Emily Piesse

Western Australia’s labour market remains tight, with low unemployment and significant growth in real wages recorded for the June quarter, according to the Department of Consumer and Employment Protection’s labour market bulletin.

St Georges Terrace-based web design and development company, Perth Web Pty Ltd, has acquired the intellectual property of its recently dissolved competitor, Freckle Creative, after liquidator Summers Corporate was appointed to the company last month.

South West business, SmartBurn Pty Ltd, has raised industry profile in the past month after winning three national awards for its pollution reduction device used in wood heaters.

A diverse and highly skilled board can transform an organisation, yet finding the right board members can be a major challenge for many not-for-profits.

The web development industry in Western Australia is, like many other sectors, benefiting from the flow-on effects of the state’s mining boom.

Disability services provider Rocky Bay is undergoing a rapid growth phase, having more than doubled its capacity over the past 18 months.

The Chamber of Commerce and Industry WA is leading a trade mission to China next week as part of a series of visits to the nation.

Western Australian law graduates are being offered salaries to rival those of their counterparts in resource-related fields, with a number of top-tier firms significantly increasing their salaries for articled clerks next year.

Notre Dame University has shelved plans for a new health, recreation and sports centre on its Fremantle campus, in favour of a proposed community leisure centre to be located

It’s the suburban life that inspires the projects of Fremantle-based artist Bevan Honey, who is about to benefit from one of Western Australia’s most unique arts funding programs.

China is Western Australia’s most important export partner, generating $13.8 billion for the state’s economy in 2006-07 and overtaking Japan as WA’s biggest export market, according to figures from the Department of Industry and Resources.

IBT Education Ltd is Western Australia’s largest education exporter, based on revenue from international students.

Jordan may be a minor trading partner for Western Australia, overshadowed by Dubai and other parts of the Middle East, but a number of local businesses are finding a niche for their products in the country.

While Western Australia’s mining industry is well-represented on the list of the state’s top exporters, a number of manufacturing and technology companies are also creating significant export revenue.

Western Australia’s massive minerals and petroleum sectors dominate the state’s export commodity profile, with just one commodity in the top 10, wheat, from outside the resources industry.

Western Australia is attracting more immigrant workers relative to its population and finding more jobs for them than any other state in Australia, according to a Reserve Bank report into immigration and labour supply.

Western Australia’s trade with India is growing in value and diversity, on the back of demographic changes and strong economic growth, according to Simon Johnson, the Department of Industry and Resources’ regional director for India.

Murdoch University and Curtin University of Technology have introduced new programs to increase student enrolments in engineering and combat the skills shortage afflicting Western Australia.

Two Western Australian not-for-profit organisations working in mental health services – Richmond Fellowship of Western Australia and Lifeline WA – expanded their operations this month.

A number of Western Australian fine food companies have travelled to Sydney this week to network with 250 international buyers at the Fine Food Australia expo.

Edith Cowan University is on a recruitment drive to fill 12 newly created professorial chairs, as part of a strategy to position itself as a research university.

Mining companies operating in the Asia Pacific region are facing a changing risk environment, according to Export Finance and Insurance Corporation senior economist, Ben Ford.

For Scott Paterson, a passion for coffee and a background in retailing have neatly combined in his drive-through coffee chain, One for the Road.

Western Australia’s labour shortage is proving a heavy burden for businesses across a range of industry sectors, with wage and other labour costs at record or near-record highs and recruitment activity falling to a three-year low.

Human resources managers and business owners employing workers on 457 visas may be fined thousands of dollars if they fail to pay for employees’ travel, medical and recruitment costs, under new legislation before federal parliament.

Anglicare chief executive officer Ian Carter believes the not-for-profit sector in Western Australia needs to challenge rising compliance demands from government and raise its profile in the community.

The Joint Standing Committee on Migration today tabled its report into temporary business visas in parliament.

Migration agents have warned new restrictions requiring trades people to have formal qualifications to obtain work visas will reduce the number of trades people entering the country.

The state government and a number of Western Australian not-for-profit organisations have expressed their support for the creation of a standardised accounts system, similar to those used in Queensland and New South Wales, to streamline the process of app

New legislation affecting Australian exporters has been introduced by the federal government in response to last year’s Cole inquiry into the AWB’s Iraq trade dealings, which will codify three of the inquiry’s recommendations.

West Perth-based Moly Mines Ltd has signed a native title agreement with the Njamal people of the Pilbara, ahead of the planned release of its feasibility study into the $600 million Spinifex Ridge project later this month.

Employment conditions in Western Australia remain the strongest of all the states, with WA’s unemployment rate falling to 3.1 per cent last month, according to figures released last week by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.