Australian Government Delays Employee Ownership Reforms

Although it had been considering recommending changes to the rules governing employee ownership in its budget proposal, the government of Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has said it will instead introduce its proposals later in the year. Several cabinet members support the proposal, which would largely reverse the changes to employee ownership rules passed by the Labor government in 2009. The Australian business newspaper BRW notes in a May 9 article that the 2009 changes "were intended to stop executives minimising their tax but instead triggered an almost overnight collapse of employee share schemes in Australia."