Latest news with #AustralianRestaurantandCafeAssociation
Perth Now
22-07-2025
- Business
- Perth Now
Restaurants, building firm insolvencies remain high
Insolvencies remain trending higher among the food and beverage sector, CreditorWatch says. (Dan Peled/AAP PHOTOS) Insolvencies remain trending higher among the food and beverage sector, CreditorWatch says. (Dan Peled/AAP PHOTOS) Credit: AAP The level of Australian businesses going under appears to be stabilising, but firms are still becoming insolvent at record-high numbers. Restaurants and construction firms remain hardest hit in CreditorWatch's monthly Business Risk Index, which found more than 14,000 businesses went bust in the 2024-25 financial year. But income tax cuts and government cost of living measures have helped the rate of insolvencies plateau, CreditorWatch said. And with defaulted payments falling 6.5 per cent in June, there is some hope the overall health of businesses is on the up. "It's a promising signal business cash flow pressures may be easing, but with insolvencies still running 33 per cent above 2024/25 levels, and particularly elevated in hospitality and construction, I'm not getting too excited just yet," CreditorWatch CEO Patrick Coghlan said. "We'll continue to monitor for early signs of sustained recovery, but the next six months will be critical for determining whether insolvency rates begin to fall or remain stubbornly high." Businesses were struggling to stay afloat in typically stable sectors such as health care and education, showing the breadth of the economic strain, Mr Coghlan said. Hospitality businesses remain under the pump, with one in 10 closing in the year to June 2025. While insolvencies have plateaued generally, they remain trending higher among the food and beverage sector. Australian Restaurant and Cafe Association CEO Wes Lambert said it was no longer a case of if a hospitality business would close, but rather which one would shut it doors. "It's a real threat for many businesses in the hospitality industry, especially those in CBDs with work-from-home now fully enshrined into employment culture, and with tourism remaining at levels not seen since 2016," he told AAP. "Demand is low while wages, rents, utilities, insurance and other expenses are between 30 and 50 per cent higher than they were before COVID-19." Mr Lambert said Australia needed to attract more tourists, and needed genuine discussion about the cost pressures on industries such as hospitality. A quarter of all business that became insolvent in 2024/25 were in the construction sector. But given the large overall number of construction businesses, less than one per cent of all of them became insolvent. CreditorWatch labelled a rise in education and healthcare insolvencies "somewhat unusual" given both sectors are largely underpinned by government funding. Education was hit by immigration and foreign student policies, they found. The 14,716 business insolvencies recorded in 2024/25 was a massive 33 per cent jump year-on-year.
West Australian
15-07-2025
- Business
- West Australian
‘Screwed': Consumers to wear cost of RBA card surcharge ban but central bank insists it won't be inflationary
Shoppers could end up paying more than the $1.2 billion the Reserve Bank of Australia claims consumers would save a year by scrapping surcharge fees on card payments, business groups have warned. In a consultation paper on Tuesday, the central bank proposed the removal of surcharge fees on eftpos, Mastercard and Visa transactions, expected to save $1.2 billion annually or about $60 per card-using adult. The RBA first allowed businesses to start applying a surcharge in 2003 to encourage consumers to use lower-cost payment methods at a time of growth in the higher-cost credit card market. But RBA governor Michele Bullock said it was now becoming increasingly difficult to avoid surcharges as consumers embraced card and digital payment methods over cash. Representatives from the hospitality sector slammed the proposed blanket ban, describing it as another blow to businesses already buckling under the weight of skyrocketing operating costs like wages, rent, energy and insurance. Australian Restaurant and Cafe Association chief executive Wes Lambert said while he appreciated the RBA was working to reduce merchant fees, its proposal added to small businesses' expenses. '(Businesses) who have always passed on the merchant fee directly to consumers, so therefore never had a merchant fee expense on their (income statement), will either be forced to absorb those new merchant fees . . . or they'll have to pass those additional expenses that they've never had before onto their consumers in the form of increased menu prices,' he said. 'Consumers will end up getting screwed . . . consumers will pay more than $1.2b in increased menu prices. 