THE Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Bruce Billson has welcomed the Federal Government’s commitment to lowering costs for businesses through least cost routing.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has released the Payments System Review which assessed the adequacy of the current regulatory framework.

“The review recognised that there are regulatory gaps and reform is needed to ensure the system reflects rapid technological change,” Mr Billson said.

“It was pleasing to see the Treasurer’s letter to the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) supporting least cost routing. The Treasurer’s urging of the RBA’s Payment Systems Board to consider mandating the dual-network debits cards to facilitate least-cost routing is a game changer.

“It is a clear statement that the time for strongly worded letters to financial institutions to ‘do the right thing’ has passed and more decisive action is needed to stop small businesses and family enterprises paying more than they need to for payment services.

“For too long, small businesses have been slugged with unnecessarily high fees from credit card networks, when there is a cheaper option," Mr Billson said.

“Small businesses are being disproportionally hit by fees, with larger retailers able to bypass full fees by using payment systems directly or by having the market power to negotiate least cost routing with their banks.

“While banks have been doing some good work to support small businesses throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, there is an opportunity to build on this now by making least cost routing the default unless a small business chooses an alternative.

“The Federal Government has committed to consider changes that may be necessary to promote least cost routing, particularly in an online and contactless environment.

“Effective regulation in this area in a post-COVID economy is essential given the shift to online and digital transactions in recent months.”

www.asbfeo.gov.au

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THE Joint Standing Committee on Treaties has recommended that the Federal Government ratify the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Agreement.

"RCEP is a significant achievement. Accounting for almost one-third of the world’s population and GDP, it is anticipated RCEP’s broad membership and simplified trading standards will facilitate growing supply-chain integration and closer regional economic integration," Committee chair Dave Sharma MP said.

"As a regional free trade agreement lead and centred around the Association of South East Asian Nations, RCEP also helps anchor and reinforce ASEAN’s leadership role in the development of regional norms and standards.

"RCEP will make it easier for Australian exporters to the region, providing a single set of rules and procedures to navigate."

In its report the committee also emphasised its concern about the military coup and human rights deterioration in Myanmar. The committee stressed the importance of continuing to pursue the restoration of civilian, democratic rule in Myanmar as a priority.

The report can be found on the Committee website, along with further information on the inquiry.

Other RCEP signatories include the 10 nations of ASEAN, China, Japan, the Republic of Korea and New Zealand.

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AN AMBITIOUS proposal for a new sports diplomacy mission dubbed ‘Team AusPac’ was tabled in Federal Parliament today, aimed at deepening ties between Australia and Pacific island countries.

Chair of the Australian Parliament’s Trade Sub-Committee, Ted O’Brien MP, announced the proposal which forms part of a Parliamentary Inquiry report entitled ‘One Region, One Family, One Future’.

"Australia and Pacific island countries display an affinity for one another which goes well beyond our shared geography and common geostrategic and economic interests," Mr O’Brien said.

"It may not be at the pointy end of international affairs, but you should never underestimate the importance of people to people relations which is a great strength of Australia’s relationship with Pacific island countries.

"And sport is one of the key ingredients."

Team AusPac would be an initiative spearheaded by the Australian Government, in partnership with relevant sporting organisations, and include the creation a special program for Pacific island athletes as part of the Australian Institute of Sport; an expansion of the number of sports to receive special focus under the PacificAus Sports program beyond netball, football and rugby union and league; a capacity building program for sporting coaches and trainers, and; support for a team from a Pacific island country to enter the National Rugby League (NRL) competition.

"Team AusPac would also maximise opportunities for Pacific island countries to be closely associated with, and actively participate in, the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Australia," Mr O’Brien said. He was Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s personal representative on the bid team that recently secured the rights for Brisbane to host the 2032 Games.

