Small businesses will enjoy more consultative participation in drafting of new workplace laws, with the creation of a new Business Advisory Group and Small Business Working Group.
Making the announcement on 20 February 2008, Federal Employment and Workplace Relations Minister Julia Gillard and Small Business Minister Craig Emerson said the groups would work with the Government on drafting new workplace relations laws to be introduced this year.
Key players of the Business Advisory Group
Ms Gillard and Mr Emerson said the new chair of Business Advisory Group will be CEO of Corrs Chambers Westgarth John Denton, who also has a strong personal involvement with the Business Council of Australia.
A key member will be Chief Executive of the Australian Industry Group Heather Ridout. Ms Gillard and Mr Emerson highlighted Ms Ridout’s role will be to link the Business Advisory Group to the statutory body the National Workplace Relations Consultative Council.
Welcoming the announcement, Ms Ridout said linking the groups would provide consistency that will contribute to:
- Greater understanding;
- Better policy development; and
- Ultimately better legislation.
“I am very pleased to serve on the Business Advisory Group,” Ms Ridout said in a statement dated 20 February 2008. "The Advisory Group is an important body and there's a long way to go with the government's workplace relations agenda.”
Ms Ridout highlighted that the Advisory Group will be able to contribute to developing a system that will work for Australia in the long term and that gives certainty to business planning and investment.
"Ai Group represents a huge spectrum of industries from ICT, through to construction, transport, manufacturing, food, infrastructure and labour hire,” Ms Ridout said. “We are therefore well placed to make a significant contribution to the work of the Group on behalf of Australian business and industry.”
The Business Advisory Group will also include representatives of the construction, mining, transport, hospitality, retail, banking, labour hire and the media industry.
Key players of the Small Business Working Group
The function of the new Small Business Working Group will be to advise specifically on Labor's new unfair dismissal system, the Fair Dismissal Code, as well as other matters concerning small business.
The Group will be chaired by the Small Business Minister and includes representatives from peak small business bodies such as:
- Gary Black, National Retailers' Association
- John Hart, Restaurant and Catering Australia
- Simon Ramsay, Victorian Farmers Federation
- Greg Holmes, Hotel, Motel and Accommodation Association
- Bryan Stevens, Real Estate Institute of Australia
- Pearce Makin, Victorian Automobile Chamber of Commerce
- Kieran Schneemann, Pharmacy Guild
- Peter Bush, McDonalds
- Andrew Arkell, Institute of Chartered Accountants
- Tony Steven, Council of Small Business of Australia
Additional consultation
According to Ms Gillard and Mr Emerson, in addition to these formal consultations, the Federal Government will:
- Consult the Australian Council of Trade Unions;
- Consult the Australian Council of Social Services, particularly on the question of the circumstances of low wage workers;
- Continue to the function and meeting of the National Workplace Relations Consultative Council, a statutory body comprising representatives of ACCI, the AI Group, the ACTU, AMMA, the BCA, the MBA and NFF; and
- Obtain the technical advice of the subset group the Committee on Industrial Legislation (COIL), which play consultative role in the creation of the Transition Bill.
It is expected the new laws will come into operation from January 1, 2010 and will have a significant impact upon employer and industry groups.