices by which the popular newspapers feed their readers’ appetites for scandal and titillation.

Most recently, it has been the turn of the police. First we learned that, following the Hillsborough disaster in 1989 (when 96 football supporters were crushed to death on overcrowded terraces), officers systematically falsified their accounts to exempt the police from any responsibility or blame. Then it came to light that a cabinet minister forced to resign for allegedly insulting police officers in Downing Street had done no such thing.

They’d ‘fitted him up.’

Now it may be that those in authority were always flawed. Perhaps the nurses 50 years ago weren’t angels, the local bank manager had his fingers in the till, and the priests were never as innocent as we supposed.

But the important point is that we didn’t think this was the case. We respected authority figures back then. We believed the country was in the hands of decent, honest, virtuous people, people we could trust.

That trust has now collapsed as, one after another, the pillars supporting our civic culture have crumbled. It has been displaced by a weary cynicism. Whether a liberal, democratic nation can survive mass disillusion and distrust nobody knows. But I think we’re about to find out.

Professor Peter Saunders is a Senior Fellow at The Centre for Independent Studies.

Privatising public health services Last year, The Centre for Independent Studies published a paper by David Gadiel and I, which argued the case for privatizing public health services to improve the fi nancial performance of the NSW health system.

WE argued that it was crucial for private operators of public hospitals to have control over the terms on which the clinical workforce was employed, because the industrial relations rigidities inherent in the existing public service monopoly model compromised efficiency.

Statewide nursing awards, combined with the freedom doctors have to determine their work practices under their contracts with NSW Health, are inimical to the cost-effective operation of public hospital facilities.

Microeconomic reform is essential in the public health sector to get more and better services for each health dollar spent. Health expenditure already accounts for a third of the NSW state budget, and if spending continues to grow at current rates, health is on track to consume the entire state budget by 2033.

The importance of boosting health labour productivity is reinforced by the findings of the NSW Intergenerational Report 2011-12.

The Intergenerational Report found that the cost of public health services will be the major driver of increased NSW government spending over next 40 years, and the major contributor to the creation of a ‘fiscal gap’ (the difference between revenue and expenditure) of 2.8% of Gross State Product (GSP) by 205051. If policy action is not taken to close the gap, state debt will by then have grown to an ‘unsustainable’ 119% of GSP. However, the Intergenerational Report also found that if productivity in the NSW public sector could be increased by 0.5% a year, above the level achieved in the overall economy, this would entirely close the gap.

Approximately 30% of

NSW public servants are employed by NSW Health.

Achieving higher productivity in the public health sector, via privatisations that introduce more efficient private sector practices into public hospitals, could contribute significantly to improving the long-term solvency of the NSW government.

Outsourcing of public hospital services is increasingly common overseas. But locally, health remains the last great bastion quarantined from the microeconomic reform process begun in the 1980s.

Some argue that achieving reform in health is tough for politicians because of ‘public concerns about “greedy private companies” moving in on “our public hospitals”.’

Noisy scare campaigns occur when privatisations are proposed. However, these campaigns are invariably mounted and sustained primarily by nursing and other public sector unions with a vested interest in maintaining the status quo and protecting their generous wages and conditions.

The implications are obvious for the contentious industrial relations debate, which at present is mainly focused on the need to boost productivity in the private sector. Improving workplace flexibility in key industries, especially in the mining sector, is of course critical to national prosperity.

But as the situation in NSW demonstrates, we cannot afford to overlook the importance of public sector workplace reform in key areas of government expenditure such as health. Genuine health reform that includes the privatising of public health service is therefore the sleeping giant of the IR debate.

Dr Jeremy Sammut is a Research Fellow at The Centre for Independent Studies.

BUSINESS NEWS | 15

COVER STORY

16 | BUSINESS NEWS

COVER STORY

“The collision between immediate vocational skills and lifelong learning is an ancient one. Employers emphasise today’s skills, academics emphasise learning. What is really needed is both. both.””

Rethinking Education Business is changing, jobs are changing and new employment opportunities are emerging in what is fast becoming a global employment marketplace. Australia needs an education and training system that is more accessible, more flexible, more cost-effective, more time effective and more responsive to the global employment market. Easy to say, but how do we go about revolutionising the nation’s education and training systems?

WHEN it comes to education, how do we go from being a nation of dreamers to being a nation of doers? People of all ages and work histories are looking to start new career paths and we need that to happen.

Facilitating that shift is the challenge before us.

Julia Gillard wants Australia to be ranked in the world’s top 5 school systems. As a person who travelled the education path from Unley High School in South Australia to law school to Prime Minister she has experienced first-hand the value of equitable access to quality education. But University is no longer free and the cost of truly equitable access would bury even a mining-fatted public purse.

In Victoria, Premier Ted Baillieu has made it clear he and his government have no intention of paying to fulfil Ms Gillard’s education crusade in Victoria.

The Baillieu Government slashed $300 million from TAFE funding in the last Budget, in a move so dramatic that many of the other cuts to education funding were almost ignored, until now.

A new school year has begun, but without the schools’ portion of the Education Maintenance Allowance (used to pay for books and excursions for economically disadvantaged students), without funding for reading recovery tutors who help struggling Grade 1 kids learn how to read, and without funding for VCAL (Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning) coordinators, who coordinate the kinds of hands-on learning education alternatives that used to come from technical colleges.

All the while, the nation’s teachers are becoming more deeply mired in bureaucratic box ticking exercises, with less freedom to actually teach, as each year passes. With the end result that nothing changes for

school leavers; some will strive for and achieve success, some will stagnate – hesitant to choose any path forward, and many will first try to figure out what they want to do then try to find a way of getting into that job.

With an ageing population, rafts of Baby Boomers hitting retirement age and rapidly changing industry sectors, we can not, as a nation, rely on the stultified pace of change amongst the schools system to meet the future demands of a transitioning workforce. We need to rethink the adult education sector – from University and TAFE, to skills and training.

We need to encourage lifelong learning.

I asked Steven Schwartz higher education commentator, Senior Fellow of the Centre for Independent Studies and former Vice-Chancellor of Macquarie University, of Brunel University in London and of Murdoch University in Perth - if the biggest shift in mindset needed from education institutions and the governments that fund them or from us, the studying and working community?

“Universities change slowly.

Although they enroll a more diverse student body (a good thing), university teaching has changed little over the last 50 years. Most courses still consist of a lecturer at the front of the room, examinations written longhand in little blue booklets and limited opportunities for work experience.

“Long languid holidays remain the norm. Most universities teach for only 26 weeks per year, leaving infrastructure such as buildings largely underused. This approach to teaching and scheduling makes higher education inefficient and expensive.

“Change is beginning. Some

universities are beginning to teach in summer and others are offering more courses online.

These initiatives will certainly grow as cost pressures continue to mount.”

Steven pointed to one institution, Western Governor’s University in the United States as an example of forward-thinking higher education. The online university starts a new course every fortnight and is entirely selfpaced and competency based, offering Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees at a fraction of the cost and within a significantly shorter timeframe of attending a bricks and mortar institution.

It’s a seductive idea – shorter time, lower cost, fully flexible tertiary education. But in the employment market, would such an online degree hold the same cache as one issued from within hallowed halls?

There is undeniable social cache attached to a degree, and increasingly post-grad qualifications from elite institutions (writes one who holds an undergrad degree from an elite institution – gained with no expectation of employment as a result, as was the only realistic attitude to have as an Arts graduate in the 1990s!) The benefits can be, and should be, a lifelong love of learning, and a curiosity to learn about and experience the world around us. There can be no guarantee of a university degree directly resulting in a well-paid career, or even a job.

As Steven wrote in the Australian Financial Review in the new year: “If a university degree is simply an entry ticket to work, we would expect graduates to be hired before nongraduates but we would not expect graduates to be more economically productive. That is, the conventional wisdom is wrong; increasing the

number of graduates does not automatically lead to economic growth.”

That being the case, what is it employers are looking for?

“In my experience, what employers want depends on who you ask. I used to be a Dean of Medicine and our students routinely complained that they were not prepared for their internships. Consultants would ask them to do things and it embarrassed them to say that they had not yet learned how to do them,” Steven said.

“This happens in other workplaces as well. Immediate supervisors want students to be ready for their first jobs after graduation. Academics, on the other hand, want to prepare students for a lifetime of learning.

We academics say that the skills required of medical interns today will soon be obsolete and what they really need is to be flexible and ready for change and new learning. The collision between immediate vocational skills and lifelong learning is an ancient one. Employers emphasise today’s skills, academics emphasise learning. What is really needed is both.

“A fulfilling career is part of a good life and universities should be concerned with preparing students for the world of work, but teaching students specific work related skills is the employer’s responsibility. The consultants wound up teaching the medical interns the skills they required, and this is how it should be.”

The advent of web-based learning and online classrooms may yet provide the balance learning and skilling. While relatively slow internet speeds has prohibited the growth of e-learning to some degree, the promise of high speed broadband delivered via the

BUSINESS NEWS | 17

COVER STORY

NBN promises to revolutionise the way adult education is delivered across the country.

“It’s happening already,” Steven said. “Just have a look at the courses offered by CPA Australia, the Australian Institute of Company Directors and the Institute of Chartered Accountants.”

Steven said that he believes the big changes to the higher education system will be pushed mainly by students and employers; that if competencies could replace seat time, we could change higher education fundamentally.

“In addition to year round teaching and harnessing technology, we need to rethink accreditation. So far, the Federal Government’s new Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) has taken a conservative approach to accreditation. That is, it bases its judgements on inputs (the ratio of staff to students, the facilities on campus, and so on) rather than on outputs (how much students actually learn and how long it takes them to earn it).

“Indeed, the Australian Qualifications Framework is

18 | BUSINESS NEWS

based on “seat time” specifying how long a student must study to earn a BA, rather than what the student should have learned.

The government and private sector can encourage a shift from seat time to competencies.

Students who demonstrate competencies in accounting, for example, should be awarded the relevant credential even if they learned the material in one year rather than three. Allowing

We need to keep an eye on expensive qualification inflation,” Steven said.

A new Grattan Institute report has revealed that student debt is at its highest level ever in Australia, with Commonwealth government estimates showing that $6.2 billion of the $26.3 billion owed under the HELP student loan scheme will never be repaid.

“Students who demonstrate competencies in accounting, for example, should be awarded the relevant credential even if they learned the material in one year rather than three. Allowing students to learn at their own pace would produce more graduates at lower costs. costs.”” students to learn at their own pace would produce more graduates at lower costs.

“Specific skills go out of date relatively quickly. Graduates need to keep up by honing their skills as they move through their lives. A good education gives them the motivation and skills to do this. Alas, lifelong learning may come to mean more and more credentials and degrees.

The Mapping Australian higher education, 2013 version report outlines just what our national thirst for education might cost.

Rising domestic undergraduate student numbers are expected to increase the Government’s bill for tuition subsidies to nearly $7 billion in 2015-16, up from $5.5 billion in 2011-12. The Government lent students $4.3 billion through HELP in 2012.

At the same time, Australians are taking to vocational training like ducks to governmentfunded water. A National Centre for the Vocational Education and Research (NCVER) report shows that from 2010 to 2011, students enrolled in publicly funded vocational education and training (delivered under the Australian Qualifications Framework) increased from 1.422 million students to 1.575 million students. In the same twelve month period, students enrolling in private training providers increased by 59.3% (source: Australian Council for Private Education and Training).

As CEO of training provider AGB Group, Adam Alsop has witnessed the spread of competency-based, flexible learning offerings amongst registered training organisations (RTOs) and says the sector is filling the need for practical, cost and time effective training.

“We try to concentrate on hands on learning and actually getting people involved in as much of that sort of training as they can, so they are getting a feel for the processes.

“At the same time, we’re going

COVER STORY back and talking to employers to find out the skills that they’re looking for and asking what’s relevant, and what are the new techniques so that we can be teaching those. That way we find also out what has become old and the ways they no longer do things as well. “Our trainers have to have not only a background in whatever it is they are teaching, but it has to be current background. They have to be able to teach in a practical way. I’m thinking of one of our trainers in particular who teaches in the area of mental health. He can explain how to respond in what can be horrible situations, and can explain what it’s really like to do that job. “If we can do training where people are actually in workplaces, that makes it more relevant again. Where that’s possible, we can tailor what we’re teaching to that organization. There’s no point teaching something that has nothing to do with that workplace.�

This sort of accredited training is most commonly undertaken by those who are new in a job and their employer seeing an opportunity for them to do some training, or those who have been in a job for many years but do not hold a formal qualification and want their skills formally recognized.

Most people in the workforce today will have multiple careers in multiple roles, and career changes require retraining.

Even those who will spend their working life in one industry or

profession will continue to train throughout their career.

down to knowing what options are available.�

“I think gaining new skills and new qualifications, or freshening up old ones, is something that you should always be doing or you stagnate,� Adam said.

