Business Council of Australia#History

The Business Council of Australia (BCA) is an industry association that comprises the chief executives of more than 130 of Australia's biggest corporations.{{cite web | url=https://www.bca.com.au/membership | title=Membership }} It was formed in 1983 by the merger of the Business Roundtable – a spin-off of the Committee for Economic Development of Australia – and the Australian Industry Development Association. The organisation is headquartered in Melbourne with offices in Sydney and Canberra.

Its stated goal is to give the business community a greater voice in public policy debates about the direction of Australian society.{{Citation needed|date=July 2021}}

History

=AIPL/AIDA=

The Australian Industries Protection League (AIPL) was established in Melbourne in January 1919 as a successor to the Protectionist Association of Victoria.{{cite news|url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-244884012/|title=Guide to the Records of the Australian Industries Protection League|publisher=National Library of Australia|accessdate=17 February 2022}} James Hume Cook, a former federal MP and ally of Nationalist leader Billy Hughes, was appointed secretary of the organisation in 1922 and held the position until his death in 1942. He represented the league at the British Empire Economic Conference in Ottawa in 1932.{{cite news|url=https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/cook-james-newton-haxton-hume-5762|title=Cook, James Newton Haxton Hume (1866–1942)|first=Ian|last=Hancock|year=1981|volume=8|publisher=Melbourne University Press|work=Australian Dictionary of Biography}}

According to Peter Cochrane, its members were "first and foremost, advocates of high, even prohibitive, protection; they possessed a profound belief in the virtuosity of the small business enterprise and the necessity to furnish it with a financial and political superstructure".{{sfn|Cochrane|1980|p=117}}{{cite book|url=https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/data/UQ_190287/HC605_C523_1980.pdf|first=Peter|last=Cochrane|authorlink=Peter Cochrane (historian)|title=Industrialization and Dependence: Australia's Road to Economic Development, 1870-1939|year=1980|publisher=University of Queensland Press|isbn=0702214884}}

In June 1951, the AIPL was renamed as the Australian Industries Development Association (AIDA).{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/209823482|title=New Watchdog for industry|newspaper=The Age|date=14 June 1951}} Hosiery manufacturer George Foletta served as the organisation's president from 1951 to 1956.{{cite news|url=https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/foletta-george-gotardo-10210|title=Foletta, George Gotardo (1892–1973)|first=Airlie|last=Worrall|work=Australian Dictionary of Biography|date=1996|volume=14|publisher=Melbourne University Press}}

=Post-merger=

The Business Council of Australia was formed in 1983 from a merger of AIDA and the Business Roundtable.{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/116422857|title=Competitiveness key to world economy|newspaper=Canberra Times|date=12 August 1983}}

Structure

=Board=

The board oversees the council's secretariat, committees and task forces, makes recommendations about membership and appointments, and proposes policies.

Board members, as of November 2024, were:[https://www.bca.com.au/board Board] Business Council of Australia

President: Geoff Culbert - Chair of the NSW Fundraising Committee for the Australian Olympic Committee
Chief executive: Bran Black{{cite news |last1=Hutchinson |first1=Samantha |title=Meet Bran Black: how Macquarie Street's Mr Nice Guy got the BCA gig |url=https://www.afr.com/politics/meet-bran-black-how-macquarie-street-s-mr-nice-guy-got-the-bca-gig-20230814-p5dwby |access-date=17 October 2023 |publisher=Australian Financial Review}}
Matt Comyn - CEO, Commonwealth Bank
Karen Dobson - Managing Director, Dow Australia & New Zealand
Danny Gilbert - Managing Partner, Gilbert + Tobin
Mike Henry - CEO, BHP
Meg O'Neill - CEO and Managing Director, Woodside Energy
Kellie Parker - Chief Executive, Australia Rio Tinto
Rob Scott - Managing Director, Wesfarmers
Mel Silva, Managing Director and Vice President, Google Australia & New Zealand

Former presidents include Tim Reed, Catherine Livingstone, Tony Shepherd, Michael Chaney, Hugh Morgan, Roderick Carnegie and Arvi Parbo.{{cite web | title=Previous BCA Presidents | access-date=2017-04-05 | url=http://www.bca.com.au/about-us/previous-bca-presidents | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170405170750/http://www.bca.com.au/about-us/previous-bca-presidents | archive-date=5 April 2017 | url-status=dead }}

The secretariat works on policy, research, communications and administrative support.

The Strong Australia Network was established to lobby for regional businesses,{{cite web |url=https://www.strongaustralia.net/about |title=About Us |website=Strong Australia Network |publisher=BCA |access-date=1 July 2021}} and BizRebuild to help businesses damaged by floods or bushfires.{{cite web |url=https://www.bizrebuild.com.au/what-is-bizrebuild |title=What is BizRebuild? |website=BizRebuild |publisher=BCA |access-date=1 July 2021}}

Policy

The council's policy agenda has included plans to reform post-secondary education,{{Cite web|url=https://www.bca.com.au/education_and_skills|title=Education and skills|website=Business Council of Australia|language=en|access-date=2019-05-09}} cut rates of personal and company tax,{{Cite web|url=https://www.bca.com.au/tax|title=Tax|website=Business Council of Australia|language=en|access-date=2019-05-09}} and strengthen enterprise bargaining.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bca.com.au/modern_workplace_relations|title=Modern workplace relations|website=Business Council of Australia|language=en|access-date=2019-05-09}}

Members help develop policy through committees and special-issue task forces.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bca.com.au/structure|title=Structure|website=Business Council of Australia|language=en|access-date=2019-05-09}}