Media Releases July 2017

The Australian Industry Group Australian Performance of Manufacturing Index (Australian PMI®) increased by 1.0 point to 56.0 in July – a tenth consecutive month of expansion for the manufacturing sector (readings above 50 indicate expansion in activity, with the distance from 50 indicating the strength of the increase).

"The public policy debate around workplace relations in Australia at a state level is at risk of heading down a particularly dangerous path that is contrary to the best interests of the community," Australian Industry Group Chief Executive Innes Willox said today.

"The Australian Industry Group today released a report highlighting the success of a workplace literacy and numeracy pilot program. The program involved a skill set of units from the Foundation Skills Training Package delivered to existing employees within three manufacturing sites in three different states.

"Today, the Australian Industry Group, on behalf of Hair & Beauty Australia (HABA), will file proposed award variations in the Hair and Beauty Penalty Rates Case," Australian Industry Group Chief Executive, Innes Willox, said today.

"Manufacturers and businesses in other trade-exposed industries are concerned with the Aussie dollar approaching the 80US cent tipping point, which is outside a comfort zone enjoyed since May 2015," Australian Industry Group Chief Executive, Innes Willox, said today.

"This week, the Queensland Parliamentary Committee which inquired into the Labour Hire Licensing Bill 2016 (Qld) released its report. The Committee was unable to agree that the Bill should be passed and, accordingly, the Bill should be abandoned," Australian Industry Group Chief Executive, Innes Willox, said today.

We are a coalition of independent business associations from major economies representing the interconnected interests of more than 6.8 million small, medium and large companies.

The national construction industry expanded for a fifth consecutive month in June, with the Australian Industry Group/Housing Industry Association Australian Performance of Construction Index (Australian PCI®) falling slightly by 0.7 points to 56.0 (readings above 50 indicate expansion in activity, with the distance from 50 indicating the strength of the increase).

Despite the facts, media organisations continue to incorrectly refer to the “increasing casualisation of the workforce” in Australia. This is a myth that has been corrected by a number of "fact checks" including in this analysis from the independent publication The Conversation which analyses the data and demonstrates that there has been no increase in the casualisation of our workforce.

"Most of the unions' claims in the Fair Work Commission's (FWC's) Casual and Part-time Employment Case have been rejected by the Commission. This is important because the unions' claims, if they had been accepted, would have wreaked havoc on Australia's labour market," Innes Willox, Chief Executive of the Australian Industry Group said today.