Venue Operators Beware

Are you buying furniture direct from China? Then you are considered the manufacturer in the eyes of the Australian Consumer Law. The Australian Furniture Association has been made aware of the serious financial and insurance risks to hospitality, conferencing and...

Colour Psychology

Step into the fascinating world of Colour Psychology with Award Winning Interior Decorators, Taryn Whitaker and Tracey McLeod, and discover a foolproof process for finding the ideal colour palette for every home and business. The powerful properties of colour are...

Is your business Christmas ready?

If your business is retail-focused, you have one goal at this time of year and that is Christmas sales. November and December can account for 20% of annual sales for businesses, and for those AFA Members who have online stores this is for you too. You need to start...

NSW Accelerating Growth Loans Pilot

  Accelerating Growth Loans (AGL) is a NSW pilot program providing direct loans for emerging fast growth small to medium enterprises (SMEs) – otherwise known as Gazelles – with capital to address the barriers they face in accessing affordable finance. The...

Rise in Government funded VET student numbers

NCVER has reported that in the first six months to 30 June 2016, there were 849,700 students enrolled in the government-funded VET system (government-funded training delivered by TAFE and other government, community education and other registered providers). There was...

Review of Australian Mandatory Standard for Household Cots

The Australian Furniture Association (AFA) together with industry partners, regulatory bodies, and State and Federal Government share your concerns and that of the ACCC and consumers related to the emerging safety hazards and increased risk of injury and death of...

Furniture & TV Tip-Over Prevention Industry Code – Draft for Comment

The AFA, acting on behalf of our members and in our capacity as the national peak body, has contributed to a review and draft recommendation to the ACCC and Government in response to the issue of toppling furniture and televisions as a growing cause of child injuries...

VCE VET Furnishing PD

The VCAA is hosting a free program PD session in conjunction with the Australian Furniture Association on Wednesday 30 November 2016. We will be joined by Gary Dunshea from Manufacturing Skills Australia and will discuss in detail the implementation of the new...

Snapshot series: When will a contractor be considered an employee?

WorkCover Under the Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2013 a contractor/worker will be deemed any employee of the hirer if a contract is: · not principally for the provision of goods or equipment; and · at least 80% of the work is completed by the...

The Impact of Disruption on International Trade

AFA has provided us with this interesting insight into global trade and logistics as they believe within next decade, it could be virtually unrecognisable from what we see today. Digital and physical disruption will change the way customers and suppliers connect, and...

AFA Members to comment on R&D Tax Incentive Review

A new public consultation has been launched in relation to the R&D Tax Incentive Programme. AFA Members are strongly encouraged to take a few minutes to complete the survey. R&D Tax Incentive Review Report You are invited to comment on the review report of the...

New VET Student Loans Scheme

This week the Federal Minister for Education and Training announced a new VET loan system to replace the flawed VET FEE-HELP scheme. The VET Student Loans scheme includes: Limiting courses eligible for VET Student Loans to those that align with industry needs and are...

Review of Mandatory BUNK BED Standards

Manufacturers, Importers, Agents and Retailers were in attendance at the recent AFA Seminar on the Review of the Mandatory Standards for Bunk Beds and how they will be affected by these changes. The Australian Furniture Association hosted this exclusive AFA Member...

2016 ACE Winner Tamara Glick

Tamara Glick was one of our 2016 ACE Student Design Winners. Recently she collaborated with Aine Dowling to create another one of her clever designs for Hollywood Primary School, their own Bench. The bench’s varying heights and colours are a nod to the...

Architects appointed for State Library of Victoria redevelopment

  Architecture Australia reports the Victorian Government has announced the winning consortium selected to design the $83 million redevelopment of the State Library of Victoria (SLV). Australian architecture practice Architectus and Danish practice Schmidt Hammer...

Mothers Day

  What better way to say I love you Mum with a beautiful piece of Australian Furniture? Australian made furniture will last and last, doesn’t your Mother deserve a gift like that? Our web site has a list of the Australian Furniture Association Members, to help...

Warning – Toppling furniture kills another child

The Australasian Furnishing Association (AFA) is continuing to push for stronger legislation since the announcement of IKEA’s alert re toppling furniture and subsequent child deaths. This issue is not exclusive to the IKEA incident, and the AFA is aware of a number of...

Officer liability under Occupational Health and Safety Legislation

  Each Australian State and Territory has occupational health and safety (“OHS”) legislation which imposes certain obligations on companies. In any workplace OHS is a significant issue because when an accident or injury occurs there can be serious reputational...

The new business.gov.au is coming in May!

  The new business.gov.au is coming in May! The website you see in May will continue to grow and change based on the needs of businesses in Australia. It will include: Coloured icons throughout the site so that you’ll quickly see related information. Most...