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Last week we expressed our strong support for the deal to bring forward to this year the implementation of the Building Code for the construction sector. We billed the move as the Senate independents again demonstrating their common sense and willingness to listen to the ‘little people’.

Today we’ve lodged a submission to the Senate Inquiry into the Bill explaining why we support the deal.

Our submission is here. More...

Yesterday we congratulated the Senate independents for moving the implementation date forward for the Federal Construction Code to this year. This will be a big help to small business construction subbies.

Today we noticed some commentary in The Australian that big builders will have difficulties negotiating new compliant agreements with the building union, the CFMEU. We think that’s rubbish. We’ve seen before how quickly these agreements are changed when winning or losing business is on the line!!! More...

We were delighted to see in The Australian yesterday that the Senate independents are backing a deal to bring forward the implementation of the Australian Construction Code. This is a huge win for small business subbies in the construction sector. More...

Western Australia goes to the polls on 11 March. It’s looking like a cliffhanger.
 
One Nation is polling at 11 per cent and fielding candidates in 45 of the 59 Lower House seats and in all Upper House seats. Its polling numbers are double those of the Greens. There’s a strong prospect that after the election government will only be formed with the support of One Nation.  More...

A very big Season’s Greetings to all ICA members, supporters, friends and contributors—of which there are many! 2016 has been an impressive year in terms of achieving positive outcomes for self-employed people.  More...

The Victorian government this week imposed the first sanction against a construction firm for breach of the Victorian Construction Code, banning it from tendering for a period of 3 months. The firm was dictating industrial relations arrangements to a subcontractor, forcing the subbie to use the union. Ken Phillips explains the issue here. More...

Ken Phillips wrote in Business Spectator about the huge threat to Victoria if the ALP wins the upcoming November election. Ken says that to elect Labor  “…the voters will have put the CFMEU in control of Victoria".  Labor supports the CFMEU’s aim to terminate the state's Construction Code even when CFMEU officials are facing Federal Court proceedings and court proceedings for alleged coercion. More...

In extraordinary media reports yesterday, it appears that major construction firms have decided to keep construction costs as high as possible. If true, they are in the ‘business’ of conspiring against the people of Australia in defiance of the combined commercial weight of Coalition governments across Australia. More...

If you’re in the Australian construction industry as a self-employed person, there’s good news! If you remember, the Victorian government has attempted a new code of conduct for tenderers that would protect independent contractors. But the construction unions won a case in the Federal Court that seemed to block the code. On Thursday, the Full Bench of the Federal Court knocked off the single judge’s decision saying, in part, that “…conclusions of this kind appear to … reflect value judgments rather than legal conclusions.” Ouch! Here’s the judgment and an excellent summary of the implications by Robert Gottliebsen. Good on the Victorian government for sticking to its guns to protect subbies in construction! The protective codes are now going national. More...

Webinars for information 30 July, 1 August 2013

On Monday 1 July 2013 new building and construction procurement guidelines came into force to ensure value for money on NSW infrastructure projects. More...