Senate Report: Vulnerable Workers’ Bill

Summary by Troy Wild, Director NRA Legal On 9 May, the Senate Education and Employment Legislation Committee (‘the Committee’) released...

Summary by Troy Wild, Director NRA Legal On 9 May, the Senate Education and Employment Legislation Committee (‘the Committee’) released its report into the Fair Work Amendment (Protecting Vulnerable Workers) Bill 2017 (‘the Bill’). Read the full report here >> The Committee recommended that the Senate pass the Bill, subject to three...

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Year 12 students taught to RenoV8

by Hardware Australia This year Brisbane High Schools are piloting the first RenoV8 program which sees Hardware Australia’s tailored hardware...

by Hardware Australia This year Brisbane High Schools are piloting the first RenoV8 program which sees Hardware Australia’s tailored hardware training program becoming part of the Year 12 studies for students. The program, facilitated in conjunction with the Queensland Department of Education and Training, is focused on introducing new entrants into...

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Retailers work alongside state Government on plastic bag ban roll-out

The National Retail Association has partnered with the Palaszczuk Government in an initiative to guide Queensland retailers through the...

The National Retail Association has partnered with the Palaszczuk Government in an initiative to guide Queensland retailers through the State’s impending ban on single-use plastic shopping bags. In support of the new legislation that plans to tackle shopping bag litter, the NRA will launch an awareness campaign aiming to inform...

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Fancy law firms fail to impress Commission

by Alex Millman and Troy Wild, NRA Legal Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch in the 1962...

by Alex Millman and Troy Wild, NRA Legal Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch in the 1962 classic, To Kill a Mockingbird (Universal Pictures) As a business, there is a great temptation that when faced with litigation to stick with what you know. Doubtless you will have engaged...

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Wannacry Ransomware – What you need to know

by Cyber-security expert, Leon Fouche, BDO On Friday, the world experienced the wrath of a well-coordinated ransomware attack, known as WannaCry....

by Cyber-security expert, Leon Fouche, BDO On Friday, the world experienced the wrath of a well-coordinated ransomware attack, known as WannaCry. A number of large companies have already been impacted, including Britain’s public health system, FedEx in the USA and Spanish telecom provider Telefonica. As of this morning, the Australian Cyber Security...

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Message from the CEO: 16 May 2017

We had high hopes for this year’s Federal Budget, delivered in the midst of major challenges to the retail...

We had high hopes for this year’s Federal Budget, delivered in the midst of major challenges to the retail landscape, including weaker retail sales over three of the past four quarters, and an ever-increasing influx of overseas competitors. Despite it following the tough medicine approach of 2014 that sent shockwaves...

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The rise of affordable employee advocacy has changed the playing field

By Alex Millman and Troy Wild, NRA Legal Since the Fair Work Act appeared on the scene in 2009, the...

By Alex Millman and Troy Wild, NRA Legal Since the Fair Work Act appeared on the scene in 2009, the legal environment around employment law has shifted dramatically. Any person can be represented before the Fair Work Commission by a person acting as a ‘paid agent’. Whilst this is nothing new,...

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Retailers back Queensland Government on red tape reduction

The National Retail Association today backed the Queensland Government’s call for Parliament to pass its sensible reforms to the...

The National Retail Association today backed the Queensland Government’s call for Parliament to pass its sensible reforms to the state’s retail trading laws. NRA Chief Executive Officer Dominique Lamb said business owners were tired of politicians paying lip service to cutting red tape, but failing to act when the opportunity...

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Tackling rental overheads – maximise lease events

Rental overheads are the biggest challenge keeping retailers awake at night, according to Inside Retail’s 2017 Australian Retail Outlook....

Rental overheads are the biggest challenge keeping retailers awake at night, according to Inside Retail’s 2017 Australian Retail Outlook. Leasing expert, Kyle Swain, explores the current issues and trends in leasing and the best ways for retailers to negotiate better terms. By Kyle Swain, The Leasing Department Over the past two...

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Woolworths reports strong food growth

Woolworths has reported strong sales momentum in the third quarter of 2016-17 with food sales up 5.1 per cent...

Woolworths has reported strong sales momentum in the third quarter of 2016-17 with food sales up 5.1 per cent to $9.3 billion with comparable sales growth of 4.5 per cent (Easter adjusted). During the same period, average prices declined by 2.5 per cent during the quarter, a similar rate of...

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Managing Change in the Workplace

by Yvonne Williams, NRA Training Team A change means to make something different, be it an environmental change, behavioural change,...

by Yvonne Williams, NRA Training Team A change means to make something different, be it an environmental change, behavioural change, relationship change or emotional change.  Changes comes in many shapes and sizes and can be triggered by many different internal and external factors. Because change ultimately affects our habitual nature it...

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Message from the CEO: 9 May 2017

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) again kept interest rates on hold at an historic low of 1.5 per...

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) again kept interest rates on hold at an historic low of 1.5 per cent last week. The RBA Governor, Phillip Lowe, confirmed that inflation was beginning to move in line with expectations, meaning that spending is gradually picking up throughout the economy. This resulted...

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Ignorance is no defence

by Alex Millman and Troy Wild, NRA Legal Sometimes, ignorance of the law is the only excuse an employer can...

by Alex Millman and Troy Wild, NRA Legal Sometimes, ignorance of the law is the only excuse an employer can provide in their defence. Unfortunately, as we all know, ignorance is no defence. In recent years we have seen increasing exasperation from the courts when an employer contravenes an Award by...

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Tackling rental overheads – never pay RRP

Rental overheads are the biggest challenge keeping retailers awake at night, according to Inside Retail’s 2017 Australian Retail Outlook....

Rental overheads are the biggest challenge keeping retailers awake at night, according to Inside Retail’s 2017 Australian Retail Outlook. Leasing expert, Kyle Swain, explores the current issues and trends in leasing and the best ways for retailers to negotiate better terms. By Kyle Swain, The Leasing Department Last week, we examined...

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NSW serves up high standard of food safety

by David Stout, NRA Policy & Industry Engagement At the NRA we are committed to ensuring that we are proactively...

by David Stout, NRA Policy & Industry Engagement At the NRA we are committed to ensuring that we are proactively seeking to have an intimate understanding of issues, such as food safety, in order to best advise our members throughout Australia. The Retail and Food Service Industry Group regularly hold information...

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07/05/17 ACCC urges action on food labelling compliance

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is urging retailers to take action to ensure compliance with new food...

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is urging retailers to take action to ensure compliance with new food labelling requirements which come into effect on 1 July 2018. Previously, country of origin labelling was regulated under the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code, but now these requirements have effect...

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