While universities have been slow in responding to the desire for more flexibility in course delivery, the rapid rise of vocational education provided

by RTOs has produced a much less rigid education and training model.

If constant reskilling, upskilling or refreshing skills is something that we, as a nation, are aiming for, then it is not only the affordability of University courses that we need to watch, as Steven Schwartz pointed out, but the costs of undertaking TAFE and RTO courses also need to be carefully monitored. “There’s government funding if you’re upskilling, and that’s where we’re getting a lot of

“Customised training means offering what suits people. We run night classes and we’re now looking at trying to run online classrooms to make it more convenient. At the same time, there are a still a lot of people who don’t function in that sort of learning environment, so we have to try to make it as user-

“It’s not only shonky private providers who have seen the golden rivers of government funding drying up, with funding for many courses provided

by RTOs also having been slashed.� slashed.� people coming through – you’re looking at the next steps for them to go in their career and therefore they are skilling up,�

Adam said. “There are incentives out there and if [an] employer spends a bit of time having a look to see what funding sources they can tap into, they would probably be surprised at what’s available.

For example, if you have a new employee that you know that you’re going to train, the government will provide funding for a traineeship, and as the person is upskilling, they will be funded for the time it takes for them to do that training. So you get a bit of a payback. It comes

friendly as possible while still making sure we are getting the completions,� Adam said. “Back in the day when I was leaving school, you didn’t really hear about any options other than Uni or TAFE and you had to pay for that. Now, there are so many different avenues you can go down to get where you want to go. In terms of funding, there are so many different pools that you can tap into; it’s just a matter of knowing where they are.�

But when it comes to government funding, particularly in education and training, there are no guarantees. Only last month the Victorian Government

once again came under fire on higher education policy, this time after slashing the number of private training colleges eligible for government funds by more than half. According to the Australian Council for Private Education and Training (ACPET), the government has so far given the tick of approval to 281 organisations – a far cry from the 600-plus organisations who made the approved providers’ list in 2011. While the Education Department is still processing applications, Victorian TAFE Association CEO, David Williams, says he expects the department to only add around 60 organisations to the list.

The renewed effort to drive out those providers who don’t reach quality and financial viability standards has received support from within the industry, although the private sector peak body has raised some concerns about the new contractual arrangements, including delays and confusing documentation.

But it’s not only shonky private providers who have seen the golden rivers of government funding drying up, with funding for many courses provided by RTOs also having been slashed.

Of course, given the ridiculous oversupply of qualified fitness and sport coaches (enrolments in these courses went up a staggering 4000 per cent in the aftermath of the previous Labor Government’s demand-based funding changes), there was certainly room for some cuts.

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OPINION

How to act on anti-discrimination?

bring a claim and much harder for an employer to defend.

Innes Willox, Chief Executive Australian Industry Group, warns that the Federal Government must approach the streamlining of anti-discrimination legislation with care.

The following is an opinion piece written by Mr Willox on the Ai Group’s concerns that the current draft Bill could cause more problems than it resolves.

The Bill is drafted to operate concurrently with State and Territory anti-discrimination laws and with the anti-discrimination provisions of the Fair Work Act 2009. Rather than streamlining the process, the new legislation would impose an onerous and unreasonable regulatory burden upon employers and encourage ‘forum shopping’.

INDUSTRY has a significant and long-running interest in the debate over how best to streamline anti-discrimination legislation. Employers are obviously deeply focused on their workplaces being sites of cooperation, efficiency, harmony and integration.

Disruption and unrest at any level serves only to reduce teamwork and effectiveness.

The proposed consolidation of Anti-discrimination Acts needs to be put back on track.

In 2010 when the Federal Government began consulting about the concept of consolidating the four main federal Acts dealing with sex, race, disability and age discrimination into one piece of legislation, industry – including the Australian Industry Group expressed in-principle support for the concept, although with some important reservations.

Firstly, it should not become a leveling-up exercise, with the most generous provisions in each of the four Acts selected and applied across the board.

Secondly, it needs to address the existing overregulation problem, whereby federal and

state laws currently apply to the same grounds of discrimination, with complainants able to ‘forum shop’ by filing their claim under whatever law they believe will give them the best outcome.

When the Government released a discussion paper on the consolidation exercise in 2011, the Australian Industry Group made a detailed submission restating our concerns and addressing the other important issues, such as the onus of proof.

Industry argued that, consistent with standard principles of justice, complainants in anti-discrimination cases should have the onus of proving that they had been discriminated against. In short, the Government was urged to draft legislation that would deliver genuine reform without imposing additional costs and other burdens upon industry.

Unfortunately, the exposure draft of the Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Bill 2012 fundamentally does not address industry’s concerns. In fact, the Bill as currently drafted would cause more problems than it resolves. It ‘levels-up’ the federal anti-discrimination

laws to the highest entitlements in any of the individual laws. It imposes the most burdensome obligations on employers and other parties. Particularly concerning is that it introduces a shifting burden of proof, requiring the complainant to merely show a prima facie case, while requiring the employer to prove that their conduct was justified.

The Bill also defines discrimination in an inappropriate way. The definition incorporates a highly subjective test, requiring an affected party to merely show they felt harassed, offended, intimidated or insulted by another person’s conduct, even if the conduct would not be considered discriminatory or offensive by a reasonable person.

The absence of any objectivity would mean that a person could pursue a discrimination claim on the basis of that person’s feelings. This is very significant, as an employer’s conduct would be judged by the complainant’s reaction to that conduct, whether the reaction is reasonable or not. It would make it much easier to

While industry was among the first to express concerns during the consolidation exercise, it has been joined by a wide cross section of organisations, interest groups and commentators, many of whom are very concerned about the Bill’s impact upon free speech.

Real discrimination needs to be stamped on, but workplaces also need to be a source of innovation, where a competition of ideas is encouraged to allow for dynamism and growth. The last thing employers need is for legitimate internal debate to be stilted and sterilised and replaced by fear of complaint and political correctness coming to the fore.

Clearly the Bill needs a lot more work and its introduction into Parliament should not be rushed. The impact of the legislation is far-reaching, with potentially very onerous costs – both in money and time – for Australian industry.

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, which generates billions of dollars for the region by handling 16.1 million gross tonnes in 2012/13 and supporting about 5,000 local jobs.

The VRCA recognises that versatility is a key to Geelong’s thriving port. That versatility is reflected in the ships that navigate its channel system. From the small but powerful rig tenders that service offshore natural-gas operations to the Blue Marlin, the world’s largest semi-submersible transport vessel, all make their journey to and from Geelong safely because of the VRCA’s sophisticated safety network on Corio Bay. The authority is also committed to educating recreational boat users about these big visitors to ensure everyone remains safe on Geelong’s popular waters. The VRCA’s main message to the boating public is simple: Keep clear of big ships.

While planning for the next 16 to 20 years takes place, the VRCA has 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.

KEEPING GEELONG WATERS SAFE FOR EVERYONE

The channel has state-of-the-art navigation beacons with GPS controlled, solar powered lights. The traffic management system uses equipment such as automatic identification system (AIS) to co-ordinate the ships using its waterways. International law decrees that every ship be fitted with a radio device that identifies the vessel and transmits its position, allowing the VRCA to chart and record all movements onscreen. Other vital tools include very high frequency (VHF) radio, mobile telephone, satellite communications, advanced online tide and wind gauges and a sophisticated laser 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

20 | BUSINESS NEWS

RECRUITMENT & TRAINING

Up-skilling for job satisfaction and a healthy workforce IN any business, staff are your greatest asset.

experience and know-how to get you there.

There are a number of ways to retain a high performing team or workforce, and many employees identify opportunities for professional development as a key contributor to their satisfaction levels at work.

Aside from the hundreds of accredited and short courses offered at The Gordon, we also work with hundreds of individual businesses each year on a range of tailored training programs, and offer skill-sets for those already working in various industries.

Businesses that offer a structured staff development program and ongoing opportunities for personal and professional growth not only generate increased skill-levels, capabilities and expertise but also promote employee engagement and retention, and ultimately the success and growth of the business over the long term.1 At The Gordon we have one of the most comprehensive suites of courses across Western Victoria. So whether you or your staff are looking to update current skills or branch out into a new area of the business, The Gordon has the scope,

These skill sets are becoming increasingly popular, providing key skills and knowledge in specifi c industry areas, which are perfect for those looking to up skill without committing to an entire qualifi cation.

The Gordon currently offers industry skill sets across a range of areas including business, engineering, hair and beauty, health, heavy industry, construction, hospitality, OHS, retail and sustainability. They can also be tailored to your specifi c business needs.

Bartlett’s Environmental is one

example of a local business who has worked with The Gordon on a tailored staff training program with great success.

per month, and included three specifi c units tailored to provide further specialised industry skills to their team.

Bartlett’s is a family owned and operated company that has been providing asset, liquid waste and environmental solutions for Government Authorities, Municipalities and businesses throughout Victoria since 1989.

‘The training we did with The Gordon supports the business in terms of developing practical skills, but there were also additional benefi ts including improved communication and teamwork. The training also provided the chance to deliver innovation within the business, and in fact helped us identify effi ciency gains within our business,’ said John McCoy, Bartlett’s General Manager.

They have a strong focus on training to build and maintain their team’s practical skills, and in 2011-2012 had 14 staff undertake traineeships in Certifi cate III and IV in Waste Management with The Gordon.

The training was delivered onthe-job three Friday mornings

Wonder if there’s something applicable to your industry? Visit thegordon.edu.au or contact us on 5225 0800 to discuss your training requirements.

Gain the leading edge in your INDUSTRY THE GORDON HAS THE SCOPE AND EXPERIENCE TO HELP YOU AND YOUR STAFF UPDATE AND GROW YOUR SKILLS. With extensive industry training expertise and the most comprehensive suite of courses in Western Victoria, The Gordon offers: đƫ %(+.! ƫ0. %*%*#ƫ,.+#. )/ đƫ * 1/0.5ƫ/'%((ƫ/!0/ đƫ . %*!!/$%,/ƫ * ƫ ,,.!*0% !/$%,/ƫƫ đƫ 1((ƫ-1 (%üƫ 0%+*/ đƫ * 1/0.5ƫ/$+.0ƫ +1./!/ƫ %/%0ƫ1/ƫ+*(%*!ƫ+.ƫ +*0 0ƫ1/ƫƫ0+ƫ %/ 1//ƫ5+1.ƫ0. %*%*#ƫ.!-1%.!)!*0/ċƫ

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Wonder if there’s something applicable to your industry?

Phone 5225 0800 or visit thegordon.edu.au

BUSINESS NEWS | 21

RECRUITMENT & TRAINING and internet advertising on the Australian Job Search website.

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

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 Offi cers 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 fi rsthand how the candidate works in a practical sense and how they fi t in with your

EĞĞĚ ĂƐƐŝƐƚĂŶĐĞ ǁŝƚŚ ƌĞĐƌƵŝƟŶŐ ƐƚĂī͍ Save Ɵme with our free, professional recruitment service.

Our Business Development Kĸcers 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 informĂƟŽŶ on traineeships, ĂƉƉƌĞŶƟceships and incĞŶƟves for your business.

CALL US NOW TO FIND OUT HOW WE CAN ASSIST YOU Belinda on 0400 087 715 www.diversitat.orŐ͘ĂƵ

22 | BUSINESS NEWS

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 benefi ts. 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.

RECRUITMENT & TRAINING Apprenticeships has developed a 10 point action plan,” Mr Wyborn said.

1. Assign a workplace mentor to develop a rapport, act as a role model, and create a communication channel for your apprentice;

Employers must be productive in their advice to apprentices EMPLOYERS must be encouraged to create a workplace where apprentices or trainees are treated as learners as well as workers according to Steve Wyborn, CEO, Sarina Russo Apprenticeship Services.

developing the quality and quantity of the tradespeople they need with Australian Apprentices and trainees

Mr Wyborn said successful employers grow their own skilled workforce through

“For employers to get the most out of their apprentices and trainees, Sarina Russo

“It’s so important employers invest in training because if you think training is expensive try ignorance.

2. Provide a clear learning pathway. Assume your apprentice knows nothing, explain why a task need to be done in a certain way, use clear simple language and ask questions to check they understand your instructions; 3. Take the time to demonstrate the correct way to undertake a task; 4. Make sure your apprentice is aware of the importance of the skills they learn; 5. Allow your apprentice time to practice the skills they learn; 6. Provide regular feedback to your apprentice. Ask for feedback about the training they receive at work and from their training organisation;

/sarinarussoapprenticeships

7. Identify and resolve problems before they affect work performance or relationships.

8. Ensure you, your apprentice and training organisation follow a training plan which records relevant training and is reviewed regularly.

9. Offer your apprentice a variety of work tasks relevant to the apprenticeship to keep the job interesting and challenging.

