Andrew Leigh

ASSISTANT MINISTER ANDREW LEIGH 

‘And the OSCA Goes To… Australia’s Resilient Labour Market’

Australian Bureau of Statistics Occupation Standard Classification for Australia (OSCA) Launch

ABS House, Canberra

Friday 6 DECEMBER 2024

Welcome to the world’s most statistically literate Oscar (OSCA) ceremony.

I want to acknowledge traditional owners, recognise all First Nations people present, and to say how much I appreciate the work that the ABS does towards closing the gaps.

It's a rare event where I get to put on my ‘I Love Evidence’ badge, so thank you for giving me an excuse to do that today.

6 December 2024

And the OSCA goes to… Australia’s resilient labour market

The Albanese Government’s responsible economic management has ensured the labour market has been resilient in the face of global and domestic pressures.

More than a million jobs have been created since the election, the participation rate is near record highs and the unemployment rate at 4.1 per cent is lower than its historical average.

The Albanese Government announced $23.7 million funding for the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) to update the national occupation classification standard as part of its ongoing economic plan for a strong labour market.

This is the first major update since 2006 and marks the mutually agreed decision to separate Australia’s occupational classification system from New Zealand’s.

The Hon Andrew Leigh MP

Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury
Assistant Minister for Employment

MEDIA RELEASE

6 December 2024

Proposals to improve transparency of the true owners of unlisted companies

The Albanese Government has released proposals for the first phase of our commitment to improve information on the beneficial ownership of unlisted companies.

The reforms will ensure, for the first time, that unlisted companies maintain an accurate, up-to-date register of their real owners.

Currently, under the Corporations Act 2001, companies must maintain registers of their members. However, beneficial owners – individuals who ultimately control a company through an entity such as a trust - are not always the legal owners of a company and so may not be included in the company’s membership register.

The Hon Andrew Leigh MP

Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities, and Treasury
Assistant Minister for Employment

TRANSCRIPT

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
2CC WITH JOSH HAIZER AND BRENT FORD

Topic: Supporting Philanthropic Giving

5 DECEMBER 2024

BRENT FORD: But there is a change that is coming in terms of the Albanese government looking to make it easier for Australians to support causes close to their heart. And Josh, I know you like supporting causes, so this is one that will be something that you find quite interesting.

JOSH HAIZER: Yeah.

FORD: So, the way that they're looking at doing that is they will remove the requirement that a gift must be at least $2 before a donor can claim a tax deduction.

HAIZER: Oh, before it's tax deductible.

FORD: Yeah.

HAIZER: Yeah, okay.

FORD: I think it's a great idea. And to talk to us more about it is the Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury. He's also the Member for Fenner. Of course I'm talking about Andrew Leigh. A very good afternoon, Andrew.

ANDREW LEIGH: Good afternoon, gents. Great to be with you.

FORD: Why bring about these changes to the donation laws?

LEIGH: Well, this really is getting rid of an odd old law. The $2 donation threshold goes back to before decimal currency. It used to be a 1-pound threshold. And if you look back then, 1 pound is probably worth about 30 bucks today. But it's just stayed in our laws and it's an impediment to these round up for charity schemes which encourage you to round your purchase up and give the extra money to charity. There's a range of charities doing round up that could then collate your donations together at the end of the year. You know, 20 cents here, 50 cents there, over the course of the year it really adds up.

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
ABC RADIO THE COUNTRY HOUR – FAITH TABALUJAN

Topic: Food and Grocery Code of Conduct

4 DECEMBER 2024

Faith Tabalujan, interviewer:  The Labor government maintains this legislation has been broadly welcomed by producers and farming bodies. Assistant Minister for Competition Andrew Leigh says a mandatory code of conduct is key to curbing supermarket power.

Andrew Leigh: The rules that govern the relationship between farmers and supermarkets are the Food and Grocery Code of Conduct. It was set up by the Liberals and Nationals as a toothless voluntary code. We decided to make it mandatory with multimillion dollar penalties for supermarkets that do the wrong thing. We just passed those penalties through the Parliament. This is a really important measure to get a fair go for families and a fair go for farmers.

