The Tourism Industry Association New Zealand (TIA) has won the New Zealand Business Excellence Foundation Award at the 2015 AUT Excellence in Business Support Awards.

TIA was one of 10 category winners, with the Supreme Award going to Advanced Security Group. A full list of 2015 winners is below.

The Awards are the only national performance measure for New Zealand organisations that provide business support. Applications are judged by evaluators from the AUT Business School with oversight from the New Zealand Business Excellence Foundation.

“TIA provides support to large and small businesses in the tourism sector to achieve tangible benefits for the industry and New Zealand. It has been instrumental in developing the Tourism 2025 industry growth framework which outlines a clear vision for all tourism operators to work towards. TIA also has strong relationships with central and local government. I was impressed with TIA’s enthusiasm for New Zealand, and the way its communications and processes ensure member bodies are well supported,” category evaluator and AUT Lecturer in Accounting Gillian Craig says.

TIA Chief Executive Chris Roberts says the Award recognises the efforts TIA makes to support its 1500 members and the wider tourism industry.

“TIA is the only national, private sector organisation that represents all sectors of the $30 billion tourism industry, including accommodation, transport, activities and attractions. With a membership ranging from large stock exchange listed corporates through to small owner-operated businesses, TIA strives to meet the needs of a diverse business community. This Award is a valuable third party recognition that we are achieving high standards in our sector,” Mr Roberts says.

AUT Dean of Business and Law, Professor Geoff Perry says: “These Awards are important to AUT because they allow us to recognise the best providers of business support in New Zealand. Business support organisations and individuals make a significant but often unseen contribution to the performance of businesses, helping behind the scenes with everything from dispute resolution, research and legal services to security, compliance and logistics. This celebration of the business support sector is a great opportunity for the AUT Business and Law Schools to join with the business community and celebrate excellence.”

The Awards were celebrated with a gala dinner at the Langham, Auckland on 29 October, attended by more than 600 business leaders and members of the business community.

More information about the Awards: www.aut.ac.nz/business/ebsa

2015 AUT EXCELLENCE IN BUSINESS SUPPORT WINNERS

Supreme Award Winner: Advanced Security Group

Category Award Winners: 

IMNZ Business < $5M Turnover Management Services 

Joint Winners: New Zealand Dispute Resolution Centre 

Altris Limited

ICG Business < $5M Turnover Sales & Marketing 

Winner: Perceptive Research

Idealog Business < $5M Turnover Technology (non-cloud) 

Winner: Pure SEO

Idealog Business < $5M Turnover Technology (cloud) 

Winner: GeoOp

IBM Business $5M - $20M Turnover 

Winner: Advanced Security Group

Fuji Xerox Business $20M+ Turnover 

Winner: Netlogix

New Zealand Business Excellence Foundation Not for Profit 

Winner: Tourism Industry Association New Zealand 

Highly Commended: The Arbitrators' and Mediators' Institute of New Zealand

Drake New Zealand Government 

Winner: Business.govt.nz (Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment) 

Highly Commended: Plant & Food Research

AUT International Business Export Support

 

Winner: AJ Park

Fuji Xerox Leadership 

Winner: Stefan Preston (Ingenio)

For further information, please contact:

Ann-Marie Johnson 

Communications Manager 

Tourism Industry Association New Zealand 

DDI: 04 496 5001 

Mobile: 027 600 4565 

Email: ann-marie.johnson@tianz.org.nz

This media release was sourced directly from the Tourism Industry Association New Zealand. 

This month AuSAE welcomes Wendy Rapana, National President, Association of Administrative Professionals New Zealand (AAPNZ) as our Member in Focus. Wendy recently spoke with AuSAE about her role, challenges in the not-for-profit sector and the exciting times ahead for AAPNZ. 

During your time as President of AAPNZ, the organisation has seen much change. What do you personally feel has been the biggest challenge the organisation has overcome?

Like most not-for-profit organisations, retaining members and understanding member needs is always a challenge and AAPNZ is no exception. Another challenge we are experiencing is a shift, with many new members not necessarily wanting to join a group where they are physically located. Hence we are trying to figure out what a “virtual” organisation looks like so we can cater to this identified membership need.

I heard about the innovative partnership between ShowGizmo and AAPNZ. Can you share how this partnership came about and the benefits it presents to AAPNZ members?

Show Gizmo is the brainchild of Marie-Claire Andrews who used to be an administrative professional for a government agency in Wellington. Her manager signed her up with AAPNZ in acknowledgement that was her professional association and encouraged her to be the very best she could be in any role. She moved quickly into project administration and found her passion. Marie-Claire went on to develop ShowGizmo, an event management app, and is today the CEO of this very successful business.

As AAPNZ’s qualifications have a focus on technology, this presented itself to be a wonderful opportunity to partner with ShowGizmo, I would discuss the attributes of the app with association strategic partners and in return AAPNZ received full use of the event management app at very little cost, of which we are very grateful.

What exciting projects are underway at AAPNZ?

At our annual conference last year, we were lucky enough to get Lucy Brazier, CEO and Publisher of the prestigious Executive Secretary Magazine, as an international keynote speaker. Lucy has 70,000 administrative professionals on her database and has a Twitter following of 5,000 that is very significant as she is a prolific social media user.

We are currently discussing Lucy Brazier’s “Executive Secretary Live” event coming to Auckland in 2017. This event consists of six international speakers from around the world who have been in significant roles or done exceptional things in their role as administrative professionals. AAPNZ’s own Eth Lloyd (past president) will be one of these exceptional international speakers. AAPNZ will get a percentage of the event profit and a high level of international exposure.

In other news, AAPNZ will again host the World Administrators Summit (WAS) in New Zealand in 2021, and will be Co-Chair at both the Germany 2018 and New Zealand 2021 events.

What would you say to someone starting out in the not-for-profit sector with a view to become a future leader?

The opportunity to be a leader in this sector is a significant event in anyone’s life and one not to be taken lightly. Working in the not-for-profit sector offers the opportunity to represent a passionate membership or support base and achieve great things for the relevant profession, cause and/or general public. I have, and am still enjoying, my role with AAPNZ. The 2016 NZ Census reported that 240,000 people identified themselves as administrative professionals under approximately 50 different job titles. AAPNZ only represent a small percentage of this figure so I know the organisation has a catchment and needs to keep focusing on letting these hard working professionals know we are here to support them. I’ve loved my nearly two years as the national president and am excited as to who will take over my role in early August next year at the annual event in Nelson. Watch this space!

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AuSAE thank member Wendy Rapana for appearing in the October Edition of AuSAE Insider. AuSAE recognises a current member every month, acknowledging their success and ongoing commitment to advancing the not-for-profit sector. If you would like to share your story with other executives, please contact Kim Miller, GM Australia AuSAE at kimberley@ausae.org.au.

The Government’s decision to facilitate negotiations between unions and employers to settle caregiver equal pay claims has been welcomed by the New Zealand Aged Care Association (NZACA), the peak body for the aged residential care home sector. At the same time NZACA supports the work that will look at pay equity across the wider economy.

“It’s a positive move on the part of the Government,” says Simon Wallace, Chief Executive of NZACA, whose members represent 90% of the aged residential care sector, including many welfare, religious and not for profit care homes.

“The landmark Equal Pay Case being taken by caregiver Kristine Bartlett and the Service & Food

Workers Union has significant ramifications for our members and potentially for a whole range of

other female-dominated sectors,” says Mr Wallace.

The NZACA welcomes the Union’s decision to put their legal action on hold until March 2016, while the negotiations proceed. Mr Wallace says NZACA will take an active role in the Ministry of Healthled negotiation process, which is expected to last several months.

“We need to make it clear, however, that the industry cannot fund an equal pay claim without

commensurate increases in its charges to consumers, most of which are paid by the Government in the form of age care subsidies. We will not be able to settle with the unions without a clear

indication from Government that they will meet the extra cost.

“At the same time NZACA will continue to vigorously defend the Equal Pay Case on behalf of our

sector, which is scheduled to return to the Employment Court early next year. That case claims

caregivers are paid less than equivalent employees based on gender. That is incorrect. Pay is based on the market and the ability to pay.”

Mr Wallace says caregivers working in aged residential care homes are paid on average $15.30 an hour and the Union has talked about increasing that to $26 an hour.

