THE House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics will hear from the General Insurance Code Governance Committee and the Insurance Council of Australia, as well as insurers at a public hearing via videoconference on June 3, 2020, as part of its ongoing Review of the Four Major Banks and other Financial Institutions.

The chair of the committee, Tim Wilson MP, said, "These hearings are an important mechanism for the Parliament to publicly scrutinise and hold Australia’s insurance sector to account.

"Insurance is an essential way that Australians and Australian businesses manage risk and protect themselves from financial loss after disaster strikes. Australians must be able to rely on the insurance sector to provide high-quality policies and respond quickly when claims are made.

‘The General Insurance Code Governance Committee’s recent findings regarding the substantial increase in code breaches is concerning. It is important that insurers have strong code compliance and governance frameworks in place to ensure that consumers are receiving the protections afforded to them by the code," Mr Wilson said.

"The COVID-19 pandemic has also raised a number of relevant issues relating to policy coverage ranging from travel insurance to lenders mortgage insurance that also need to be explored."

Public hearing details

Date: Wednesday, 3 June 2020
Time: 1pm to 4.30pm
Location: Videoconference

The hearings will be webcast at aph.gov.au/live.

NEWS of the NSW Government’s imposition of a “pay freeze” has been met with dismay by Independent Education Union of Australia (IEU) members.

An IEU spokesperson said benchmarking of salaries, in any profession, is heavily influenced by public sector outcomes. IEU members will be directly impacted by the decision to freeze salaries in the public sector for 12 months.

"It is likely this freeze will be staggered. Agreements already signed off, should be delivered. The freeze will begin at the expiry of the current agreement," Pam Smith, assistant secretary of the IEUA NSW/ACT Branch said.

"In Catholic systemic schools, members are meeting and voting on action to help secure the overdue payments of 2.5 percent in both 2020 and 2021. From the NSW Government’s position, the freeze would take place in 2022 – effectively, it’s a pay cut set for 2022. This is what our state school colleagues can expect as well: pay parity and its consequent links to our sector is alive and well.

"It is unclear how the proposal will impact members in independent schools whose agreements expire in February 2021, but we anticipate an attempted freeze.

“Teachers, support staff and principals have served their communities with distinction in 2020," Ms Smith said. "To impose this freeze is an unreasonable response to a pandemic."

IEUA NSW/ACT Branch secretary Mark Northam said, “The extraordinary bushfire season and the coronavirus pandemic have impacted on heavily on schools. The glue holding communities together was the combined efforts of essential workers – our teachers and support staff. They made service provision possible.

“Schools stayed open and pivoted to online learning, with staff supporting students and families in all kinds of ways. They deserve immense respect,” Mr Northam said.

He said the NSW Government’s pay freeze was out of step with community expectations. It was also out of step with stimulus to enable spending.

"It is out of step with principles of sound economic management."

Economist Jim Stanford, director of the Centre for Future Work said, “This could turn a recession into a depression… Pay freezes are being imposed at the very moment when public sector workers such as healthcare workers, first responders, teachers and social service providers are performing vital tasks, at personal risk to themselves, to support Australians through the pandemic. 

"Freezing pay for these essential workers is not just morally questionable – it’s also a major economic mistake”.

Mr Northam said, “The Berejiklian Government must urgently reconsider its position and support essential workers, not thwart fair salary outcomes already constrained by its own legislation. The 2.5 percent cap on pay increases is the current NSW Government’s approach to negotiating industrial outcomes.

“To have yet another unnecessary legislated imposition is to unfairly constrain industrial outcomes.”

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THE Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Kate Carnell said childcare was an essential service for women in small businesses, calling for ‘free childcare’ to continue beyond the June 30 expiry date.

“Women make up more than a third of Australia’s small business owners (35%) and more than 5 million women work in these businesses,” Ms Carnell said.

“The latest ABS labour force data shows women have been hit hardest by the COVID-19 crisis, with the female workforce participation rate falling to 58.4 percent in April.

“Many of the women who are still working and running their businesses are relying on JobKeeper payments, which will not cover childcare fees if they are reinstated in full from July 1. This could force mothers out of their jobs, which is detrimental to working families and even worse for the economy.

“Now is the time for the government to be considering innovative ways to increase participation rates for women to ensure productivity gains and to benefit businesses," Ms Carnell said.

“There are a number of ways for government to do this, including making childcare tax-effective or by phasing in an expanded subsidy scheme as recommended by the Grattan Institute, estimated to deliver an $11 billlion boost to the economy.  

“Economists have often referred to the ‘double dividend’ of childcare increasing workforce participation rates and providing early education.  

“Equally, the government needs to look at supporting childcare centres, many of which are small businesses, which have suffered losses due to the structure of the current measures," she said.

“Despite the struggles some of these childcare centres have had with the current package, many are warning of dire consequences for their businesses if there is a sudden snap-back in a month’s time.

“Ultimately the government has a golden opportunity now to completely re-think the childcare system. Small business and the Australian economy depends on it.”

www.asbfeo.gov.au

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AUSTRALIA’s peak industry representative body for innovation technology, the Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA), has  backed Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s economic roadmap to recovery.

In a speech delivered to the National Press Club this week, Prime Minister Morrison set out the recovery plan focusing on skills and training as a key target for reform in his JobMaker policy plan.

“We need Australians better trained for the jobs businesses are looking to create. It is that simple,” the Prime Minister said. 

The Prime Minister placed particular focus on digital technologies as one of the main pilots to grow - suggesting the need for a greater relationship between skills needed to fulfil a role in the workplace and education to meet this - with industries defining the qualifications needed.

Echoing the Prime Minister’s calls for greater focus on upskilling the workforce, the AIIA CEO, Ron Gauci said, “In order to protect jobs of the future there must be greater alignment with the digital industry.

"Re-skilling the IT workforce through investment, planning and greater education will not only benefit businesses and organisations requiring these services, but also encourage skilled jobs in Australia to flourish.

“I am encouraged by the Prime Minister’s plan for the labour market and the VET sector to support the economy post-COVID. As we begin to shift economic focus to rebooting and restoring our workforce, it’s important that we also allow for further investment and growth in our digital industries,” Mr Gauci said. 

AIIA agrees with comments previously made by Treasurer Frydenberg when speaking at an address to the National Press Club on May 5 over the need for a greater digital presence in the economy and the need to reskill those in the field.

“Reskilling those who may have lost their jobs, upskilling those in existing jobs to adapt to the enhanced digital and e-commerce environment and equipping those entering the workforce for the first time with the skills they need to get a job,” TMr Frydenberg said.

Digital technologies continue to be critical to the Australian economy and every level of business and government. During COVID-19, digital technology and its underlying infrastructure has supported the economy and will continue to be a crucial baseline for a successful modern Australian economy moving forward.

“The pandemic has also highlighted the need for sovereign capabilities in the digital supply chain. Australia must have the skills and innovation ecosystem to support a globally competitive economy as this step change into digital transformation occurs," Mr Gauci said.

“We are seeing current industry demand for digital skills around cyber security, cloud, applications development, AI, big data and analytics.” 

The AIIA is a not-for-profit organisation aimed at fuelling Australia’s future social and economic prosperity through technology innovation. 

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