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It is at it again—the Franchise Council of Australia that is! Again, it is opposing new laws that will make franchisors more responsible. This time it is desperate to block new laws that will impose obligations on franchisors for franchisee workers being underpaid and exploited.

We’ve covered this before in March where we explained what is going on. But now Fairfax media is on the case. Last week Adele Ferguson explained The plot to kill off tough new wage fraud laws. Adele has exposed wage fraud at 7-Eleven, Dominos, Caltex and United Petroleum. She’s now exposed the role being played by ex-Small Business Minister Bruce Billson in trying to block the anti-wage-fraud laws. More...

Remember the 7-Eleven scandal? That’s the one where employees of 7-Eleven stores were underpaid and scammed. To stop this, the Federal government is now introducing legislation to make franchisors jointly responsible with franchisees for underpayment of franchisee employees. It will protect workers. It’s good legislation.

But the Franchise Council of Australia (FCA) wants to kill this off.   More...

The co-writer of the brilliant Yes Minister series, Anthony Jay, passed away this month, aged 86. No doubt he would have loved to have written a script based on the current Australian superannuation ‘reform’ debate.  

First, watch this short clip about how bureaucrats control their ministers. Hilarious!  More...

The Australian election outcome is in line with the messiness that’s happening with democratic politics across the globe. It’s good that ‘the people rule'! But what of decision-making?

Sometimes positive things can happen through the political process. We were very pleased with:  More...

Yes,  it’s illegal to smoke marijuana but it’s okay to use a bong! That seems to be the type of message the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission is sending in its latest decision to allow the Transport Workers Union to bargain collectively with the giant Japanese-owned transport company Toll.

If you’ve followed us for a while, you’ll notice we’ve been persistent in pushing the ACCC to do something to stop unions and big businesses colluding to rort competition for their own benefit. More...

From time to time, we’ve highlighted the debate occurring in the UK over the rise of the self-employed. Some commentators see this as a bad thing.

In mid-June, the Committee for the Economic Development of Australia (CEDA) released a report on the future of Australia’s workforce. The full report is here. ICA's Executive Director, Ken Phillips, was asked to contribute a chapter on independent contracting. He cited global trends, presenting facts and some opinions. His CEDA chapter is here. More...

Here’s some common sense from Senator Bob Day’s inspiring first speech in Parliament.  Bob describes practical ways in which young people can get jobs and buy their first home. More...

Working to defend self-employed people can involve many strange twists and turns.

A recent example: new laws to start in November require timber importers to guarantee that any imported timber is legally logged. If they don’t, they face jail as the ultimate sanction. But government reports say that it's impossible to comply.  More...

One of the pressing public policy issues that needs more attention is superannuation. We’ve been tracking this since 2010.  We remain concerned that the new Minister for Superannuation, Senator Sinodinos, is involved in a game of double standards.  More...

An ICA member reflects that disability care requires flexible workforce arrangements, and people prepared to do the work! The ICA member says:

I am interested in the progress of the National Disability Insurance Scheme and admit self-interest.  I now have my 93-year-old, infirm mother living in my home and requiring a high level of care. More...