In all, the Inquiry’s report made five recommendations proposing that the Australian Government:

• prioritises its support for the Pacific region to recover from COVID-19 by increasing development assistance, providing vaccine coverage, assisting in the event of COVID-19 outbreaks and assessing opportunities to restore international trade and travel
• prioritises activation of greater trade and investment by considering measures and reforms to the Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations, making it easier for Pacific islanders to access the Australian market, supporting further research into trade and investment, supporting the establishment of National Standard Bodies, supporting the Pacific Quality Infrastructure Initiative, promoting pilot investor tours to Pacific island countries and expanding Australia’s kava commercial importation pilot
• improves travel and mobility between Australia and countries of the Pacific region by establishing a Pacific travel bubble subject to health advice and processes, investigates potential for improving infrastructure, introduces a Pacific Business Travel Card, and improves labour mobility arrangements
• works towards deepening people-to-people ties between Australia and countries of the Pacific region through sport, churches and media – for example, through a new program called ‘Team AusPac’
• maximises opportunities for Pacific island countries to be closely associated with, and actively participate in, the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Australia
• recognises the important role played by Australian states and territories in our relationship with Pacific island countries – in particular, the state of Queensland – and analyses the outcomes of this report within a Queensland context, undertakes a feasibility study on expanding the services of a Pacific-focused office of Department of Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade in Queensland, and engages the Queensland Government and relevant local government authorities to work collaboratively on aspects of this report. 

"After 56 submissions and eight public hearing and roundtables with the diplomatic representatives of the Pacific island nations, I am confident that this report helps answer our questions and that our five recommendations are worthy of adoption by the Government," Mr O’Brien said.

The full report can be viewed at: www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Joint/Foreign_Affairs_Defence_and_Trade/TradewithPacific/Report.

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THE Indigenous Affairs Committee has today presented its report on Indigenous participation in employment and business.

The report makes recommendations to enhance Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participation in the Australian economy.

Chair of the committee, Julian Leeser MP, said, "One of Australia’s most important economic and social policy goals is to improve the economic participation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Having a job or running a business can be life changing.

"Witnesses told the committee during the inquiry that owning a business gives people greater freedom, choice and independence. It can provide pride, purpose, a legacy, and a sense of achievement. Many of those sentiments are also true about having a job," Mr Leeser said.

The report notes the great success of the Federal Government’s Indigenous Procurement Policy (IPP) but that improvements could still be made. These include performance measures that go beyond just the number and value of awarded contracts to include employment outcomes and skills transfers for Indigenous people, the use of company profits and the ability of business to attract commercial contracts.

Mr Leeser said, "As the IPP becomes an established part of the culture of Commonwealth agencies, it is important to ensure the policy continues to serve its purpose of driving economic development and employment."

The other central theme of this inquiry was the sustainable employment pathways for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, including a lack of access to relevant training, lack of culturally safe workplaces, a low availability of mentoring for young Indigenous job seekers, having a police record, and few long-term job opportunities.

The Federal Government currently has two major employment services available to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander jobseekers: Jobactive which covers most of the Australian population and the Community Development Program (CDP) in remote areas. In addition, Vocation Training and Employment Centres (VTEC) work with Jobactive and CDP providers to help match, mentor, and place longer-term unemployed jobseekers.

The committee noted that the government was changing its employment services policy for all Australian jobseekers with the New Employment Services Model to commence in July 2022. At the same time the government has announced a new remote jobs program to replace CDP in 2023, to be codesigned with Aboriginal and Torre Strait Islander communities.

The committee has made recommendations in relation to these new programs, including a national Indigenous Jobactive provider; greater collaboration and integration between Jobactive and VTEC; more incentives to place people into jobs long term; and better alignment with Jobactive and CDP activity requirements.

Mr Leeser emphasised the committee’s views in the report: "There should be more community leadership in the design of activities under CDP; and a focus not on welfare, but on part-time work for part-time pay given the realities of the thin labour markets in remote Australia. There should also be a focus on the development of locally generated entrepreneurial activity."

The report makes 17 recommendations to government and can be accessed and downloaded from the inquiry website.

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