Foundation Sponsors - Forestry Contractor Trucks Blockade Bunnings Traralgon - AFCA

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                          Foundation Sponsors

Forestry Contractor Trucks Blockade Bunnings
Traralgon

Wednesday morning Victorian forest industry workers, including four contractor
trucks, blockaded the Bunnings Warehouse in Traralgon in a stance against the
company's decision to ban the sale of Victorian native forest timber in its stores.

To coincide with the blockade hundreds of sawmill workers, contractors, and their
crews are phoned Bunnings head office in Hawthorn East calling for the reversal of
the decision.

The action was reported on a range of local media outlets and received widespread
support across social media platforms.

Read more about the action in the Media Release here with quotes from AFCA, the
Construction Forestry Maritime Mining and Energy Union, and locals who organised
the action.

The Australian Forest Products Association also distributed a media release
supporting the action which can be read here.

Participate in AFCA Survey to Win

Understanding the opportunities to roll out the ForestFit Training and Certification
Scheme nationally is an important step in the development of the scheme and its
long term success. AFCA has engaged Margules Groome to complete a national
economic profile of forestry contracting businesses in harvest and haul to provide
important insights on rolling out the program nationally.

This important piece of work will provide information to determine the potential
market opportunities to deliver the scheme widely once its development is finalised
and has been piloted in NSW.

As part of the profile, Margules Groome will be contacting forestry
contracting businesses across the regions and surveying them on behalf of AFCA to
capture data and analyse the feasibility of a national roll-out of ForestFit . The
economic analysis will profile and analyse the characteristics of the harvest and
haulage contracting sector. All information collected during the survey will be kept
strictly confidential and no individual businesses will be identified in final reporting.

If you would like to participate in the survey please email forestfit@afca.asn.au or
call +61 417 786 179. Alternatively, Margules Groome will also be contacting
businesses randomly to participate in the survey.

To add a little incentive, all businesses that participate in the survey will go into a
draw to win a prize. After the survey is completed all participating businesses will
have their names placed in a hat with three winners drawn out. They will be
contacted to arrange the distribution of their prize.

AFCA would appreciate your support in participating in this important piece of
work.

Your opportunity to influence the future of the
Australian forest industry!

Forest contracting businesses have had to adapt to more complex and demanding
business process changes, reporting and compliance requirements.

ForestFit is developing and delivering training and certification pilots designed
specifically for forest contractors that will be rolled out nationally. The Australian
Forest Contractors Association (AFCA) is currently seeking expressions of interest
(EOI) for the upcoming training pilot located in NSW. The cost of the pilot training is
fully subsidised, including travel and accommodation expenses.

ForestFit fosters continual professional development, increased business
competency, operational compliance and risk management and industry
sustainability by providing a pathway for national engagement with training and
certification.

The NSW Government, in partnership with the forest industry and AFCA, committed
funding to support the development of ForestFit. The project is supported by an
Industry Reference Group (IRG) of forest contractors and other industry
representatives who have provided input into the development and delivery of every
stage of the training modules for the NSW forest industry.

Be part of leading best practice for forest contractors, apply to participate in this
exciting opportunity for you and your business!
Applications close 27 Jul 2020.

Click here to download and complete your EOI by 27 Jul 2020.

Visit the ForestFit website here.

JobKeeper 2.0

On 21 July the government announced proposed changes to JobKeeper including
an extension through to 28 March 2021. These changes do not impact JobKeeper
payments until after 28 September 2020.

From 20 July, changes to eligibility for JobKeeper payments will affect approved
providers of child care services, see JobKeeper key dates.

You can enroll for the JobKeeper Payment at any time until the program closes if
your circumstances have changed. Check if you are eligible at Enrol for JobKeeper.

The new JobKeeper package will differ from the original JobKeeper assistance
package with changes to the frequency of testing the significant fall in turnover and
the amount of JobKeeper payments received. It will be broken down into two
extension periods:

      28 September 2020 to 3 January 2021.
      4 January 2021 to 28 March 2021.

To read more about the changes to JobKeeper 2.0 please view here (Source:
Findex).

Forest Safety Code (Tasmania) review - feedback
required.

The first tranche of recommended amendments on the Private Forests Tasmania
website have just been published and the Project manager PF Olsen are now
calling for comments and feedback from the industry.

The initial changes are based on input of 35 people with the following backgrounds
and the project teams review of the Workplace Health and Safety Act 2012, its
subordinate regulations and the model Codes of Practice that Tasmania has
approved.

The detailed recommendations and a link to an online survey to provide feedback is
available here .

                                    Our Sponsors

                                        Gold Sponsors

                                       Silver Sponsors

                                      Bronze Sponsors

                        Australian Forest Contractors Association
                             PO BOX 6208, West Footscray VIC 3012
                             office@afca.asn.au I www.afca.asn.au

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