THE Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit (JCPAA) has commenced an inquiry into the 2021-22 Commonwealth Financial Statements.

The Commonwealth Financial Statements are audited each year by the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) to provide the Parliament with an independent examination of the Commonwealth’s accounts. The audit identifies financial statement risks, issues with governance arrangements, and any problems with the internal control frameworks of Commonwealth entities.

The chair of the JCPAA, Julian Hill MP, said the JCPAA inquiry would examine the ANAO’s findings and engage with agencies mentioned in the audit.

"This process is an important accountability and transparency mechanism whereby the Parliament can interrogate in detail issues raised by the Auditor-General regarding the financial statements of all Commonwealth entities," Mr Hill said. "The committee looks forward to hearing about improvements agencies have made in response to the audit."

The inquiry will examine Auditor-General Report No. 8 of 2022-23: Audits of the Financial Statements of Australian Government Entities for the Period Ended 30 June 2022.

The committee is inviting submissions to the inquiry, addressing the terms of reference, to be received by Friday, March 3, 2023. Details of the inquiry – including the terms of reference and public hearings – will be made available on the Committee website.

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The hearing follows two days of meetings with stakeholders in regional New South Wales and regional Victoria to explore current employment services and alternative programs and to gain insights from parents, employers and providers outside the major cities.

Committee Chair, Julian Hill MP said, “During this inquiry, we have heard that while many parents have benefited from ParentsNext, these benefits can be overshadowed by the harms created by the punitive nature of the current program. We want to hear from everyone.”

The committee will make recommendations relating to ParentsNext by the end of February 2023, as part of its larger inquiry into Workforce Australia Employment Services.

Information about the inquiry, including terms of reference, future public hearings, published submissions and hearing transcripts, is available on the inquiry website.

Public hearing details

Time              8.30am – 11.45am AEDT (Melbourne Time)
Location        Balmoral Room, Stamford Plaza, 111 Little Collins Street, Melbourne
Witnesses     Brave Foundation
                       National Employment Services Association
                       Jobs Australia
                       Department of Employment and Workplace Relations
                       Department of Social Services                       
                       Services Australia

An audio broadcast of the hearing will be available via the Watch, Read, Listen website.

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AUSTRALIA's acceptance of an international treaty for the recognition of tertiary education qualifications has been welcomed by the Independent Tertiary Education Council Australia (ITECA), the peak body representing independent skills training, higher education, and international education providers.

“As a nation, we can be proud of the quality offered by independent tertiary education providers.  This new treaty provides a platform for the qualifications awarded by them to be recognised across the globe,” ITECA chief executiveTroy Williams said.

The Australian Government has recognised that the new UNESCO Global Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education ensures students who study with Australian education institutions will have their qualifications recognised in a fair, transparent and non-discriminatory manner worldwide.

“Independent skills training and higher education providers offer qualifications in areas as diverse as law, nursing, aviation, mining, IT and communications, through to construction, transport and logistics.  It’s great that these qualifications will empower students in the global marketplace,” Mr Williams said.

With provisions on non-traditional learning modes, the Global Convention also facilitates the recognition of qualifications, prior learning and study periods earned remotely.

“The convention provides a clear framework for recognition of qualifications delivered online and backs Australia’s robust recognition of prior learning framework.  In many respects, the Convention plays to the strengths of Australia’s tertiary education system,” Mr Williams said.

According to ITECA, successive Australian Governments' commitments to continuous improvement of the skills training and higher education systems provide a basis for the global reputation of independent teriary education providers for quality.

“We’ve had a review of the Australian Qualifications Framework, the considerable skills reform agenda and now a further review of higher education.  Each of these has helped create a framework in which independent skills training and higher education providers have established an internationally renowned reputation for excellence,” Mr Williams said.

The new UNESCO Global Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education will be considered at the ITEC23 International Education Symposium convened by ITECA on June 8, 2023 at the Sofitel Gold Coast.

Independent Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) support more than 87 percent of the 4.3 million students in skills training, including more than half of all apprentices and trainees.  Independent providers also support around 10 percent of the 1.6 million students in a higher education awards program.

www.iteca.edu.au

Background

Established in 1992, ITECA is the peak body representing independent skills training, higher education, and international education providers.

The new Global Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education establishes establishes universal principles for fair, transparent and non-discriminatory recognition of higher education qualifications and qualifications giving access to higher education and offering avenues for further study and employment.

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LENDING for new homes has his a 10-year low, returning to numbers not seen since 2013, accourding to the Housing Industry Association of Australia (HIA).

