Message from the CEO: 13 March 2017

A fortnight on from the penalty rates decision, the accompanying discourse seems to be taking on a life of...

A fortnight on from the penalty rates decision, the accompanying discourse seems to be taking on a life of its own, and devaluing the lengthy and carefully-considered processes behind the decision from the Fair Work Commission. I’ve been particularly saddened to see this independent decision politicised and brandished as a weapon...

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Solid start to 2016 for retail, but NRA urge government to back FWC decision

MEDIA RELEASE March 6, 2017 The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has today released its retail trade figures for January 2017,...

MEDIA RELEASE March 6, 2017 The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has today released its retail trade figures for January 2017, which demonstrate a solid increase of 3.2 per cent on the January 2016 figures. NRA CEO Dominique Lamb said the figures represented a promising sign to the start of 2017 for...

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New funding for hiring young people

jobactive PaTH starts April 1st Retail is an important industry for young people seeking an entry-level job. Retail is the...

jobactive PaTH starts April 1st Retail is an important industry for young people seeking an entry-level job. Retail is the industry most likely to employ a young person and teach them transferable employability skills. jobactive PaTH is a new national program being introduced by the Australian Government which is designed to...

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Message from the CEO: 20 February 2017

This week the issue of trading hours has been in the spotlight once again. The Productivity Commission has been arguing...

This week the issue of trading hours has been in the spotlight once again. The Productivity Commission has been arguing since 2011 that trading hours be deregulated in all states, including public holidays, as a long-term objective, and that it should be up to retailers to decide when they want...

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Message from the CEO: 14 February 2017

Last week the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released its retail trade figures for the month of December 2016...

Last week the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released its retail trade figures for the month of December 2016 and the results demonstrated that the National Retail Association was close to spot-on with its Christmas trade period projection. In November, we forecast that for the Christmas trade period – which encompasses...

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Message from the CEO: 6 February 2017

This week, we’ve seen more upset for Melbourne’s Bourke St Mall, after the discovery of a suspicious package left...

This week, we’ve seen more upset for Melbourne’s Bourke St Mall, after the discovery of a suspicious package left on the makeshift memorial for the now six people murdered in the 20 January vehicle rampage. After the hundreds of flowers, stuffed toys, cards, photos and balloons were removed on Monday...

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Message from the CEO: 30 January 2017

The long-awaited decision on weekend penalty rates in the retail and hospitality sectors is right around the corner, however...

The long-awaited decision on weekend penalty rates in the retail and hospitality sectors is right around the corner, however the Federal Opposition has reignited debate this week after saying the ALP would move to change the law on the penalty rates, if the decision is to reduce Sunday overtime...

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H&M enterprise agreement fails BOOT

by Ben Desir, Workplace Advisor, NRA Legal After a lengthy application process, Swedish fashion retailer, H&M has had their proposed...

by Ben Desir, Workplace Advisor, NRA Legal After a lengthy application process, Swedish fashion retailer, H&M has had their proposed national enterprise agreement rejected by the Fair Work Commission (FWC) after failing to pass the Better Off Overall Test (BOOT). The agreement, which proposed to trade lower weekend and public holiday...

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NSW leads the way in retail spend: CommSec

How are retail businesses performing across each of Australia’s states and territories? Each quarter CommSec analyses key indicators across the...

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...

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Message from the CEO: 16 January 2017

As the excesses of Christmas and New Year make way for positive resolutions for the year ahead (eating healthily...

As the excesses of Christmas and New Year make way for positive resolutions for the year ahead (eating healthily and exercising more always seem to top those lists!), we’ve continued receiving great feedback from our members on the pre-Christmas spending and Boxing Day sales periods, particularly in areas now...

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Company forced to reinstate disobedient cleaner

by Meaghan Spencer, Workplace Advisor, NRA Legal Company forced to reinstate cleaner despite dismissal not being unjust A contracting company has...

by Meaghan Spencer, Workplace Advisor, NRA Legal Company forced to reinstate cleaner despite dismissal not being unjust A contracting company has been ordered by the Fair Work Commission (FWC) to redeploy one of its cleaners whom the company summarily dismissed after he refused to wear his uniform as part of an...

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Sydney to host major Asia-Pacific retail conference and expo

Over 3000 executive retail delegates and 120 exhibitors are expected to descend upon the revamped International Convention Centre in...

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...

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NRA HAVE YOUR SAY: Blood & bone marrow donor leave

NRA HAVE YOUR SAY The Shop Distributive and Allied Employees’ Association (SDA) have made a claim with the Fair Work...

NRA HAVE YOUR SAY The Shop Distributive and Allied Employees’ Association (SDA) have made a claim with the Fair Work Commission (FWC), as part of the four yearly review of modern awards, for the inclusion of blood and bone marrow donor leave to be included in the following modern awards: ...

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Message from the CEO: 9 January 2017

Many of you may have been watching the media closely around the Christmas and New Year period especially in...

Many of you may have been watching the media closely around the Christmas and New Year period especially in relation to what we can all expect within retail in 2017. It has been reported that Australian retailers would rather forget 2016, with a “trolley full of famous names including Dick...

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Consumer Law framework open for debate

HAVE YOUR SAY The Australian Government’s Productivity Commission is undertaking a study of the current administration and enforcement of the...

HAVE YOUR SAY The Australian Government’s Productivity Commission is undertaking a study of the current administration and enforcement of the Australian Consumer Law (ACL). Their main task is to examine the effectiveness of the multiple-regulator model in supporting a single national consumer policy framework, and to make findings on how...

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Message from the CEO: 3 January 2017

A very happy new year to all of our members and to all of the retailers who read our...

A very happy new year to all of our members and to all of the retailers who read our newsletter! The question on every one’s lips is what we can expect in retail for 2017. According to Vend’s white paper, success for retailers in 2017 will depend upon whether they are: ...

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