January Newsletter

After a tumultuous 2020, it's my privilege to wish you a Happy New Year as ABSIA President, after being elected by our Board late last year. It is an honour to take up the chair of a thriving industry association after the great work of my predecessors, Founding Chair and Life Member, David Field; Karen Lay-Brew and Chris Howard. 

We have an enlarged Board and broader representation of different parts of the industry, company size, and individual background. I'm particularly pleased that we also now have a Director based in NZ, and look forward to expanding our partnership with MBIE and NZIRD. In addition to our strong relationship with the ATO, we will continue to partner with other stakeholders including the Fair Work Commission, Treasury, ACCC, DTA, COSBOA, Department of Home Affairs, Australian Cyber Security Centre, CPA Australia, Institute of Certified Bookkeepers and Services Australia to deliver value for Digital Service Providers on both sides of the Tasman. 

The Board will be meeting shortly to plan our 2021 Strategy, and I welcome any feedback from members and stakeholders about what activities and priorities you would like to see for the Association and broader Industry. We're here to represent you, so please do connect with the Board via LinkedIn, or feel free to reach out to me directly on simon.foster@absia.asn.au.

Learn more about Simon here. 

ABSIA News

2021 Board & New Directors ABSIA would like to introduce our Board for 2021 and welcome new Directors - Andrew Stirling, Ann White, Chris Denney, Emma Dobson and Sreeni Pillamarri. The Board for 2021 is as follows: Simon Foster - President and Chair Matthew Prouse - Director and Vice President Chris Denney - Director Chris Howard - Director Marjukka Mäki-Hokkonen - Director Sreeni Pillamarri - Director Michael Ross - Director Andrew Stirling - Director Ann White - Director Emma Dobson - Co-Opted Director Ian Gibson - Co-Opted Director Brad Stockman - Co-Opted Director Mike Behling (MYOB) will also be continuing his work with the Board as the Secretary for 2021.

STP Legislative Instrument Letter to Ministers On Friday 11 December, following the release of the draft Single Touch Payroll (STP) Phase 2 Legislative Instrument, ABSIA sent the Hon. Stuart Robert MP and the Hon. Michael Sukkar MP a letter requesting a minimum 12 month deferral on the legislative instrument commencement date.  Read More…

Past Submissions In December, ABSIA contributed two submissions to open consultations. Find more information about each of these submissions below.  FinTech RegTech Issues Paper 2 Digital Identity Legislation Keep an eye out on industry consultations that ABSIA is responding to here.

Industry News

Passing of Jane King The ABSIA Board would like to acknowledge the passing of ATO Deputy Commissioner Jane King in December. Jane was instrumental in the creation of the ATO's Digital Partnership Office and provided support to ABSIA in our early years even as she moved into the Deputy Commissioner role.  Read More…

Events

Webinar Week 22 - 26 March This year ABSIA is hosting our first ever Webinar Week running from the 22nd to the 26th of March. Over the week, ABSIA will be joined by a range of industry and Government speakers. Take a sneak peek at the speakers and sessions below. More details and registration will be made available soon. Read More…

Until next time,
The Team at ABSIA.