Small businesses contacted the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) nearly 5000 times in the second half of 2017, up from 3700 in the preceding six months, according to a new report. The ACCC’s latest Small business in focus report, covering July to December 2017, shows small businesses made 2365 enquiries to the Commission along […]
To coincide with the forthcoming local launch of Amazon’s cloud-based, AI-powered voice assistant Alexa, online employment market SEEK has announced a compatible voice-activated job search. According to Amazon, three Alexa-enabled, voice-controlled speakers – the Echo, Echo Plus and Echo Dot – will ship from the company’s local website “beginning early February”, with the devices also […]
Labor force figures released by the ABS this week show more than 403,000 jobs were created in Australia in 2017, with Minister for Jobs and Innovation Michaelia Cash proclaiming it the “best year for jobs growth ever”. The ABS figures also show that the number of jobs increased for the 15th straight month in December, […]
Tertiary educators are struggling to keep up with demand from Australian CIOs for qualified IT professionals, according to research commissioned by specialist recruiter Robert Half. The survey of 160 CIOs and CTOs from companies across Australia found the education system is only able to satisfy 3% of technology leaders when it comes to their demands of the […]
Bonding over a mutual client, their complementary skillsets and a shared love of Guiness, Sydneysiders Kiel Van Daal and Eric O’Brien joined forces for a creative agency that would engage millennials through a marriage of traditional marketing and emerging technologies. Nearly five years on, it’s clear their approach has paid off. Working with the likes […]
Nearly US$560 million was invested in Australian startups, last year, a 1.4% increase on 2016; however, the number of investment deals fell 27%, according to a new report from KPMG International. The professional services giant’s latest Venture Pulse, a quarterly report on global venture capital investment, shows that Australian startups closed 17 deals, worth $121.55 […]
The former manager of an Oliver Brown café on the Gold Coast has been fined $27,200 for ripping off overseas workers. Steven Chung was penalised in the Federal Circuit Court after admitting his involvement in the underpayment of 12 employees at the café in Surfers Paradise. Proceedings were brought against Chung by the Fair […]
Automation. Referral programs. Team-wide innovation targets. X-factor recruits. Constant website optimisation. Strategic partnerships with complementary, credibility-enhancing businesses. An experimentation mindset. A responsive product/market fit. These were some of the recommendations yielded by this week’s “Let’s Talk…” feature, which asked a dozen thought leaders, including startup founders, to identify the growth hacks that have helped them […]
Startups that apply to pitch at the forthcoming Salesforce PitchComp in Sydney are in with a chance to win USD$100,000 in funding from the cloud CRM provider’s investment arm. The competition will be held at the Salesforce World Tour Sydney 2018 event on Tuesday, 6 March and will be judged by a panel of respected investors […]
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) will be empowered to report a business’s overdue tax debts to credit reporting bureaus under draft legislation released by Minister for Revenue and Financial Services, Kelly O’Dwyer. The legislation, which – together with explanatory material – is now available for public comment, will require a business to “effectively engage” with […]
