Accord’s 2024 Canberra Day bridges industry and government

Have you ever had that ‘arrggh’ moment in your work, when you feel like your products, your business, your industry are misunderstood by the powers that be?

Your business has spent countless hours developing beautiful products, building its brand and serving your customers, only to come up against a solid wall of policies or regulations. Maybe the rules are outdated or based on assumptions that don’t align with how your industry operates. Perhaps the government doesn’t understand the challenges your business faces. Instead of fostering growth and innovation, these misunderstandings can create unnecessary obstacles, slow you down, inflate costs, and even put your business at risk.

Accord initiated Canberra Day for this very reason – to foster relationships and deepen mutual understanding between our industry and government. First held over 15 years ago, the event is now an annual highlight of our calendar.

Pursuing mutual understanding is so important. Governments create regulations that impact businesses, while industries drive economic growth and innovation. A mutual understanding helps ensure that regulations support business needs without compromising public interests, which can lead to better-designed policies and increased compliance. A shared appreciation of priorities, challenges, and progress also aids in advancing sustainability and innovation. And relationships help facilitate discussions in which views can be freely expressed—and actually heard.

Record attendance

Accord’s 2024 Canberra Day at the East Hotel saw record attendee numbers from both government and industry, demonstrating the value of this two-way dialogue.

Industry attendees were CEOs and senior personnel from the cosmetics and personal care sector, as well as hygiene and specialty chemicals. From the cosmetics sector, businesses including Beiersdorf, Cosmetic Laboratories, Coty, Estée Lauder, Jurlique, L’Oréal, LVMH, Procter & Gamble, Pierre Fabre, Puig, Revlon & Elizabeth Arden and Unilever were present.

Government attendees were from 11 federal departments and regulators, highlighting the many touchpoints between our industry and government and the breadth of Accord’s contacts.

Our Canberra Day Industry Showcase enabled business leaders from the personal care, hygiene, and specialty products industry to demonstrate to our government colleagues our sectors’ essentiality and significance, as well as our sustainability and innovation credentials, and to provide insights into the challenges our industry faces.

Representing the beauty sector was Laurent Saffre, CEO of Pierre Fabre Australia. Laurent focused on sunscreens and the imperative need—given Australia’s world-leading melanoma rate—for Australia’s sunscreen regulations to make it easier for formulators to introduce advanced sunscreen products that people love to wear.

The Industry Showcase culminated in our Industry Leader’s Panel, where business leaders highlighted some of the challenges they face doing business in Australia.

Industry heard from government colleagues about the latest policy measures and priorities for industry, trade, and the environment.

Kelly Wood from the Department of Finance’s Regulatory Reform Branch spoke about the branch’s pan-governmental focus on modernising regulation to ensure it is targeted, risk-based and user-centric through a data-informed approach and appropriately leveraging international standards. A welcome message indeed! Kelly also introduced the Regulator Maturity Model, a tool to help regulators evaluate and improve their capability.

AiG Director of Climate Change & Energy Tennant Reed delivered a fascinating keynote address on solving Australia’s climate and energy challenges. Highlighting why taking action is imperative for Australia, Tennant spoke about the pros and cons of alternative energy sources, potential policy solutions, and their implications for businesses.

Those with sunscreen products noted Nick Henderson from the TGA on the Sunscreens Taskforce, work underway to develop an Australian sunscreen exposure model and the option for applicants to request a pre-submission meeting before submitting a product application. Nick also spoke about other priorities of the TGA, such as expanding capabilities through training and university partnerships.

Graeme Barden, Executive Director of AICIS, spoke on the agency’s journey since 2022, including progress with three stages of reforms, website enhancements, and fee/threshold changes, as well as their commitment to ongoing improvements to the system. Graeme also highlighted the value of Canberra Day to meet with industry and hear the priorities and approaches of his government colleagues.

Department of Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water Circular Economy Division Head Chloe Bird spoke on the government’s plans relating to circular economy, national packaging reforms and input to the UN Plastics Treaty.

Tracey Raso, Accord Chair and Regional Managing Director – Pacific, Revlon Australia & Elizabeth Arden, closed Canberra Day for another year. Looking forward to the next one!

Images from the event below: