TFIA demands new textile policy for focus on job creation

Trade barriers – we believe Australian TCF businesses have trade barriers placed against them; for instance, what we can import from China cannot be exported back to China if manufactured in Australia, which suggests we are not strong enough in fighting for our industry internationally. We expect greater action from our government to fairly protect our enterprises and jobs in a global market.

Country of Origin and Safety labelling – we believe no one is taking responsibility for the poor labelling and unsafe products imported into Australia. We remain concerned about the carcinogenic poisoning potential and we seek urgent government action in this area of community safety policy.

Industry information and data – for a major industry the government must provide information so strategic decisions can be made. We recommend the ABS return to taking industry statistics and reporting to the sector in a valuable meaningful manner.

TCF Retailers need support – the laws impacting the TCF retailers are significant and require federal government intervention; in particular, state based occupancy laws which need to have an overarching national retail leasing code and greater flexibility within the retail employment market. We are a 24/7 retail consumer market, yet our structures are stuck in five day week, 7 hour day paradigms. This is not the modern consumer world, and we seek government intervention to help our TCF retailers.

The TCF industry requires a strong economy to compete in a global market; and we support the reduction of taxes which will allow us to be globally competitive. The sector is over regulated in the workplace requiring reporting to four regulators, which by any measure is far too much and stifles productivity. The newly elected government must address these problems if they are serious about a sustainable TCF sector.

The TFIA are willing to work with a newly elected government to develop an industry policy White Paper that addresses the immediate and long term strategies that can provide opportunity for our creative and innovative entrepreneurs who want to build the TCF industry in Australia,” Evans said. “Contrary to popular view, this industry is not dead, and we want the government to acknowledge that fact by working towards to creating new opportunities that can lead to increased employment.

“There are plenty of examples in the market of the modern TCF industry in Australia,” Evans said. “I suspect it is time for the government to recognise it can be a sunrise sector for employment and opportunities.”

The Council of Textile and Fashion Industries of Australia (TFIA)