Family Business

 JODIE PATRON

THE latest ABS jobs data shows state variations, driven by the latest COVID-19 lockdowns which have again divided the economy.

Th is month:

Th ere were 36,000 fewer people employed in NSW (the only state to have fewer people employed currently compared to pre-pandemic March 2020); in contrast, there were 16,000 more people employed in Victoria, 11,000 more employed in SA and 6,000 more employed in WA.

Across the nation, there were 22,000 more males were employed, while there were 19,000 fewer females employed.

Today’s data suggests that the national labour market as a whole remains fairly strong. Th e unemployment rate fell further, sitt ing at 4.6 percent, the lowest it has been for 13 years.

Employment saw another increase, with 2,200 more people in a job compared to last month and the proportion of the population employed remaining close to its June high of 63 percent (dropping slightly to 62.9 percent).

But, scratching the surface shows this positive headline isn’t all it seems, and isn’t uniform across the economy. While overall employment remained strong, the number of people in the labour market fell, which accounted for most of the fall in unemployment. Notwithstanding this fall, the overall national participation rate is still sitt ing at a relatively strong 66 percent.

Hours worked were the key problem however, with NSW the problem area. Th e Sydney lockdown in July saw total hours worked across the Nation fall further, by 3.1 million hours. NSW hours fell by 7 percent or 40.5 million hours – off sett ing the gain in hours across the rest of Australia.

In NSW, over July, more than 600,000 people indicated that they worked fewer hours than usual as a result of ‘No work, not enough work available, stood down, or for other reasons not related to leave or bad weather’. Th ere were also an additional 90,000 people on leave compared to July last year.

Victoria, by contrast, was a bright spot. Following the signifi cant fall (1.8 percent or 39.6 million) in hours worked in June as a result of the Victorian lockdown, July’s rebound saw hours worked in Victoria more than recovering from its June slide.

Th ere were more than 270,000 less people indicating that they worked fewer hours than usual as a result of ‘No work, not enough work available, stood down, or for other reasons not related to leave or bad weather’ in Victoria in July compared to June. Th ere were also 24,000 less people on leave compared to July last year.

Underemployment was again a problem, deteriorating in July, reaching 8.3 percent, refl ecting the fall in hours worked and the eff ects of the lockdowns. Again, NSW was the problem area, with its underemployment fi gure rising to 9.3 percent, overshadowing the improvement in Victoria, where underemployment fell from 10.1 percent to 8.2 percent.

WA and Tasmania were the only other two states that saw an improvement in underemployment over the month.

Overall, there were 646,000 people in Australia who worked fewer hours than normal in July because they had no work or not enough work – 126,000 more than in June. Th ere were also around 190,000 more people on leave compared to July last year.

In conclusion, while we saw a strengthening economy in the June labour market data, the July data shows how quickly this can reverse when lockdowns are implemented across the nation.

Th e impacts of the more stringent lockdowns across Sydney, and the new lockdowns across the broader NSW state, and in many of the other states and territories, will come through in next month’s data release.

Yet there is still some positive context. Even with these ups and downs detailed in today’s fi gures, the Australian economy shows remarkable resilience in the face of challenges posed by lockdowns.

Despite lockdowns in our largest state, hours worked in July 2021 remained above Australia’s pre-pandemic fi gure in March 2020.

 DR BRENDAN RYNNE

THE Australian economy continues to surprise on the upside, with GDP growth in the June quarter recording 0.7 percent – marginally higher than both KPMG estimates and market expectations.

A technical recession has been avoided, although the next quarter looks bleak, and the anticipated December quarter recovery is very dependent on the speed of lockdowns ending.

Household consumption (+$3.0 bn) and government spending ($1.3 bn) were the heroes of the June quarter, with these two categories alone driving more than half of the 1.7 percent uplift in domestic demand for the 3 months to June 2021.

Household consumption was boosted by strong income growth, especially for private sector employees, with people spending more and saving proportionately less than in the previous quarter. Current dollar compensation of employees in the private sector rose 1.5 percent compared to 0.7 percent for public sector workers – although over the year public sector workers saw their incomes grow by 4.5 percent compared to 2.9 percent for private sector employees.

On trade, exports fell by 2.3 percent and imports increased by 1.5 percent. Net exports came in at around $5bn, a marked change on the March fi gures where net exports totalled $10bn.

Th e June quarter data also allows a fuller picture of which industries performed the strongest over FY21 and which ones struggled. Th e sectors recording the strongest annual growth in industry gross value added were Agriculture (32 percent), Road Transport (8 percent), Forestry and Fishing (7 percent), Metal products (7 percent), Wholesale trade (7 percent), Healthcare (6 percent) and Retail Trade (6 percent). Agriculture benefi tt ed from about a 16 percent in rural commodity prices over the year.

Changes in consumer behaviour and spending patt erns due to COVID-induced lockdowns explain much of the growth around road transport, wholesale and retail trade and healthcare expenditures; while the growth in forestry and metal products can be ascribed to brought forward construction activity, associated with the HomeBuilder and Instant Asset Write-Off stimulus packages.

KPMG’s short-term economic outlook, however, is not so encouraging, with September quarter economic activity expected to decline in real terms by around -2.6 percent. Th e more positive news is that the December quarter should show resilience and bounce back – but this is highly dependent on the economy gradually reopening, given the increasing double vaccination rates.

Were this opening up of the economy not to occur, then the outlook would be less rosy. Economic growth in the December quarter could potentially be as much as onethird lower than KPMG’s current central case forecasts if restrictions are not eased in line with expected vaccination rates.

 GORDON ARCHIBALD

ORGANISATOPNS across the world have made strides in remote working and collaboration during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the proliferation of digitisation is creating significant new cyber threats that require radical cultural change at boardroom level.

In the Australian market, where speed is critical and regulatory and legislative requirements are increasing, cyber security teams play a critical role.

Cyber security teams are responsible for building trust, resilience and forging a pragmatic security culture and helping embed secure by design thinking into every aspect of digital infrastructure and data. To do this, they must be enablers and facilitators, helping others deliver services and brands that deserve cyber trust amongst customers, employees and society at large.

A new KPMG report, From enforcer to infl uencer: Shaping tomorrow’s security team calls on business leaders to ensure cyber security specialists are part of the C-suite decision making process, ensuring digitisation at the heart of their future growth strategies.

Here are seven key recommendations:

Chief Information Security Offi cers (CISOs) must speak their language, building consensus, demonstrating pragmatism and navigating politics to help leaders understand the cyber implications of their strategic choices. CISOs are becoming public fi gures, serving as the face of the fi rm to help build trust and confi dence.

CISOs’ responsibilities are broadening to include safeguarding data, dealing with disruptive events to maintain operational resilience, managing third parties, handling regulatory compliance, and helping to counter cyber enabled fi nancial crime. Th is demands they forge strong working relationships with other leaders withing the organisation including the Chief Risk Offi cer (CRO), the Chief Data Offi cer (CDO) and, of course, the Chief Information Offi cer (CIO).

Today’s CISOs should be sophisticated communicators, working with other business leaders to embed cyber security into the DNA of the organisation. Th is involves integrating security into governance and management processes, education and awareness, plus establishing the right mix of corporate and personal incentives to do the right thing.

CISOs will have to acquire capabilities from outside the organisation, build new partnerships and look for unconventional and diverse talent. In future, we may even see the cyber function becoming far smaller, taking on a strategic and governance role, with cyber security being truly embedded into the business. repeatable way. It can also help embed security and improve the user experience, as well as reduce the time to respond to a major cyber incident

We are heading towards a hyperconnected world in which the IoT and 5G networking will massively increase effi ciency and enable radically diff erent business models. But this also opens organisations to new att ack surfaces and raises privacy concerns — demanding a shift to new, data-centric security models such as zero trust.

Organisations are now part of a complex ecosystem of suppliers and partners, tied together through shared data and shared services. Conventional contracts and liability models seem ill-suited to the rapidly evolving supply chain threat, calling for a new partnership approach that brings security to all parties and individuals.

CISOs must see themselves as enablers and facilitators, helping others deliver services and brands that deserve cyber trust among customers, employees and society at large. Th e digital world is part of everyone’s daily life; with the pandemic heightening its importance trust in the robustness and security of systems will make their role more visible and more important.

 JOB CREATION | JADE HOBMAN

ANEW job-creating venture is set to make milestones for regional indigenous people and build up Australia’s independence in manufacturing and defence.

Precision Metal Group (PMG) and JNC Group Australia allied together last June in giving a hand up to some of Australia’s most vulnerable living in rural communities.

Th e two companies will combine indigenous-owned JNC’s commercial building and civil contracting experience, with the welding and fabrication expertise of PMG by creating an off shoot company, Indigee Metals.

PMG CEO Jason Elias said it all came together in a meeting. “Th ey wanted a more fabrication side to their business, and we wanted to participate in more indigenous programs,” Mr Elias said. “And with all the certifi cations we had, and the proven track record of indigenous participation that JNC had–it just came relatively easy.”