“Our calculations show the sector would need to find an additional $500 million annually to increase caregiver rates to this level. That is clearly unsustainable and would force homes out of business, resulting in job losses and a lack of beds at a time when the number of New Zealanders requiring aged residential care is increasing.

“Our members are good employers. They want to pay caregivers and other staff more for the

important work they do, but they are hamstrung by a contract with the Government which funds

homes for the care they deliver. That funding is insufficient for our members to increase wages,

which account for up to 70% of their costs.”

Mr Wallace says the Government undervalues the work of caregivers in private aged-care homes,

paying them on average $2 less an hour than those working in District Health Board-run facilities.

“At the same time NZACA defends the Equal Pay Case we will continue to lobby for greater

Government funding for our sector, which cares for New Zealand’s elderly and most vulnerable

citizens.”

For more information contact:

Simon Wallace

Chief Executive, New Zealand Aged Care Association

Mobile: 0274 882 850

Email: simon@nzaca.org.nz

Web: www.nzaca.org.nz

This media release was directly sourced from the New Zealand Aged Care Association website here. 

The loss and threatened loss of training accreditation at some of New Zealand’s biggest hospitals is a consequence of years of under-investment in our public health service, says Angela Belich, Deputy Executive Director of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS).

“The reality is that public hospitals have been running on the smell of an oily rag for years now and we’re seeing some of the results. If you don’t give hospitals the money and other resources they need, then there comes a point when they can no longer make do.”

She was responding to comments by Deborah Powell of the Resident Doctors Association that an unprecedented number of hospital departments had either lost or were facing the loss of their accreditation to train doctors over the past year, a sign that clinical standards were being eroded (listen to those comments here). Ms Powell highlighted problems with accreditation at Auckland, Southern and Waikato DHBs.

Angela Belich says this highlights long-standing shortages of senior doctors, due to a lack of proper investment in the medical workforce as well as the under-funding of public hospitals.

“Hospitals have to have enough experienced, trained senior doctors to supervise and mentor the new doctors coming up through the ranks,” she says.

“It’s about providing the proper foundations for the next generation of hospital specialists, the people who will provide the care for us and our families in the years ahead. This cannot be done by sacrificing clinical excellence, so the loss of training accreditation in some services should be a real wake-up call for the Government that there is a problem of funding and resourcing here that needs to be fixed.”

This article was sourced directly from the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists website here. 

Southern Cross Health Trust and the New Zealand Dental Association (NZDA) are playing tooth fairy for low income adults around New Zealand through an initiative called Smile NZ.

But instead of rewarding for lost teeth – they’re helping people keep theirs.

This month Smile NZ will provide free dental care to low income adults who require but cannot afford treatment. This is part of their commitment to offer free care for up to 1500 low income adults.

The free dental work will take place at 19 practices across ten regions between 6 - 14 November – a fitting start date considering November 6 is our National Oral Health Day.

Terry Moore, Southern Cross Health Trust CEO, says the uptake of the initiative in May showed there are a lot of people living with long-term dental problems.

“We ran this in May for the first time and quickly ran out of places which shows that a lot of New Zealanders cannot afford basic dental care.

“Unlike our public health system, dentistry isn't a subsidised service for adults, which means a lot of people cannot afford to maintain their teeth and live in constant pain from untreated decay or disease. These are the people we want Smile NZ to help.”

NZDA CEO David Crum said the Association applauded the dentists who volunteered their time, and welcomed any collaboration which would further provide at-risk people with necessary treatment.

“While some DHBs and government agencies offer emergency dental work or help with pain relief, a lot of people don’t meet their DHB’s criteria and are not in the financial position to help themselves.

“Initiatives like Smile NZ provide some relief for people who really need it, and otherwise would be forced to live in discomfort and pain,” says Crum.

Smile NZ free clinic days are made known through General Practitioners in lower socioeconomic areas, social workers, Red Cross and other community agencies such as WINZ, night shelters and food banks, who are in contact with high need and vulnerable people.

Each patient will receive one dental treatment consisting of basic but essential dental care which could range from a filling, extraction, relief of pain or sorting an infection to preventative care such as fluoride applications or a scale and polish. Patients will also receive oral health education and a free hygiene pack.

