Weekly news – Minimum Rates, Animal Welfare Roundtable

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REMINDER: SURVEY RESPONSES URGENTLY SOUGHT

The Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal will conduct hearings into the impact of the draft Road Safety Remuneration Order from 22-25 October 2015 in Melbourne
Many members have raised very serious concerns with me about the draft Order – particularly relating to the impact that the proposed minimum rates will have on the future use of sub-contractors.

We are not alone in this fight.  Several other industry associations are hearing the same concerns from their members and so we are coming together to present a united front to the Tribunal.

Part of this process involves a survey to support our case. You can find the survey here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/RJKSBMP

Please take 5 minutes to tell us your view before it’s too late!

WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THE RSRT?

On Monday, 19 October 2015, Cooper Grace Ward Lawyers are holding an online webinar to discuss:

  • the Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal  – what it is, what it does and what powers it has; and
  • what you should do now to ensure your business will be able to comply with any Contractor Driver Minimum Payments Order that the Tribunal ultimately makes.

The cost for participating is $110 incl. GST.  For details of how to register click here: http://communication.cgw.com.au/rs/vm.ashx?ct=24F76F1AD2EA0AEDC1D180ACD32D981ED4BE7BB3D38714DD4CF371647BF8D90DDD78030

ANIMAL WELFARE ROUNDTABLE

Animal Welfare Roundtable October 2015

This week Graeme Hoare (ALRTA Vice President & Chair of National Animal Welfare Committee) and Mathew Munro (Executive Director) attended an Animal Welfare Roundtable in Canberra hosted by the Australian Veterinarian Association, NFF and RSPCA.

As you may know, in 2014 the Federal Government withdrew funding from the Australian Animal Welfare Strategy.  Since then there has been a lack of national leadership on the issue and no Federal project funding.  At the time, the ALRTA lost funding for two projects that had already been approved.

The aim of the roundtable was to discuss the national coordination and continuous improvement of animal welfare efforts in Australia.

Interestingly, there is still plenty of work going on in the animal welfare space.  However, the projects are no longer centrally coordinated, they are not supported by Federal funding and there is a serious lack of communication about projects scope and outcomes.

For our part, we highlighted the recent publication of our National Guide for the Safe Design of Loading Ramps and Forcing Yards; the impending launch of LivestockASSIST and this year’s merger of TruckCare and TruckSafe.  We have also called for a more cooperative effort on important issues such as effluent management and opening hours of facilities.

Road transport has certainty been one of the more pro-active sectors in the past two years.

It was abundantly clear that both industry and welfare groups see animal welfare as an issue of national importance with a central leadership role for the Federal Government.  If this doesn’t occur soon, we will continue to see divergent approaches to the issue and a patchwork of different state rules that will be in nobody’s interest.

But is the Federal Government listening?

Well, the Roundtable was held at the Federal Department of Agriculture and there were plenty of Department staff present.  So, while I suspect that there are plenty of internal sympathisers, Minister Joyce is still firmly in charge and the budget hasn’t improved one bit.

The ALRTA will certainly be raising this issue with Minister Joyce’s Office at the next opportunity.

Only time will tell if the Roundtable was just another talkfest or whether there will be some fair dinkum national leadership in this space.

ATA TRUCK IMPACT CHART SURVEY

The ATA is conducting a survey to update its truck impact chart, which provides general information about truck productivity, fuel use, road impact etc for a range of widely-used heavy vehicle combinations.

This chart is an essential part of the ATA’s heavy vehicle research, and is used extensively in the ATA’s lobbying efforts. It is a critical component of the ATA’s efforts to improve first and last mile access for higher productivity vehicles.

Your survey results will be used to calculate the average figures in this chart, and will be stripped of any identifying information before use.

The survey will take approximately 15 minutes to complete.

If you’d like to provide further feedback to the ATA on this issue, please contact Chris Loose at chris.loose@truck.net.au. Complete the ATA truck impact chart survey.

ALRTA COUNCIL AND SGM NEXT WEEK

Members are reminded that the next ALRTA Council Meeting and Special General Meeting will be held in Brisbane on 22 October 2015.  Contact the ALRTA Secretariat for more information.