I was incredibly proud today as our President Adrian Kloeden hosted a lunch to celebrate the Victorian Chamber’s 25 years of involvement in supporting Apprenticeships in Victoria. It was an honour to be joined by so many members and esteemed guests at Crown Melbourne for Apprenticeship Support Australia’s (ASA) 25-year celebration luncheon, including our guest speaker, the Hon Brendan O’Connor MP, Federal Minister for Skills and Training.

Some prominent industry names are benefiting from the SummerTech LIVE digital skills program co-delivered by the Victorian Chamber.

Landfill operators are being asked to provide operational and regulatory feedback to the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) Victoria.

The Victorian Government pilot scheme enabling casual, contract, self-employed workers access to sick and carer’s pay has been expanded and now includes more occupations.

I’m coming to you this week from beautiful Bendigo, where today we hosted one of our important Regional Roundtables. Hearing directly from business and industry is the best way for us to really get to the heart of our members’ concerns and challenges.

We are gearing up for our highly-anticipated Victorian Chamber Presents: Victoria – the home of innovation event next week. Political and industry leaders, entrepreneurs and visionaries will come together to reveal future trends and explore strategies to foster innovation in the business landscape.

Taking the temperature of the Victorian business community over the past few weeks, there is a distinctive chill in the confidence barometer. 

I was fortunate to catch up this week with an extremely impressive woman in Freda Miriklis, Chair of the Commonwealth Businesswomen’s Network (CBWN). The Victorian Chamber first cemented our connection with the CWBN in Geneva at the World Chambers Congress, where our Chamber Change program was a finalist in the Best Gender Equity Project category in the World Chambers Competition. It was great to discuss how we are going to collaborate with the CWBN to continue our work to help empower women in business.

Retail tenants need to take important steps to prepare for the end of their lease to meet responsibilities and avoid issues.

I hope this finds you well. I, for one, am still buzzing from last night’s Victorian Chamber President’s Dinner – our night of nights where we get to celebrate our members and the contribution that business makes to our great state.

Employees have access to 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave in a 12-month period under new laws.

Ethnic name discrimination highlights glass ceilings do exist in the workplace, according to a Monash Business School study.

In another busy week for the Victorian Chamber, the hallways of our Collins St headquarters on Tuesday best demonstrated the role we play across all levels and sides of government.

A new discussion paper launched by the Victorian Opposition encourages people to have their say on Victoria’s tax system – which has introduced 50 new or increased taxes since 2014 and is described as “discouraging investment and job creation in our State”.

Financial support is available for businesses affected by the ending of native timber harvesting.

While we usually open with a positive message, there is no way to sugarcoat the blow of the news that Victoria will no longer be hosting the 2026 Commonwealth Games.