Vietnamese small businesses offered help to understand new IR Laws
27/01/2010
Vietnamese small business owners and managers can now access information in their mother tongue about the new Fair Work Act.
Education and information is available in Vietnamese through the Fair Work for Small Business website (www.fairworkforsmallbusiness.com.au). The addition of information in Vietnamese adds to the other foreign language videos available on the site: Arabic, Cantonese, Mandarin, Italian and Greek.
The Vietnamese language component was launched at Cabramatta travel agency Asean Travel and Tours.
The event attracted some key stakeholders including local State MP Nick Lalich, Vietnamese Community in Australia Vice President Hien Le, Lan Phuong Tran from the Vietnamese Women's Association in NSW and Dai Le from the Ethnic Communities Council of NSW.
Jaye Radisich, CEO of the Council of Small Business of Australia, said that all small businesses need to be supported with comprehensive information and education to help them comply with complex laws including industrial relations.
“Nearly 30% of small business owners come from a non-English speaking background, so it is essential that information about the new Fair Work Act is available and accessible to them.”
“Many small business owners are Vietnamese, and this migrant community is responsible for creating many jobs and a great deal of wealth in Australia. Translating important information about the Fair Work Act helps migrant business owners to comply with Australian laws.”
Federal Member for Blaxland, Jason Clare MP said ”We want to make sure workers and small business owners from all backgrounds have the information they need as our fairer workplace system gets up and running.”
"That's why we are working in partnership with organisations like the Council of Small Business of Australia to make sure that practical education and training is being delivered in a simple way in languages that are accessible to the community," Mr Clare said.
State Member for Cabramatta Mr Nick Lalich MP has today welcomed the launch of the Fair Work for Small Business website, and its publication in six community languages including Vietnamese.
“Here in Cabramatta we are lucky to have a vibrant and multicultural selection of small businesses, including a large representation from the Vietnamese-speaking community. The launch of the website in Vietnamese means that more business owners, like Mr Phan here at Asean Travel and Tours, can achieve an understanding of the work changes taking place both in English and a more familiar language.
Workforce Guardian Managing Director, Adrienne Unkovich said the Fair Work for Small Business website and project has had overwhelming small and medium business support with over 35,000 unique visitors and 207,308 page views in the short four months since the site was launched.
“The Vietnamese launch completes our commitment to fulfilling the greater business community’s needs. Business owners and managers can access educational information 24/7 when and how they want to and in a community language that helps them best understand the information presented,” Mrs Unkovich said.
The website, www.fairworkforsmallbusiness.com.au is a joint initiative of the Council for Small Business of Australia (COSBOA), Telstra Business, online workplace law experts Workforce Guardian and is funded by the Federal Government.
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