10. Use positive reinforcement to recognise the achievements of your apprentice. This may include a special mention at a staff meeting or an article in the company newsletter.

Mr Wyborn said some of today’s managers, at very large industrial companies and business owners started off “on-the-tools so we must persuade young people, their parents and teachers that an apprenticeship is a first rate career option.

@srapprentice

BUSINESS NEWS | 23

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

24 | BUSINESS NEWS

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.

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).

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

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 be qualified to enter into their preferred industry at ground fl oor 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 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.

“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).”

RECRUITMENT & TRAINING

Hidden key to success that lies inside every business THE number of businesses that failed in 2011/12 jumped an astonishing 48% and Dun and Bradstreet are expecting to see more bankruptcies in 2013. Consequently many organisations are searching for the ‘magic pill’ to ensure their businesses survive these tough economic times.

But many experts suggest that business owners look ‘within’ rather than ‘without’ for the answer to a thriving business.

“When employers get their people and their culture right, employees love being in an organisation, they feel heard, respected and satisfied and the resulting effects are that customers are treated well and the business continues to thrive,” explains leading ‘people manager’, Maree Herath, Director of Harvest Recruitment and Harvest Human Resources She explains that visionary employers, who invest in their people and brand, continue to maintain their position as Employer of Choice, and the customers are the ones who reap the benefits of happier employees. These companies are the ones who take the

time to stop, assess their credentials and determine what employees are seeking prior to commencing their recruitment activities.

Maree shares three of the strategies clever companies employ to position themselves as Employer of Choice.

Engagement According to International Business Consulting Firm Aon Hewitt’s Best Employers in Australia and New Zealand findings they rank ‘engagement’ as the key differentiator between the country’s best employers and the others. This is the extent to which employees say great things about their organisation and are committed to their organisation and want to strive on its behalf.

Harvest Recruitment and Harvest Human Resources Director, Maree Herath suggests “Ask your current employees ... ‘What do you like about working here?’

‘What don’t you like?’ ‘What would you like to achieve?’

The information obtained and the gaps identified will soon let you know where your culture is letting you

High Performance Culture

and your employees down.

Then write an action plan for improvement”

It is without doubt that companies that thrive, set stretch goals for the business, its departments and employees. They provide clear feedback and coaching and rewards and recognise high performance.

Leadership The nation’s best Employers continue to innovate and develop their leaders and people, even in uncertain times.

The winner of the 2009 Hewitt Best Employer Award, Graeme McFayden, CEO of Trilby Misso Lawyers comments “We recognise that all of our leaders, myself included, benefit from ongoing training.

So we have simply learnt that to be useful these training programs have to be as tailored as possible.”

And Maree agrees “A company’s front-line supervisors hold the secret to delivering client satisfaction.

Yet many companies, even the biggest companies, have had managers go up the corporate ladder with little or no leadership training and development support. So it’s no wonder that their leadership role is performed averagely at best.” Maree recommends companies invest in making their mid-management team the stars of the business.

Naomi Simpson, CEO of RedBalloon comments “Recognition for us is acknowledging people based on their values and who they are, not necessarily what they do. Some might have massive projects and others might be on the phone with customers everyday; they’re all equal. We don’t have an elite culture in any way... but we do have a performance culture and that comes from managers and leaders knowing who their people are and what they want to achieve personally.”

To help local Geelong businesses become an Employer of Choice, Harvest Human Resources is holding a Breakfast Series commencing on Thursday 14 February.

Call 1300 363 128 for more information.

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BUSINESS NEWS | 25

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY

Join the International Women’s Day celebrations This International Women’s Day, you can be a part of a global effort to assist women and girls experiencing violence by attending or donating to a UN Women International Women’s Day celebration.

ON Friday March 8, the Geelong Chapter of UN Women Australia will host a fundraising celebration at the Geelong Football Club, with special guest speaker, Justice Catherine Davani, the first woman to be appointed to the Supreme Courts of Papua New Guinea.

Justice Catherine Davani has worked in the PNG legal system for twenty-eight years, in both civil and common law jurisdictions. She was appointed as a Judge to the National and Supreme Courts of PNG in 2001, having practiced at both the public and private bar for 18 years.

During her career Catherine has developed a keen interest in the development and reform of law in PNG. As a Judge, she is currently the Chairman of the Judges Rules Committee and was involved in the major changes and amendments to the National Court Act and Rules, Supreme Court Rules and Underlying Law Rules, which have enhanced the practice of the law in PNG. Catherine currently serves on the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which has its seat in Lausanne, Switzerland.

She also is the President of the PNG Judicial Women’s Association.

Her role in a nation where even today, 67% of women experience violence and access to services and support remains extremely limited, means Justice Davani is a woman with valuable insights to share.

The Geelong UN Women Australia’s International Women’s Day event will raise funds to help UN Women to expand its critical services program for women experiencing violence in PNG. By supporting UN Women Australia’s International Women’s Day 2013 campaign, you can help governments and communities worldwide implement the services women experiencing violence need and ensure that they are freely accessible.

Women in our neighbouring Pacific region experience some of the highest levels of violence in the world and desperately need improvements in critical services available to them.

73% of women aged 15-49 in Kiribati have experienced some form of physical or sexual violence.

No Limits – International Women’s Day Conference

67% of women in Papua New Guinea report that they have been beaten, including close to 100% of women living in the Highlands.

On International Women’s Day we acknowledge the challenges and inequalities experienced by women around the world, but we also celebrate the role that women can play in initiating and participating in change.

With live music, a tempting fork and talk menu, an inspiring guest speaker and the ever popular lolly bar, as well as a complimentary drink on arrival, the Geelong Chapter of the UN Women Australia Committee have set the scene for celebration.

Your business can help UN Women Australia help women in PNG by donating to or sponsoring the UN Women event. Donations are tax deductible. For more information contact geelong@ unwomen.org.au or call Renee on 0424 394 091 When: March 8, 7pm. Where: Captain’s Room, Geelong Football Club. Tickets: $40 available at www.trybooking. com/CEWM or geelong@ unwomen.org.au.

BPW Geelong will host No Limits, an International Women’s Day Conference on March 8. Attendees at this all-day conference will have the opportunity to see and hear what’s really possible from women who have set No Limits.

Amazing speakers such as Glenyce Johnson, CEO of Peregrine Adventures, will share experiences and achievements in family, business and community life.

The conference will be held at The Pier from 8.30am (registration) until 5.30pm.

Package includes morning and afternoon teas and buffet lunch.

Business and Professional Women Geelong (BPW Geelong) aims to empower women by giving them the opportunity to build networks and develop key business and professional skills.

For more information, visit the BPW Geelong facebook page: facebook.com/BPWGeelong Tickets can be purchased from TryBooking: trybooking.com/CDTW

International Women’s Day 2013 Date: Friday March 8th Time: 7pm Venue: Captain’s Room, Geelong Football Club This International Women’s Day, be a part of a global effort to assist women and girls experiencing violence. A major fundraising event with special guest speaker, Justice Catherine Davani, the first woman to be appointed to the Supreme Court of Papua New Guinea. $40 ticket includes drink on arrival, fork and talk menu, live music & lolly bar.

UN WOMEN PHOTO - ALETHIA JIMENEZ

Tickets: www.trybooking.com/CEWM or contact geelong@unwomen.org.au

unwomen.org.au 26 | BUSINESS NEWS

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VECCI

How to take the next step in 2013 With the beginning of a new year often comes commitment to various resolutions to improve personally and professionally. For the business-minded, this may include enhancing or learning a new skill.

ACCORDING to Time magazine, a vow to ‘learn something new’ is the eighth most popular New Year’s resolution, but it can also be one of the easiest resolutions to break, and thoughts of enhancing careers get pushed out of mind and out of sight by demands at work and at home.

From a business owner and employer perspective, resolving to improve the ability and capacity of a workforce is also a popular New Year’s resolution to help boost a company’s productivity and output in a competitive environment.

So, how do employees and employers keep from breaking those resolutions?

28 | BUSINESS NEWS

Firstly, think of it as a ‘goal’, not a ‘resolution’. It’s much easier to work towards a tangible goal.

Instead of making a new year’s resolution in 2013, VECCI advises employees to make a ‘career goal’ and urges employers to invest in their people to improve and take their business to the next level.

Use this early part of the year to focus on career goals, write them down and keep them close at hand throughout the year. Break the goals down into small, achievable steps and consider how they can be achieved as the year progresses.

The easiest way to stick to a career goal is to commit

to training, and VECCI runs a range of accredited courses in areas such as Business Administration, Human Resources, Project Management and Occupational Health and Safety.

For employers and small business owners, budgets are getting tighter and nonessential expenditure is a luxury beyond many, but investing in the skills of a workforce, especially those in customer-facing roles, is more important than ever to remain competitive.

Businesses that are not only surviving, but expanding, are usually doing so with a mix of the right product and price for their target market, combined with employees with excellent skills and a great service ethos.

Training gives your frontline staff product knowledge, confidence and sales techniques and behindthe-scenes staff up-to-date information and skills in

areas such as management, marketing and IT; skills which combine to build your business’ overall service level and reputation.

Upcoming VECCI training courses in Geelong and the south-west: Apply first aid 2 day – 18 February 2013 Export skills and briefing program: Understanding export documentation – 21 March 2013 Day-to-day management and supervision of staff – 12 April 2013 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.

REGULATION

Honesty applies to social media as well Social media gives large and small businesses a new, direct way to interact with existing and potential customers, and promote their products and services. Businesses using social media channels like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube have a responsibility to ensure content on their pages is accurate, irrespective of who put it there.

HERE are answers from the ACCC to some commonly asked questions about what you need to know if you use social media to promote your business.

Q: What do I need to know about using social media?

You must ensure any claims you make as part of your marketing and promotional activities are not false, misleading or deceptive. This includes advertisements or statements using any media, including print, radio, television, websites and social media channels like Facebook and Twitter.

Example XYZ Pty Ltd tweets that they are the first Australian company to offer a 100 per cent environmentally friendly car wash service when they have not done any research to support this. It turns out that GHI Pty Ltd has offered the same service for many years.

This tweet is likely to be false, misleading or deceptive.

Example ABC Pty Ltd pays a celebrity to tweet that she loved staying at one of ABC’s resorts. The celebrity has never actually been to this resort. This tweet is likely to be false, misleading or deceptive.

Q: Is this a new law?

There are no new consumer laws or rules in place for social media. Consumer protection laws that prohibit businesses from making false, misleading or deceptive claims about their products or services have been in place for decades.

These laws apply to social media in the same way they apply to any other marketing or sales channel.

Q: What if someone else makes comments on my page?

You can also be held responsible for posts or public comments made by others on

your social media pages that are false or likely to mislead or deceive consumers. This was confirmed by the Federal Court in 2011 during the ACCC’s court action against an allergy treatment company. The court concluded that the company accepted responsibility for fan posts and testimonials on its social media pages when it knew about them and decided not to remove them.

Example A fan of XYZ Pty Ltd posts negative and untrue comments about a competitor’s product on XYZ’s Facebook page. XYZ knows that the comments are incorrect, but decides to leave the comments up on its page.

XYZ may be held accountable for these comments even though they were made by someone else.

Example ABC Pty Ltd and DEF Pty Ltd are market leaders in the paint industry. A customer posts on ABC’s Facebook page that their paint always lasts much longer than DEF’s paint. ABC is unsure if this is true, but decides not to remove the post.

It turns out that ABC’s paint does not, in fact, last longer.

ABC may be held responsible for this comment.

Q: What can I do to minimise my risk?

Don’t make statements on your Facebook or other social media pages that you wouldn’t make in any other type of advertising. If you’re unsure about what you can or can’t say, seek legal advice.

Monitor your social media pages and remove any posts that may be false, misleading or deceptive as soon as you become aware of them. This is what the ACCC would expect you to do with any other type of advertisement.

Establish clear ‘house rules’ that apply to the actions of your fans, friends and followers when using your social media

pages. These rules should be featured prominently on your social media pages. You should then block users who breach these rules Q: How regularly should I monitor my social media pages?

How often we’d expect you to monitor your social media pages will depend on two key factors: the size of your company and the number of fans or followers you have.

Businesses should also keep in mind that social media operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and many consumers use social media outside normal business hours and on weekends.

Example ABC Pty Ltd has 300 staff.

As larger companies usually have sufficient resources and sophisticated systems, the ACCC would expect ABC to become aware of false, misleading or deceptive posts on its Facebook page soon after they are posted and to act promptly to remove them.

Example XYZ Pty Ltd has only 10 staff but more than 50,000 Facebook fans. Given the number of people who could be misled by an incorrect post on XYZ’s Facebook page, the ACCC would expect XYZ to devote adequate resources to monitoring its Facebook page and to remove any false, misleading or deceptive posts soon after they are posted.

