Earlier this week we discussed the history of Uber in its global legal battles to have its drivers accepted as independent contractors. The Uber battle is at the forefront of the gig ‘question’.
Today we focus on the Australian Taxation Office and its incompetence (from our experience) in assessing employee vs independent contractor status. The ATO should learn from a significant Uber legal decision in Australia. It probably won’t though More...
All News
Reflections on an incompetent ATO—ABNs & Gig stuff
This election is about intergenerational warfare. It’s the young hating the old!
In politics, fear/hatred/loathing/jealously of something motivates more than the love of something. Political parties tweak this mass psychological reality to attract voters.
Demographer Bernard Salt (The Australian) has provided an insightful analysis of how this ‘identify evil’ political game is playing in this federal election campaign. More...
Powerful ‘anti’ forces need a bucket of icy-cold water poured over their heads
According to demographer Bernard Salt, there’s a big cultural shift in Australia towards being your own boss. And it’s a lifestyle thing. In The Australian Bernard referred to: More...
The gig economy is under attack—from people who seemingly don’t care about the harm they do
I was in an Uber the other day and got talking to my driver. He was a Sikh. We had quite a conversation about his religion and the importance of it to his everyday life. I’ve never met a Sikh before! He was most interesting. I asked him why he drives Uber. His response was quick. He loves being his own boss. He can make his work fit around his family commitments.
My Sikh driver reminded me of why we at Self-Employed Australia have been doing what we do for almost 20 years. We’ve been defending the right of people to be self-employed. We’ve seen attacks from many directions. The attackers always seem to argue that somehow ‘we’ are being exploited. They can’t seem to contemplate that in self-employment there is economic liberty and freedom! My Sikh driver knows and lives that reality. More...
Give unfair contract laws teeth, says competition boss
We’re most pleased to see the head of the Australian Consumer and Competition Council (ACCC), Rod Sims, call for the unfair contract laws to be given ‘teeth’. Good on you, Rod. We back you on this one!
The unfair contract laws for small business passed parliament in late 2015. We called the laws ‘A welcome disruption to the economy.’ The passing of the laws was the end of a seven-year campaign by us battling the big end of town. Here’s the history of our campaign. We nearly didn’t succeed, as the dollar limit on contracts was to be set so low as to neuter the laws. But the Senate came to the rescue and amended the laws. More...
The headache of the employee Xmas party while we self-employed rage!!
Yes, we have to feel sorry these days for employees who are forced to attend the staff Xmas party. All the merriment has changed.
First, employees have to undergo HR training and briefings on how to behave or not behave. Hugs are banned. Be careful who you smile at and how! No sitting on Santa’s lap. Conversations and greetings must be religiously diversified and non-judgmental. Champagne is replaced with sparkling non-alcoholic lolly water. Sorry, no jokes! More...
As small business, self-employed people, let’s be alert to our mental health
It’s World Mental Health Day. As small businessperson we’re often asked to have concern for the mental health of our employees (if we have any)! But what about our own mental health?
Mental health problems can happen to anyone. Here’s the story of high-profile media personality Osher Gunsberg, host of The Bachelor. He was out jogging and started hallucinating that the world was ending. He sought help. More...
‘I would rather cry in a BMW than laugh on the back of a bicycle’
Global stock-markets are in a crashing frenzy over the economic ‘slow down’ in China. Yet China optimists would say that there’s an overreaction and that China is reshaping to a consumer society.
Perhaps the ‘new’ China of rampant consumerism was on raw display in the wildly popular Chinese TV dating show If you are the one. With 36 million regular viewers, one young female contestant disclosed her ‘love’ match criteria with the words ‘I would rather cry in a BMW than laugh on the back of a bicycle.’ Her comment made her an overnight celebrity. More...
A Changing World
There’s probably no more startling evidence of change than the development of the ‘bionic human’. Watch this extraordinary TED presentation about the new bionics creating enhanced human capacity. Alleged disability becomes ability! It’ll have your mind leaping!
Just as will the ticklingly funny discussion (also on TED) between Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin exploring how women’s relationships differ from men’s. As we’re (ICA) interested in small business, it makes us wonder about how women manage small business differently from men. It’s a cultural difference! More...
Self-employment update: Innovation, happiness and the ‘gig’ economy
Last week, ICA’s Executive Director, Ken Phillips, wrote an open letter to Prime Minister Turnbull which was published in Business Spectator. It was about the PM’s desire for an innovation society. Ken said small business innovation is in trouble because of the Tax Office and other matters. He said that there are two tasks: More...
Recent Posts
- Covid and the oppression of government regulation and regulators
- California Attacks Santa Claus – A Victorian Agenda?
- 800 Deaths – Social media campaign to prosecute Victorian Government
- 800 deaths – The facts are clear. The Vic government must be prosecuted
- Oz unions’ weird desire to impose ‘permanent’ wage slavery
- Scary! Victoria’s second attempt at hotel quarantine starts today. Will it be safe????
