13 Sep MANDATORY CLIMATE REPORTING BECOMES LAW; STRICT RULES TO COMBAT SCAMS
MANDATORY CLIMATE REPORTING BECOMES LAW
The House of Representatives voted this month to introduce new mandatory climate reporting requirements for mid-to-large sized companies.
The changes to the Treasury Act mean that mid-to-large sized companies will now have to report on their climate emissions, and the legislation represents a major step forward in Australia’s quest to become a net zero economy.
Initial reporting requirements will begin in January 2025 and will apply to companies that have more than 500 employees, revenues over $500 million or assets over $1 billion. Asset owners with more than $5 billion in assets will have to start reporting in January 2025, while mid-sized companies will have until July 2026 to get their ducks in a row.
STRICT RULES TO COMBAT SCAMS
New laws to combat financial scams could mean fines of up to $50 million on banks, mobile networks and social media companies that fail to act against fraudulent schemes, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
The reforms, which require companies to immediately report scams, allow the Australian Financial Complains Authority to enforce refunds for those affected. They also mandate that companies screen for known scams so they can be prevented and introduce requirements for internal scams defense plans.
These changes couldn’t come sooner. Australians reported 601,000 scams over the year and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) in April revealed that scams are costing Australian households at least $2.7 billion per year.
PART-TIME IS OUT, FULL-TIME-FLEX IS IN!
It seems the days of part-time work are dwindling as Australians embrace the rise of full-time but flexible roles.
The Age discusses the latest Gender Equity Insight report, which reveals a 3.2 per cent decrease in part-time work among women. Flexible full-time roles for all genders, such as hybrid work, have skyrocketed from 2.3 per cent to 42.5 per cent.
The report urges employers to normalise flexible arrangements to combat the ‘promotion cliff’, which sees part-time workers promoted at half the rate of their full-time peers. Agency director Mary Wooldridge notes that having increased flexible management roles could expand the employee talent pool, and greatly assist in reducing the gender pay gap.
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