Queensland

Queensland to scrap ‘patient tax’ – payroll tax on primary health care doctors

THE Queensland Government has made a nation-leading commitment to scrap payroll tax on general practitioners (GPs) – in a move the Primary Care Business Council (PCBC) has called “a win for doctors and patients across the state”. This is now a pledge from both the Labor and LNP parties seeking to win the upcoming State Election on October 26.

PCBC chair, Ged Foley praised the Queensland Government for being “the first in the country to support GPs” and commit to ensuring primary care remains affordable and accessible.

“The Queensland Government’s pledge to abolish this destructive financial burden on GPs is the common sense approach we desperately need to make sure patients have access to affordable primary care,” Dr Foley said. 

“I commend the Queensland Government for making this decision and I know doctors across the state will be breathing a sigh of relief today, knowing that they can continue to operate with certainty.

“First the Liberal-National Party (LNP) and now the Queensland (Labor) Government, have recognised the unacceptable burden this tax places on general practice. This should serve as an example for other states of how to handle this issue which threatens the viability of general practices across the country,” Dr Foley said.

“The Primary Care Business Council calls on other states to adopt a similar approach to payroll tax on GPs, which will force many clinics to raise fees and even others to close their doors, both of which will impact patients hard especially during a cost-of-living crisis.

“Abolishing payroll tax on GPs will keep the cost of visiting a doctor in check and it will take the pressure off over stretched emergency departments – it’s a no-brainer. The Queensland Government has done the right thing. It’s now time for other state governments to follow suit.”

The PCBC represents 5,000 GPs across Australia, operating about 800 general practices in inner city and metropolitan areas as well as rural and remote locations.  PCBC members facilitate 24 million patient visits each year.

www.pcbc.net.au

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Finalists named in 2023 Brisbane Lord Mayor’s Business Awards

FROM BUSINESS ICONS to emerging ‘next-gen’ talent, finalists in this year’s Lord Mayor’s Business Awards (LMBAs) celebrate the diversity of businesses harnessing a new wave of skills and expertise in Brisbane.

“Now in its 18th year, the awards honour the businesses and business people making an impact on our city and around the world,” Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said as he announced the 2023 finalists (see below).

The LMBAs are about both recognising and acclaiming the most innovative and progressive businesses and business leaders based in Brisbane, as well as providing a wealth of current and historical case studies that show how and why these organisations are successful. The LMBAs also highlight how Brisbane’s business environment has usually played a role in developing those leading businesses – and their business leaders. 

For example, last year’s LMBA winner of the Outstanding Social Enterprise category, Australian Spatial Analytics, continues to go from strength to strength. It was acclaimed in the 2022 LMBAs for both ‘transforming lives’ and ‘solving skills shortages’.

Australian Spatial Analytics CEO, Geoffrey Smith said the company was helping to champion neurodiversity in the workplace by recruiting young people with autism in data analytics jobs “where their talents can shine”.

“We back young autistic and neurodiverse people, bring them on with no experience and provide them on the job training to be data analysts,” Mr Smith said.

“The coolest thing about that is Brisbane has a very high demand for this and we can pay them really well. There are really awesome neurodiverse people who can be great in this space, however 55 percent of people who are under 30 and autistic are sitting at home unemployed, which is crazy with this skills shortage.

“Our growth has been a whirlwind in the last 12 months (since winning the award). Brisbane’s my home and will always be the HQ of Australian Spatial Analytics.”

Meanwhile, last year’s  winner of the Urban Utilities Award for Environmental Sustainability in Business, Save Our Supplies, has salvaged millions of dollars in medical waste by shipping usable items to countries in need.

Founder Claire Lane, said the awards had been a boost for the company’s credibility, opening new opportunities. 

“How much we’ve grown in the last year speaks volumes to how much this award means,” Ms Lane said.

“The award has been absolutely amazing … people are starting to take us seriously and we’re starting to get a bit more credibility, which has just been awesome.”

Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said the awards were an opportunity to celebrate the creativity, entrepreneurship and determination of Brisbane’s business community.

“As businesses battle rising inflation and cost-of-living, we want to shine a light on the organisations trailblazing real innovation and having a positive impact on the lives of people in Brisbane and around the world,” Cr Schrinner said.