“There were only 5,057 loans for the construction or purchase of new homes in November, the weakest month since June 2013,” HIA economist, Tom Devitt said.

The Australian bureau of Statistics (ABS) released the Lending to Households and Businesses data for November 2022 today.

“This reflects the very well broadcast housing downturn, with new housing loans over the 12 months to November 2022 down by 36.2 percent on the preceding year,” Mr Devitt said.

“Investors and owner-occupiers, alike, are retreating from the market.

“This contraction in lending occurred before the RBA increased the cash rate in December and we expect an ongoing decline in lending as the full impact of the increase in interest rates flows through to households.

“There are long lags inherent in this cycle and the full impact of the increase in the cash rate in 2022 will not be observed until late in 2023.

“The RBA has already undertaken the steepest hiking cycle in a generation, and it needs to hold fire on further hikes to give their actions to date time to play out.

“The RBA will not restore the economy to stable growth by putting the building industry through boom-and-bust cycles.

“As building activity slows in 2023, the RBA will be under increasing pressure to reverse course in the second half of this year,” Mr Devitt said.

The number of loans for the construction or purchase of new homes declined in all jurisdictions in November 2022 compared to the same month in 2021, led by the Northern Territory (-58.3 percent), and followed by the Australian Capital Territory (-39.7 percent), Queensland (-30.8 percent), Western Australia (-30.3 percent), South Australia (-29.7 percent), New South Wales (-26.8 percent), Victoria (-15.2 percent) and Tasmania (-7.4 percent).

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NEW BUILDING activity data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) today confirms a bumpy road ahead in meeting housing targets without government focus, according to Master Builders Australia CEO Denita Wawn.

According to the ABS, new housing starts fell 5.2 percent over the September quarter, and a fall of 21.2 percent compared with September 2021. This included a 5.2 percent reduction in the number of new medium/high-density home commencements, a fall of 25 percent from September 2021, and detached house starts fell by 4.9 percent over the quarter.

While the volume of new home starts is dropping, the total number of dwellings under construction are at record highs with over 244,000 home (0.6 percent increase) in September.

“We are starting to see an easing in demand for new homes as cost of living and interest rates increase. However, the industry is facing immense pressure to deliver projects currently in the pipeline," Ms Wawn said.

“There is still a record number of homes under construction, but due to supply bottlenecks such as labour and material shortages, the pace at which new homes can be built has slowed down,” she said.

“Despite strong intention from governments and industry to reach a target of one million homes under the Housing Accord, the data highlights that more needs to be done to tackle labour shortages and other supply constraints to speed up the delivery of new homes.

“Labour shortages can best be addressed over the short and medium term by making it easier for migrants to work in Australia. The bottlenecks in our migration system need to be addressed as a matter of priority,” Ms Wawn said.

"Master Builders forecasts that new home building starts will fall significantly short of 200,000 per year, the volume of output that will be needed to meet demand. Our forecasts indicate this threshold will not be exceeded until 2026.

“Our 2022-26 residential forecasts predict a bumpy road with a downturn over the next few years. Forecasts will trend upwards as inward migration and interest rates stabilise, and pent-up demand shifts the dial.

“Builders continue to face regulatory burdens and prolonged delays in approvals for building applications, occupation certificates and land titles. Additionally, land shortages in the right places, high developer charges and inflexible planning laws are restricting opportunities to meet demand, speed up project timelines, and minimise costs to both builders and their clients.

“The industry remains committed to delivering the housing needs for today and the future and urges local, state, territory and federal governments to tackle these challenges head on,” Ms Wawn said.

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AUISTRALIA must stabilise its population below 30 million to stop the growing impacts on climate and biodiversity, as well as preserve quality of life, according to the environment organisation Sustainable Population Australia (SPA).

SPA president, Jenny Goldie was commenting on the latest report from the Centre for Population, the Treasury office which advises the Federal Government on population. That report is due to be released on Friday, January 6.

“The slowing of Australia’s population growth due to the pandemic should have been wholeheartedly welcomed,” Ms Goldie said.

“It is madness for the government and its business backers to restart extreme population growth by going flat-out with even higher levels of Net Overseas Migration (NOM). It’s even higher than we saw before the pandemic when it averaged 226,000.”

Ms Goldie said, "like the October Budget" the new report demanded annual NOM of 235,000. The report expects Australia to grow from its current 26 million to 30 million people by 2032-33.

“The Treasurer, and his media acolytes, like to portray the 235,000 as ‘normal trend’ and ‘nothing to see here’.  It is three times Australia’s historic average. In fact, Canada is the only rich nation in the world with a more aggressive immigration program," Ms Goldie said.

