PRIOR to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 100,000 migrants entered Australia under the skilled migration program each year. These migrants play an important role in filling gaps in the Australian workforce and will continue to do so in future.

Joint Standing Committee on Migration Chair Julian Leeser MP said the new inquiry into Australia’s skilled migration program was an important opportunity to examine the broad settings behind the program.

“The COVID-19 pandemic gives us a chance to consider how current skilled migration settings are serving Australia’s needs now and into the future,” Mr Leeser said.

“The Committee will consider how we attract entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and highly skilled migrants to make Australia their first choice to invest, establish businesses and create jobs.”

“Australia’s excellent health and economic response allows us to attract great entrepreneurs and skilled people looking to relocate. We want them to see Australia as the best place to establish a business with our safe, highly functioning democracy, good health and economic systems and the rule of law.” Mr Leeser said.

Mr Leeser is encouraging people to contribute to the process. Submissions responding to terms of reference 1(a) and 2 will be accepted until 1 March 2021, while submissions addressing the remaining terms of reference will be accepted until 31 March 2021.

More details on the inquiry are available on the Committee website.

The terms of reference for the inquiry are:

The Joint Standing Committee on Migration shall inquire into and report on Australia’s skilled migration program, with reference to:

1. The purpose of the skilled migration program and whether it is meeting its intended objectives, including:

a) If any immediate adjustments are necessary in the context of the future of work and pandemic recovery; and

b) If more long-term structural changes are warranted;

2. Australia’s international competitiveness in attracting entrepreneurs, venture capital, start-ups, and the best and brightest migrants with cutting edge skills;

3. Skills lists and the extent to which they are meeting the needs of industries and businesses and keeping pace with Australia’s job landscape;

4. The administrative requirements for Australian businesses seeking to sponsor skilled migrants, including requirements to prioritise job opportunities for Australians and job creation;

5. The costs of sponsorship to businesses seeking to sponsor skilled migrants;

6. The complexity of Australia’s skilled migration program including the number of visa classes under the program and their requirements, safeguards and pathways; and

7. Any other related matters.

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THE Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman (ASBFEO) Kate Carnell said it is essential for small business owners to secure their assets and business loans, with economists predicting a steep rise in insolvencies this year.

Ms Carnell said small businesses needed to secure their assets through the Personal Property Securities Register (PPSR) so they are better protected in the event of an insolvency.

“Given the incredibly tough past 12 months we’ve had and predictions of a wave of insolvencies to come, PPSR has never been more important,” Ms Carnell said.

“The greatest pity is that many small businesses find it too difficult to use.”

Releasing ASBFEO’s PPSR Research Paper today, Ms Carnell said the PPSR, if used correctly, is a powerful tool that can deliver significant benefits to small businesses.

“Many small businesses are not aware that correctly registering their interests can save them a world of pain in the long run,” Ms Carnell said.

“So many small businesses have invested heavily in their businesses over the past 12 months, but few know that they can secure these loans, pushing them higher up the security chain if there’s an insolvency.

“More importantly, small businesses that register their interests won’t need to fight tooth and nail to retain title to their goods if a business customer winds up.

The Ombudsman’s research paper found an urgent overhaul of the PPSR system is required to make it accessible to small businesses.

“Unfortunately the PPSR in its current form is not making life easier for small businesses,” Ms Carnell said.

“The name is confusing, the language is overly technical and the operation of the register is very complicated.

“Many small businesses we spoke to said they would need a lawyer to help them register their interests – an additional cost burden for struggling small businesses.

“Put simply, systems and regulations imposed on small businesses by government need to be easy to get right and hard to get wrong. At the moment PPSR is hard to get right and easy to get wrong.

“Our report recommends streamlining the system, including encouraging small business cloud accounting platforms in to provide regtech solutions such as pop-up reminders to small business owners who record a personal loan to the balance sheet, alerting them to register it on the PPSR.

“I urge the government to implement the recommendations in our report, to build a system that works for the small business community and provides them with the certainty they need."

www.asbfeo.gov.au

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THE House Standing Committee on Employment, Education and Training has launched an inquiry into adult literacy and its importance.

Committee chair, Andrew Laming MP, said, "Many adult Australians have poor literacy, numeracy and problem-solving skills and this may limit their ability to participate fully in employment, education and training, and social and civic life. 

