Weekly CEO Update

As federal election campaigns of parties large and small gather momentum, retailers will be interested in what’s in it for them. Hopefully, the May 21 result brings a government with enough balance of power to get cracking on what’s good for the country – and good for retail. In the...

The Fair Work Commission (FWC) has undoubtedly got a difficult decision ahead of itself. The ACTU is calling for a minimum 5 per cent increase beginning from 1 July, while industry groups, such as the NRA, are more circumspect. In our submission to the FWC, we called for an increase...

It finally feels like we’re emerging from the weeds of the pandemic, with today’s announcement that the Northern Territory will immediately scrap vaccine passports, and Queensland to follow suit from 1 pm on Thursday, 14 April. Customers will be able to flow into cafes, restaurants, cinemas, and other venues...

Let me begin this week by saying that my thoughts are with all those in flood affected Dalby, Lismore and Mullumbimby. Barely four weeks after the last major rain event, I cannot imagine how exhausted and drained you must be to again be facing a deluge. If you require...

For much of the east coast, the past seven days have been challenging beyond belief. While south-east Queensland is in recovery mode, New South Wales is still facing floods and severe weather. It is our deepest hope that after today the rain will ease and those affected can also...

Before I begin today’s column, it is only appropriate to begin today by stating that the NRA’s thoughts are very much with all Australians currently affected by these terrible floods. I myself have been trapped at home as floodwaters rose through the streets, and several of our team members...

With less than a month to go to International Women’s Day, I’d like to spend a moment to talk about what some have coined as the ‘pink recession’. Australian women lost jobs at a greater rate early in the pandemic, with about 55% of the 600,000 jobs lost in April...

Today we mark the Lunar New Year and welcome the start of the Year of the Tiger. The Lunar New Year is typically a time of celebration, exchanging money and gifts in red envelopes (hongbao) and shopping sprees to start the year in style. We wish all of our...

It’s traditional in our first newsletter each January to wish members and all retailers a happy new year. We know from official data and industry feedback that many retailers ended 2021 very strongly. The Australian Bureau of Statistics this week reported a 7.3 per cent increase in turnover for...

With 11 days remaining until Christmas, there is no rest for retail. The National Retail Association has predicted a massive $20.5 billion spend to occur nationwide in these final days. Consumer sentiment has reached an 11-year high, and we expect to see an 8% increase on spending for the holidays. Further...

The final month of the year has arrived and we’re into the home stretch before the Christmas and New Year break. At the time of writing, Melbourne police are currently investigating an incident where a Dymocks employee was pushed to the ground unconscious and shoved down an escalator. A Melbourne...

Headlines have been dominated by the new COVID-19 variant, just as Australia has been looking forward to a return to normalcy this Christmas. While much is yet to be learned about this variant, we will be watching today’s National Cabinet meeting closely. International travellers have already had their “welcome...

It was a double dose of good news last week, with a strong rise in retail sales figures for September and retail flinging open the doors at 6pm last Friday. The ABS Retail Trade figures for September 2021 show that retail turnover increased by 1.3 per cent compared with August...

We were heartened on Sunday to finally hear those magic words from Premier Dan Andrews – on Friday, Victoria will be at 80% double dose vaccinated and retail can reopen. It’s been a long road to getting the population vaccinated, but we are finally back in business after months of...

After a gruelling 106 days in lockdown, Sydney is finally back to business. It has been a period of uncertainty for our members. Last week we recorded our highest call volumes in the past 18 months as we grappled with mandatory vaccinations and how to reopen safely in NSW. We...

Over the past five days, we’ve had the Premier and Deputy Premier resign from the NSW Government. Replacing Gladys Berejiklian is Dominic Perrottet, the former Treasurer. And with new leadership is a commitment to reopen on 11 October, six days away. For our New South Wales members, this means you...