30/03/19 Safety warning notice – button batteries

COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA COMPETITION AND CONSUMER ACT 2010 SAFETY WARNING NOTICE Pursuant to paragraph 129(1)(b) of Schedule 2 of the Competition and Consumer...

COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA COMPETITION AND CONSUMER ACT 2010 SAFETY WARNING NOTICE Pursuant to paragraph 129(1)(b) of Schedule 2 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010, I, Stuart Robert, Assistant Treasurer, publish this notice to warn of possible risks involved in the use of the consumer goods of the kind specified below. Particulars of the consumer...

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Retail Industry Skills Partnership

Training brings new ideas, enthusiasm and a fresh approach.   Through on the job learning, trainees can acquire practical skills,...

Training brings new ideas, enthusiasm and a fresh approach.   Through on the job learning, trainees can acquire practical skills, tailored to the needs of your business and industry. The NRA Retail Industry Skills Partnership is making it easier for Queensland employers to take on trainees and create skilled careers for...

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Biometric scanners: Employers waiting for clarity

By Calum Woods and Lindsay Carroll, NRA Legal Once thought to be only within the realm of science fiction, biometric...

By Calum Woods and Lindsay Carroll, NRA Legal Once thought to be only within the realm of science fiction, biometric time and attendance systems have been steadily replacing timesheets for the past decade. In its truest sense, a biometric scanner is anything that can track the metrics of a person’s body,...

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Message from the CEO – 26 March 2019

As retail continues to endure a challenging period, we once again hear the doom and gloom predictions that 2019...

As retail continues to endure a challenging period, we once again hear the doom and gloom predictions that 2019 will be a bad year for one of the economies largest sectors. No one is denying that the retail industry is going through a slow period, indeed the entire Australian economy...

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How sustainability in fashion went from the margins to the mainstream

By Adrianne Pasquarelli, Ad Age Nearly every apparel marketer is following consumer demand by leaping onto the green wagon. Banana Republic is...

By Adrianne Pasquarelli, Ad Age Nearly every apparel marketer is following consumer demand by leaping onto the green wagon. Banana Republic is plugging its vegan suede jackets. J. Crew's Madewell brand is urging consumers to turn their "old jeans" into "new homes" through its denim recycling program. Even fast-fashion giants, such as...

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Break-ception: when a pre-shift smoko on-site is a ‘temporary absence’ from work

By Alex Millman and Victoria Hansen, NRA Legal Workers’ compensation legislation can be complicated and confusing, even to experts, and...

By Alex Millman and Victoria Hansen, NRA Legal Workers’ compensation legislation can be complicated and confusing, even to experts, and the recent Queensland case of Mandep Sarkaria v Workers’ Compensation Regulator ICQ 001 aptly demonstrates just how technically bewildering this legislation can be. In this case, the Industrial Court of...

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The truth about physical store closures in retail

Written by Brian Walker, Retail Doctor Group We sit so high on the city walls Our tears wash clean the cobblestones It’s not...

Written by Brian Walker, Retail Doctor Group We sit so high on the city walls Our tears wash clean the cobblestones It’s not so much that the thrill is gone Just a cleaner, sweeter, brighter thrill has come along – Bernard Fanning To read the retail headlines, on occasion, in ours and in other countries, is...

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How to conduct better product recalls

Product recall situations can happen to any business. It’s too late to know whether your trading partners are prepared...

Product recall situations can happen to any business. It’s too late to know whether your trading partners are prepared to act once a product needs to be removed from the marketplace. You need to understand what your partners need and what you need from them. Consumers expect faulty products to...

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Message from the CEO – 19 March 2019

Minimum wage laws are shaping up to be a key issue ahead of the impending federal election. Last week submissions...

Minimum wage laws are shaping up to be a key issue ahead of the impending federal election. Last week submissions closed for the 2018-19 Annual Wage Review and received sizeable media coverage, particularly off the back of the ACTU proposing a six per cent increase to create a ‘living wage’. With...

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Jail sentence and record fine against reckless employer sets benchmark for WHS prosecutions

Written by Zoe Brodie and Lindsay Carroll. In the first charge of reckless conduct to be successfully tried under...

Written by Zoe Brodie and Lindsay Carroll. In the first charge of reckless conduct to be successfully tried under the harmonised work health and safety legislation, a director of a Queensland roofing company has been sentenced to 12 months imprisonment for his contribution to the fatality of a 62-year-old...

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Message from the CEO – 12 March 2019

Every day there are people in the retail sector doing amazing things. For this reason, each year the NRA...

Every day there are people in the retail sector doing amazing things. For this reason, each year the NRA holds the National Retail Awards to honour those who have made extraordinary achievements in Australia’s second-largest sector. I’m pleased to announce that this year’s event will take place on September 4...

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A look at the future of retail in 2019 and beyond

Written by Brian Walker, Retail Doctor Group The tectonic shifts in the retail space in 2018 have served their purpose...

Written by Brian Walker, Retail Doctor Group The tectonic shifts in the retail space in 2018 have served their purpose in defining 2019. Retailers should expect to see a 30 per cent growth in online sales over the coming year, with 70 per cent of those sales transacted on smart...

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Message from the CEO – 5 March 2019

Holding a sales event to boost revenue is a tactic as old as retail itself. However, choosing a strategy...

Holding a sales event to boost revenue is a tactic as old as retail itself. However, choosing a strategy around when to do it and what items to put on sales is an art form easier said than done. Variables such as trends, changing customer behaviour and the general economic...

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The Circular Economy, SDGs and Sparking Joy find common ground

Written by Worlds Biggest Garage Sale Currently there is a groundswell of enthusiasm for the Circular Economy in Australia, particularly...

Written by Worlds Biggest Garage Sale Currently there is a groundswell of enthusiasm for the Circular Economy in Australia, particularly in Queensland and this week, as part of International Women’s Day, I’ll be talking about the building of circular economies for advancing Australia's SDG   2030 Agenda at the University of...

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