"The committee’s previous inquiry into remote education found that poor adult literacy can also negatively impact on children’s participation and attainment in education," Mr Laming said.

"The committee is interested in hearing how measures to improve adult literacy can foster greater labour market participation, increased productivity, improved education outcomes for children, and improvements to individual and community well-being."

The inquiry will examine adult literacy, numeracy and problem-solving skills in Australia, including:

• The relationship between adult literacy, numeracy and problem-solving skills and socio-demographic characteristics, particularly migrant status, First Nations status and individuals living in households that have experienced intergenerational unemployment;
• The effect that literacy and numeracy skills have on an individual’s labour force participation and wages;
• Links between literacy and social outcomes such as health, poverty, ability to care for other family members and participation in civic life;
• The relationship between parents’ literacy skills and their children’s education and literacy skill development from birth to post-secondary education;
• Whether changes to schooling in 2020 as a result of COVID-19 will have a disproportionate impact on the skill development of those children of parents with lower literacy and numeracy levels, and consider appropriate remediation programs which might address this;
• The availability, impact and effectiveness of adult literacy and numeracy educational programs in Australia and internationally; and,
• International comparisons of government policies and programs that may be adapted to the Australian experience.

Submissions to the inquiry have been requested by Friday, March 5, 2021. Further details about upcoming public hearings will be available on the Committee’s website as the inquiry progresses.

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NEW PLAYERS in the superannuation sector Future Super and Verve Super will be scrutinised, along with Diversa Trustees, at the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics public hearing this Wednesday.

Committee Chair Tim Wilson MP said the hearing would provide an opportunity to ask questions about these funds, their responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, and approaches to investing for the future prosperity of fund members.

"Although newer to the sector, it is vital that super funds are scrutinised and held to the standards that Australians expect from the custodians of their retirement. It is crucial that the superannuation sector is operating effectively, fairly, and to the benefit of fund members," Mr Wilson said.

"Following on from our hearings on 6 and 20 November 2020, the committee looks forward to continuing its exploration of issues in the superannuation sector, and to gaining a better understanding of these newer players in the competitive super field."

The hearing forms part of a broader review of Australia’s four major banks and other financial institutions. Examination of these institutions will also include monitoring the financial sector’s progress on implementing relevant recommendations from the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry.

A full program for the hearing is available on the committee’s website.

Public hearing details

Date: Wednesday, 3 February 2021 
Time: 11am to 1pm
Location: Videoconference

The hearing will be broadcast live at aph.gov.au/live.

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ELIGIBLE employers could receive payments of up to $10,400 over a year for each eligible additional employee they hire as part of the Government’s JobMaker Hiring Credit scheme.

According to ATO Deputy Commissioner James O’Halloran, young people have been disproportionally affected by COVID-19. The JobMaker Hiring Credit is giving businesses and young people impacted by COVID-19 a helping hand, he said.

Eligible employers can receive payments for each eligible additional employee they hire between October 7, 2020 and October 6, 2021 of up to $10,400 over a year for each one aged 16 to 29; and up to $5,200 over a year for each one aged 30 to 35.

Mr O'Halloran said eligible employers can start claiming payments in arrears every three months from February 1, 2021 for up to 12 months for each additional eligible employee.

“The ATO is here to support employers access the government’s JobMaker Hiring Credit. If business owners need help, they should check out the range of resources available on our website, or speak to their registered tax or BAS agent,” Mr O’Halloran said.

“I encourage business owners to check their eligibility by visiting www.ato.gov.au/JobMakerHiringCredit. Employers only need to complete three simple steps to receive the JobMaker Hiring Credit payments.”

Mr O’Halloran said the benefits for business are two-fold. Not only will the business receive stimulus support in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, they will also support a young person’s career.

“Helping young people who are unemployed secure jobs now will build their skills, improve their career prospects over their lifetime and support Australia’s economic recovery. The ATO is proud to be involved in facilitating the JobMaker Hiring Credit on behalf of the government,” Mr O’Halloran said.

Eligible employers can:

•  register using ATO online services, Online services for business or the Business portal, or through a registered tax or BAS agent.

• nominate their eligible new employees by having your employees complete a JobMaker employee notice, running payroll events and supplying the required additional information through their Single Touch Payroll enabled software

• claim using ATO online services, Online services for business or the Business portal, or through a registered tax or BAS agent.

