The Greens have announced that their little survey (below) of workplace bullying supports the need for government regulation of your workplace relationships.
“The survey results not only show that bullying remains a real problem in ACT workplaces, but that bullying incidents commonly go unreported. People who do report bulling incidents are frequently dissatisfied with the response [...]

The Business Spectator has a story on construction group St Hilliers shuffling off this mortal coil:
“The administration of St Hilliers Construction Pty Ltd is due to exposure under guarantees for debts of St Hilliers Ararat Pty Ltd relating to the Ararat Prison project in Victoria,” the company said in a statement.
The administration does not [...]

Simon Corbell has announced his thoughts on where the big shops are going to be in the new Molonglo development (known to planning nerds as a “community focused group centre”).
He’d also like to get yours.
“The Molonglo Valley is an exciting new development for the ACT and it is imperative that we get the views of [...]

The Illawarra Mercury is throwing the toys out of the pram over a little publicised decision to build a Manufacturing Technology Innovation Centre in Canberra’s CBD.
The $29.8 million project will allow researchers and firms to collaborate to devise new techniques and products.
It is the latest addition to Enterprise Connect’s national network of ‘‘innovation centres’’.
The announcement [...]

Hello fellow ACT rioters,
I plan to sell my property for the first time soon, so this query is for those property owners/landlords who recently sold their properties through a real estate agent.
What are the common commission and charges around at the moment?
Is it worth using a real estate agent or is it better to sell [...]

Yesterday we noted there was news on the National Capital Authority getting some much needed money in exchange for making life easier for property developers.
Today it becomes clear that Simon Crean has announced this as part of the Government response to the Hawke review.

“The report’s recommendations included simplifying the planning system and better recognising the [...]

The Greens are celebrating a crime against the english language as security guards can now get long service leave even when they don’t perform long service.
I know it’s been extended to other sectors before now as everyone puts their hands up.
“This is another debate that has flushed out the Canberra Liberals’ inaction on helping individuals [...]

The ABC have the news that, in a further prostitution of the budget process as the spinners turn, an extra $12 million for the National Capital Authority is coming tonight, spread over 4 years, and predicated on “simplifying” planning controls on national land.
Regional Australia Minister Simon Crean says the NCA must resolve confusion about [...]

There are many reasons why Mail Boxes ETC (MBE) Manuka continues to steadily grow its business but the primary one is the trust of their customers.
MBE Manuka provides a range of professional business services focusing on small to medium-sized businesses.
Contact them if you need design, printing and copying (digital and offset), private mailboxes, virtual [...]

I know there are lots of individuals and companies out there doing websites.
I am looking to build a website for a local small business and I need a company that will listen, be responsive to the job requirements, have a bit of flair and be practical.
They must also have a bit of an [...]

Hi, I’m a former Canberra resident (Flynn, Scullin) and I’ve been living in Greece for the last 21 years. I’m sure that if you haven’t been living under a rock on an island somewhere you probably have some inkling of how bad things have gotten here recently with the outlook for the near future being [...]

Andrew Barr has alerted social media to the release of his Business Development Strategy for this fair city.
The goal of the ACT Government Business Development Strategy is growth, diversification and jobs…. fb.me/BVIM1Zxd
— Andrew Barr (@ABarrMLA) April 30, 2012

The objective of this strategy is to broaden the contribution of the private sector by facilitating growth, economic [...]

Hey Rioters,
Our Book Keeper rather un ceremoniously left us today with under 48 hours notice, while he did an amazing job during his time with us giving notice was obviously not a strong point!
Can anyone recommend a good Book Keeper in the City / Inner North area who is a wizard on MYOB and can [...]

So when I broke my Iphone screen (dropped it on cement), I continued to use it for about three months as everything else was working fine, it was just a crack in the screen which made some things hard to read but it was ignorable.
I had spare money and so I thought, why not get [...]

I’m after some advice on options for receiving payment from clients via credit/debit card and EFTPOS.
I’m a very small business and I want to be able to take payment from clients either over the phone or at time of consultation. Problem is the standard EFTPOS machines from a bank cost a fortune! Yes they are [...]

Andrew Barr is paving the way for his upcoming Business Development Strategy with new criteria for tenders and a Red Tape Reduction Panel.
1. To support local businesses the Government will introduce a new evaluation criteria for all goods and services tenders that puts a weighting against whether the tenderer is a local small-medium enterprise [...]