'The RBA is sounding like a used-car salesman (by) trying to sell us a piece of junk as a brand new car.' By including credit cards, the central bank's proposal goes further than Treasurer Jim Chalmers' plan to ban fees on debit card transactions from the start of 2026. Council of Small Business Organisations Australia chair Matthew Addison described the RBA's claim of $1.2b in consumer savings as a 'mirage'. 'Removing surcharges doesn't remove all the cost, it simply hides it,' he said. 'The reality is that these fees will still be paid, just not disclosed. That cost will be baked into the price of coffee, groceries, and services across the country.' But the RBA in its paper claimed the proposed reforms would not be inflationary, with the aggregate impact on consumer prices expected to be about 0.1 percentage points. AMP economist My Bui also doesn't expect the removal of surcharges to 'play out in the inflation data'. 'If the cost to do business, in terms of using card or cash, is baked into the price then theoretically, it shouldn't change anything,' she said. Mr Lambert said customers who pay with cash would be 'the biggest loser'. 'Because they never had to pay a merchant fee and now they will have to pay an increased menu price,' he said. In a blow to major banks, the RBA has also called for interchange fees — the wholesale fees a merchant's bank pays to a cardholder's bank — to be lowered. The central bank claimed these fees were too high and the proposed changes would leave around 90 per cent of businesses better off. Commonwealth Bank, Westpac and ANZ all declined to comment and instead directed questions be passed onto the Australian Banking Association. A National Australia Bank spokeswoman said as the country's biggest business bank, it knew how important it was to support firms and consumers through changes that enhanced competition, transparency, efficiency and consistency. She said NAB looked forward to the ongoing conversation with the Government and industry over the coming weeks. The announcement triggered a 2.7 per cent drop in payments provider Tyro's share price to 90¢. The company provides payment machines used by many retailers and hospitality businesses nationally. In a statement to the market, Tyro chief Jon Davey said it welcomed the RBA's proposal, which aimed to increase transparency and lower card costs for consumers and merchants. 'The RBA's proposal supports a holistic view of payments reform that benefits small businesses,' he said.
Sky News AU
26-06-2025
- Business
- Sky News AU
'We can't just flick a switch': Australian Restaurant and Cafe Association CEO slams Victoria's gas ban on new buildings and warns of mass closures
The CEO of the Australian Restaurant and Cafe Association, Wes Lambert, has blasted the Victorian government's proposed gas ban for new commercial buildings as 'legislation by stealth', warning it could spark a wave of hospitality closures and a potential day of protest shutdowns across the state. Speaking to Sky News host Steve Price, Mr Lambert said the industry had been 'taken by surprise' by the Andrews-turned-Allan government's plan to ban gas in all new commercial buildings - excluding farms and factories - from January 1, 2027, just weeks after the next state election. 'The industry thought that we would be exempted and that we would be able to continue using gas unabated as the state transitions into more sustainable energy sources,' Mr Lambert said. Under the policy, gas cooktops will be effectively banned from any new bars, restaurants, cafes or takeaway outlets constructed from 2027 - forcing hospitality venues to rely on electric-only equipment, which Lambert argues is commercially and operationally unviable. 'We know that the hospitality industry can't just flick a switch and on the 31st of December to the 1st of January go from gas to electric. It just won't work.' Mr Lambert also warned the government is likely to apply the same gas restrictions to renovations and development applications (DAs) - not just new buildings - potentially affecting the more than 24,000 hospitality businesses operating across Victoria. 'We expect that the government's going to try to sneak in with DAs needing approval… so not just new buildings but also let's say renovations of restaurants and cafes and takeaway businesses around the state.' The warning comes as Victoria continues to suffer the fallout from pandemic-era lockdowns and economic instability, with one in 10 hospitality businesses shutting down in the past 12 months, according to Mr Lambert. Host Mr Price pointed to the fact that within Melbourne alone, they are home to the best restaurants, cafes, and coffee in Australia, citing it as a city of hospitality but believes the government are determined to run so many people out of business calling the situation 'pathetic'. Adding fuel to the fire, hospitality venues now face rising operating costs due to the 3.5 per cent national minimum wage increase, coupled with a 0.5 per cent hike in superannuation, which together are driving up payroll pressure by around 4 per cent. 