The Productivity Commission has today released its draft report into the Economic Structure and Performance of the Australian Retail Industry. While I have only read the overview so far, it looks quite interesting.
I particularly like that the draft recommendations call for action on the retail tenancies:
COAG should ensure that all current National Retail Tenancy Working Group projects are fully implemented. It should also re-examine the outstanding recommendations from the Commission’s 2008 retail tenancy report with a view to expanding the work plan of the National Retail Tenancy Working Group.
I also like their recommendation on the Fair Work Act:
The Australian Government should, within the context of the current system and consistent with the maintenance of minimum safety net provisions for all employees, examine retail industry concerns about the operation of the Fair Work Act. This should include consideration of options to address any significant obstacles to the efficient negotiation of enterprise-based arrangements, that have the potential to improve overall productivity. The post-implementation review of the Fair Work Act, which is to commence before 1 January 2012, should provide the appropriate review mechanism. The first review of modern awards, scheduled for 2012, is a further opportunity to address concerns that relate specifically to the operation of relevant retail awards.
The report also makes recommendations around the handling of GST on online purchases. It will be interesting to see if Amazon and others engage here on this issue as they have done in the US.
The ANF made an excellent submission on behalf of newsagents.
It is time for the government to engage with retail and support this sector of the economy. For decades government has thrown truckloads of cash at mining, auto and other sectors. Retail needs help, not handouts, but structural reform to enable us to be competitive.
All sides of politics have let retailers down for decades.