Th e fresh, new Indigee Metals is a majority indigenous owned and Supply Nation Registered manufacturing company, set to be a propelling force through education and job making within the indigenous communities of NSW and beyond.

Mr Elias said their aim is to work with indigenous programs and people within the regions, and cities across the nation. “It’s the collaboration of two proven companies to deliver proven track records with the indigenous participation factor in place.”

JNC CEO Jeremy Blanch said the goal was to promote a strong indigenous youth presence within their workforce and ‘providing them real career opportunities through manufacturing’.

Th e plans are to educate and employ men and women across diff erent communities with apprenticeships, and training, sustaining them in exciting engineering career paths for the long haul, going into the next generation.

Indigee metals aims to be a solid pathway to fulfi lling JNC’s vision to build a prosperous indigenous business sector, with all the trimmings, and PMG’s bold strategy to bring manufacturing jobs back to locals, indigenous and non-indigenous alike.

Th ere are eight types of industries Indigee Metals will work and make impact in: 1. Defence: providing services for military and navy sectors in welding and onsite machining jobs 2. Infrastructure: fabrication and welding services of steel structures for local, state and federal governments 3. Construction: provide services for the construction market, structural and mechanical 4. Maritime: servicing onsite for machining, welding and maintenance for ships 5. Manufacturing: Nationwide, 24/7 maintenance for manufacturers 6. Mining: delivering services to a few market leaders in mining is underway 7. Rail: new certifi cation is being sought to service the big rail industry 8. Oil and gas: fabrication and maintenance of gas piping networks, and ISO shipping containers

So, with Indigee Metal’s recent social media push, and the backing of two expert industry contenders with big dreams. Watch this space.

PMG CEO Jason Elias (left) and JNC Group CEO Jeremy Blanch at the launch of their joint company, Indigee Metals at the LandForces Conference.

 WORKPLACE | NICHOLAS FISHER

AS COVID-19 continues to significantly change workplaces and their conditions and practices, more employers are asking what they need to do regarding vaccinations and preparing to come out of lockdown.

Some employers have asked if individual fl exibility arrangements, commonly referred to as IFA’s, would work with their employees.

An IFA is an agreement between an employee and employer that may change the terms of an employee’s award or enterprise agreement. An IFA may be used to change working hours, overtime and loading rates, and allowances, among other things. IFA’s can be implemented any time aft er employment has begun and can be terminated upon agreement by both parties.

Th e creation of IFA’s is regulated under Division 5 of the Fair Work Act 2009. IFA’s. Th ey must be genuine agreements, meaning that both parties must voluntarily agree to the IFA’s terms. An employer cannot force signing of an IFA through threats to job security or inducements.

It is the Fair Work Ombudsman’s position that employers must ensure that an IFA leaves an employee in a bett er overall position than they were in before the IFA. IFA’s are to be made on a case-by-case basis: one agreement cannot cover a group of employees.

Whilst IFA’s are a valid tool you need to understand the shift ing sands of the public orders relative to COVID to ensure they are the right tool for you. Th ere has been a lot of media coverage of whether an employer can mandate vaccination in the workplace.

Currently, the NSW Government has mandated a minimum of one vaccination to be able to work, under the Public Health Orders guidelines, for Construction, Authorised, Care, Quarantine, Airport and Transport Workers. Some other conditions, such as medical exemptions, also apply to these workers however at present there is no clear guidance to employers regarding refusals. At present there is new legislation proposed that caps the compensation a person receives from complications aft er a vaccination.

In other circumstances your vaccine status is protected to some degree under the Privacy Act 1988. In short, an employer, with a duty of care to all employees, may wish to collect vaccine status. Th e data collection must abide by all relevant privacy principles, most importantly, how the data will be used.

Th ere has also been a bill introduced into NSW Parliament, which would mandate that employers who require their staff to be vaccinated, outside of those covered under the public health order, will become liable at law should the employee suff er any adverse eff ects.

Th is liability would be until the employee’s death. While the Bill is making it’s way through Parliament, business owner’s should make contact with their local State MP to outline there views on this Bill.

It is unlikely that an employer would use an IFA to require an employee to vaccinate as it is unrelated to an award or enterprise agreement. However, IFA’s are currently being used to introduce mandatory isolation periods and pay, COVID-19 impact allowances, COVID-19 safety measures such as mask wearing/sanitising/ remote working/rostered in offi ce time, and working from home rates/benefi ts.

