Message from the CEO – Stuart Norman
On behalf of the Board of Directors and the staff at Parking Australia I would like to wish you a very Merry Christmas. As we know while people may not be going to work over the break, we do know that motorists will be looking to drive and park at places such as beaches, shopping centres and airports. As such to those of you who are having a break, I trust you have a safe and relaxing time and for those working we trust that this period goes as smoothly as possible for you.
2022 has seen some segments of the industry rebound after two pandemic effected years. This is especially the case for retail and airports yet other segments especially CBD parking in Sydney and Melbourne have not experienced the uplift we had hoped for.
In a recent survey conducted by the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry one in five CBD employees are working in the office five days a week and 41% are back in the office at least three days per week.
These figures are of no surprise as the Property Council has stated that Melbourne trails the nation when it comes to office occupancy rates with 57 per cent of offices being occupied. Perth (80per cent) has the best office occupancy rate followed by Adelaide (74 per cent), Brisbane (67 per cent) and Sydney (59 per cent), being just ahead of Melbourne.
Parking Australia Welcomes New President and Board Member
At the recent Parking Australia AGM, it was announced that Craig Ion from the City of Maribyrnong had been elected to the Board of Directors. Gary Byrne (ParkAid) and Joe Larosa (Skidata) were also re-elected for another term.
As per the constitution, Parking Australia Office Bearers are elected at the first board meeting following the AGM. With Sharon Prior (City of Adelaide) having served her full-term on the board a new President needed to be elected. Congratulations to Angelique Mentis (thatsmyspot) who was elected President and Mosstyn Howell (UbiPark) Vice-President for the upcoming year.
New Workplace Law Changes
The Federal Government has had their new Workplace Relations law changes pass both houses of parliament. It’s important that all businesses are aware of these changes, which include:
• limits to employment relationships in fixed or maximum-term contracts, which must now include an agreed end date;
• flexible work expanded to include employees caring for family members over age 55 or in family and domestic violence circumstances;
• pay secrecy clauses in employment contracts are forbidden;
• increased obligations relating to requests for unpaid parental leave extensions; and
• sexual harassment is prohibited, as is subjecting people to a hostile work environment on the basis of their sex.
There have also been some changes made to enterprise bargaining agreements. For an outline of the changes we refer you to the Amendments to the Fair Work Act Become Law | LegalVision.