Example DEF Pty Ltd has 12 staff and only 80 Facebook fans. As a small business, DEF is unlikely to have the same resources to dedicate to social media monitoring as a larger company would. Also, given the small number of Facebook fans, there is less potential for widespread public detriment from incorrect posts.

Accordingly, the ACCC would not expect DEF to monitor its

Facebook page as regularly as the companies in the two previous examples.

Q: Can I respond to false, misleading or deceptive comments instead of removing them?

Yes you can, but it is possible that your response may not be sufficient to override the false impression made by the original comments. It may be safer to simply remove the comments.

Q: How will the ACCC enforce this?

The ACCC can require companies to substantiate any claims on their social media pages, and can take court action where it identifies a breach of the law (or issue an infringement notice in certain circumstances).

While all complaints are carefully considered, the ACCC directs its resources to investigate and resolve matters in accordance with our compliance and enforcement priorities. The ACCC will take a proportionate response in relation to false or misleading comments on businesses’ social media sites. We are more likely to pursue cases of false, misleading or deceptive conduct if: • there is the potential for widespread public detriment if the statement is relied on; • the conduct is particularly blatant; or • it is by a business that has come to our attention previously.

Q: What should I do to rectify the potential impact of any false, misleading or deceptive statements?

You should offer a refund to any customer who made the decision to purchase your product or service based on a false, misleading or deceptive claim they saw on your social media page.

If you have a complaint or enquiry, contact the ACCC small business helpline on 1300 302 021.

BUSINESS NEWS | 29

TAX

Trust tax reform: getting closer

Trusts from the new rules and to treat them as “look through vehicles” for GST purposes.

It is almost two years since then Assistant Treasurer, Bill Shorten, announced a complete revamp of the way that Trusts are taxed in the federal income tax law. Since that time we have had two rounds of consultation, some interim legislation and some important cases. In this article, Gary Thomas, Tax Principal at WHK, shifts through these changes to highlight what trustees need to know.

(a) The Economic Benefits Model (EBM); and

Why the need for reform?

What has been done?

Twenty years ago, Federal Court Judge, Justice Graham Hill, called on the government to change the primary legislation that taxes Trust Estates. At the time this was ignored; it was either too hard, the government had other priorities, or the existing legislation was regarded as at least adequate.

The government inserted a temporary fix into the legislation at the eleventh hour of the 2011 year. This legitimised some existing Tax Office practices such as allowing Trustees to establish present entitlement after the end of the income year and the streaming of different classes of income such as dividends and capital gains.

However, this remains a temporary fix, which leaves many uncertainties.

In any case, the Tax Office muddled on with antiquated provisions that many experts believed were unworkable. In some cases, the Tax Office literally ignored the law that they were supposed to administer. An example was the ATO allowing Trustees to establish present entitlement after the end of the year when the law clearly stated that present entitlement must be established by the end of the income year.

Eventually, cases such as Bamford in the High Court and the more recent Federal Court decision in Colonial First State put an end to many Tax Office practices.

30 | BUSINESS NEWS

In the meantime, government has been busy consulting on a complete overhaul of the Trust taxing provisions, including the definition of income, creating entitlements to capital gains and Trust resettlements.

The way forward The government released a second consultation paper in October 2012.

Broadly, it contains two options for the taxation of Trust income; a proposal to provide certainty in relation to Trust resettlements; and a suggestion to exclude bare

The two options are:

(b) the Proportionate Assessment Model (PAM).

Both options attempt to ‘follow the money, with the principle that tax should attach to entities that receive the economic benefits of the Trust.

Importantly, both models purport to allow the streaming of all classes of income. This is great news for trustees.

The EBM is the option that provides for real reform. It does away with many of the Trust concepts that were not easy bedfellows with the tax concepts on which tax liability was based. It is, however, a step in to the unknown. The biggest drawback of this method is that is possible that despite the Trustees best efforts, some of the taxable income might still be taxed in the Trustees hands at 45%.

The PAM, on the other hand, builds upon the current system with many familiar concepts. It starts with the profit of the Trust, which is then distributed to beneficiaries under either a specific or present entitlement model. Beneficiaries are then assessed on the proportion of their Trust profit as applied the Trust’s taxable income.

The main reform under the PAM is to define Trust profit.

The government hopes that by defining the concept of Trust profit it will prevent much of the manipulation of Trusts for tax purposes that occurred in the past.

What you need to do With new legislation likely to be in the public domain in 2013, all Trustees should keep apprised of new developments in this area.

Once the new legislation is passed, trustees (and their advisers) will need to consider if individual trust deeds require any amendment to bring them into line with the new rules.

To the extent that existing Trust deeds don’t align with the new rules, amendments may be necessary before the legislation takes effect on 1 July 2014.

GARY THOMAS Principal, Tax Consulting, WHK Southern Region

LEGAL

Recording conversations at work For one West Australian employee, the decision to record a workplace conversation was a costly one. While the laws around recording conversations differ around the country, all employers should be aware that smartphones can record conversations. Be careful what you say.

IN a recent Western Australian case in Fair Work Australia, an employee was found to have been dismissed fairly after he admitted to recording a meeting he had with two fellow employees without seeking their consent or informing them that their conversation was being recorded.

The employee recorded the meeting by using his iPhone.

He later played the recording to another fellow employee and told the fellow employee that his reason for recording the meeting was to “cover his arse.”

Under Western Australian law, a person is prohibited from recording a private conversation (to which conversation that person is a party) unless: 1. All other parties to the conversation consent to the recording; 2. Or the recording is “reasonably necessary for the protection of the lawful interests” of the recording party.

In the current case, as the employee did not obtain the consent of his fellow employees to record the conversation, he relied on the second exception.

The employee’s justification for recording the meeting was that he “needed to protect himself” from his fellow employee project manager. This was based upon the employee’s perception that the project manager had previously spoken to a fellow employee in an aggressive way.

Fair Work Australia did not accept the employee’s evidence that he recorded the conversation because he needed to protect himself from the project manager, nor did it accept that the employee was in any way concerned about his position with the company.

It considered that the recorded meeting was not disciplinary in nature by any means, and thus the employee had no justification for recording it.

The employer otherwise went through the process of conducting an investigation

Confused by Workplace Laws?

into the employee’s actions in recording the conversation, allowing him to have a support person at the meeting and upon termination, providing him with adequate pay in lieu of notice.

In accordance with the employer’s submissions, Fair Work Australia held that the employee was not unfairly dismissed in circumstances where: 1. The employee was in breach of the Surveillance Devices Act 1998 (WA); 2. The employee was also in breach of the employer’s Code of Ethics in that he failed to act with integrity towards fellow employees; and 3. The employee’s actions were such that they destroyed the relationship of trust and confidence between the employee and employer (as well as any such relationship which existed between the employee and his fellow employees).

In Victoria, the law regulating the use of recording devices is slightly different. If the same scenario had occurred in Victoria, the employee would not have been in breach of Victorian law by simply recording the conversation.

Each State and Territory has different laws regarding the use of surveillance devices.

Employers should be aware of this distinction when dealing with employees whom it is suspected may have used their phone (or other device) to surreptitiously record conversations or meetings in the workplace. Given that many employees now have access to smart phones (with the ability to make recordings) both for personal use and for use in the workplace, employers should be on their guard as to the potential for workplace meetings and conversations being recorded. Ideally, employers should ensure there are appropriate policies in place regarding the use of phones and technology in the workplace that contemplates the potential for employees to make recordings.

Prudent employers should ensure legal advice is always sought prior to terminating an employee for use of a recording device in the workplace.

While the State law in Western Australia in relation to the use of surveillance devices is different to the law in Victoria, the principles in the case need to be carefully considered.

JIM RUTHERFORD, MONIQUE AUSTERBERRY

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

70 Gheringhap Street Geelong t. 5225 5225

Monique Austerberry, Lawyer Rohan Kux, Associate

www.harwoodandrews.com.au BUSINESS NEWS | 31

RECRUITMENT

Top 10 talent trends for 2013 The need to embrace mobile technology, a focus on staff retention and the use of a contingent workforce are among the 2013 talent trends that will shape the recruitment landscape in Australia, according to recruiting experts, Hays.

NICK Deligiannis, Managing Director of Hays in Australia, said businesses will also have to rise to the challenge of sourcing candidates from overseas and becoming more diverse, as candidates remain in the workforce for longer due to the nation’s aging population.

We should also expect skills shortages to continue to be an issue in certain sectors, such as healthcare and IT. Employers in 2013 are expected to take a conservative approach to hiring, following a year of redundancies and cost cutting.

But overall, the Australian economy is expected to continue to grow by 3 per cent in 2013, albeit more modestly than in 2012, before picking up pace towards the end of the year.

Top 10 talent trends: 1. Social media: Social media is here to stay, and it’s a useful means of identifying talent, connecting with it and promoting the values of your business.

Get your strategy right and the rewards are great. But get it wrong and the damage to an employer’s brand can be devastating. “Engaging with the array of social media sites that potential jobseekers use gives organisations a means to boost and enhance their reputation as an employer of choice,” says Nick. “However, employers need a clear strategy on how they address social media and present their brand. Just as it has the power to support and drive an employee value proposition, badly handled it can undermine those efforts.”

2. Wage pressure: The Hays Global Skills Index shows Australia has some upward wage pressures in both the overall economy and in highskill industries. In demand candidates will be looking to be rewarded at a time when employers are trying to contain salary budgets and Hays

32 | BUSINESS NEWS

expects this tension to continue in 2013. “We recommend using non-monetary rewards such as career development, flexible work options and extra training to make staff feel valued.”

3. Skills shortage: High-skilled professionals in specific sectors remain in short supply going into 2013, such as healthcare professionals, particularly in the context of Australia’s aging population. Shortages of good quality candidates in accountancy in the professional practice space also remain, as well as in IT. For example, there is still demand for skilled Software Developers and candidates involved in IT infrastructure. The number of IT grads in Australia alone has dropped by 5.3 per cent (Compound Annual Growth Rate) over the last five years.

4. Globalisation: Employers will need to capitalise on Australia’s strengths in a bid to attract quality international candidates. The Hays white paper, Tomorrow’s Workforce, shows the mobility of skilled professionals across borders will be the norm in tomorrow’s job market. Hays research also shows more than 70 per cent of Australian candidates would work overseas creating a need for employers to become adept at global recruiting to fill the void.

5. Resources and mining: While many big operators have put new projects on hold until profit conditions improve they are expected to expand existing operations to extract greater value from these investments.

There is still a need for Mining Engineers and Surveyors, senior processing professionals and fixed-plant maintenance and planning candidates. Also in demand are operational and technical skill sets associated with the extractive industries and qualified staff in accountancy and finance and other professional services.

6. Staff retention: Staff turnover is estimated to cost employers up to A$1 million per annum but reducing churn by just five per cent could result in a saving of A$280,000 a year for every 100 people employed.

Insync Survey’s 2012 Retention Review, asreported in the latest Hays Journal, out now,drew on more than 11,000 employee exit interviews collected over four years from 40 Australian-based organisations. Employers are often blind to the cause of staff turnover and in 80 per cent of cases an employee chooses to leave due to the job itself, pay and conditions and or work relationships – all issues employers can do something about.

7. Temporary workers redefined: Hays research in 2012 debunked the clichés about temporary workers. “Men comprised 43.4 per cent of our survey group and 75.8 per cent of respondents were aged 30 or over,” says Nick. More than 30 per cent of Australian-based employers already regard temporary workers as a key component of their long-term staffing strategy. “54.1 per cent of employers see temporary workers as an ideal way to bring a particular expertise on board and 31.2 per cent view contingent staffing as a strategic solution for the long term,” says Nick. “We also expect employers will consider using temporary employees to get around hiring restrictions in the year to come.”

8. Smartphone/ mobile technology: Some researchpredicts that smartphones or mobile technology will overtake PCs as the most common way to access the web in 2013.

Australians are already comfortable using smartphones to browse jobs, receive job alerts, view career information and update their social media profiles. “Employers competing for talent, particularly the best young talent, need to keep smartphones and mobile technology in mind when developing recruitment campaigns and job ads.”

9. Diversity: Gender and age diversity are both big issues

in Australia. There are calls for quotas to be introduced in Australia to improve female participation at line management, senior executive and board level. “While Hays believes efforts to improve diversity in the workplace will continue to be on a voluntary basis, we believe pressure will remain on employers to perform better and use their record to attract the best talent.” Australia also has an aging workforce and there are plans to raise the official retirement age from 65 to 67 by 2023 with calls to further raise it to age 70.

In the meantime, employers must find innovative ways to recruit and manage multiple generations. Hays research predicts employers in Australia will be managing up to five generations under one roof by 2030.

10. Talent management: The global economic downturn has created a dichotomy in many organisations – how do they cut costs while still addressing the skills shortage in different areas of the workforce?

