Business NSW is an Australian not-for-profit membership organisation that advocates on behalf of Australian businesses. The organisation has been operating since 1826. It has formerly been known as the NSW Business Chamber (2006-2020), The Chamber of Manufactures of NSW (1885-2006) and the Sydney Chamber of Commerce (1826-1885).

Purpose and role

Business NSW works with businesses and local chambers of commerce to represent business interests to local, state and federal governments. Issues it advocates include

red tape Red tape is a concept employed to denounce excessive or redundant regulation and adherence to formal rules for creating unnecessary constraints on action and decision-making. The occurrence of red tape is usually associated with governments but a ...

reduction, business taxation, workforce skills, infrastructure, workplace

health and safety Occupational safety and health (OSH) or occupational health and safety (OHS) is a multidisciplinary field concerned with the safety, health, and welfare of people at work (i.e., while performing duties required by one's occupation). OSH is re ...

, and workplace relations. Business NSW has ten regional offices across New South Wales.

History

Business NSW has undergone a number of name changes and mergers with other business organisations since its founding in 1826 when it was known as the Sydney Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber of

Manufactures Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of the secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

was then established with the inaugural meeting in August 1885 at

Sydney Town Hall The Sydney Town Hall is a late 19th-century heritage-listed town hall building in the city of Sydney, the capital city of New South Wales, Australia, housing the chambers of the Lord Mayor of Sydney, council offices, and venues for meetings and ...

in which the rules and regulations were adopted and

Archibald Forsyth Archibald Forsyth (10 March 1826 – 15 March 1908) was a Scottish-born Australian politician. He was born at Garmouth in Morayshire to carpenter John Forsyth and Helen Young. He worked on the railways and in the timber trade before migrat ...

was elected its first president. The Chamber got off to an initial slow start with its primary supporters focusing most of their efforts on

tariff A tariff or import tax is a duty (tax), duty imposed by a national Government, government, customs territory, or supranational union on imports of goods and is paid by the importer. Exceptionally, an export tax may be levied on exports of goods ...

policy lobbying, especially in setting up a "Protection Union", in direct opposition to the "Free Traders" led by

Sir Henry Parkes Sir Henry Parkes, (27 May 1815 – 27 April 1896) was a colonial Australian politician and the longest-serving non-consecutive premier of the Colony of New South Wales, the present-day state of New South Wales in the Commonwealth of Australi ...

. The Chamber was finally re-constituted in June 1895 at a meeting at the

Hotel Australia The Hotel Australia was a former hotel in Melbourne, Australia. The hotel was built in 1939 on the site of the former Cafe Australia (which had opened in 1916), and was demolished in 1989. Designed by Leslie M. Perrott, the Hotel Australia was ...

. The Chamber abandoned the idea of partisan political lobbying and adopted a position of a

non-political Apoliticism is apathy or antipathy towards all political affiliations. A person may be described as apolitical if they are uninterested or uninvolved in politics. Being apolitical can also refer to situations in which people take an Bias, unbias ...

organisation which has continued to the present day. In 1914, the Chamber of Manufactures of NSW set up the Manufacturers Mutual Insurance Company (now MMI). The insurance company arm was established primarily to indemnify employers against claims that might be made by their employees who were injured at work, and was in direct response to the new Workmen's Compensation Act of 1910. The Chamber continued to expand in NSW over the following years opening offices in

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

, Lismore,

Wollongong Wollongong ( ; Dharawal: ''Woolyungah'') is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near water' or 'sound ...

and Ballina while pursuing possible amalgamations with other business organisations, such as the Australian Chamber of Manufactures and Employer's Federation, most of these options were explored but not acted upon. In 1995, the Chamber of Manufactures of NSW broke its tie with MMI, selling its shares of the company and changing its name to Australian Business Limited. The sale of MMI shares made Australia Business Limited one of the most well funded business organisations in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. In 2006 the State Chamber of Commerce (NSW) changed its name to the

Sydney Business Chamber The Sydney Business Chamber, established in 1825 as the Sydney Chamber of Commerce, is the second-oldest business entity in New South Wales. Today, it is a division of the NSW Business Chamber and known as Business Sydney. Its membership is dr ...

of Commerce, echoing the original concept of the chamber of Commerce that applied when it started in 1826. In December 2006, Australian Business Limited changed its name to NSW Business Chamber Limited to reflect the new entity emerging from this union. Following the transfer of all members into NSW Business Chamber Limited, the Sydney Chamber activities continued as the Sydney Business chamber, a division of the NSW Business Chamber. In 2020, the NSW Business Chamber rebranded its advocacy arm to Business NSW.

References

{{Authority control Chambers of commerce in Australia Economy of New South Wales

Purpose and role

History

See also

References