Meeting No 9. City leaders focused their discussion on the Taskforce’s achievements and outcomes over the past eight months, including proactive, united leadership and cross-sector collaboration, tangible local solutions, and joint advocacy for those hardest impacted by the pandemic. As was custom at City Taskforce meetings, leaders received an economic briefing from the Hunter Research Foundation Centre, as well as presentations by two of the successful grant recipients under the City of Newcastle’s Industry Response Program. 4 December 2020.
Meeting No 8. City leaders focused their discussion on innovation-led economic recovery to ensure new jobs and growth for the region, which is at the centre of the latest Newcastle Response. The Taskforce heard case studies on tech scale-ups Portt and GreenBe, both of which are based in Newcastle, as well as Industry Response Program grant recipient Matt Field of Field Frequency, whose live music initiative Music People is supporting the recovery of the local arts and entertainment industry. Full communique: 23 October 2020.
Meeting No 7. City leaders focused their discussion on advocacy for the Arts Sector, which has been crippled by the pandemic, through the fourth edition of The Newcastle Response; as well as youth unemployment and a case study on Industry Response Grants recipient, the Small Business Recovery Centre. The Taskforce also received the latest health and economic briefings, noting Australia is now in recession with a 7% fall in the quarterly GDP. Full communique: 4 September 2020.
Meeting No 6. City leaders focused their discussion on the impacts to the City's youth with the third edition of The Newcastle Response highlighting the significant local impacts to youth employment. The meeting also received the latest briefings and analysis on the public health crisis, as well as the latest data on the Newcastle economy. Full communique: 7 August 2020.
Meeting No 5. City leaders focused their discussion on impacts on the visitor economy noting the significant impacts to the tourism sector, as well as commercial rental vacancies across the city and eroded business confidence in the context of further job losses and economic impacts as a result of COVID-19. The second edition of The Newcastle Response focuses on the the Tourism Sector and was agreed to by the Taskforce. Full communique: 3 July 2020
Meeting No 4. City leaders focused their discussion on the first edition of The Newcastle Response, which highlights the challenges facing the community sector, as well as the forecasted impacts of the end of Government supplements, such as JobSeeker and JobKeeper, legislated to 27 September 2020. The Taskforce was also briefed on the Affected Industries Roundtable, facilitated by City of Newcastle on 4 June 2020, at which representatives from industries such as retail and hospitality, tourism, live music and arts and culture shared their experiences and local insights. Full communique: 5 June 2020.
Meeting No 3. City leaders focused their discussion on sharing aggregate data from each of the 17 organisations they represent to paint a clearer picture of COVID-19's impacts on Newcastle and the Hunter Region, as well as refining work streams to inform faster policy decisions. The Taskforce received the latest briefings and analysis on health, policy and economy with the national labour force data. Full communique: 15 May 2020.
Meeting No 2. City Leaders focused its discussion on work streams and resourcing to implement priority programs and initiatives aimed at getting the City back up and running and supporting the community’s most vulnerable. Full communique: 1 May 2020
Meeting No 1. City Leaders provided an update on the impact of COVID-19 to their organisations. The layers of challenges across the City were evident and highlighted that COVID-19 was already having a significant local economic impact. No meeting communique available. 17 April 2020.