A person can legally work in Australia if they are an Australian or New Zealand citizen, permanent resident, or hold a valid visa with permission to work. The Victorian Chamber can help businesses recruit overseas workers and fulfil their legal obligations.

The Victorian Government has reintroduced the indoor mask mandate as COVID-19 cases continue to rise.

The beginning of the year is the ideal opportunity to reassess your HR documentation and organisational strategy. This can include employment contracts, resetting expectations about standards of behaviour and revising working arrangements. In 2022, be proactive and confident to recast your existing approach with a new strategy.

The need to be fast, agile and ahead of the curve on all levels of customer service is no longer a ‘nice idea,’ it’s a business imperative. This tipping point has created an abundance of work for IT teams in Australia and around the globe, and a backlog of work that needs to be delivered now, not next year. If you, like so many companies, didn’t jump early into this digital race, how do you catch up? While I’m here to advise Australian organisations (small, medium or large) on how to do this, you must first understand that the crisis isn’t over.  

The Victorian Chamber – in partnership with the Victorian Government Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions – is proud to announce ten deserving finalists in the Victorian COVIDSafe Business Awards.

Well, we made it through, and Christmas is now on our doorstep.

10 finalists across three categories have been announced as part of the Victorian COVIDSafe Business Awards, created to recognise industry leaders who have been exemplars in their response to the COVID-19 pandemic and have demonstrated innovative and commendable safety and compliance strategies and measures.

The Commercial Tenancy Relief Scheme is ending on 15 January 2022. Although eligible tenants will no longer be entitled to rent relief after this date, tenants and landlords will still have access to support via the Victorian Small Business Commission.

Melbourne is leading the charge for Australia in the medtech, biotech and pharmaceutical industries with the recent announcements of the Monash University Smart Manufacturing Hub to deliver Australia’s first mRNA vaccine for clinical trials, the new Australian Institute of Infectious Disease in the Parkville Biomedical precinct, and the latest partnership with Moderna to manufacture its mRNA vaccine in Melbourne.

Industry self-regulatory body for the .au domain, auDA, has released its inaugural Digital Lives of Australians 2021 Report. The report finds Australian consumers and small businesses benefit immensely from the Internet, but cybersecurity threats continue to pose a huge concern.

Customers and staff will still be required to wear face masks in many indoor settings while some vaccination mandates will ease under new COVID-19 regulations that the Victorian Government announced today.

The Victorian Chamber is engaging with members to develop a business-first agenda for the 2022 Federal and State Elections.

For 23 years, the Australian Government has contracted the Victorian Chamber to deliver a suite of services and support through the Australian Apprenticeship Support Network (AASN) at no cost to employers and individuals across Victoria.

On 1 July this year, WorkSafe Victoria introduced provisional payments to provide better support for workers with a mental injury. Eligible workers and volunteers who submit a mental injury claim can now access provisional payments for reasonable treatment and services while their claim is being determined.

Thousands of businesses providing educational experiences for Victorian schoolchildren will be given a boost under the Victorian Government’s $112.9 million Positive Start in 2022 initiative. The funding, announced by Premier Daniel Andrews and Minister for Education James Merlino, aims to get children back enjoying the experiences they missed out on during Victoria’s lockdowns in 2020 and 2021.

As Victoria emerges from COVID-19, the State Government has bolstered the confidence of organisers of creative, sporting, business and community events to plan and stage events with an interruption insurance scheme and restart package.