Where an employer requires an employee’s vaccination data to implement workplace health and safety measures, for example to: • Protect colleagues by outlining who is rostered to share, how many days an employee can be in the workplace, personal protection measures in the workplace • Outline a testing regime e.g., every 72 hours.

Th ese types of measures need to be communicated to all employees as the workplace policy position under Work Health and Safety guidelines.

IFA’s can be an invaluable tool that might improve job satisfaction and productivity and may prove to be the answer for many employers.

 INFORMATION | MARIO BEKES

WE know advertisers and politicians try to persuade us to believe a certain viewpoint.

Th e power of communication as a type of warfare is oft en undervalued. Infl uencing your ‘enemy’ is a key part of winning any batt le. Being able to analyse misinformation has become a critical skill for armies, businesses and citizens alike.

You may remember that prior to the invasion of Iraq in 2003, there was a slogan: “Winning hearts and minds in the war on terrorism” that used extensively.

Th e slogan is not the weapon in military terms, it doesn’t cause human fatalities and body injuries. But, communication, translated into carefully chosen words, along with military might, cause a deep emotional eff ect on military personnel and civilians on other side of the front line.

Th ere are so many examples of how leaders, or wannabe leaders, have looked for the most eff ective ways to infl uence others through communication (words, public speaking and even subversive methods).

One of the fi rst people to document how to infl uence others was Greek philosopher Socrates, with his ingenious methods of delivering messages to the public.

To delve into his students’ view, he would ask them questions until any contradictions were exposed.

Th e Socratic method used typically seeks to ask a series of questions to lead people to think in a certain way. Critical thinking skills are key to eff ectively resisting this approach.

Th e key objective of communication warfare is to infi ltrate the minds of large populations, not just particular groups.

Th e endless possibilities of social media make these processes more powerful and eff ective.

We all enjoy the benefi ts of connecting with people on social media but have you stopped to think how it may have altered your behaviour, mood and decision making.

Th e work of Nicollo Machiavelli in the 1500s is still relevant when it comes to understanding how communication can be used to infl uence people.

His book, Th e Prince, has been used for both good and bad for centuries. Machiavelli’s thinking can be summed up by the quotes from the book: “Everyone sees what you appear to be, few experience what you really are” and “Never att empt to win by force what can be won by deception.”

Words used in communications can be weaponised with emotions which are designed to lead the listener to create distorted conclusions or perceptions on the topic published.

You should never take this kind of information lightly. It is important to understand the message and learn how to decode the meaning behind it.

When making decisions based on communications, decision makers need to recognise misinformation and disinformation to understand not only who said what but why it was said and the choice of language used.

Communications professionals usually adjust words and language to suit particular demographics and countries in order to elicit emotional responses from listeners or readers.

Most communication professionals are trying to help people understand the truth. However, when misinformation and disinformation are deliberately used in business communications then the corporate world needs to correctly analyse them.

Th e power of technology is being used to help create algorithms to categorise and make decisions on information.

Th is has some merit and advantages but a true analysis using human intelligence will provide you with accuracy and source reliability for decision making.

Decision making in corporations and the business world, as well in private life, should be based on the reliability of the source and validity of the information. Relying on social media is defi nitely not a reliable approach.

With so much talk about misinformation and disinformation being communicated from previously trusted sources, business need to put more resources into the valuable commodity of information and develop critical thinking strategies. 2021 has taught us that many of the solutions to our problems are best found using new ways of thinking and enhanced risk management tools.

 SPORT | BOB TURNER

SPORT has been a huge part of my life and set a pathway for success in business, relationships, and life in general.

Not everyone is a sports lover but even those not enamoured with their sports team would be aff ected in some way by just the sheer presence and activity of sporting teams.

Global organisations like Manchester United, Dallas Cowboys, the New York Yankees have had years of success on and off the grounds to build a following that sometimes goes beyond what might seem common sensical.

When Ronaldo recently signed to rejoin Manchester United on what I consider an amazing amount of money, I read those sales of his new MU jersey almost paid for the transfer fee in less than a week. Th at is what I call consumer sports power.

Growing up in Oakland, California, my sports teams needed to aggressively market their existence given the relatively small market compared to LA, Chicago or New York.

Th e owner of the Oakland A’s, Charlie Finlay, opened my eyes to marketing of sport and the avenues he pursued not just to win but to own his ‘Home’ City.