Andrew Barr is celebrating the latest CommSec data on the ACT Economy:
The report found that:
– The ACT had the second highest over-performance against the decade-long average in population growth. In the September quarter 2011 the ACT had a population growth of 1.92 cent, behind only WA (2.63 per cent). The ACT and WA [...]

I have been looking for a new job in the IT field as the writing is on the wall for the one I have now. The new game seems to be contracting. No more solid walk in jobs based on years of experience. So, I dressed up and went to pimp myself and my skills [...]

For the 2nd time in less than a week my car has been spammed by useless numpties.
Parking in a car park in Belconnen these two fliers were left under the windshield.
Apart from being illegal (litter laws) they’re both annoying and dangerous.
For the second one, the fool who did it only put it slightly [...]

The Liberals Brendan Smyth is laying the blame for the decline of tourism to the ACT at the feet of Tourism Minister Andrew Barr.
Tourism everywhere in this country is in trouble due to the sky high Australian dollar.
Frankly as a nation I’d rather our children earn a crust building railways to carry iron ore trains [...]

Let me say upfront that I am a Business Coach, and I hope that this doesn’t scare people off from the start. Coaching is an industry that has strong levels of opinion one way or the other depending on people’s experiences or views. We aren’t all bad, and we aren’t for everyone (just as [...]

This might be stating the obvious but the ACT Labor Government’s solar plan is receiving plenty of interest from the renewable energy industry, as Simon Corbell announced yesterday. Forty nine separate prequalification proposals were received, showing that the nation’s capital is keen to get started on a large scale solar facility.
“This level of interest [...]

IT News brings word that a down-in-the-weeds government has decided local cable network provider TransACT will be allowed to upgrade their fibre optics to VDSL2
The service provider, bought last year by iiNet for $60 million, had begun an upgrade of the 12-year-old network in Canberra in March 2009 to VDSL2, with promises of speed [...]

WorkSafe ACT has announced the publication of their report on bullying at CIT:
“The WorkSafe ACT investigation found that the CIT had breached its responsibilities under the Territory’s health and safety legislation,” said Mr McCabe.
“WorkSafe ACT’s inspector determined that the CIT does not have an adequate system for preventing or responding to allegations of bullying and [...]

mUmBRELLA brings news that the Canberra spawned Ali Baba chain is bringing in new ponytails to change their image:
A spokesperson for the family-run Lebanese chain said the brand wanted to push the chain’s fresh food credentials, reach a broader section of Australians and help the company expand from suburban food courts to high street [...]

The ABC is reporting on doom and gloom amongst the ACT’s employers as business starts to hold its breathe to see what the May budget will bring.
It’s worth remembering thousands of Canberrans clutching redundancy payments will be no bad thing for the local economy in the short term.

The Summary of Cabinet Outcomes for 26 March has an interesting tidbit:
City Centre Marketing and Improvements Grant
Cabinet agreed to renew the City Centre Marketing and Improvements Grant and reappoint Canberra CBD Limited to administer the Grant for an additional three years. The Grant is funded through an amendment to the Rates Act 2004, introduced [...]

The ABC has the worrying news that despite promises to cut costs the ACT Public Service picked up an extra 674 full time staff last financial year:
Chief Minister Katy Gallagher says the public service will continue to grow at a moderate rate over the next few years to match population growth.
“I think it’s a pretty [...]

Crikey has a cheerful analysis on why the public service will continue to grow:
While stories about staff cuts are attention-grabbing, we should also take into account that there will be other some other areas of the public service that will grow.
We already know, for example, that Ausaid is to expand enormously, with (roughly) a [...]

The Independent Competition and Regulatory Commission has made Zed Seselja’s day by announcing that the price on carbon is sending your power bills shooting up as of July 2012:
The Independent Competition and Regulatory Commission today released its draft report on retail prices for franchise electricity customers. The draft price direction in that report increases the [...]

When we get a media release from Canberra FM radio it’s not to tell us about bad ratings. But they do seem very happy with their recent performance:
Canberra FM Radio stations 104.7 and mix106.3 have again dominated the Canberra radio airwaves according to the Neilsen Survey 1 results released today. 104.7 has added another notch [...]

The ABC reports that the Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency needs to downsize from 900 to about 600 staff to meet the demands of its budget.
Anyone else suddenly much happier with their job this morning?
[Photo by KaiChanVong CC BY 2.0]