My tips for the new leadership of the Australian Government

Top 10 Tips for the new leadership of the Australian Government:


So now we have a new Prime Minister. Again.
 
What we now need from our government is vision, unity of purpose, clarity and certainty from the leadership. We need thoughtful and intelligent debate. We need optimism, aspiration, compassion and hope.

For what it’s worth, here are my top 10 tips for the new leadership of the Australian Government.

 

 

1. Before you get started again, get your own house in order. Build a new leadership team that embraces diversity. Diversity of gender, age, ethnicity, thought, skill, perspective, background, life experience. Empower all leaders to play to their strengths but also ensure that they coalesce as a team.
2. Don’t give Cabinet positions to people on the basis of political favour. Do it on the basis of Point 1.
3. Gain consensus on how you will work effectively together as a team to agree on priorities and make decisions. Then convey this to the general public.
4. Get rid of people in Cabinet who don’t want to buy-in to the above.
5. Enable the leader to get out and lead from the front. The leader needs to convey the vision for the future and inspire others to follow. Enable and empower others to use their strengths to support the PM in this effort behind the scenes.
6. Stop talking to the public in three-word slogans. What we need is advocacy and intelligent dialogue not moronic and meaningless platitudes.
7. Focus on policy and positive communication that puts Australia on the world stage and enables us to be perceived as clever, innovative, creative, strong and influential. Stop focusing on policy and communication that makes us feel fearful, negative and powerless or that caters to the red-neck loonies, the self-interested and/or the squeakiest wheels.
8. Tackle the big issues of our time with purpose and gusto on the world stage – climate change, environmental degradation and international turmoil.
9. Tackle the big issues that affect all Australians - tax reform, better health for all Australians. Invest in the future through education and support for innovation. Transform the health system to focus on prevention of illness as well as treatment.
10. And Malcolm, don’t wear a blue tie to work every day.

 

Beware of 'Pseudo-Registration' schemes in the fitness industry

In recent times there have been some people that have decided to set up a ‘pseudo-registration’ scheme for fitness professionals or launch an uncalled for attack on the official professional registration system that exists in Australia.

But beware of people bearing false gifts. They are deceptive. It is evident that they do not make these offers in the best interests of the fitness professionals but merely for private commercial gain.

These ‘pseudo-registration’ schemes make some big promises, such as providing ‘recognition’ for fitness professionals. My question is, recognition from whom or what? This is an empty and meaningless promise, designed to deceive people who may not fully understand the difference between a ‘pseudo-scheme’ and a legitimate scheme. This is tantamount to treating professional registration like a commodity. And all for private commercial gain. Whilst it's perfectly reasonable for anyone to provide services and benefits to fitness professionals or anyone else in the fitness industry, it is not right to position this service as a registration or professional recognition scheme.

In my opinion, this is disgraceful and deceptive behaviour that only serves to fragment and confuse people within the fitness industry. All this at a time when the industry should be striving to work collectively to achieve more and cement its place in the public and preventive health landscape. A fragmented industry will struggle to succeed. A united industry will move forward in the right direction.


The Australian Register of Exercise Professionals for qualified fitness professionals was established many years ago as a collaborative effort between education providers, Fitness Australia and industry employers/operators as an industry self-regulatory mechanism. It provides a system of self-regulation for exercise professionals to ensure that they are suitably credentialed to practice, meet fitness industry standards and are committed to continuing education to enhance their skills and knowledge.

In a profession that is not regulated by government, this self-regulatory mechanism is vitally important for the ongoing good reputation and credibility of the fitness industry and profession, particularly as the industry strives to connect more broadly with the health sector.

This official scheme is administered by Fitness Australia, the official peak body and association for the fitness industry in Australia. Fitness Australia is a not-for-profit entity that is owned and governed by the industry, whereby all funds are reinvested in the development and support of the fitness sector.

The Registration Scheme has a number of objectives, including to:

·         help keep the public safe by ensuring that only fitness professionals who are suitably trained and qualified to practise in a competent and ethical manner are registered;

·         facilitate workforce mobility for fitness professionals;

·         facilitate provision of high quality education and training for fitness professionals;

·         facilitate the assessment of overseas qualified fitness professionals;

·         facilitate access to services provided by fitness professionals, and

·         enable the continuous development of a flexible Australian industry workforce.

These objectives are recognised and shared by the Registration Boards of other professions, including health practitioners. The Register of Exercise Professionals, administered by Fitness Australia, is officially recognised by all three levels of government, regulatory authorities, peak health and sporting groups, the fitness industry, education providers, private health organisations and the public. It is also recognised by the International Confederation of Registers of Exercise Professionals (iCREPS), which has nine members around the world.

In other words, legitimate Professional Registration Schemes are not run by private sector companies, but by the official governing or peak body.

I call on all people in the fitness industry who want professionals to meet certain standards, gain legitimate recognition and build skill and credibility to repudiate those who seek to deceive and disrupt it by offering these types of ‘pseudo-registration’ schemes in Australia.

Let’s all throw our support behind the official Australian Register of Exercise Professionals administered by the peak body, Fitness Australia. For the benefit of the whole industry.

Go to Fitness Australia (for official professional registration)

On the #FITnotFBT Campaign Trail

http://www.fitnotfbt.org.au/

The Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT) Campaign for the fitness industry is now in full swing and gathering momentum. Our overriding aim is to create a level playing field for small businesses by enabling them to take advantage of the same FBT exemption on fitness services that large businesses can benefit from.