Employers can check the JobMaker Hiring Credit payment estimator to find how much they may receive: https://www.ato.gov.au/Calculators-and-tools/JobMaker-Hiring-Credit-payment-estimator/

More information on the JobMaker Hiring Credit scheme is available from at www.ato.gov.au/JobMakerHiringCredit.

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EFTPOS has joined the Hedera Governing Council and will run the country’s first Hedera network node this year. 

Designed to be the most decentralised governance model for a public ledger, the Hedera Governing Council includes a group of highly diversified enterprises and organisations overseeing a global network of nodes that aims, among other things, to enable low cost micropayments for a range of use cases such as the internet of things (IoT) and access to content streamed over the internet.

Eftpos CEO, Stephen Benton, said eftpos joined the council after a number of successful proofs of concept last year, and it aimed to enhance the company’s digital payments innovation strategy to better meet Australians’ payment needs into the future.

“By joining the Hedera Governing Council and running the Australian node, alongside some of the world’s largest and most influential companies, we are excited to participate in the development of next-generation micropayments technology that has the potential to open up entirely new ways of conducting business for Australian enterprises and enable compelling new experiences for Australian consumers," Mr Benton said.

“For example, in a world of fast paced technology change, low cost micropayments to pay for internet content or tiny payments for device to device transactions.”

The eftpos digital strategy was devised with an Australian focus, creating world-class innovations to compete with global payments players. The digital strategy has five key elements:

• Mobile Wallets including Beem It;
• e-commerce;
• Digital identity, using connectID;
• Fintech ecosystem access;
• National QR code payments rollout.

The initial objective of the micropayments proof of concepts, led by eftpos entrepreneur in residence, Rob Allen, was to investigate ways to create a seamless, sub-cent micropayments experience as an alternative to traditional online paywalls and subscriptions in the digital world. 

“By combining the new eftpos API infrastructure with a consumer wallet-based experience, digital identity, and an AUD-based stablecoin using Hedera’s superfast, secure and low-cost distributed network, the PoC’s objective was demonstrably achieved,” Mr Allen said.

“Use cases like this simply are not possible on other public blockchains. Along with several partners, we are now exploring a variety of use cases that this combination of technologies enables and the options to commercialise them.

“Being on the Hedera Governing Council will provide us with the combined technical insight of all the Council members as well as a unique global perspective to improve our speed to market.”

Mance Harmon, CEO and co-founder of Hedera Hashgraph, said, “As Australia’s debit card system operator, eftpos is a critical component of the country’s financial infrastructure, processing over 2 billion transactions in 2020 worth an average of more than $300 million each day.

"We are pleased that they have joined the Hedera Governing Council as part of their new Australia-first digital product strategy. We look forward to their collaboration with other Council members and participants of the Hedera ecosystem to help make micropayments and other innovative financial models a reality for millions of consumers and billions of IOT devices.”

As the 17th council member, eftpos joins a growing network of large enterprises, including Avery Dennison, Boeing, Dentons, Deutsche Telekom, DLA Piper, FIS (WorldPay), Google, IBM, LG Electronics, Magalu, Nomura, Swirlds, Tata Communications, University College London (UCL), Wipro, and Zain Group. 

Members of the Hedera Governing Council are responsible for running the initial nodes of the Hedera network, as well as guiding both strategy and software development, over a maximum of two consecutive three-year terms. This contributes to stability and is conducive to maintaining diversity and decentralisation of the public network.

Hedera Hashgraph’s node policy and codebase are undergoing continuous updates, to which council members will contribute, supporting a governance model that eliminates the risk of forks, provides safeguards for users, and preserve the integrity of the Hedera network.

https://hedera.com/council.

About Hedera

Hedera Hashgraph is a decentralised public network on which developers can build secure, fair applications with near real-time finality. The platform is owned and governed by a council of the world's leading organisations including Avery Dennison, Boeing, Dentons, Deutsche Telekom, DLA Piper, eftpos, FIS (WorldPay), Google, IBM, LG Electronics, Magalu, Nomura, Swirlds, Tata Communications, University College London (UCL), Wipro, and Zain Group. The Hedera whitepaper can be found at www.hedera.com/whitepaper.  www.hedera.com. @hashgraph.