Important note:

The Southern Cross Health Trust is the owner of Southern Cross Hospitals, Southern Cross Travel Insurance and Southern Cross Pet Insurance. Though they share the same brand, the Southern Cross Health Trust and its businesses are separately owned and operated from the Southern Cross Health Society (New Zealand’s largest health insurer). No Southern Cross Health Society funds were used for the free dentistry initiative.

Locations of the dental practices are:

Northland - Ngati Hine Health Trust (Saturday 7 November)

Auckland - Avondale Dental Centre

White Smile Dental (Takapuna)

Dentist Onehunga

Mighty Mouth Mt Roskill (Friday 6, Saturday 7 November)

Hamilton - River Road Dental

Frankton Community Dental Clinic (Friday 6, Saturday 7 November)

Whakatane - East Bay Dental Centre (Saturday 7 November)

Hawke’s Bay - Smilehaus Dental (Friday 7 November)

Palmerston North - Broadway Dental Centre (Saturday 7th November)

Wellington - Naenae Dental Clinic (Saturday 14 November)

Blenheim - Beattie, Gilchrist and Associates

Durrheim & Associates (Friday 14 November)

Christchurch - Hornby Dental Centre

Bush Dental

Christchurch Charity Hospital

Fendalton Dental Surgery (Friday 6 November)

Dunedin - Dentistry on George Street (Saturday 7 November)

Invercargill - Waihopai School Dental Clinic (Saturday 7 November)

This media release was directly sourced from Scoop NZ here. 

Tourism is contributing more than ever to New Zealand’s economic wellbeing, with the industry outstripping its own performance targets, the Tourism Industry Association New Zealand (TIA) says.

The Tourism Satellite Account released today by Statistics New Zealand shows phenomenal growth in tourism, TIA Chief Executive Chris Roberts says.

Total tourism expenditure in the year to March 2015 was $29.8 billion, an increase of 10.3% on the previous year. International tourism expenditure increased 17.4% to $11.8 billion, while domestic tourism expenditure increased 6.3% to $18.1 billion.

“New Zealand tourism is enjoying a boom. We are ahead of target to achieve the Tourism 2025 aspirational goal of growing total annual tourism revenue to $41 billion over the next decade,” Mr Roberts says.

“Tourism accounts for 17.4% or $11.8 billion of New Zealand’s total exports (up from 15% or $10 billion in 2014) and we directly contribute 4.9% ($10.6 billion) of gross domestic product (up from 4.6% in 2014). International visitor arrivals recently surpassed 3 million a year but more importantly, there’s been strong double digit growth in spend by those visitors.”

The strong growth is set to continue, with industry expecting a record-breaking summer.

“On the domestic travel front, new information, including credit card data, has resulted in a better understanding of the size of this market. It’s now estimated to be worth $18.1 billion to our economy. This reinforces the value of the work TIA is leading to boost the value of domestic tourism.”

The new figures show that one in eight New Zealanders are directly or indirectly employed in tourism, reinforcing the industry’s value to communities around the country. Tourism supports jobs in every part of New Zealand, often in areas where few other opportunities exist, Mr Roberts says.

TIA congratulates Statistics New Zealand on the changes it has made to improve the quality of the data in the TSA. TIA has put considerable effort into working more closely with the public sector to explore new and improved methods of data collection that in turn provides better insight to the tourism industry and its stakeholders, Mr Roberts says.

“The challenge for the industry now is to manage the pressures created by the rapid growth in tourism. The TIA National Tourism Summit in Wellington on Thursday 19 November will explore these issues.”

For further information, please contact:

Ann-Marie Johnson

Communications Manager

Tourism Industry Association New Zealand

DDI: 04 496 5001

Mobile: 027 600 4565

Email: ann-marie.johnson@tianz.org.nz

This media release was directly sourced from the Tourism Industry Association New Zealand website here. 

InternetNZ welcomes an announcement made today by the New Zealand Internet Task Force that it has launched a public funding campaign to build a Computer Security Incident Response Team (CSIRT).

The creation of a CSIRT will serve New Zealand’s small and medium sized businesses, and not-for-profit organisations by providing Internet security.