Good progress has been made towards this goal, including:

• Development of a substantial policy proposal, with Deloitte modelling, to make a clear case for a policy shift on FBT.
• Submission of a proposal to the Federal Government Tax White Paper consultation process.
• Productive meetings with key Ministers and other influencers and favourable indications that Fitness Australia's proposals have registered with Government and will be given serious consideration.
• Gained support from key employer & employee bodies - ACCI, COSBOA, ACTU.
• The issue and campaign has been put on key decision makers' radar through a detailed article outlining the case, published in the Australian Financial Review and a range of follow-up media.

In recent weeks I've attended meetings, as have other industry campaign supporters, with key people:

• Pre-budget event with the Prime Minister, the Hon Tony Abbott MP
• South Australian Federal Ministers Budget lunch in Adelaide, the Hon Joe Hockey MP, Senator Birmingham, the Hon Christopher Pyne MP and the Hon Jamie Briggs MP.
• Meeting with the Hon John Alexander MP, Member for Bennelong. Accompanied by Tony Dempsey, Head of Legal Counsel for Fitness First.
• Greg Oliver of Goodlife Health Clubs (and former Fitness Australia Board member) has also started to meet with local MP’s in Brisbane to discuss the campaign.
• The Bradfield Dinner in Parliament House on Budget night, hosted by the Hon Paul Fletcher MP, Member for Bradfield.
• Two post-Budget events with Treasurer, Joe Hockey and Assistant Treasurer, Josh Frydenberg.
• A presentation by the Tax Commissioner, Chris Jordan AO.

All of these meetings have served to raise awareness of the FBT campaign and Fitness Australia amongst key political leaders.

We continue to have a range of opportunities to gain further traction and influence, including:

• Lobbying to have the FBT issue included in the Tax Green Paper later this year.
• Build on our support base to show the FBT proposal as an easy win for inclusion in the 2016 Federal Budget.
• Mobilise our support base, including the Opposition, to support a Bill through the Senate.
• In the lead up to the next election, firm up support among all parties to ensure that commitment is maintained.

Whilst this progress has been made it is vitally important that we maintain and build on the momentum. 

In the coming months, Fitness Australia will continue to lobby for this reform, but we need the support of the fitness industry to be successful. You can help by pledging support for the #FITnotFBT campaign and using the campaign resources to raise awareness of the issue with your local Federal Member of Parliament.

We'll be rolling out some local lobbying efforts with leading industry businesses and working to raise more awareness of the campaign amongst the small business sector.

Advocating for a healthier more productive workforce

http://www.fitnotfbt.org.au/

#FITnotFBT –  Let's get Our Tax System Into Shape

Imagine an Australia of the future where more employers can encourage and provide incentives to their employees to get active, fit and healthy with the support of the fitness industry. The nation’s workplaces would reap the benefit through:

• Improved productivity
• Increased employee motivation and engagement
• Improved employee morale
• Reduced absenteeism
• Reductions in the health and economic costs of physical inactivity.
  
  This generates economic growth, which is good for everyone!
  The current Fringe Benefits Tax legislation is a barrier to this vision. That’s why we all need to get behind the #FITnotFBT Campaign.
  
  WHAT'S THE PROBLEM?
  Today, an employer who can provide fitness services on their premises qualifies for a Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT) exemption. However, if a small to medium sized business, which doesn’t have the space on-site, wants to provide the same service off-site, they don’t qualify for an FBT exemption. Given that small to medium businesses account for 70% of all jobs, it is counterproductive to have a tax incentive that effectively discourages the majority of businesses from helping to create a healthier, more productive workforce.
  
  Fitness Australia is urging the Federal Government to address this inequity.
  
  THE PROPOSED SOLUTION 
  

  The #FITnotFBT campaign proposes expanding the exemption to include registered fitness services offered off-site such as visits to local gyms, personal training services, outdoor training and yoga/pilates studios.
  
  

LOBBYING ACTIVITY

Fitness Australia has met with all of the relevant Ministers and Shadow Ministers to discuss the #FITnotFBT campaign and regularly makes submissions to Treasury through the Budget process. The campaign has been well received by government because it 
(a) makes sense, 
(b) offers support to small business, 
(c) encourages investment in the health and wellbeing of workers and 
(d) is not costly to implement. 

The campaign also has the support of influential groups such as the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI), the Council of Small Business of Australia (COSBOA) and the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU). 

The next phase of Fitness Australia’s direct lobbying efforts will be to meet with Members of Parliament across Australia in partnership with fitness business operators and members of their local business community. Our aim is to ensure that as many MP’s as possible are aware of and understand the issue and our proposed solution.

However, to achieve change to this legislation, we need to do more as a united industry and we need to have a louder voice on this issue.

That’s why we need every fitness business in Australia to get behind the #FITnotFBT campaign.

WHY GET INVOLVED?

If off-site fitness services were exempt from FBT, more employers would be financially empowered to offer incentives to their staff to engage in fitness services. That means more clients for the fitness industry, as well as more people getting active and healthy. Therefore, the employer WINS, the employee WINS and the fitness business WINS. So what are you waiting for? 

What you can do to help

1. At the most basic level, you can visit www.FITnotFBT.org.au and show your support. This will generate an email to your local MP about the campaign.
2. Share the #FITnotFBT messages and video through your business – face to face and online.
3. Talk to your clients about the campaign and encourage them to show their support online.
4. Talk to your local business contacts, and encourage them to support the campaign.
5. Utilise the resources in the Campaign Kit that has been sent to all Business Members of Fitness Australia.
6. Contact Fitness Australia to learn more or get involved by emailing fitnotfbt@fitness.org.au or call 1300 211 311.