'I wish I could use the F-word in relation to this potential legislation,' Mr Lambert said. 'We are the hardest hit industry post-COVID in this cost-of-living crisis. We had told the Fair Work Commission that we wanted just a 2 per cent increase. And look, inflation came in at 2.1 per cent today. So, we think we're getting it right.' Mr Lambert hinted at direct action from the industry if the gas ban proceeds in its current form, saying a state-wide closure protest is 'potentially' on the table. 'Potentially we could see a day before this gas ban goes into effect where hospitality businesses unite in solidarity and close for a day just so the government can see that we do stand up together when poor legislation is passed,' he said. The broader gas phase-out plan has already drawn sharp criticism from energy experts, who say the policy will cripple Victoria's already weakened manufacturing base and overload the electricity grid, especially as more households and businesses are forced onto the electric system. Energy analyst Saul Kavonic of MST Financial previously warned the policy risks accelerating the decline of Victorian small businesses and manufacturers, while remaining gas users shoulder higher infrastructure costs. 'You'll see an even further hastening of the deterioration of the manufacturing and small business sector in Victoria,' he said. Although the state government softened its original gas replacement policy after backlash from owner-occupiers, it is still charging ahead with mandatory electrification for all new residential and commercial builds from March 2027. Meanwhile, Victoria is heading for gas shortages by 2029, according to the Australian Energy Market Operator, yet the government's stance continues to spook potential investors in new gas supply projects. Mr Lambert's final plea to the state government was blunt: delay the policy and rethink the damage. 'We think this is poor legislation and we need to stop the electrification of the hospitality industry while we transition,' he said. 'From gas to electric, it's going to take time. It's not something that we can do in just 18 short months.'
Sydney Morning Herald
16-05-2025
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
Neil Perry looks to offload Double Bay bar, makes surprising changes at Song Bird
Chef Neil Perry will step aside as chair at the Australian Restaurant and Cafe Association (ARCA) to focus on his business interests, including the future direction of his eight-month-old Double Bay jazz bar, Bobbie's. The bar, which sits below his Song Bird restaurant and was opened in collaboration with bar guru Linden Pride from New York's much acclaimed Dante, is up for sale and has attracted interest from some of Sydney's top bar tsars. Perry cited unspecified issues relating to the landlord as the reason for the potential sale. 'I said I was happy to let it go, if it's the right price,' the chef said. Getting that right price might be difficult, though. Some operators who've inspected the bar, but asked not to be named, baulked at the rent. If no one snaps up the site, that would mean Perry is left with no option but to retain it. He said the alternative to selling the bar would be to integrate it more fully into his multi-level Song Bird restaurant and tweak the concept and name. Song Bird would then supply its food, and its menu would adopt more of an Asian theme. 'We'd probably call it Little Bird,' Perry said.
The Age
16-05-2025
- Business
- The Age
Neil Perry looks to offload Double Bay bar, makes surprising changes at Song Bird
Chef Neil Perry will step aside as chair at the Australian Restaurant and Cafe Association (ARCA) to focus on his business interests, including the future direction of his eight-month-old Double Bay jazz bar, Bobbie's. The bar, which sits below his Song Bird restaurant and was opened in collaboration with bar guru Linden Pride from New York's much acclaimed Dante, is up for sale and has attracted interest from some of Sydney's top bar tsars. Perry cited unspecified issues relating to the landlord as the reason for the potential sale. 'I said I was happy to let it go, if it's the right price,' the chef said. Getting that right price might be difficult, though. Some operators who've inspected the bar, but asked not to be named, baulked at the rent. If no one snaps up the site, that would mean Perry is left with no option but to retain it. He said the alternative to selling the bar would be to integrate it more fully into his multi-level Song Bird restaurant and tweak the concept and name. Song Bird would then supply its food, and its menu would adopt more of an Asian theme. 'We'd probably call it Little Bird,' Perry said.
