This was the signal we’ve been looking for and it’s now up to every business to have conversations with their teams about their arrangements. The level of collaboration and social connection that comes from being in the workplace is clear and the return will also provide a huge shot of confidence for Melbourne’s CBD and city centres in Regional Victoria.

The other big news from last week was the Jobs and Skills Summit, which has already actioned some areas. We were delighted that the Australian Government has announced a number of proposals we presented in a joint communique with business, universities and other key industry groups.

The initiatives include an extra additional $1 billion in joint Federal-State funding for fee-free TAFE in 2023 and accelerated delivery of 465,000 fee-free TAFE places and a one-off income credit so that age pensioners who want to work can earn an additional $4,000 over this financial year without losing any of their pension.

The Jobs and Skills Summit committed to improving access to jobs and training pathways for women, First Nations peoples, regional Australians and culturally and linguistically diverse people, including equity targets for training places and other measures to reduce barriers to employment.

It also pledged an increase in the permanent migration program ceiling to 195,000 in 2022-23 to help ease widespread, critical workforce shortages and extending visas and relaxing work restrictions on international students to strengthen the pipeline of skilled labour and providing additional funding to resolve the visa backlog. You can read more on this here.

I want to acknowledge everyone who helped inform our advocacy and in particular thank the Ai Group, Minter Ellison, Australian Hotels Association, University of Melbourne, Swinburne University of Technology, Holmesglen Institute, Aurecon, Bendigo Kangan Institute, Dreamtime Art, Deakin University and Bunnings for their contributions.

Finally, I’m pleased to announce that the Victorian Chamber has partnered with Credly, a leading badging platform, to provide high-quality digital certification badges that showcase your achievements and validate your professional and technical expertise. They can also be shared on your social accounts, added to digital resumes and included in email signatures, linking back to your Credly page to explain what you learned and completed to earn each badge. More information can be found here.

With footy finals back in Melbourne, I can’t tell you how uplifting it was to see the number of people in the city with their team scarves and beanies, though there were more than a few sad faces around the office on Monday! As I stated in the Herald Sun, we’ve already seen the impact of the AFL Finals returning with 170,000 fans attending two games at the MCG last weekend.

There are still a handful of seats left to our widely anticipated, annual Victorian Chamber Pitcher Partners Grand Final Lunch, the first one we have been able to hold in person again after the last two were held virtually. These will go fast, so secure yours now!

Enjoy the weekend. Spring in Victoria, and how good is it!!