By Sid Sidhu and Emma Treherne, NRA Legal You may be surprised to learn that as it stands, the New South Wales anti-discrimination laws do not prohibit employers from discriminating against prospective job seekers who are pregnant during the application process or at the date of the interview. Similarly, where an employer dismisses an employee, […]
Boxing Day trade continues in NSW The NSW Government today announced it will legislate to allow Boxing Day trade to continue in all parts of NSW, in accordance with the findings of an independent review by Professor Percy Allan AM which considered feedback from retailers, employees and shoppers. NRA will update retailers on the implication […]
Written by Alex Millman and Troy Wild, NRA Legal On 24 April 2017 the New South Wales Industrial Relations Commission awarded compensation to a State employee who had been fired after pornographic emails, including images of naked children, were found in her work email account. The employer argued that the employee had committed multiple breaches […]
by David Stout, NRA Policy & Industry Engagement At the NRA we are committed to ensuring that we are proactively seeking to have an intimate understanding of issues, such as food safety, in order to best advise our members throughout Australia. The Retail and Food Service Industry Group regularly hold information sessions to provide retailers […]
The NSW Department of Industry is currently reviewing the NSW Skills List. The Skills List identifies the qualifications eligible for a government subsidy under Smart and Skilled and includes a wide range of qualifications to support the diverse skills needs of NSW employers. The Skills List covers: Certificate ll to Advanced Diploma qualifications Selected Foundation […]
A new large format retail centre, Lifestyle Connection Woodpark, will soon commence construction at Smithfield, in Sydney’s South West. The site will offer a range of store sizes from 70sqm to over 6,000sqm of large format space. Located on the Corner of Woodpark Road & The Cumberland Highway Smithfield, the centre will comprise some 45,000sqm in Retail […]
The NSW Retail Leases Amendment (Review) Bill 2016 has now passed parliament and will soon become law. The commencement date is to be gazetted by parliament at later date. The amendment brings in a number of changes for retailers in NSW: 1. Jurisdictional Limit The New South Wales Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) may now […]
How are retail businesses performing across each of Australia’s states and territories? Each quarter CommSec analyses key indicators across the Australian economy and compares current performance with decade averages, and each of the states. According to the CommSec State of the States January report, NSW has maintained the top spot on the retail rankings with solid activity […]
Over 3000 executive retail delegates and 120 exhibitors are expected to descend upon the revamped International Convention Centre in Sydney in March for an all-encompassing retail event. To be held over three days in the new convention centre at Sydney’s Darling Harbour, Inside Retail Live will be a celebration of Asia-Pacific retail and a partnership […]
The Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) is currently running campaigns in multiple regions across Australia to assess compliance and help employers and employees understand their legal rights and obligations. According to the FWO, the campaigns include compliance and education activities, such as providing a range of tools, resources and assistance to businesses to ensure compliance with […]
The NSW Food Authority is helping consumers and industry navigate the often overwhelming world of food labels with an online, interactive food labelling hub. The new resource on the Food Authority website aims to help consumers make informed choices about food, and industry to find information essential to food labelling compliance quickly and easily. The […]
When it comes to a state-by-state comparison, total online spending is dominated by the three major Eastern States (NSW, VIC & QLD) at 76%, according to a report commissioned by Quantium. Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics suggest that the total online retail spend for each state & territory closely mirrors the population of […]
The New South Wales Parliament is currently considering a Bill to prohibit retailers from supplying certain types of plastic bags to their customers. If passed, the new law will prevent retailers from supplying plastic bags to customers to carry goods bought, or to be bought, from the retailer that are not biodegradable. The Bill does […]
NSW: As the retail industry enters the lead-up to the busy Christmas period, an important issue confronting the industry is that of retail crime and loss prevention. The NRA takes this matter very seriously, and over time has established a very close working relationship with the NSW Police Force to combat the issue of retail […]
SYDNEY 26-27 OCT: Omnichannel Retail Experience & Digital Transformation Conference The retail world has been changing significantly for the past few years and the paradigm shift of the consumers’ expectation has been the main talking point for every retailer. Consumers want a seamless customer experience in their shopping journey and expect the retailers to always stay […]
According to the latest report from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) for retail trade in July 2016, retail trade figures have continued the flat trend that they finished the 2015-16 financial year with. Seasonally adjusted, retail turnover for July 2016 remained more or less unchanged at 0.0 per cent, which follows a rise of […]
In a recent case brought before the NSW Supreme Court DP World’s (DPW) six-month restraint of trade period on their Operations Manager was deemed to be reasonable when the former employee gave three-months’ notice before beginning employment with a competitor. On April 27, DPW’s Operations Manager accepted a position with their direct competitor, Asciano. DPW […]
Data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) this week indicates that the soft retail sales that have been recorded since the beginning of 2016 have continued into the final quarter of 2015/16. The recorded growth of 0.2 per cent, seasonally adjusted, is below the figure forecast by the National Retail Association last month, […]
A director at ANZ has been awarded $110,000 in damages for being unfairly dismissed for serious misconduct. The Bank alleged Mr Bartlett had amended a confidential internal email and mailed it to a journalist at the Australian Financial Review. Mr Bartlett’s claim was previously dismissed by Justice Adamson in a 2014 NSW Supreme Court hearing. […]
The recent release of the February 2016 retail trade figures by the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed flat growth in retail sales, although strong performance is still being recorded in some key divisions of household goods and clothing. As indicated in the graph below, the sector grew by 3.7 per cent nationally in trend terms, […]