About eftpos

Eftpos is Australia’s debit card system, processing over 2 billion debit card transactions in 2020 worth an average of more than $300 million each day. Eftpos is wholly owned by its 19 members, comprising the largest financial institutions and retailers in Australia, including Adyen, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited, Australian Settlements Limited, Bank of Queensland Limited, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Limited, Citigroup Pty Limited, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Coles Group Limited, Cuscal Limited, EFTEX, Fiserv, Indue Limited, ING DIRECT, National Australia Bank Limited, Windcave Pty Ltd, Suncorp Bank, Tyro Payments, Westpac Banking Corporation, and Woolworths Group Limited.  www.eftposaustralia.com.au

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THE Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has today announced $3.9 million in funding to Renergi Pty Ltd (Renergi) for the development of the next phase of Renergi’s energy from waste technology in Collie, Western Australia. 

The $9.4 million demonstration plant is being developed by Renergi in partnership with the Shire of Collie and with $2 million from the WA Government’s Collie Futures Industry Development Fund. 

As part of the project, Renergi has attracted investment from a consortium of investors closely linked to Sunshot Energy, an emerging energy company co-owned by Professor Ross Garnaut. This consortium will support the future commercialisation of the Renergi technology at other regional locations around Australia.

ARENA has previously funded Renergi to advance and refine their pyrolysis technology from pilot projects that have led to this project that will convert landfill waste and other biomass to energy and biochar. This patented technology was initially developed at Curtin University’s Fuels and Energy Technology Institute led by the then John Curtin Distinguished Professor Chun-Zhu Li with support from both ARENA and WA Government. 

Renergi will design, build and operate a 1.5 tonnes-per-hour demonstration scale distributed energy from waste plant that will incorporate Renergi’s patented grinding pyrolysis technology.

The plant will convert 4,000 tonnes per year of municipal solid waste, which would otherwise go to landfill, and 8,000 tonnes per year of forestry and agricultural wastes to crude pyrolysis oil and biochar. While the crude pyrolysis oil will be sold as a liquid fuel for local industry, the biochar will be sold as a soil conditioner.

ARENA CEO Darren Miller said this could see other opportunities open up for regional communities to convert their waste into fuel. 

“Landfill avoidance has become a key issue in Australia due to restrictions on the export of materials to Asia, with approximately 75.8 million tonnes of waste being generated in 2018-19 alone," Mr Miller said.

Renergi’s project aims to solve some of the current waste disposal problems that are affecting our local councils. Renergi’s technology will demonstrate the viability of a scalable distributed energy from waste process, which will use low value waste to displace fossil fuels and thereby helping to reduce emissions.

While other energy from waste projects are focused on incineration at large centralised plants, Renergi’s technology is a potential waste treatment solution for regional and smaller towns,” Mr Miller said.  

“This project is a great example of how ARENA’s support can move a technology from early stage research and concept to demonstration, and put it on the pathway to commercialisation. This plant will showcase a 100 per cent Australian technology we are proud to have funded in all key stages of its development,” he said.

ARENA has previously funded energy from waste projects in Kwinana and East Rockingham in WA, as well as Southern Oil’s pilot plant for the production of renewable fuels in Gladstone and MSM Milling’s biomass boiler in central west NSW.  

The design phase will commence this year, and the plant is expected to be operating within two years.

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THE Joint Standing Committee on Treaties will hold a public hearing in Canberra on Monday, February 1, 2021 to discuss amendments to the Convention on the Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

The Committee will hear evidence on changes to the lists of protected species arising from the CITES 18^th Conference of the Parties.

CITES protects endangered species by regulating international trade in those species and their products.

“Two small, but lucrative industries – musical instrument manufacturing and sea cucumber fishing, are likely to be the most affected in Australia,” Committee Chair Dave Sharma MP said.

“Musical instrument makers will benefit from an easing of restrictions on the use of Rosewoods, while people wishing to export sea cucumbers will need to obtain a permit to export this endangered species.”

The Committee will also review recent amendments to the Agreement on Mutual Recognition in relation to Conformity Assessment, Certificates and Markings between Australia and the Republic of Iceland, the Principality of Liechtenstein and the Kingdom of Norway [European Free Trade Association – European Economic Area].

Public hearing details

Date: Monday 1 February 2021
Time: 11am – 12 noon
Location: Committee Room 2R1, Parliament House

Access to the public hearing is restricted as a pandemic control measure. The hearing can be accessed online.

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