He was one of the key marketers of the 1970’s and some of his adventures were legendary like his team playing in White Kangaroo leather shoes, moustache competition for his players and one of my favourites, a cartoon rabbit that popped up out of the ground for the umpire to refresh his supply of baseballs VS the bat boy running out – that was boring to Charlie.

When his team won the World Series and cemented their market, he presented every player with a diamond studded ring and the inscription – S + S = Success.

Th e S + S was short for ‘Sweat + Sacrifi ce’. Charlie made inroads to making the city of Oakland – COOL, and this left the Oakland Raiders to market in a similar fashion to own the passion and support of their city, making the residents proud whether they won or lost.

Sport has a way of breaking down barriers and opening opportunities, which is far more diffi cult for music or art.

Sport is yearly and consumes great quantities of media space and thus att ention from the general public. Venues like the iconic Sydney Opera House are great att ractions and it identifi es with the city but the sporting venues with multiple activity combined with media and att endance provide a diff erent ball game.

Th e key for venues is to make it easy to att end and an experience to match the sporting activity. When I coached the Canberra Cannons back in the early 1980’s we were fortunate to be one of the few teams to play at a venue that was more than a tin shed.

Th e National Indoor Sports Centre at Bruce was plush but a mouthful to sell and promote. We needed to liven up the marketing of the venue to become an asset. We changed the name of the venue to ‘Th e Palace’ in all our marketing.

Th e result was amazing and stimulated a rather sedentary Canberra public with full houses, despite the winter cold. Two years aft er taking this step, Tom Jones came to town for a concert at our venue. When his marketing said – ‘Tom Jones Live At Th e Palace’ I knew we had made it.

Cities identify with their sport teams and corporates have proven over time they can successfully jump on the band wagon. Th e association is not only benefi cial for the corporate partner but the combined marketing power only helps to accelerate a team’s marketing and ownership of their city.

When I fi rst arrived in Australia to play basketball for the Shoalhaven Chas Tierny Tigers, I asked who or what is Chas Tierny.

Th ey were the local car dealer and combined with the team for a double win in the market to sell more cars and sell the Tigers at the same time. We took this type of association to another level with the Canberra Mazda Cannons and when it came to the Sydney Coca Cola Kings the benefi t to both organisations was one of the best for over ten years.

Coke had sponsored leagues and/or events but had never sponsored a team. Th e opportunity we presented was great value and most importantly, the Sydney Kings and their partner Coca Cola were both willing to drive the association.

Th e result on numerous occasions was the media oft en referring to the team as the Coca Cola Kings. Th e Kings needed that marketing assistance as they were a relatively new team, not a core sport and its representation covered from Cronulla to Hornsby to Penrith.

Blacktown City FC is now able to off er the same opportunity to a corporate with vision to back a team and Naming Rights to their home venue – Currently known as ‘Lily Homes Stadium’.

Our city of Blacktown is one of the largest LGA’s in the state and to date has no sporting team they can call their own.

Blacktown City FC sees an opportunity to become synonymous with the city. Th e goal is to earn a status so that when the population says Blacktown City they also consciously or sub-consciously mean Blacktown City FC.

Our name says it all but more importantly we have the necessary ingredients of venue, competition status, history, coaching and a 68-year history of success on the fi eld to achieve our goal. Blacktown City FC is determined to achieve that status and as the slogan says – Blacktown City – ‘Always Blacktown – Never Backdown’!

Lily Homes Stadium.

AUGUST 2021 Edition 124

BUSINESS | LIFESTYLE

Penrith’s whitewater chamopion, Jessica Fox in action.

Tribute to Western Sydney’s Tokyo Oympics top achievers

PENRITH’S whitewater champion Jessica Fox was the pick of Western Sydney’s athletic achievement achievements at the Tokyo Olympics. Jessica, who was born into Olympic royalty, added the elusive Gold Medal to her long list of achievements in her final event, the C1 canoe slalom. Jessica’s teammate at Whitewater Club Lucien Delfour finished eighth in his first Olympic final in the men’s k1 after recording a disappointing 17th at Rio 2016.

INNER WEST LOCAL BUSINESS AWARDS SPECIAL FEATURE

TIMES

PARRAMATTA'S Local Hero of the Year, Rosemary Kariuki has urged men and wom-

Local hero: Rosemary Kariuki.

www.wexpo.com.au 23 SEPTEMBER 2021 Postponed to 2022, CLUB PARRAMATTA due to COVID restrictrions. Refer to website for details.

CONNECT & GROW YOU AND YOUR BUSINESS IN PARRAMATTA & WESTERN SYDNEY

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