The Policy Paper is a product of more than 150 hours of work collectively across the organisation, led by Dylan Broomfield and Sonja Rose from our Policy and Advocacy team. The impost of regulation has consistently being one of the top three issues for our business community and this paper seeks to highlight our members’ concerns and provide a pathway to address them.

A more efficient regulatory system is one of the keys to improving productivity, and with Victoria perceived as one of the most expensive places in Australia to do business, adopting the paper’s recommendations would improve this. Further, with the current economic headwinds and rising costs-of-living, the Victorian Government must prioritise implementing policies and strategies now to improve business productivity and help facilitate employment and economic growth.

You can find the Regulatory Reform Policy Paper and our four recommendations here. Thank you to all our members who provided feedback over the last 6 months.

In positive news for our state, Victoria’s visitor economy celebrated a momentous occasion yesterday, with the latest figures from Tourism Research Australia demonstrating record-breaking figures across the sector. For the year ending March 2023, tourism spending in our state surged to a record-breaking $35 billion. This milestone achievement is even more remarkable considering that the pre-COVID peak in 2019 was $32.5 billion.

This outstanding progress is a result of the collective effort, resilience, and creativity of the hard-working individuals in the tourism and business sectors. I extend my heartfelt appreciation to all participants in Victoria’s diverse and compelling visitor economy.

And of course, we extend our congratulations to Visit Victoria, who has been a significant contributor to the growth of Melbourne and regional Victoria through our tourism campaigns and blockbuster events calendar.

If you haven’t seen it across our social media channels, I am thrilled to share that our Chamber Change program was announced as a top three finalist in the 2023 World Chambers Congress (WCC) Competition for Best Gender Equity project.

Furthermore, we have been buoyed by the response to the project from the WCC, where we were inundated by requests to share the specifics of the program from Chambers across the globe. The baton has now been passed from Geneva to Melbourne, and we look forward to celebrating innovation through business at the 14th World Chambers Congress, to be held here in 2025.

Importantly, I want to share in the sorrow felt across the nation following the news of Hon. Simon Crean’s passing. A highly respected figure in Australian politics, Mr Crean made significant contributions to the economic landscape of Victoria and the entire country, and we extend our deepest condolences to his family and friends during this difficult time.

Finally, as we are readying ourselves for a new financial year, it’s a great opportunity to review your business’ performance and set new financial goals for the incoming year. The Victorian Chamber has a wide range of services and informative articles by our members to help you navigate these paths, including the Australian Taxation Office’s key focus areas this financial year and how to get your business ready for the 2023-24 period.

Have a wonderful week everyone – one week of school holidays down, one to go!