According to the latest Hays Journal, out now, businesses need to recognise talent as an asset to be deployed within an organisation while HR needs to be more planned and strategic about how it goes about talent allocation. “HR professionals have had to become even more innovative and commercially driven, with a need to understand and address talent shortages in the new landscape in different ways,” says Nick.

“This means discovering where untapped sources of talent lie and evolving creative ways of attracting and identifying new talent. Then, all of these assets must be developed and allocated effectively through a business, so that the talent balance sheet constantly improves. This shift is necessary to provide the talent needed to help organisations emerge from the tough economic times and rise to new challenges.”

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

LEGAL

A new year, new changes to FWA When the FWA was fi rst introduced in January 2010, the Federal Government announced it would conduct a review after its fi rst two years in operation. As a result of the review the Fair Work Amendment Act 2012 was passed and is now in operation. Employers need to be aware of a number of changes to the Fair Work Act (FWA) that came into effect on 1 January 2013. The new changes are outlined in this article.

Fair Work Commission The name of Fair Work Australia has been changed to the Fair Work Commission and accordingly the web address has been changed to www. fwc.gov.au. The objective of the change is to better distinguish the Commission from its counterpart the Fair Work Ombudsman.

Some further administrative changes have also been made to the structure of the Commission, including the introduction of a process to deal with complaints against Commissioners and the revision of provisions dealing with conflicts of interest of Commissioners.

Time limits for unfair dismissal and general protections claims The time limit for lodging an unfair dismissal application has been increased from 14 days to 21 days.

The time limit for lodging a

general protection dismissal application, including an application based on adverse action, has been reduced from 60 days to 21 days.

In both cases the Fair Work Commission retains its discretion to allow more time in exceptional circumstances.

Applications based on dismissals before 1 January 2013 are governed by the previous time limits.

Enterprise agreements A number of changes have been made in relation to the making and operation of enterprise agreements and bargaining agents’ rights with respect to enterprise agreements. These include: • An enterprise agreement can no longer be made with a single employee; • A union official cannot act as bargaining representative for an employee unless the union has coverage to represent that employee;

• Terms allowing an employee to opt out of an enterprise agreement are prohibited, and any opt out terms in existing enterprise agreements are now ineffective; • A bargaining representative applying for a scope order is only required to take ‘all reasonable steps’ to give notice to other bargaining representatives, rather than to ensure that notice is given; and • Employers cannot modify the notice of employee representational rights (which must be given to employees who will be covered by a proposed enterprise agreement) prescribed by the Fair Work Regulations.

Superannuation Funds The default superannuation provisions in Modern Awards have been amended including the addition of provisions for determining the most suitable funds to be listed as default funds. The amendments provide that default superannuation funds in Modern Awards are to be a MySuper product, a defined benefit fund or a public sector scheme. Employers should be aware that the best interests of employees covered by the Award will still be the overriding consideration when selecting the most appropriate super fund.

The Commission given power to dismiss certain applications and order costs The Commission has been given further powers to dismiss unfair dismissal applications where the applicant has acted unreasonably. For example, where the applicant has unreasonably failed to attend a conference or hearing or has failed to comply with a direction or order regarding the application.

The Commission is also empowered to order costs against a party in an unfair dismissal claim where the party has unreasonably caused the other party to incur costs. A cost order can extend to a lawyer or paid representative who encourages a person to start, continue or respond to an unfair dismissal action where they should have known there was no reasonable prospect of success.

The Commission remains as a no costs jurisdiction, balanced against the need to discourage unreasonable behaviour. It remains to be seen whether these amendments will further encourage the early settlement of matters by representatives fearful of such costs orders, rather than pursuing what might otherwise be a meritorious claim.

For further information please contact Martin Reid on 5273 5273.

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www.coulterroache.com.au BUSINESS NEWS | 33

SMALL BIZ

The Costa Rican experience I started researching for this article about two months ago – indeed I don’t think you ever stop researching when you know that a deadline is looming. I was over in Central America and took a look at how each country we visited did small business.

IN Mexico the typical spread of business existed, from the large international businesses, such as the Belgian company that owns Corona brewery, and the ubiquitous Wal-Mart right down to the corner taco stand. One little town – Sayulita - reminded me of a Spanish speaking Torquay

34 | BUSINESS NEWS

with their excellent cafes and surf fashion shops. Each of these businesses was offering good customer service and interesting products, with the style of offering was couched in the various target markets; some focussed on youth, some on the touristas – that was me!

This trend was continued in Nicaragua, where you could see the people in the local market with plastic bowls of fish. They would hold a fish aloft and with a singsong voice explain the virtues of this particular item. Here they were demonstrating the fundamental force in small business – arbitrage.

Arbitrage was the original definition of entrepreneur; it was the price differential that could be charged by a business owner that was able to take an item from where there was abundance and move it to a place of rarity.

The fish in the sea is amongst

many, and now in the market it is one of only a few.

Back in Australia this idea of arbitrage is being upset by the internet. I can buy a pair of shoes in a local retailer and they charge me $200. A friend says that she bought hers from the internet and gave me the website and now I can go direct to the manufacturer and pay $100.

The local business is out of the retail loop, because the advantage of unique supply is lost.

Ten years ago we had a flush of businesses that would be launched under the general label of “Internet business”.

SMALL BIZ Most of those disappeared swiftly, because we all know how to hunt on the net and acquire our own items. This simple thing explains many of the gap-toothed empty retail shops that litter most Australian towns. Coupled to this change in arbitrage is disintermediation, which is just a big word that explains the process of simplifying the supply chain. We don’t need these small intermediary businesses to help us buy when we can go direct to the manufacturer.

The next insight came from a visit to Costa Rica (The Rich Coast); like most Central American countries there was jungle and volcanoes and Spanish influence, but here the people had done something very different.

Sure, as you go into the little villages there were the shanty markets, but the country was 40 per cent national park, the first Central American country to be on the path to becoming a self-sustaining economy (by their estimate it will take another 5 to 7 years to be fully self-sufficient, but at this stage it is the last few per cent). They have banned smoking in all public buildings and enterprises – so no smoking in parks or resorts.

We took a trip into the hills and visited the rain forest.

I wanted to photograph a Balsa tree (maybe I should explain: in my spare time I am building a boat and it is made from balsa composite, so I wanted to see the progenitor of the boat to see that it was treated well. It was well…

Look! It made sense to me!)

The economy of Costa Rica has moved away from the simple concept of arbitrage and is now offering a social enterprise. People don’t pay their money because the supply is offering something different, but pay their money to be part of the process. This is almost like charging for a membership, but nationwide. We do have similar enterprises in Australia – a national fitness chain targeted at women, for example - but there is nothing as big or as encompassing as the Costa Rica model.

I think the advantage that Costa Rica had was a visionary government that boldly declared 40 per cent of the country to be nature reserves. Can you imagine that happening in Australia?

Trying to get a tiny marine park is a huge challenge, but if we wanted to stretch that to include the holdings of commercial enterprises such as BHP and Rio Tinto – it is not going to happen. So, the concept of social enterprise is only a fringe concept in

Australia – great when it can happen, but forever doomed to be sitting on the edge of our economy. In that case, are we locked into the declining arbitrage economy?

Wait there is more! Next visit was Panama. Going through the canal, I was struck by the simplicity of the concept but the huge cost of execution.

The idea of lifting ships 50 metres and moving them 81 kilometres is not huge in context of world travel, but the human cost – the 22,000 lives expended was staggering.

Most of the items that are sold around the world are manufactured in areas of cheap labour. Labour is the commodity that drives the arbitrage. We think it is the design of the fancy running shoes or the elegant vase, or the price of the packet of frozen peas, but the driver is the cheap labour. China has traded on that for the past three decades, but the cheap labour is moving toward Thailand and Malaysia.

We know cheap labour will never happen in Australia.

However, from the Costa Rica example we can see how a government can make a difference, but will it happen here?

The clue with Australia is that we have called ourselves

the clever country but never actually lived up to the label - using it more like an epitaph. We could have been clever, but we are governed by systems that have built up to protect us in an arbitrage economy. Clever needs freedom of thought and experimentation and the power to gain learning from mistakes, not cotton wool and protection. Michael Doohan would never have become the Thunder from Down Under if his parents had insisted on training wheels. I am not for one moment suggesting that the million ships that have gone through the Panama is worth even one of the 22,000 lives the canal cost, but we need to find a concept that significantly changes the game. The first thing that is needed to achieve change is to throw out the rules. We need to change the rules so that the tinkerers who find their homes in small business can thrive. Otherwise we just go back to whingeing about one more empty shop, one more business that closes their doors, or one more person who joins the dole queue.

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

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BUSINESS NEWS | 35

EDUCATION

A tradition of leadership As I begin my time as Principal at The Geelong College, I am struck by the close knit Geelong community, the incredible reputation of the school and the great work that has gone before me.

GEELONG College is a school with a tradition of turning out community leaders, from civic, to academic, artistic to sporting, and many more. It is a school that equips and encourages its students to fi nd their own bright future through a very diverse curricular and co-curricular

always been to use research based learning to bring out the best in both teachers and students. There is extensive and constant research that enables schools to evolve what they offer their students and staff. It is imperative that as teachers we lead and inspire our students to learn by learning ourselves and

â&#x20AC;&#x153;If given the opportunity and the encouragement, young people develop a lifelong thirst for learning and a desire to question, to imagine and to solve through Personalised Learning Programs where students take greater responsibility for their own learning.â&#x20AC;? program that provides opportunities for every student regardless of their aptitude or passion.

With this as a base, I am very much looking forward to continuing to develop this learning community by building on its many strengths.

As an educator my focus has

36 | BUSINESS NEWS

that as a school we are at the forefront of educational innovation.

If given the opportunity and the encouragement, young people develop a lifelong thirst for learning and a desire to question, to imagine and to solve through Personalised Learning Programs where students

Andrew Barr will lead The Geelong College from the beginning of 2013.

take greater responsibility for their own learning.

Programs like these help to build the internal strengths of imagination, knowledge and attitude, which I believe helps to develop the creativity required to tackle the big picture questions that they, and our society, will face in the future. Instilling this culture of learning will be an early focus for me as I learn about the College, the students and the Geelong Community.

I also believe in the importance of serving the community and in our responsibility to lead, challenge and create a better world. We must, alongside our neighbours - be they very local or elsewhere globally, have a commitment to generosity, an understanding and genuinely offer help to those in need. This builds strength of character and tolerance far more effectively than learning about what needs to be done from a book.

Our school must continue to be a leader in this community, to offer help

and direction and through this will develop new leaders across many walks of life. To lead we must be accountable, approachable and transparent, as well as committed and passionate.

Learning through experience is another of my passions.

Taking lessons from real life situations, tackling challenges, developing useful skills, keeping abreast of the latest technology and learning to apply knowledge are all fundamental to the high quality twenty fi rst century education we aim to provide at The Geelong College.

I am fortunate to have the support and expertise of our staff, Council and Parent Support Groups to help me to develop and implement my vision for the school and I am very much looking forward to welcoming existing and new families for the start of the 2013 school year.

ANDREW BARR Principal, The Geelong College

2013 MASTERS GAMES

The great leveler

competitors descend on Victoria’s second largest city.

Whether it’s in the boardroom or on the sporting field, we all have drive and a sense of competitiveness, but to what level that lives on over the years rests within each individual. Whoever you are, whatever you do, however old you are, you are never too old to compete.

The event offers over 50 sports, entertainment, a social program and Avalon Airport Games village for individuals and teams 30 years and over; there really is something for everyone and the Geelong business community is at the core of this.

THIS year, the Australian Masters Games returns to regional Victoria, and as one of Australia’s largest mass-participation sporting events, there is something for everyone. The message is simple: give in to that competitive drive; get out on the field and play.

world - structure, leadership, teamwork and fitness of body and mind.

The 2013 Australian Masters Games, hosted by Geelong this October, will bring business and sport together in a manner that enhances Geelong’s reputation for delivering high quality sporting events. Australian Masters Games Chairperson, Kean Selway, is excited to welcome the Games to the Geelong business community.

“Sport plays an important part in the Geelong community from club to elite level and it’s exciting that we can welcome the rest of Australia to our city and showcase what we have to offer in and around the greater Geelong area,” Selway said.

“The Games provides participants of all levels the chance to partake in a multisporting event and whether it’s reliving the good old days, a new year’s resolution, a long term goal or a chance to test yourself at a new sport the Games provides a welcoming environment for all individuals and teams to participate.”

Often sport is parallel to the workings of the business

Ingrained in the Australian psyche, sport has played a critical role within popular culture since Australia’s federation and that continues on today from grass roots to the elite level.

The question is, does the spark still exist? Do you believe you have the fortitude to hit the athletics track, playing field or dive into the swimming pool once again?