“Brisbane has undergone major transformation since these awards first launched in 2006, but one thing that hasn’t changed is the grit, determination, and innovative spirit of our business community.

“Being recognised as a finalist or winner in the Lord Mayor’s Business Awards gives nominees an opportunity to share their story, inspire other business owners and innovators, and accelerate business growth through new networks and connections.”

One business leader who can speak from experience about the ‘energising’ value of winning a Brisbane LMBA is AIS Water CEO Elena Gosse, who was named 2022 Business Person of the Year, after also being a finalist for the same award in 2021.

AIS Water is a finalist in two of the LMBAs’ 11 categories this year: the Australia Pacific LNG Business Transformation Award and the ISPT Investment in Brisbane Award.

Pivotal to being named as finalists for both awards was the development and recent opening of AIS Water’s $9 million anode manufacturing facility. AIS is now producing, exporting and selling Brisbane made anode material to the world.  The new anode production facility at Tingalpa allows AIS Water to continue to produce anodes for its own chlorinator technologies and now be a supplier to other companies worldwide.  

The production facility is the only one of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere and represents the third production facility operated by AIS Water, to meet growing demand for its technology. 

The two categories in which AIS Water has been named as a finalist recognise and applaud business initiatives and investments that benefit Brisbane. 

The Australia Pacific LNG Business Transformation Award “acknowledges companies that have transformed their business through initiatives, innovation or technical achievement, to grow their impact for customers or communities”.

The ISPT Investment in Brisbane Award “recognises businesses that have made a strategic investment in Brisbane and the city’s future. Investment can take the form of capital investment, new ideas, and new company divisions or projects undertaken in Brisbane”.

AIS Water is no stranger to the Lord Mayor’s Business Awards, with CEO Elena Gosse named Business Person of the Year at the 2022 event, after also being a finalist for the same award in 2021. 

“The decision to invest $9 million into building an anode production facility so soon after the upheaval and uncertainty of the Covid pandemic, was a big one for AIS Water,” Ms Gosse said. “We had been producing anodes for our own use for some time, and were aware of the growing demand for anode material internationally. 

“We believed in our business, our team and our product and backed ourselves. And it has paid off.”

Organiser of the Brisbane LMBAs, the Brisbane Economic Development
Agency’s (BEDA) CEO, Anthony Ryan said, “Brisbane Economic Development Agency is proud to facilitate these incredible awards that recognise the innovators and positive change-makers driving the city’s economic future.

“We look forward to celebrating Brisbane’s thriving business community and announcing the winners with Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner at City Hall on Friday, 20 October.”

Lord Mayor’s Business Awards categories and finalists for 2023

CISCO International Business Award

Australian Country Choice

Circa

Griffith University International Development Unit

Michael Hill Jeweller

 

Urban Utilities Environmental Sustainability in Business Award

Circonomy

Howard Smith Wharves

Little Birdie Hair Co.

Vaulta

 

Hutchinson Builders Social Enterprise Award

Green Fox Studio

Help Enterprises 

Nundah Community Enterprises Cooperative

Silver Memories

 

Business Chamber Queensland Small Business Award

Adina Watches

Australian Droid and Robot

EveryBody eBikes

IDU Identification

 

Accenture Australia Product Innovation Award

Australian Droid and Robot

FutureFeed 

Genics

Vaulta

 

Virgin Australia Micro Business Award

Christina Stephens

Little Change Creators

The Brand Builders

Vast Yonder

 

ANZ High-Growth Business Award

Alex Bank

Askable

Explorate

Midnight Health

 

Australia Pacific LNG Business Transformation Award

AIS Water 

Australian Country Choice

FigJam & Co

Street Science

 

ISPT Investment in Brisbane Award

AIS Water 

East Coast Apprenticeships

Thomas Dixon Centre (Queensland Ballet) 

Vaxxas

 

Port of Brisbane Young Business Person of the Year Award 

Adam Brunes - Aruga

Lachlan Feeney - Labrys

Liz Hemmens - Moreton Island Adventures

Mathew Allan - Australian Droid and Robot

 

The Courier-Mail Business Person of the Year Award

Jamie Wilson - Cryptoloc

Li Cunxin AO - Queensland Ballet 

Sarah-Jane Peterschlingmann - Atech

William Smith-Stubbs - Mettlesome


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Economics professor warns regional Queenslanders to ‘brace for more economic uncertainty’

UNFOLDING ECONOMIC events in the United States (US) are revealing substantial instabilities in the internal financial environment which could significantly impact regional Queenslanders.