“Even with the new Federal Labor Government policies for emissions reduction, an extra four million people will still add tens of millions of tonnes of extra emissions each year – possibly as much as 80 million tonnes.

“That is not trivial when we are facing a climate crisis. Most of that 80 million tonnes will be new emissions, not a redistribution of emissions around the planet.  That is because the average migrant who comes to Australia is coming from a country with one-quarter as much per capita emissions as Australia,” Ms Goldie said.

“Add to that the impact of population growth on habitat and species loss. The State of the Environment 2021 report released in July 2022 was quite explicit about population growth having ‘high impact’ on biodiversity. 

"For instance, the last remaining habitat of koalas in the Sydney Basin is currently threatened by housing development. Nationally, the Environment Minister is confronted by 140 development applications which, if approved, can only worsen the koala crisis.

“We have already returned to the pre-Covid levels of population growth, of which most Australians believed they had seen the end. The pre-election silence of both major parties on the topic of immigration made clear that each understood more population growth was not what most Australians wanted.

“The people are now entitled to ask why they have been ignored,” Ms Goldie said.

“Why are the impacts of population growth on the two gravest crises we face – climate and biodiversity – being ignored? The Treasurer’s radical population program can only be a negative for real wages and housing affordability. It will erase the Covid low-unemployment windfall.” 

www.population.org.au

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THE HOUSING Industry Association (HIA) has put its opinion forward on the need for the Federal Government to form a "well-rounded" migration policy.

“It is time for the Federal Government to form a well-rounded and integrated immigration policy, as part of an overall population policy, based on need, instead of being driven by an artificial cap on migration,” HIA deputy managing director for industry and policy, Jocelyn Martin said today.

“A strong building industry is a crucial driver of a strong economy. It creates jobs, trains apprentices, drives wider economic growth and builds communities,” Ms Martin said.

“The building industry employs one in 10 Australians and had helped pull the national economy out of its first recession in nearly 30 years. Today’s building activity figures confirm the market is still strong but will start trending downwards in 2023.

“Over the past two years the industry has had a roller coaster ride along with the rest of the economy. From activity stalling at the start of the pandemic, to the biggest boom on record, building activity is set to contract again during 2023 due to the rapid increase in interest rates," Ms Martin said.

“Australia’s population is ageing, and we have an acute shortage of skilled trades, also the downturn in migration has meant that the population needed to stimulate supply of housing has dropped.

“An ageing population means natural increases in Australia’s population continue to be well below a replacement or growth figure, meaning migration is critical to make up the shortfall.

“A return to stable population growth, with a focus on attracting skilled workers creates economic growth and can facilitate an improvement in productivity and participation across the economy.

“Population growth should not be used to grow the economy just simply to increase activity," Ms Martin said.

“As outlined in our pre-budget submission it is vital that governments of all levels prepare for future economic growth by increasing the supply of land, above the undersupply of the past decade, to accommodate future economic growth.

“We have seen over the past decade a number of ad-hoc cuts to immigration based on the false premise that infrastructure bottlenecks, commuter congestion and stretched education resources are somehow the fault of migration rather than poor planning.

“In its pre-budget submission, the HIA has expressed a willingness to work with all levels of government in 2023 to ensure the nation’s immigration policies deliver benefits, not detrimental impacts, to current and future generations of Australians wanting to buy their own home,” Ms Martin said.

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SAFEWORK NSW is now reminding food delivery riders if they do not adhere to the new safety laws that begin today it could prove costly for them.

Acting head of SafeWork, John Tansey said from today all food delivery riders must wear high-visibility personal protective equipment (PPE) and carry their training verification record or risk being fined.

“We made a major step to improve safety for riders on 1 July last year, when it became law for food delivery booking providers to supply their riders with PPE,” Mr Tansey said.

“Today it becomes law for riders to wear the supplied PPE, which is a high visibility vest and food bag and carry a training verification record. Riders found to not be wearing their PPE will be hit with a $144 fine for each offence.

“We now have the strongest safety environment for food delivery platforms and riders anywhere in the world and will continue to work with industry to ensure a culture where people and safety comes first.”

Safework NSW advised that from today all riders:

• Will be legally required to use or wear the PPE that has been provided to them while delivering food or drink.
• Must produce their training record if requested by a SafeWork NSW Inspector or NSW police officer.
• Penalties and fines will apply to platforms and riders who cannot show they have met these requirements.

For further information visit the SafeWork NSW food delivery industry page: https://www.safework.nsw.gov.au/your-industry/transport,-postal-and-warehousing/food-delivery-industry

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