For the ones screaming ‘I’m still active in my sport of choice’, are you ready to pit yourself against the rest of Australia in your own backyard?

You can.

The 14th edition of the Australian Masters Games hosted by Geelong from 5-12 October will see over 8,000

The Games commercial impact on Geelong will be a focal point for the organising committee, with local businesses and organisations set to receive positive windfalls that will be generated from the Games.

The nature of the event provides various levels of potential involvement, whether as a sponsor or supplier, but also by encouraging employees to participate in the Games.

A balanced lifestyle is vital to the development of the community and culture within an organisation. The Games is a means to develop these key ingredients - teamwork, cooperation, inclusion and organisation.

Mr Selway recognises the benefit that sport can have on the internal structures and workings of the business world.

“Outside of the workplace and family, sport is often a key platform to develop lifelong skills that will transcend into other areas of our lives. The Australian Masters Games is a great way to reinforce these values and beliefs and facilitate them in an alternative setting.”

The Games promote the importance of health and fitness for mature aged individuals, as well as highlighting the importance of physical activity as part of a balanced lifestyle.

The 2013 games have the support of the Victorian State Government, the City of Greater Geelong and various high profile Geelong business identities including Frank Costa and Toby O’Connor, CEO of St Laurence Community Services, with opportunities to partner with or participate in the Games open to businesses.

However, it’s also important to recognise that ‘mature aged’ doesn’t mean the Games is just for retirees. With most events open to competitors from 30 years of age (even lower in some sports), participation is open to a broad age range across almost 60 sports.

For more information regarding the Australian Masters Games please visit australiamastersgames.com

BUSINESS NEWS | 37

THE TECH GUY iPotty.

What will 2013 bring?

Our Technology Guy Jon Mamonski discovers the best of the World’s biggest Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

THE 2013 CES is so big that it takes up an area the size of Geelong’s central CBD and requires mechanised transport to get around it.

But there’s no doubt about it - big, thin and ultra hidefi nition screens were the drawcards at the CES show in Las Vegas this year and 4K Ultra Hi Defi nition TVs filled the manufacturer’s high-end product booths.

The pick for best in show by the experts was Sony’s 56-inch Ultra HD OLED with a stunning native 3,840 x 2,160 panel (pictured).

Other contenders included Panasonic, Samsung’s 85inch UHDTV and LG’s soonto-ship 55-inch OLED. As you would expect, new smartphones were everywhere too and the clear winner at the show was the Sony Xperia Z (pictured) with a 5-inch 1080p display and the new Exmor RS sensor for HDR video capture; the fact that it is waterproof was a signifi cant new feature.

Sony has moved away from the plastic and flimsy to a serious premium feel.

It wouldn’t be the word’s biggest and best show without some new and exciting watch designs and Pebble certainly know how to make you sit up and take notice. The new PebbleWatch has a sealed polycarbonate face and bezel with plain English time and is beautifully built, a real eye turner.

And now for something completely different and possibly useful… Imagine a fork and spoon that keeps track of how long you eat, how quickly and how many bites you take. It then shares these metrics online.

If you eat too quickly, the fork or spoon (the end is

38 | BUSINESS NEWS

detachable) will vibrate to let you know to slow down a tad.

Hmmmm, what if you’re really hungry?

The idea is to help you slow down and enjoy your food not too much now.

The HAPIfork set should sell for around $100 midyear.

And the best accessory for a smartphone?

Still in prototype phase, the Smartphone Film Scanner (pictured) from Lomagraphy is a portable device that straps onto any iPhone and “most” Android phones. Got any old 35mm film slides or negatives lying around? Just slide it into the back, flip on the embedded backlight, and capture a photo of the negative using the included app. Once it’s digitized, you can flip it into a positive, stitch together a panorama, or even create a multi-frame animation. Naturally, it can be shared around the globe from there using your social media program of choice.

Of course tablets abounded and a favourite was the most affordable, the $599 ASUS VivoTab Smart, a new Windows 8 tablet with a 10.1-inch HD display.

Thin and light, VivoTab Smart features an Intel® Atom dual-core processor for full compatibility with new and existing Windows 8 software. Just 9.7mm thin and weighing 580g, VivoTab Smart has a LED-backlit display with a crisp 1366 x 768 HD resolution. In addition, IPS display technology delivers 178-degree wide viewing angles and ensures clear and bright images, even when seen from the side.

VivoTab Smart also features 5-point multi-touch for fluid fi ngertip control with Windows 8.

With its Intel® Atom Z2760 dual-core processor, VivoTab Smart delivers fast and responsive performance, while still providing up to 9.5 hours battery life on a single charge. Because it has complete compatibility with both Windows 8 Store and Desktop apps, you get plug and play support for a wide range of existing peripherals like printers.

VivoTab Smart features high-quality cameras, front and rear. The 8-megapixel rear camera has autofocus, a fi ve-element lens and 1080p Full HD video recording which captures precious moments with crystal clarity. The front 2-megapixel camera is perfect for face-to-face video chat. VivoTab Smart also features renowned ASUS SonicMaster audio technology for good sound quality with all kinds of listening material from its built-in stereo speakers.

ASUS plans to introduce accessories for the VivoTab Smart, including a TranSleeve Keyboard that magnetically combines screen protection with a wireless keyboard for enhanced productivity.

More information on the accessories will be announced by ASUS later in 2013.

And fi nally a really crappy gadget from the show.

The iPotty (pictured) is designed for your infant’s potty training with the incentive of playing games on an iPad. Hmmm, perhaps for the young parents to consider… Would you attach a tablet to a toilet? No toilet jokes, please, but an accident waiting to happen I reckon.

JON MAMONSKI

Sony 56-inch Ultra HD OLED.

Smartphone Film Scanner.

THE TECH GUY

ASUS VivoTab Smart.

Sony Xperia Z.

BUSINESS NEWS | 39

ARTS Photo: Jeff Busby.

The critical acclaim caps off an incredible journey for the Geelong-based theatre company, which also took out the 2012 Helpmann Award for Best Play.

Back to Back Theatre returns to Geelong in February for Australia’s only performances of the show this year.

Director Bruce Gladwin said the company was looking forward to its home performances.

“We’ve launched this year with a bang on the stage of New York’s Public Theater.

The show sold out completely in New York and has been incredibly well received by audiences and critics alike,” he said. “We travel next to Hanover (New Hampshire), UCLA and The Walker Art Center in Minneapolis before bringing the work to Geelong. It feels right that the work should appear on the world’s stages, including The Playhouse at home.”

Ganesh Versus the Third Reich is poignant, beautiful, disarming, full of vulnerability and sly transparency.

Back to Back brings worldwide hit home Back to Back Theatre is preparing to bring its hit production Ganesh Versus The Third Reich home to Geelong after wowing theatre audiences around the world.

GANESH Versus The Third Reich will open GPAC’s 2013 Deakin University Theatre Season in February following a grueling touring schedule and high praise from critics.

Back to Back will return to Geelong shortly after impressing crowds in New York, where the production was performed as part of the Under the Radar festival. The New York Times raved about the production, describing Ganesh as ‘’a vital, sensessharpening tonic for theatregoers who feel they’ve seen it all’’ and praising ‘’the prickly and gratifying

40 | BUSINESS NEWS

intelligence of this strong and singular work’’.

This follows similar high praise following Back to Back’s performance in the London International Festival of Theatre last year.

Ganesh Versus The Third Reich was named in the Guardian newspaper as one of the top ten London theatre experiences for 2012.

The production “fearlessly interrogated prejudice and abuses of power by questioning its own right to represent a Hindu god and the Holocaust on stage,” according to The Guardian.

The story begins with the elephant-headed god Ganesh travelling through Nazi Germany to reclaim the Swastika, an ancient Hindu symbol. The play cleverly interweaves the story of a young man inspired to create a play about Ganesh, god of overcoming obstacles. He is an everyman who must find the strength to overcome the difficulties in his own life, and defend his play and his collaborators against an overbearing colleague.

The show is made before our very eyes and takes on its own life. It invites us to examine who has the right to tell a story and who has the right to be heard. It explores our complicity in creating and dismantling the world, human possibility and hope.

Ganesh Versus the Third Reich will be performed at GPAC from February 28 to March 3.

For bookings phone Box Office on 5225 1200 or go to gpac.org.au

Djalkiri – we are standing on their names – Blue Mud Bay Open till 10 February The culmination of a vibrant cross-cultural printmaking exchange between five highly-respected Yithuwa Madarrpa artists and four renowned visiting artists from across Australia. Presented by Artback NT: Arts Development and Touring and Nomad Art Productions Geelong Gallery geelongallery.org.au Raw Diamonds 02 – 16 February Metropolis Gallery is excited to present an exhibition of artworks by Janeen Blackmore, Kellie Greaves, Adrian Segon and Susan Stripling from the Art Unlimited Studio in Geelong, a professional access studio for practising artists with a disability. Each of these artists has been working from between ten to twenty five years. The vitality of their unique styles, composition and palette is the result of each artist’s individual interpretation of the world and a direct outcome of being given full autonomy over their personal art practice. This is art at its most pure and powerful, intuitively produced and independent of tradition.

As artist Jean Dubuffet said in 1945: ‘A song bawled out by a girl scrubbing the stairs knocks me over much more than an erudite cantata. To each his own. I like the little.

I also like the embryonic, the ill-fashioned, the imperfect, the mixed. I prefer raw diamonds...’

Geelong CBD metropolisgallery.com.au Oh What a Night 06 February Direct from Las Vegas comes the sensational and highly successful production Oh What a Night – Australian Encore Tour 2013; a musical tribute to Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons. “Sherry”, “Big Girls Don’t Cry”, “Walk Like A Man”, “Can’t Take My Eyes

ARTS Off You”, “My Eyes Adored You”, “Working My Way Back To You”, “Let’s Hang On” and “Who Loves You” are just some of the many hits you’ll from the dynamic songbook of those boys from Jersey, Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons. Oh What a Night toured the Australian East Coast for the first time in 2011 - the planned 24 tour dates exceeded all expectations resulting in extended 54 sell-out performances over 3 months. Oh What a Night agreed to return to Australian stages in January 2013.

While the smash hit Jersey Boys is a scripted musical biography of the group, Oh what a Night is a loving concert and tribute, which features all the original hits as well as several top 10 releases not in Broadway’s Tony Awardwinning hit.

Her Majesty’s, Ballarat. hermaj.com Celtic Thunder 2013 07 February Celtic Thunder returns for yet another huge show.

Playing to a sold out audience in 2012, the five diverse performers return in 2013.

Each a powerhouse in their own right, they are sure to put on another amazing show.

Backed by their dynamic Celtic Thunder Band, their shows are known for the use of dramatic lighting effects, choreography and a stage set resembling an ancient stone pathway suggestive of those referred to in Celtic lore.

Tickets are sure to sell fast.

The Arena, North Geelong ticketek.com

Adrian Segon.

Eamon O’Toole: Big Boys Toys Open till February 24

The Man In The Mirror: Michael Jackson 16 February

This summer, the prestigious Potter Gallery at the Art Gallery of Ballarat will look part Formula 1 showroom and part motoring enthusiast’s toolshed as it is taken over by a show that will shock some traditional fine art aficionados and delight others who might not normally think of darkening the door of an art gallery.

There is no disputing the simple fact that there will never be another Michael Jackson, but the legacy he left behind continues to thirill audiences via The Man In The Mirror show starring Paul Rizzo, Australia’s No.1, internationally recognised, award-winning Michael Jackson tribute/ dance artist along with his sensational dance team.

The Man In The Mirror show continues to go from strength to strength with constant performances throughout Australia, New Zealand and South East Asia.

Imagine an eight year old boy who is totally fascinated by Formula 1 racing and who is able, in our image saturated society, to see endless footage of the big races but perhaps not able to go to them as a spectator nor likely to sit in a Formula 1 car himself. What does he do? He makes a model of the car out of whatever there is to hand and plays with that model endlessly.

In that child’s imagination the model can be almost as satisfying, as powerful, as the real thing.

Eamon O’Toole’s Big Boys Toys have something of that feeling about them except that the child has become an adult and the replicas are fantastically detailed and life sized. The feeling of excitement they engender and the sense of presence that they have are almost indescribable.

But of course we are all grown up and we know these are replicas and therein lies another aspect of this work - a spark of humour directed at our childlike need to surround ourselves with things that bolster our feelings about ourselves. The artist is saying ‘Go on, accept it - it is ok to want to be Mark Webber, I do.’

Ian Potter Foundation Gallery, Ballarat artgalleryofballarat.com.au

A Michael Jackson experience like never before.

Wyndham Cultural Centre, Werribee wyncc.com.au Nick Mount - Fabric of work 16 February to 12 May 2013 Nick Mount—the fabric of work features a new series of sculptural assemblages that range in scale and character and combine a respect for traditional Venetian glassmaking techniques with a wry Australian wit.