That’s according to CQUniversity associate professor in economics, finance and property, .

“The closure of the Silicon Valley Bank and the Signature Bank in the US is leading fears of an emerging financial crisis,” Assoc. Prof. Small said.

“This has been reflected in a sharp spike in the price of gold which has risen from about $2,700 for a troy ounce at the beginning of February to $2,951.10 at 21 March,” he said. 

“The future direction of interest rates is now likely to be more uncertain.”

Assoc. Prof. Small said if the international financial system did suffer significant disruption, it would likely result in major further destabilisation of the local economy, which may result in the present interest rates becoming unsustainable.

“The problem here is that Australia, like most other western countries, lacks an adequate suite of economic policies and controls to prevent lower interest rates being absorbed into further dysfunctional price growth in the property sector,” he said.

“This lack of restraint was responsible for the problematic price growth in the property sector over the last two years. Low interest rates were taken up by real estate buyers as a signal to bid the market higher despite the doubtful fundamental underlying the market.

“This has resulted in a price bubble that now affects many parts of Central Queensland.”

Assoc. Prof. Small said monetarist control of inflation using interest rates had always been a ‘debateable strategy’.

“Particularly when a significant component of the inflation originates offshore. It is usually disruptive to the local economy,” he said.

“If interest rates do fall in an effort to maintain the local economy, then that could cause further dysfunctional property price growth. 

“The solution here is to introduce measures that stimulate the local economy and wages without putting upward pressures on real estate. That cannot be affected within the narrow monetarist regime we are now operating within.”

Assoc. Prof. Small said rural and secondary industries continued to be the backbone for a robust domestic economy.

“The longer-term trend towards greater relative dependence on extractive industries in Central Queensland means that despite these industries providing substantial wage opportunities, especially during their construction stages, the longer-term trend is not so bright.”

www.cqu.edu.au

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2022 Brisbane Lord Mayor’s Business Awards finalists heralded

THIRTY-FOUR outstanding Brisbane businesses and eight business leaders have been named finalists across 11 categories in the 2022 Lord Mayor’s Business Awards (LMBA).

Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said the awards showcased some of the most exciting, innovative and creative businesses in Brisbane, with finalists improving lives, creating jobs and driving the city’s global reputation for innovation.

“From businesses improving lives through healthcare innovation and accessibility, to those driving growth and jobs in our arts, culture and sports economies, this year’s entrants are making a remarkable impact in our community and around the world,” Cr Schrinner said.

“The vision and leadership of this year’s finalists will help carve out a lasting legacy for our city to 2032 and beyond.” 

The 2022 awards received the highest number of nominations in its 17-year history, in a sign of post-pandemic optimism and growing confidence in the local business community, according to Cr Schrinner.

Finalists across a range of industries including sustainability, healthcare and technology are up for the awards, while Brisbane businesses with their sights on the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games are also amongst the finalists going for gold.

“Our city’s economic growth is driven by innovative businesses doing exciting things now, but with an eye to the future,” Cr Schrinner said.

“These awards recognise the city’s most exciting entrepreneurs and businesses who are creating jobs, improving lives and shaping the city’s future. Having seen the calibre of this year’s finalists, the opportunity for growth in Brisbane is limitless.”

Cr Schrinner said the 11 award categories highlighted success stories in a cross-section of industries, including health, technology, accessibility, sustainability, advanced manufacturing and arts and culture.

Stadium designers Populous, city-shaping street artists Vast Yonder and First Nations property services Multhana are some of the outstanding local businesses being recognised by the awards, with an eye on the city’s green and gold future. 

Vaxxas, the biotech company behind needleless vaccine technology, online health player Midnight Health and circular economy social enterprise Circonomy are also among the list of finalists focused on delivering a sustainable and healthy future.

Category and individual winners of the 2022 Lord Mayor’s Business Awards will be announced on October 21, 2022. 

LMBA FINALISTS 2022

HSBC Award for Excellence In International Business

Applied Mining Technologies.

Hydrobiology.

Michael Hill International.

Populous.

