Australian Business Forum

The Australian Business Forum (ABF) is a Melbourne-based organization whose annual meeting of top business leaders, Australian political leaders (Prime Ministers, Foreign Ministers and others), along with intellectuals and journalists is to be held in Melbourne, Australia in November 2008. There are also focused smaller events held throughout the year (such as the Australia-China Business Week held in June at Crown Melbourne).

Mission Statement

ABF (Australian Business Forum) is an independent, Australian, non-political organization, which supports the Australian SME business sector through anticipating its knowledge needs and facilitating dialogue, business and partnerships. It does this with the support and input of participants and partners across business, academia, government, the public sector, and the wider Australian and international community.

Definitions vary, however SME’s are defined for the ABF as firms with less than 250 full time equivalent employees and/or less than $150 million turnover. ABF has developed a range of SME-focused initiatives which are supported by ABF online and print media. The annual program of events includes the ‘Global Business Outlook’ presented at Parliament House Melbourne, ‘Business Week Expo’ - showing the SME sector (now in its third year) and the Australia China Business Week held at Crown Melbourne.

ABF brings together the best and brightest to focus on SME business: Australian and international leaders, dynamic CEO’s and C-level executives from top-1000 companies, state and federal ministers, leading international academics, senior government officials, commentators, economists and forecasters, emerging leaders, and other community leaders.Expo events showcase and facilitate business at venues such as the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre and have included as many as several hundred exhibitors and five thousand plus visitors. Forum events engage participants with questions important to Australian SME business on areas such areas as: innovation and change, entrepreneurship and start ups, private equity and venture capital, leadership, investment, finance, social entrepreneurship and corporate responsibility, technology and the internet, new markets, economic trends and analysis, international trade, climate change and performance cultures.

ABF works to build opportunities, add clarity and focus to the decision making process - providing transformational opportunities for interaction for those who are creating, leading, supporting and transforming businesses. ABF initiatives are regarded for their quality, engaged participants, organization and the broad, timely and relevant content.

Operations

The Australian Business Forum and its focused smaller events are designed for dialogue and debate about business issues of Australia: representatives of both the most powerful economic organizations and the most powerful political organizations are present; intellectuals also participate; and there is a generally informal atmosphere encouraging wide-ranging debate. Journalists have access to most sessions of events, the majority of which are webcast live so that the debates can be open to a wider public.

Whilst business and political leaders make up the majority of participants, representatives from various other organizations attend, as well as trades union leaders, NGO leaders, and religious leaders.

Media access

At any meeting of the Australian Business Forum, journalists are invited to participate in a lot of the formally scheduled panels and events. Complete access to every session organized by the Forum is usually granted, with journalists having similar access rights as any of the other participants. However, they are excluded from some of the many private and informal industry-wide workshops and meetings between corporate executives, political leaders and leaders of international financial institutions.

Participation by NGOs

The ABF has attempted to create a greater integration between business and the NGO sector by inviting representatives of NGOs to participate in meetings. The Australian Business Forum holds between five and ten smaller meetings per year, enabling close contact between corporate business leaders, local government leaders and NGOs.

Research Reports

The forum produces a number of research reports.

External links

*The Official [http://www.abforum.com.au Australian Business Forum] Site

References

*Smartcompany [http://www.smartcompany.com.au Smartcompany] website
*Australian Anthill Magazine [http://www.anthill.com.au Anthill] website
*Herald Sun [http://www.heraldsun.com.au Herald Sun] website
*Australia-China Connections Magazine [http://www.acc.com.au] website
*Sensis [http://www.sensis.com.au Sensis] website
*The Age [http://www.theage.com.au] website