As some of our AALARA members are already aware, the Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC) is moving towards a federal award system.

Part of this process involves reducing the number of awards currently in existence. Existing agreements and awards will now fall under the Entertainment and Broadcasting (other than racing) industry, with a proposed modern award to fall in the "Amusement, Events and Recreation Award 2010".

The modernisation of Awards within the Entertainment Industry have been reviewed since about February of this year. During this period, the AIRC has received numerous written and verbal submissions regarding both the scope and content of the Modern Entertainment Awards.

The Draft Amusement, Events and Recreation Award was only prepared by the AIRC after a lengthy process of consultation and consideration. However, there was only limited submissions and involvement by employer representatives during this process as there was not much awareness that input from employers was being sought. AALARA has engaged the services of Livingstone's Australia to prepare a submission representing industry sectors of our membership. A copy of this submission is attached here.

On Monday 29 June 2009, AALARA was represented by Livingstone’s Australia at the Full Bench Hearing in Sydney. (If you would like a copy of the transcript from the hearing please contact the AALARA office). We now await the deliberation and outcome which we understand will be provided in September 2009. We are currently taking on advice of Livingstone’s Australia in relation to further action and as part of this process will undertake a schedule of lobbying of Federal and State ministers.

Once it is released, the AIRC will be undertaking further consultations regarding a process of transitioning to the new Award. Under the Act, the AIRC has up to 5 years to fully implement the new Modern Award. We believe that in the current economic conditions and if there is significant change to the Award structure, any negative impact of the Modern Award could be phased in over a period of time. The terms of this transition would need to be determined.

Our office will continue to review the feedback from AALARA members for the purposes of lobbying government. However, we encourage each AALARA member to write to your local federal and state member in relation to the impact this new award will have on your business and employment within your local communities.

We suggest you include on your company letter head the following information, along with your own concerns in relation to the impact on our industries:

RE: Exposure Draft May 2009- Amusement, events and Recreation Award 2010

My industry association AALARA Inc., has made contact with Minister Julia Gillard seeking an urgent meeting. This matter is a vital one for our industries with potentially devastating consequences for my business and the jobs it provides. Currently our industries employ casuals outside the regular business hours that full-time staff are not prepared to work. Previously the exclusion of additional penalty and overtime rates for casual employees in addition to their casual loading made it possible to fill these positions. The exposure draft entitles casual employees to overtime and to penalty rates for Sunday and public holidays. These higher rates are to be paid in addition to the casual loading of 25%. This will have a significant impact on our businesses and the viability of weekend trading. I hope you will actively support our position in any future Parliamentary vote and I would appreciate your strong encouragement of Julia Gillard to meet with our AALARA representatives. I would be pleased to provide a full briefing of my concerns if you have the time to meet.

Rob BradleyPresident, AALARA Inc