Urban Utilities Award for Environmental Sustainability in Business

Give Industries.

Howard Smith Wharves.

Save Our Supplies.

Winson Group.

Hutchinson Builders Award for Outstanding Social Enterprise

Australian Spatial Analytics.

Jigsaw Australia.

Multhana Property Services.

Silver Memories.

CCIQ Award for Outstanding Small Business

Audeara Limited.

dk active.

Goodwill Projects.

PeopleBench.

Accenture Australia Award for Product Innovation

Circonomy.

Li-S Energy.

RedEye Apps.

Vaxxas.

XERO Award for Outstanding Micro Business

Kiddo.

Styling Station Australia.

The Brand Builders.

Vast Yonder.

ANZ Award for High-Growth Business

Aginic Holdings.

Explorate.

Midnight Health.

simPRO.

ISPT Award for Investment In Brisbane

Brisbane International Cruise Terminal.

Chef Collective.

Circonomy.

The Princess Theatre.

Australia Pacific LNG Award for Business Innovation

Circonomy.

DoubleTake Sports.

Electric Mobility Solutions.

Skedulo.

Port Of Brisbane Award for Young Business Person of the Year

Ash Reddy – Chess Mates.

Dr James Fielding – Audeara.

Hailey Brown – Vacayit.

Nina Nguyen – Pakko.

The Courier-Mail Award for Business Person of the Year

Elena Gosse OAM – AIS Water.

Jamie Wilson – Cryptoloc.

Jonathon Stoddart – Stoddart Group.

Simone Joyce – Paypa Plane.

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Stormbirds warn of reputational damage clouding business horizons

STORMBIRDS founders and directors, Jane Hedger and Leonie Vandeven, not only understand the true value of business reputation – they are skilled and experienced at protecting it. In this succinct opinion piece, they outline the key issues all business leaders should consider when it comes to protecting your reputation.

 **

YOUR business's reputation is arguably your most valuable and fragile asset.

While many businesses consider risk, response, and contingency plans for events outside their control, such as fire, flood, and operational disruption, most are woefully unprepared for the reputational cost of damage the company may have contributed to. Yet this is often more catastrophic.

What comes to mind when you think of Dreamworld? AstraZeneca? Rio Tinto? Each has sustained substantial reputational damage from single events that eroded confidence and trust they had built up with customers, community, and government over several decades.

They spectacularly failed to ‘read the room’ in different ways. 

They put profit before people, communicated late, poorly, or not at all, took too long to acknowledge fault, or show remorse, downplayed the impact, or did not consider their response from a stakeholder, social, economic, and political point of view.

The only thing saving large companies from ruin caused by reputational damage is their very deep pockets.  They have the financial ability to ride out reputational storms over long periods of time.  Do you?

Every business is at reputational risk

No business is immune from reputational crisis. We are all in the people business and, despite our best efforts, accidents happen, and people make mistakes. 

It can be caused by a single tweet over a customer issue, a miscommunication, accidental human error, or factors outside your control like product tampering, supply chain issues, or malicious activity. 

Responding quickly and appropriately to these situations is important to minimise reputational damage, but conversely a strong, timely and well managed response to crisis can strengthen your brand.

In a world full of risk, how can you safeguard your business from reputational crisis?

Reputation checklist

  • Build reputational damage into your business continuity and disaster planning processes.
  • Ensure you have strong communication pipelines with your staff, suppliers and customers.
  • Have a response plan for all scenarios, capable spokespeople and considered key messaging.
  • Be visible, timely, authentic, and truthful in your responses and remediation.

In 2019, PwC research identified crisis preparedness as the next big competitive advantage.

StormBirds supports you through a crisis but, importantly, prepares you for the unexpected before disaster strikes. StormBirds was created to help leaders to build business, communication, and change strategies to sustain operations and help you take advantage of the opportunities that come with crisis.

There are always clouds over the horizon. StormBirds can help safeguard your reputation by preparing your business well before those approaching storms wreak havoc.

www.stormbirdsos.com

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TransitCare now backed by Orcoda specialised vehicle fleet

ORCODA LIMITED, the resources, healthcare, and transport logistics and services optimisation company, has announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary Orcoda Healthcare Logistics has signed a contract to supply specialised vehicles and drivers to long time partner and leader in community transport, TransitCare. 

