“In addition, she has worked with the new federal parliament to meet the diverse needs of our members during a time of great upheaval.”
Ms Boyd has been under pressure from some small business colleagues since she signed a memorandum of understanding with unions that the Albanian government announced at the Jobs and Skills Summit in September to seek business support for multi-employer bargaining.
A comprehensive industrial relations law was passed by parliament in December.
During the jobs summit, BCA president Tim Reed, ACTU secretary Sally McManus and COSBOA chief executive Alexi Boyd. James Brickwood
The small business lobby later withdrew its support for the government’s proposals for multi-employer bargaining and joined other leading employer and industry groups in calling for the law to be reviewed.
Ms Boyd controversially stood with Australian Council of Trade Unions secretary Sally McManus at the summit to back multi-employer bargaining,
But COSBOA later joined five other business organizations to call on the government to either “abandon or significantly alter” elements of multi-employer bargaining.
Liberal deputy leader Sussan Ley called for a review of Ms Boyd’s position in December, and she was criticized in a private meeting with Coalition MPs.
Ms Boyd has been CEO of COSBOA since June 2021, taking over from long-time director Peter Strong.
In a statement, she said she was proud of the work she had done to elevate the group to a national level in representing the complex field of small business.
“It’s been an amazing 18 months and I feel this is the best decision for me personally and for COSBOA,” said Ms Boyd.
“After spending time at home during the summer break, I now plan to spend more time with my family. I look forward to continuing to work on the future of COSBOA and will always be on hand to help.”
He will end his role on January 25.
Mr. Addison will oversee the activities of the CEO with the assistance of colleagues while the formal recruitment process for the new CEO is carried out.
“Alexi represented small businesses at the Jobs and Skills Summit, initiated and led the development of the COSBOA Cyber Wardens initiative with sponsorship from Corporate Australia, advocated for small businesses to be considered in consumer data rights and [email protected] legislation, for funding by government on family and domestic violence, and established COSBOA’s quarterly small business data report,” Mr Addison said.
“The Board wishes Alexa all the best in her future business endeavors and is grateful to her for being an incredible supporter of small business in Australia.”