Geelong Gallery geelongallery.org.au Faces of Diversity Art Exhibition 09 – 24 February This collection of artworks from the G21 region will officially launch Pako Festa 2013, Diversitat’s 31st event.

Faces of Diversity is a project born out of a 10 year partnership between Diversitat and Max Panero from Turin,

Kellie Greaves.

Italy. Complementing local artworks will be a diverse collection of works from Turin, Italy in the spirit of this cultural exchange project that has been nurtured over the past ten years.

National Wool Museum, Geelong diversitat.org.au/ hermaj.com Concert for the Clans 02 March A Scottish folk music concert featuring Drumworx, Red Cat, Myra McRae with Clan, Taliska Stramash, and solo pipers.

The Concert for the Clans will feature highly acclaimed local group, Myra McRae with her band Clan, headed up

by Scottish-Australian singer and musician, Myra, who is well known on the Australian Celtic folk music circuit. Two top Melbourne Scottish folk music groups, Taliska and Red Cat, will also perform and again both are widely sought after. Taliska, a four-piece group, received rave reviews at the Port Adelaide Celtic Festival and, as with Red Cat and Myra McRae with Clan, have also performed at the National Celtic Festival, at Portarlington. The concert will also include solo piping and drumming segments – and a stramash – all performers on stage in a full-on musical finale.

(Show starts at 7.30pm, $25 for adults and $15 for those 15 years and younger, plus booking fees.)

Deakin University Waurn Ponds Campus, KD Stewart Centre concertfortheclans.com.au

Susan Stripling.

BUSINESS NEWS | 41

COMMUNITY NEWS

Fun in the sun BacLinks, an initiative of Karingal, fi nished up 2012 with two fabulous events aimed at providing unique opportunities to engage with community in a meaningful and rewarding way.

THE first, the Summer Workplace Big Day Out, saw around 300 people turn out to celebrate the event’s 10-year anniversary.

Held at Adventure Park, Wallington, where it all began in December 2002, this special event was presented by the Alcoa Foundation and sponsored by MatchWorks, Telstra Country Wide and Karingal; each also providing a number of employees to volunteer for the day.

It brought together around 80 business representatives from 13 local businesses - a record number of program members from disability services, and representatives of various sporting and service clubs to enjoy a fun, inclusive day of activities, entertainment and special birthday festivities.

“The Workplace Big Day Out takes our employees out of their comfort zone and gives them a different perspective on the world,” said Warren Sharp, Alcoa Point Henry Smelter Manager. “Diversity is not only key to business success but an important value for our operations and

42 | BUSINESS NEWS

the Workplace Big Day Out gives us the opportunity to celebrate this.”

Teams made up of a mix of employee volunteers and program members participated in a rotation of activi¬ties that included cricket, belly dancing, picnic games, martial arts and bocce, along with Park activities mini golf, jumping castle and boating.

After finishing up activities, everyone got together to enjoy the BBQ lunch generously sponsored by WJM Lawyers and prepared and served by the Rotary Club of Highton. Delicious ‘birthday’ cupcakes provided

by Kommer¬cial and the entertainment provided by the Karingal Participate Dance Troupe all contributed to the festive mood with participants soaking up the party atmosphere.

“The Workplace Big Day Out is so much fun. I’ve just got to come again,” one employee volunteer enthused. “What a great way to give back to the community.”

For employee volunteers, the event provided a safe

opportunity for them to step outside their comfort zone, take on physical challenges and reap the personal and professional rewards of supporting their community.

“I was a little bit nervous to begin with, but participating in the Workplace Big Day Out taught me a lot about myself and about other people and I ended the day feeling very proud of myself.”

For program members from Karingal, Encompass and St Laurence Community Services, the event delivered a social day out where they could meet up with friends, meet new people and face new physical and emotional challenges in a fantastic, fun environment.

BacLinks would like to thank everyone who contributed to this celebration event for making it so very special, as well as all the many businesses and people who have contributed to events in the past. You have made it all possible.

The final event for the year, Karingal’s ‘What We Do Day’, gave 23 Grade Five students from Belmont Primary School the exclusive chance to learn about the important work that is done at Karingal in supporting people with a disability.

Motivational speaker, Chris

van Ingen, shared his personal experiences of living with disability with the students and staff, and program members spoke to them of the variety of work done inside Karingal. They also outlined the variety of programs the organisation provides to assist program members to reach their potential and to experience full, enjoyable lives.

“I learnt what Karingal does to help people. I thought you just looked after people at first, not help them get a job and live how they like.”

Students also completed a number of activities including cupcake decorating at Kommercial and badge making at Participate, as well as participating in some games facilitated by KABLE, Karingal’s outdoor adventure program.

BacLinks are specialists in coordinating projects and events that bring business and community together Contact the BacLinks team on 5249 8989 or visit our website www.baclinks.org.au to discover how your business can become involved and make a real difference.

COMMUNITY NEWS

Digging Deep For Gateways GATEWAYS Support Services is a responsive community organisation that empowers and supports children and adults who have a disability/additional need and their families.

Gateways need to expand to meet the increased demand for services for young children with autism and/or other disabilities and their families in our growing community. This rapidly expanding need comes due to earlier identification of children with autism, with research showing the value of early intervention and significant regional population growth.

To meet this demand Gateways have been renovating and expanding their current Geelong West head office to provide purpose-built facilities. The new facilities will include: a new sound-proof, two-room autism assessment suite with a one-way mirror and video equipment to record and monitor a child’s behaviour during assessment; occupational therapy and speech therapy rooms; a multi-purpose room for positive behaviour, management and psychology programs, parent education and support programs as well as social activity group use.

Harry Taylor from Geelong Cats and some of Gateways major donors officially started the renovations of 10-12 Albert Street, Geelong West by “turning the soil” on Wednesday 19th December.

Renovations are due to be completed on 31 July.

Gateways are grateful for the financial support they have received from a range of sources including local groups such as Give Where You Live, Percy Baxter Trust, Geelong Community Foundation, Lino Bisinella and the Fagg family.

Gateways are still looking for further donations to complete this project. If you can help, please donate now at: www.givenow.com.au/ gatewaysupportservice

Bravehearts Inc. launch online training program BRAVEHEARTS Inc. is the national organisation working to prevent child sexual assault.

Bravehearts’ key purpose is to educate, empower and protect Australian kids from sexual assault.

Since the announcement of a Royal Commission into child sexual assault by the Prime Minister on 12 November 2012, Bravehearts has experienced a 300 per cent spike in enquiries for counselling services.

In response to the increased demand, Bravehearts has just launched an Australiafirst online training program for psychologists and healthcare professionals to meet nationwide demand on services.

Funded by The Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs

(FaHCSIA), the cutting edge training initiative Bravehearts Practitioner Workshop: Working with Child Sexual Assault, has been developed by leading psychologists and has a mandatory assessment component that allows participants to claim active professional development points.

This groundbreaking program has been developed by Bravehearts and is the culmination of 16 years of evidence-based research working directly with survivors of child sexual assault.

Designed to be easily accessible for people in regional areas, topics covered in the course include; Trauma and its Effects, Dealing with Disclosures and Reporting Concerns, Legal issues in Child Sexual Assault and Approaches to Counselling: Theory Assessment and Techniques.

Upon successful completion of the included assessment, participants can sign on to Bravehearts Certified Participant Register, which will increase the network of skilled professionals across Australia and ultimately make it easier for clients to access counselling services.

For more information training, visit the website: www.bravehearts.org.au

A $2.1 million boost for multiple sclerosis research in 2013 MS Research Australia (MSRA) is the research arm of MS Australia and facilitates MS research at universities and medical research institutes around the country. MSRA’s mission is to accelerate Australian research targeting the prevention, better treatment and cure for MS. MS is the most common disabling neurological disease in young adults. It affects approximately 23,000 Australians and affects three times the number of women as men. Better understanding of the underlying mechanisms through research is allowing

more focused development of new treatments.

MSRA is pleased to announce $2.14 million in funding for new research into multiple sclerosis (MS) beginning in 2013. Fourteen new grants will be awarded across universities and medical research institutes from all states of Australia.

Together with the ongoing projects currently receiving funding, the new grants commencing this year bring our research portfolio to a total of 42 projects in social and applied research, immunology, neurobiology, epidemiology and genetics. The new projects will focus on the factors that may initiate MS, such as the role of infections and genes, as well as other projects looking to block the ongoing neurological damage. Two projects will investigate ways to improve existing treatments available for MS, while another will look at how symptomatic treatment can be enhanced.

In 2013, MSRA funding includes four new research Fellows and three new Scholars. MSRA would like to highlight the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) MSRA Betty Cuthbert Fellowship awarded to Dr Margaret Jordan at James Cook University. Dr Jordan will be determining how genetic risk factors affect the function of immune cells in MS. The research strategy of the MSRA aims to accelerate research activity in areas where Australian scientists can have the greatest impact in worldwide MS research.

“This funding is a great boost for MS research in Australia.

We are proud to able to make a significant contribution to the worldwide effort to find a cure for MS,” said Jeremy Wright, CEO of MSRA. The $2.14 million announced today is on top of $2.6 million of ongoing investment into a major MS vitamin D prevention trial, PrevANZ, which is now underway. This trial will determine the efficacy and safety of oral vitamin D supplementation to prevent MS in people at high risk of developing the condition.

BUSINESS NEWS | 43

WINE AFTER HOURS Emma Crichton Lorne Film CEO addresses the crowd.

Film fest celebration descends on Lorne QDOS Arts in Lorne hosted the official launch of Lorne Film 2013, a three-day international film festival set to light up screens across the picturesque coastal town this November.

LORNE Film CEO, Emma Crichton, said the festival, which will feature a range of intimate screening venues, would screen globally sourced feature films in a unique environment.

“Lorne Film, will provide a home for both established and aspiring film makers in a community environment,” Ms Crichton said. “It will combine a first class viewing experience with workshops and seminars and bring a real buzz to the town of Lorne.”

It is expected 35 feature films will screen at the inaugural Lorne Film in 2013 and organisers plan growth both in venues and scope for the annual event.

The festival will be another asset for Lorne, which already boasts the world’s largest ocean swim, the Pier to Pub and the popular Falls Music Festival.

For more information on the festival, log on to www.lornefilm.com.au

Ben Lane, Josie Molloy and Shelley Ryan.

44 | BUSINESS NEWS

Bernie Clifford.

Jim Lawson interviews Darren Markey.

AFTER HOURS

Roseanne Michie, Kath Mather and MC for the evening Jim Lawson.

Richard and Pam Austin and Jill.

Jim Lawson and Doug Stirling.

Nick Wilmot, Sam Roache and Nicole Roache.

BUSINESS NEWS | 45

AFTER HOURS

Celebrating fellowship and service The Lions Club of South Barwon welcomed District Governor, Lou Scholten, to an awards presentation evening that celebrated those who have given their time and support to the Lions.

AMONGST the awards presented were the Melvin Jones Fellowships, the Long Service Chevron Awards presented to Lion John Jackson (20 years) and Lion Phil Rayner (35 years) and the presentation of Life Membership of Lions International to Lion Gordon Harwood, Lion Bob Badham and Lion Phil Rayner. The Lions also acknowledged 20 years of service to the club from Adcell Group with the Alan J Holding Award, as

well as presenting a support package to student and staff representatives of Belmont High School.

The local Lions district extends from Western Melbourne to the South Australian border and includes some 69 local Lions clubs.

The District Governor visits each club during his year in ofďŹ ce, and at this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s event, was joined by past District Governor, Allan Price, who assisted in the presentations.

Presentation on behalf of Past District Governor David Lowing: Cabinet Secretary Bob Gilchrist, Lion Mick Harris (Community Development Chairman for Juvenile Diabetes Research).

Presentation of Melvin Jones Fellowships: DG Lou Scholten, Lion Roger McDonnell, Lion Neil Hunter, President Colin Brooker.

Presentation of Long Service Chevron Awards: Lion John Jackson (20 years), Lion Phil Rayner (35 years), DG Lou Scholten.

Presentation of Life Membership of Lions International: DG Lou Scholten, Lion Gordon Harwood, Lion Bob Badham, Lion Phil Rayner, President Colin Brooker.

46 | BUSINESS NEWS

AFTER HOURS

Launching a stellar season Broadcaster and theatre lover Derek Guille hosted the launch of GPAC’s 2013 Deakin University Theatre Season in The Playhouse, introducing an exceptional lineup of productions.

“THE season will take us on a journey to new places, provide fresh insights, challenge our thinking, entertain and inspire us,” GPAC General Manager, Jill Smith, said.

The fast and funny Midsummer - a play with songs, is a quirky love story by one of Scotland’s leading playwrights David Greig and songwriter Gordon McIntyre.