InternetNZ’s Chief Executive Jordan Carter says this is a chance to deliver much needed improvement and will provide greater confidence to New Zealand internet users.

“A CSIRT would mean Kiwi organisations and not-for-profits will have help from real independent experts if they are hacked by criminals or are dealing with some kind of cyber threat,” says Carter.

InternetNZ has long been calling for a national CSIRT to help protect New Zealand’s Internet community and we’re excited to see the New Zealand Internet Task Force create the beginnings of a national incident response capability.

The New Zealand Internet Task Force is seeking funding partners and wants to talk to, and work with, any organisation that wants to work with them and help improve New Zealand’s cyber security.

For more information about CSIRT visit their website or send them an email at the links below.

Website: www.csirt.nz

Email: info@csirt.nz

This media release was directly sourced from the InternetNZ website here. 

Make a bid for success

Tourism New Zealand’s most successful year of conference wins to date will see more than 10,500 delegates visit New Zealand in the coming years, bringing an estimated $25 million to the local economy. The Tourism New Zealand Business Events Annual Awards Dinner, held recently in Auckland, celebrated this achievement – and acknowledged the people who made it happen, a group of 21 key industry and sector leaders from across New Zealand who were instrumental in bidding for the events.

Tourism New Zealand International Business Events and Premium Manager Lisa Gardiner says it’s great to see New Zealand winning international association conventions, and hopes to encourage yet more ‘conference champions’ to get involved and bid for events that will not only benefit the country, but also their organisation and industry sector.

“Much of this success comes down to the influential sector leaders who are putting their hands up to champion their field of expertise to attract key conventions to our shores,” she notes. “The business events awards dinner is about creating lasting relationships with these individuals so that they can continue to bid for international conferences and encourage their colleagues to do so as well.”

One of the attendees, Spencer Beasley, Clinical Director of the Department of Paediatric Surgery, Canterbury District Health Board, led the successful bid for the Pacific Association of Pediatric Surgeons Annual Scientific Congress 2019. “Winning this conference gives us a chance to showcase our specialty and its achievements internationally,” he says. “It increases our standing overseas and gives recognition to our contribution in both research and clinical areas. That may lead to all sorts of indirect benefits for us, including facilitating overseas training options for our trainees, as well as enhancing recruitment opportunities to New Zealand in an environment where there is a worldwide shortage of senior skilled people in our specialty. But most of all, we are proud of our country, and like to show it off to our overseas colleagues.”

Dr Davinia Thornley, Senior Lecturer, Department of Media, Film, and Communication at the University of Otago, played a major role in winning the Screenwriting Research Network 2017 International Conference. “This is an important gain for Dunedin on a number of fronts: artistic, cultural, and academic,” she says. “It will allow Otago's Humanities Division to showcase their strong research culture, in particular, the innovative work going on in the Department of Media, Film and Communication. I am especially keen to put a ‘New Zealand’ stamp on the material that’s covered at the conference, including possible keynotes by prominent local scriptwriters. I really want to introduce the SRN delegates to the incredible work being done by our national filmmakers.

“Obviously there’s the flow-on effect of tourism before and after the conference, but even more potential is in the cinematic connections that are made. For example, several of the SRN delegates are working filmmakers looking for ideas, collaborations or partnerships with creative personnel here in Dunedin. I foresee essential links being made between industry practitioners and academic researchers at SRN 2017, links that will continue to lift both Dunedin's and New Zealand’s image as creative frontrunners in the global film industry.”

Thornley notes the strong backing she received from Tourism New Zealand in winning the event, which included funding her trip to Germany to make the successful bid.

Tourism New Zealand has significantly increased its work in the business events sector in recent years, with its Conference Assistance Programme providing strategic funding and marketing support to those bidding for an international convention. In the year to June 2015, it reached a new milestone of 58 international conference bids. If successful, these bids will see an additional $97 million injected into the New Zealand economy.

Beasley agrees it is well worth partnering with Tourism New Zealand when making a bid for conference success: “TNZ were brilliant. Their knowledge, expertise and support gave us a huge advantage securing the conference for New Zealand. They function in a highly professional way, and took all the angst out of bidding for the event internationally. They get results - and good results at that!”