Supporting philanthropic giving

The Albanese Government is making it easier for Australians to support causes close to their hearts by reforming the tax deductibility of donations and how philanthropic funds operate.

Under the changes, the government will remove the requirement that a gift must be at least $2 before a donor can claim a tax deduction.

This will support greater participation in philanthropy, by encouraging small donations including rounding up purchases at the point‑of‑sale in store and online.

Expressions of Interest for the Volunteer Grants program 2024-25 are now open for organisations based in Fenner.

Volunteer Grants recognise the valuable role volunteers play in building more resilient and cohesive communities. Grants of between $1000 and $5000 are available to help community organisations to support their volunteers.

This year, changes have been made to the Volunteer Grants program to better respond to the environment volunteer organisations are now faced with and our government’s commitment to children and young people.

There are now two categories for Volunteer Grants which reflect areas of high demand for volunteer organisations:

• Category 1: for communications and IT items (such as laptops, phones, payment devices and software), and paying for insurance premiums.
• Category 2: for items and services that support the development and well-being of children and young people under 18.

More information on the eligibility criteria can be found in the Grant Opportunity Guidelines. My office is also happy to help talk you through the changes.

If you are interested in submitting an expression of interest, please fill out the Expression of Interest Form and return to my office via [email protected] by 17 January 2025. 

The West Australian 2 December 2024

On my coffee table sits a board game. Designed by Ralph Anspach, it is called Anti-Monopoly. In the original version of the game, play starts with three kinds of ‘cartels’ – trusts, oligopolies and monopolies – dominating the board. Players represent competition authorities, bringing legal cases against the monopolised businesses. While Monopoly’s goal is unfairness, Anti-Monopoly’s goal is fairness. You win when the board becomes a proper free market system.

Getting a fairer deal for families is at the heart of Labor’s competition agenda. Already, we’ve raised the penalties for anti-competitive conduct and banned unfair contract terms. We’ve given more resources to the competition watchdog to monitor unit pricing and address shrinkflation.

Crucially, Treasurer Jim Chalmers has introduced to parliament the biggest shakeup in Australian merger laws in half a century.

The Hon Amanda Rishworth MP

Minister for Social Services

The Hon Andrew Leigh MP

Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury
Assistant Minister for Employment

The Hon Kate Thwaites MP

Assistant Minister for Social Security
Assistant Minister for Ageing
Assistant Minister for Women

MEDIA RELEASE

Australia’s three million unpaid carers deserve to be seen and deserve to be valued.

That’s why the Albanese Government is funding the Australian Bureau of Statistics to help develop more accurate insights on the contribution carers make to our great country.

Consultation on the best approach to measuring the labour contribution of unpaid carers in Australia starts today, with the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) collecting submissions over a 3-month period.

Feedback received will be used to guide the development and refinement of more detailed experimental estimates to be published in mid-2025. This will be an annual release as part of the Labour Account, using a combination of the Time Use Survey and established ABS earnings estimates.

The Hon Andrew Leigh MP

Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury

Assistant Minister for Employment

10^th Annual Social Impact Measurement Network Australia Awards

I acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the lands on which we meet. I pay my respects to Elders past and present and extend that respect to First Nations people taking part in today’s event.

Thank you for inviting me back to celebrate the 10^th Annual Social Impact Measurement Network Australia Awards. Through the Department of Social Services, the Australian Government is, again, proud to sponsor this event.

It’s a terrific opportunity to rollout the virtual red carpet and recognise leaders in social impact measurement. Those who innovate and apply new approaches despite the challenges. Those who go above and beyond in their collaboration. And those who shape decision making in the best possible way. Congratulations to all award nominees.

Social impact measurement is a bit like a giant dot-to-dot puzzle. The more dots we have, and the people we have connecting those dots, the better picture we have about what works – and what doesn’t work.