Promotional package released to attract companies to set up 'call centres' in WA

14/10/98

Commerce and Trade Minister Hendy Cowan today released a new promotional package aimed at attracting more companies to set up 'call centres' in Western Australia.

Call centres employ teams of service staff in a single location to take calls from customers from around the country or the world, handling everything from banking queries to product orders and hotel and event bookings.

Using sophisticated phone systems, the call centres are an increasingly cost-effective business tool for many companies.

WA now has more than 100 call centres employing around 3500 people.

However, Mr Cowan said around 65 per cent of call centres in Australia were located in Sydney and WA was keen to break that trend.

"Western Australia has a number of advantages, ranging from accommodation costs to availability of multilingual staff, close proximity to Asia and compatible time zones with many overseas countries, which make us an ideal location for call centres," he said.

"The promotional package being released today is the first step in what will be an ongoing effort to sell the state - including regional areas - as an ideal call centre location."

The package, titled Western Australia Calling, gives a comprehensive overview of the benefits of choosing WA to establish a call centre. It will be distributed widely to major Australian and overseas companies.

It was released today at a Call Centre Industry Awareness Seminar in Joondalup, jointly run by the Department of Commerce and Trade, the Australian Telemarketing and Call Centre Industry Association and City of Joondalup.

Mr Cowan said it was estimated that within the next decade, the call centre industry in Australia would be worth more than $2 billion annually and employ more than 300,000 people.

Call centres in WA currently range from small groups of employees conducting sales from a single location to major undertakings using sophisticated technology able to screen calls from around the world and divert them to staff with appropriate language skills.

Media Contact: Peter Jackson 9222-9595