For many small businesses, holiday periods can be a time of both pleasure and pain. Everyone loves a holiday, but when you rely on periodical payments from clients and customers to keep your cash flow alive, it can also be a worrying time if you don’t have the right systems in place.

Constant cash flow

Using a direct debit billing system like PaySmart can help moderate your cash flow, so even when you’re taking a holiday, the direct debits will continue to land.

Convenient for your customers

With a direct debit billing system in place, even when clients and customers get busy during the silly season, their bills are paid automatically and won’t add to their to-do list. It also means your invoice won’t become lost in a pile of Christmas mail, so you won’t be spending January following up overdue payments.

Customer retention

Direct debit billing also provides consistency and continuity, so you don’t have the pressure of encouraging customers back after the holiday period or resigning them—your association is uninterrupted and ongoing, which contributes to developing long-term customer relationships.

Other things businesses can do in November to manage risk and keep relationships strong ahead of the quieter periods in December and January:

1. Start a campaign now to ensure customer payments continue to come in during the festive season.
   
2. Communicate directly with each customer to recap on their achievements with you during the year or the service you’ve provided—remind them of the value delivered to reduce the likelihood of cancellations.
   
3. Build upon results from this year and look towards the next to keep your momentum going. 

Ultimately, anything you can do to reduce cancellations, and increase sales will set you up for a successful start to the New Year. 

Talk to your local PaySmart Business Development Manager for more tips or to get started with PaySmart today.

AuSAE has welcomed new members from the following organisations this month.

Is your organisation on this list? If your organisation is on this list as an AuSAE organisational member but you are unsure if you are part of the membership bundle, please contact the friendly AuSAE team at info@ausae.org.au.

Not on this list? To join AuSAE today please visit our membership information page here.

AUSAE WELCOMES NEW MEMBERS FROM:

Organisation	Membership Level
Association of Corporate Counsel Australia	Association (Organisational - Small)
Australasian Fleet Management Association	Association (Organisational - Small)
Australasian Housing Institute	Association (Organisational - Small)
Australian College of Nursing	Association (Organisational - Small)
Australian Healthcare & Hospitals Association	Association (Organisational - Small)
Australian Institute of Professional Photography	Association (Organisational - Small)
Australian Publishers Association	Association (Organisational - Small)
Australian Water Association	Association (Organisational - Small)
Civil Contractors New Zealand	Association (Organisational - Small)
Club Managers' Association Australia	Association (Organisational - Small)
Early Childhood Intervention Australia NSW	Association (Organisational - Small)
General Practice SA	Association (Organisational - Small)
Institute of Internal Auditors Australia	Association (Organisational - Small)
New Zealand Society of Local Government Managers	Association (Organisational - Small)
Scouts Australia	Association (Organisational - Small)
Accounting & Finance Association of Australia & NZ	Association Executive (Individual)
Achper SA Branch	Association Executive (Individual)
Australasian Investor Relations Association	Association Executive (Individual)
Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce	Association Executive (Individual)
AUS & NZ Association for Health Professional Educators	Association Executive (Individual)
Australian Gift & Homewares Association	Association Executive (Individual)
BioGro New Zealand	Association Executive (Individual)
Brisbane Development Association	Association Executive (Individual)
Building and Construction Industry Training Organisation	Association Executive (Individual)
Chiropractors' Association of Australia (QLD)	Association Executive (Individual)
Diabetes NSW	Association Executive (Individual)
New Zealand Motor Caravan Association	Association Executive (Individual)
NT Council of Government School Organisations	Association Executive (Individual)
Perinatal Anxiety & Depression Australia	Association Executive (Individual)
South Australian Financial Counsellors Association	Association Executive (Individual)
Sunnyfield	Association Executive (Individual)
Tanunda Lutheran Home	Association Executive (Individual)
Occupational Therapy Australia	Board or Committee Participant
Oncology Social Work Australia	Board or Committee Participant
Mornington Peninsula Ratepayers & Residents Association	Retired Member
Australian Macadamia Society	Young Association Professional
National Retail Association	Young Association Professional
Volunteering New Zealand	Young Association Professional

Note: To respect the privacy of our members, we only release membership type and organisation details publicly each month.