The season will open in February with Geelong’s own Back to Back Theatre returning home from its American tour of Ganesh Versus The Third Reich. This critically acclaimed production won the 2012 Helpmann Award for best play.

The best new Australian writing is also featured with Daniel Keene’s moving play Boxman, and the delicious Food by Steve Rogers.

Internationally acclaimed Bangarra Dance Theatre will return to GPAC with an original and breathtaking theatrical experience Kinship - Fire, Brolga and ID. In this production, award winning choreographer Stephen Page explores questions of identity, cultural ownership and links the traditional and contemporary worlds.

Canada’s Ronnie Burkett will also make a welcome return to Geelong, bringing his fascinating world of marionettes in the new work Penny Plain. Burkett has been credited with creating some of the world’s most elaborate and provocative puppetry.

Mary Shelly’s classic tale is re-imagined in a new version of Frankenstein by international playwright Nick Dear. This astonishing adaption was a huge hit for the National Theatre, London, in 2011.

Some of the creatives behind the 2013 Deakin University Theatre Season, Samuel Johnson (The Haunting of Daniel Gartrell), Mark Jones (Cautionary Tales for Children), Bruce Gladwin (Ganesh Versus the Third Reich), Sonja Suares (Midsummer), Brian Meegan (Frankenstein) and Steve Rodgers (Food).

And there’s even something for families when Melbourne’s Arena Theatre presents Cautionary Tales for Children, an absurd lyrical satirical cabaret for audiences of all ages.

The season finale will feature performances by much loved Australian actors Samuel Johnson and Max Gillies in The Haunting of Daniel Gartell.

Ms Smith said GPAC was able to offer such a high standard of theatre productions due largely to the generous support of corporate sponsors. GPAC has recently announced that Deakin University is the naming rights sponsor of the theatre season for the next two years.

Geelong Mayor Keith Fagg, GPAC Trust Chairman Tim Orton and Deakin University’s Kean Selway.

Cast member of The Haunting of Daniel Gartrell, Samuel Johnson.

GPAC Trust member Elaine Carbines and from Business Technology Specialists, Mel Corner.

“It is exciting to see the worlds of theatre and education come together.

This exceptional lineup of productions really does bring the best of all worlds.”

Photos: Ferne Millen, fernemillen.com

Christian Leavesley, Steve Rodgers and Brian Meegan.

BUSINESS BUSINESSNEWS NEWS|| 47

AFTER HOURS

Committee looks back on a year of change and development Geelong’s ongoing progress and maturity as a city was a central theme at the Committee for Geelong’s Annual Dinner at Balmoral in Fyansford.

CHAIRMAN Michael Betts reflected on 2012, and hailed a new era for the Committee - welcoming special guest, newly elected Mayor Keith Fagg, as well as commending more than ten years of achievement by outgoing Executive Director Peter Dorling.

“Geelong is entering a phase of unprecedented opportunity,” Mr Betts said. “With this comes a range of challenges including population growth, and a changing industry and employment profile.”

“Mayor Fagg understands this environment, particularly from a business and economic point of view, but also from a social one,” Mr Betts said.

A relatively new initiative of the Committee for Geelong is the presentation of the annual Community Leadership

Terry Barrow, Helen Quarrell and Brian Quarrell.

Award. Since 2010, the Committee has recognised the work and outstanding contribution of a member of the Geelong community, with recipients including businessmen Frank Costa (inaugural award) and Michael Dowling (2011).

The 2012 accolade was granted to Barry Fagg, community entrepreneur, and brother of Mayor Cr Keith Fagg.

“Barry has provided his commitment and significant business acumen to a number of organisations over a long period of time, including three years as President of Give Where Yuou Live,” Mr Betts said. “He understands the importance of supporting and nurturing those in our community who may be under-resourced or suffer some level of disadvantage.”

Nick Papps, Dan Simmonds and Mark Sanders.

Di Giddings and Keelie Hamilton.

Michael Betts, Sharon Coppe, Ed Coppe, Libby Coker and Stephen Wall.

48 | BUSINESS NEWS

AFTER HOURS

Kevin Roache, Jodi Heath and Jim Cousins.

Michael Betts, Ros Betts, Garry Ellis and Geoff Williams.

Sharon Kelly and Tony Butler.

Jason Trethowan, Tony McManus, Virginia Todd and Leigh Johnston.

Geelong Mayor Keith Fagg with wife Heather.

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WHAT’S ON 08 – 10 FEBRUARY Geelong Multi Sport Festival In its third year, the Geelong Multi Sport Festival will feature three days of participation and spectator sport appealing to people of all ages, tastes and abilities!

Waterfront Geelong geelongmultisport.com.au

by All Ordinaries and Low Down & Dirty. All funds raised go to BHS Day Oncology.

Sebastopol & District Lions Club & Wightwick Wines 323 Slatey Creek Road Nth, Invermay Contact Josie Ashmore at josieashm@bigpond.com

13 FEBRUARY 08 AND 15 FEBRUARY Geelong Night Market Running for its 5th year, the Geelong Night Market is a fun social setting for all people to enjoy with live Entertainment and stalls showcasing local artisan wares. A fully licensed area and many different International street foods for people to sit down and enjoy in a safe and relaxed atmosphere.

Johnstone Park, Geelong qvm.com.au

10 FEBRUARY Music & Wine by the Vines Gourmet Sausages, hamburgers, cheese platters, bruschetta, wine, beer and soft drink for sale. BYO chair, sunhat, sunscreen, and a thirst for fun and enjoyment, music

Chamber of Commerce After 5 The first After 5 for 2013 will be held at Hill Winery. Our February After 5 is also the launch of the prestigious Powercor Geelong Business Excellence Awards.

The Hill Winery, Waurn Ponds geelongchamber.com.au/ events/

St Laurence Open Air Cinema Fundraiser A fundraising cinema screening of ‘Dirty Dancing’ on Valentine’s Day. Geelong College, Newtown stlaurence.org.au

15 FEBRUARY 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

15 – 17 FEBRUARY 13 – 17 FEBRUARY Basastoc Horse Of The Year Barastoc Horse of the Year has grown to be one of Australia’s biggest and most prestigious horse shows, attracting thousands of exhibitors and spectators from throughout Australia and New Zealand. Werribee Park National Equestrian Centre barastocshow.com.au

2013 Australian International Airshow: 26 February – 03 March.

50 | BUSINESS NEWS

14 FEBRUARY

Camp Street Precinct, Ballarat ballaratbeat.com.au/

17 FEBRUARY Kiwanis All Ford Day The largest display of Ford Vehicles anywhere in Australia.

The event will include: over 1,000 Ford vehicles on display, 30 different car clubs represented, winner & runner up trophies in 48 different categories, V8 Super Car and celebrity drivers, autograph sessions, auto and trade displays, souvenirs, kids rides, entertainment, live bands, food vans, charity auction.

Deakin University, Waurn Ponds allfordday.org.au

17 – 22 FEBRUARY

Ballarat Beat Rockabilly Festival

Rotary District 9820 Ride to Conference

The Annual Ballarat Beat Rockabilly Festival will showcase an impressive number of standout international music acts including The Desperados (USA) and Omar Romero (USA), as well as amazing local artists such as The Re Chords (VIC) to keep you rocking throughout the night.

A 600km ride by around 55 riders that aims to raise a minimum of $65,000 for Rotary projects. The key beneficiary is Life Education - a healthy living program directed at primary school students. Other beneficiaries include Disaster Aid Australia.

Contact Ian Symons at ijsymons@bigpond.net.au

WHAT’S ON 19 FEBRUARY

21 – 24 FEBRUARY

Starting Your Business Planning to start a business?

2013 Men’s and Women’s Victorian Open Golf Tournament

Find out what you need to know to make sure your new business gets off to a sound start. This comprehensive workshop on starting a business will cover topics that include: how to assess the viability of your idea, identifying the best business structure for your needs, marketing, finance, pointers and tips on preparing a business plan, what resources are available to assist and support new business operators, and more.

In a coup for the region, Geelong will host many of Australia’s best golfers and an array of international talent when the 2013 Victorian Open commences at Thirteenth Beach Golf Links in Barwon Heads. In a tournament recognised as the place ‘where stars are born’, the event will debut in the region featuring two championship courses, with the men’s and women’s Championships running simultaneously. The prize money for this event will be evenly split between the men and women, with a total prize pool of $300,000 on offer.

* A voucher for one free mentoring session is provided for participants in this workshop. Bookings are essential for this heavily subsidised workshop. Event ID#9553.

Geelong City Hall Contact Michelle at mflight@ geelongcity.vic.gov.au business.vic.gov.au/ workshops-seminars-andevents

21 FEBRUARY WHK – Annual Economic Outlook 2013 and Beyond The Financial Advisory Team at WHK invites you to attend a breakfast. Dr Chris Caton is Chief Economist of BT Financial Group and former head of the Economic Division of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and a leading Australian analyst.

Dr Chris Caton will provide a clear and insightful view on the economic outlook for 2013, both internationally and locally. Breakfast provided.

Registration essential, numbers limited RSVP by Friday 15 February 2013 by phone or email.

Mercure Hotel Conference Centre, Geelong 03 5224 7783, kate.tatchell@whk.com.au

Thirteenth Beach Golf Links, Barwon Heads golfvic.org.au

23 FEBRUARY PAKO FESTA Celebrate Geelong’s much loved community arts festival Pako Festa as it hits Geelong for its 31st year! Held in the multicultural heart of Geelong, Pakington Street, Geelong West, the day kicks off with a street parade at 11.00am, with 90 floats and hundreds of performers The streets are lined with a plethora of multicultural food stalls to entice all food lovers. Socialise in one of the many bars and cafés, celebrate in an arena of ethnic diversity and harmony, and appreciate the wonderful variety of artistic and cultural expression within Geelong’s multicultural community!

Pakington Street, Geelong West pakofesta.com.au

24 FEBRUARY Walk and Talk Organ Donation Walk from Steampacket Gardens to Rippleside Park to promote organ and tissue donation. A Free Barbeque will be provided.

Steampacket Gardens Contact Kathryn Coumans at kathrync@barwonhealth.org.au

24 FEBRUARY The River Run Geelong A fun run along the banks of the Barwon River, starting and finishing at Barwon Valley Park covering both 5km and 10km courses.

Barwon River Running Course / Barwon Valley Park, Belmont Contact Justin Higgins at pbevents1@hotmail.com

24 FEBRUARY 2013 Ford Rainforest Ride The 2013 Ford Rainforest Ride is a mass participation road cycling event (not a race) with three different rides to suit all types of cyclists, from a challenging 140km circuit to a tranquil 23km journey suitable for families, all amidst the magnificent Otway Rainforest in and around Apollo Bay on the Great Ocean Road. Entries are now open for the 2013 Ford Rainforest Ride! All proceeds from the event go directly to Give Where You Live. Serving the community since 1954, GWYL is Geelong’s premier philanthropic organisation dedicated to improving lives in the Geelong region. So be sure to put this date in the diary and tell your friends, family and colleagues about this stunning ride around the Otway Rainforest. It certainly is not to be missed!

Apollo Bay, Victoria rainforestride.com

24 FEBRUARY International Needs Uganda Executive Director presents in Ballarat Executive Director of the International Needs Network Uganda, Rev. Justus Miwanda, will be speaking at Carmel Welsh Presbyterian Church on March 24, 2012 at 10:00am and 6:00pm.

Having been abandoned by his mother at three months, Justus has experienced a powerful story of spiritual and material transformation. Rev. Miwanda has since studied Health Administration and Theology. He is now working in Uganda to change the stories of children who are

born into systematic poverty.

Carmel Welsh Presbyterian Church, Ballarat internationalneeds.org.au

26 FEBRUARY – 03 MARCH 2013 Australian International Airshow The Australian International Airshow is a pinnacle event for the Geelong Region, attracting crowds in the tens of thousands worldwide!

The Airshow is a unique and exciting event appealing to patrons from all facets of the community; members of the defense forces, corporate business and aviation enthusiasts alike. Patrons can mingle in the elaborate trade halls, wander amongst the most exciting crafts in the world, be entranced by the dazzling aerobatic displays or just soak up the atmosphere by the runway. With earplugs at the ready thousands huddle together, and gaze in amazement as pilots take their crafts to the ultimate extreme.

The ambience is exciting, and the sheer volume rattles you to the core!

Avalon Airport, Geelong airshow.net.au

26 FEBRUARY – 03 MARCH Clean Up Australia Day Every year thousands of Australians get stuck in and clean up their local environment by collecting and removing rubbish on Clean Up Australia Day. Individuals and groups can register now to clean up their local park, beach, bushland, and streets.

Be part of one or all of these key dates: Business Clean Up Day Tuesday 26 February 2013 Schools Clean Up Day - Friday 1 March 2013 Clean Up Australia Day Sunday 3 March 2013 cleanupaustraliaday.org.au/

BUSINESS NEWS | 51

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