Orcoda’s new contract with TransitCare is to supply a specialised fleet of vehicles and drivers to supplement TransitCare as Logan City-based service for Queensland continues to grow.

The 40 month contract, which includes two one-year option periods, is expected to generate revenue for Orcoda in the vicinity of $900,000 and will facilitate further growth in revenue as more Orcoda vehicles are added to the fleet. 

TransitCare CEO Terry O’Toole said, “We are currently bidding on some very large contracts to expand the TransitCare capability throughout Queensland. Orcoda’s state of the art transport technology platform 'OLMS' has facilitated the ability for TransitCare to grow and Orcoda will play a major role in our ongoing business through their provision of vehicles and drivers to our network and through their ongoing support of OLMS.

"I look forward to continuing to work with the Orcoda’s innovative team and professional drivers as we win further contracts and grow our service base”.

Orcoda managing director Geoff Jamieson said, “It is great to expand the working relationship with TransitCare who are a leader in their field and a great partner for Orcoda.

"Both organisations are working closely in developing the OLMS platform capability and the customer service delivery to a very high standard. We look forward to working together in growing our respective businesses."

Critical thinking as a leadership discipline

By Louise Broekman >>

HAVE YOU FELT the overwhelming sense that you (as a business leader) are operating at 100 percent of your mental capacity? 

While overcommitting and overscheduling is part of the problem for leaders, we are also faced with the 24-hour news cycle.

We have vast arrays of information coming at us at a rapid pace and as leaders we are expected to act and make informed decisions – swiftly.

The current environment has shown the need for clear leadership, quality decisions and considered action. It’s also highlighted the high price for getting it wrong.  

The tension between informed decision making and rapid response is tricky to navigate.

How are leaders supposed to filter out all the noise to focus on what’s meaningful for them?

Critical thinking has many definitions but the one that resonates with me is “careful thinking directed to a goal”.

Critical thinking enables leaders to sift through the conflicting opinions and economic indicators to stay informed, evaluate information against their goals and make quality decisions.  

While critical thinking must be applied as an individual, leaders need to invest and nurture frameworks that allow critical thinking to be shared by the collective.

CREATE THINKING SYSTEMS

There are advocates of a process-led approach to critical thinking: “observe, imagine, infer, experiment, analyse, decide”.

This is an example of systems thinking. Systems thinking is designed with a process intent. It provides a valuable, often repeatable, flow for how things work within an organisation.

Taking a process-led approach to critical thinking can actually defeat the purpose. We stop thinking and move straight into doing.

I want you to consider how you can create ‘thinking systems’ for your organisation. Thinking systems are principles-led. You identify the key principles that will underpin your thinking system and put them into practice.

An advisory board is one example of a thinking system. 

The principles that underpin the ABF101 Advisory Board Best Practice Framework include clarity of scope, independence, fit-for-purpose, structure and discipline and measurement.

These principles apply to Advisory Boards but can also be adapted to thinking systems appropriate to your organisation such as governance boards, committees, executive Meetings, project teams, etc.

Thinking systems can support critical thinking, but as a leader you still need to deal with the feeling of standing in front of a firehose flow of information.  How can you effectively filter and distil down the key information that you need to think about critically?

Know your business

Be clear on your business and strategic objectives. Carefully evaluate information through the lens of your business strategy, your internal capabilities and future goals. When you know your business, you can turn down the volume on noisy outlier information.

Know your markets

Knowing your market and customers makes it easier to ignore doomsday commentary. You are less likely to be blindsided by market disruptors, new competitors or advances in technology. Get close to your customers, be curious and never get complacent.

Know who you can trust

Commentators, media, advertisers … who can you trust? Information saturation is real, and it can stifle critical thinking and problem solving within businesses. Seek out the trusted information sources and advisors that have the current skills and knowledge in the areas that are key priorities for your business.

Invest in critical thinking

In business, there is no return without investment. Support yourself as a leader by investing in critical thinking.

Invest your time, your effort and where necessary your funds into areas that are going to support you and your organisation to not just survive but to thrive.

www.advisoryboardcentre.com.au

Louise Broekman is the founder and CEO of the Advisory Board Centre.  Advisory Board Centre is an Alumni Member of Queensland Leaders.

 

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