- There’s a small business reform ‘steam train’ happening with the federal government
- A gold-lined ATO stuff-up blows up in the ATO’s face
- Reforming the ATO – An economic recovery agenda
- The Andrews government should stop picking on the Islamic community over Covid
![]() Be Protected! |
Tags
- 457 visas (2)
- AB5 California (4)
- Abbott government (43)
- ABCC (2)
- ABNs (26)
- ACCC (27)
- ACTU (1)
- advertising (2)
- aged care (1)
- ALP policy (39)
- Andrews government (20)
- Asian economies (6)
- ASIC (14)
- ATO (142)
- Australian Constitution (1)
- Australian politics (295)
- Australian Senate (53)
- autocratic government (8)
- Banking sector (10)
- big business (74)
- branding (2)
- Budget 2015 (2)
- Budget 2020 (1)
- bureaucratic capture (3)
- business names (27)
- business-union ties (43)
- California (3)
- Canada (6)
- Canadian provinces (1)
- Car industry (2)
- Carbon tax (1)
- CFMEU (9)
- China (9)
- Chinese economy (2)
- Coalition policy (76)
- Coate Inquiry (9)
- Collusion (22)
- communication (3)
- competition policy (19)
- computer/IT sector (8)
- Conference (7)
- construction (32)
- construction codes (15)
- contractor status (162)
- Coronavirus (35)
- Coronavirus: Govt Support (15)
- Coronavirus–OHS (12)
- corporate welfare (7)
- corruption (20)
- couriers (18)
- defending our rights (296)
- DINs (1)
- disability services (1)
- disclosure requirements (7)
- dispute resolution (23)
- disruption (11)
- drug abuse (1)
- effects test (4)
- Election 2013 (15)
- Election 2016 (4)
- Election 2019 (19)
- Entrepreneurial Index (1)
- entrepreneurship (148)
- Europe (19)
- fair contracts (85)
- Fair Work Commission (2)
- Fair Work Ombudsman (3)
- Federal SBC (4)
- finance (9)
- financial advisers (3)
- fixing disputes (2)
- foreign workers (2)
- franchising (21)
- freelancing (58)
- Frontier Centre (1)
- GEEIndex (3)
- Gig economy (24)
- Global economies (26)
- global news (71)
- government power (8)
- govt-business ties (17)
- govt-union ties (11)
- GST (2)
- Heydon Report (4)
- HMRC (4)
- hotel quarantine (1)
- ICAC (1)
- illegal logging laws (2)
- independence (29)
- industrial relations (43)
- infrastructure (1)
- innovation (25)
- 'insecure' work (2)
- insolvency laws (1)
- Inspector-General Taxation (35)
- insurance (1)
- Internet (1)
- Ireland (3)
- IRS (7)
- IT contractors (3)
- Japan (1)
- job creation (14)
- Job security (19)
- JobKeeper (8)
- JobMaker (1)
- JobSeeker (5)
- Just for fun (7)
- Kenya (1)
- Labour hire (4)
- liberty (9)
- Lockdown exit (13)
- management capacity (6)
- Massachusettsd (8)
- mental health (3)
- misclassification laws (16)
- Morrison Government (34)
- national debt (2)
- nationhood (1)
- New South Wales (1)
- New Zealand (1)
- Obamacare (1)
- OHS harmonisation (2)
- owner-drivers (32)
- Pay on Time Pledge (3)
- productivity (11)
- Productivity Commission (3)
- profiles (9)
- Prompt payment (13)
- public service (2)
- racism (2)
- red tape (27)
- research (24)
- Resources (1)
- responsibility (17)
- Reverse factoring (5)
- Richard Boyle (3)
- scams (4)
- self-employment (301)
- shopping centres (9)
- Shorten Opposition (20)
- small business (326)
- small business commisioners (30)
- Small Business Ombudsman (3)
- small business tax tribunal (17)
- South Australia (2)
- stupid legislation (6)
- superannuation (11)
- Tax evasion (8)
- taxation (134)
- taxpayer privacy (2)
- technology (6)
- textile workers (1)
- The rule of law (22)
- tradesmen (4)
- transparency (18)
- truckies (29)
- Turnbull Government (35)
- TWU (19)
- Uber (15)
- unemployment (5)
- union power (67)
- union violence (5)
- United Kingdom (32)
- United States (37)
- US 2020 Election (1)
- US politics (11)
- Victoria (34)
- Victorian council elections (2)
- Victorian election (4)
- Victorian 'roadmap' (7)
- WA Election 2017 (2)
- Western Australia (7)
- white australia (1)
- work flexibility (16)
- work pressure (2)
- work safety (9)
- worker's compensation (2)
- work-life balance (17)
- workplace interaction (4)
- workplace manslaughter legislation (7)
- WorkSafe prosecution (6)
- WorkSafe Victoria (6)
Archive
- January 2021 (1)
- December 2020 (6)
- November 2020 (1)
- October 2020 (6)
- September 2020 (7)
- August 2020 (5)
- July 2020 (5)
- June 2020 (1)
- May 2020 (5)
- April 2020 (3)
- March 2020 (5)
- February 2020 (2)
- December 2019 (2)
- November 2019 (2)
- October 2019 (2)
- September 2019 (2)
- August 2019 (5)
- July 2019 (3)
- June 2019 (3)
- May 2019 (5)
- April 2019 (5)
- March 2019 (7)
- February 2019 (4)
- January 2019 (4)
- December 2018 (3)
- November 2018 (6)
- October 2018 (4)
- September 2018 (3)
- August 2018 (5)
- July 2018 (4)
- June 2018 (3)
- May 2018 (3)
- April 2018 (5)
- March 2018 (1)
- February 2018 (6)
Small Cost, Big Benefits