THE Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman (ASBFEO) Kate Carnell said it is essential for small business owners to secure their assets and business loans, with economists predicting a steep rise in insolvencies this year.

Ms Carnell said small businesses needed to secure their assets through the Personal Property Securities Register (PPSR) so they are better protected in the event of an insolvency.

“Given the incredibly tough past 12 months we’ve had and predictions of a wave of insolvencies to come, PPSR has never been more important,” Ms Carnell said.

“The greatest pity is that many small businesses find it too difficult to use.”

Releasing ASBFEO’s PPSR Research Paper today, Ms Carnell said the PPSR, if used correctly, is a powerful tool that can deliver significant benefits to small businesses.

“Many small businesses are not aware that correctly registering their interests can save them a world of pain in the long run,” Ms Carnell said.

“So many small businesses have invested heavily in their businesses over the past 12 months, but few know that they can secure these loans, pushing them higher up the security chain if there’s an insolvency.

“More importantly, small businesses that register their interests won’t need to fight tooth and nail to retain title to their goods if a business customer winds up.

The Ombudsman’s research paper found an urgent overhaul of the PPSR system is required to make it accessible to small businesses.

“Unfortunately the PPSR in its current form is not making life easier for small businesses,” Ms Carnell said.

“The name is confusing, the language is overly technical and the operation of the register is very complicated.

“Many small businesses we spoke to said they would need a lawyer to help them register their interests – an additional cost burden for struggling small businesses.

“Put simply, systems and regulations imposed on small businesses by government need to be easy to get right and hard to get wrong. At the moment PPSR is hard to get right and easy to get wrong.

“Our report recommends streamlining the system, including encouraging small business cloud accounting platforms in to provide regtech solutions such as pop-up reminders to small business owners who record a personal loan to the balance sheet, alerting them to register it on the PPSR.

“I urge the government to implement the recommendations in our report, to build a system that works for the small business community and provides them with the certainty they need."

www.asbfeo.gov.au

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NEW PLAYERS in the superannuation sector Future Super and Verve Super will be scrutinised, along with Diversa Trustees, at the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics public hearing this Wednesday.

Committee Chair Tim Wilson MP said the hearing would provide an opportunity to ask questions about these funds, their responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, and approaches to investing for the future prosperity of fund members.

"Although newer to the sector, it is vital that super funds are scrutinised and held to the standards that Australians expect from the custodians of their retirement. It is crucial that the superannuation sector is operating effectively, fairly, and to the benefit of fund members," Mr Wilson said.

"Following on from our hearings on 6 and 20 November 2020, the committee looks forward to continuing its exploration of issues in the superannuation sector, and to gaining a better understanding of these newer players in the competitive super field."

The hearing forms part of a broader review of Australia’s four major banks and other financial institutions. Examination of these institutions will also include monitoring the financial sector’s progress on implementing relevant recommendations from the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry.

A full program for the hearing is available on the committee’s website.

Public hearing details

Date: Wednesday, 3 February 2021 
Time: 11am to 1pm
Location: Videoconference

The hearing will be broadcast live at aph.gov.au/live.

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EFTPOS has joined the Hedera Governing Council and will run the country’s first Hedera network node this year. 

Designed to be the most decentralised governance model for a public ledger, the Hedera Governing Council includes a group of highly diversified enterprises and organisations overseeing a global network of nodes that aims, among other things, to enable low cost micropayments for a range of use cases such as the internet of things (IoT) and access to content streamed over the internet.

Eftpos CEO, Stephen Benton, said eftpos joined the council after a number of successful proofs of concept last year, and it aimed to enhance the company’s digital payments innovation strategy to better meet Australians’ payment needs into the future.

“By joining the Hedera Governing Council and running the Australian node, alongside some of the world’s largest and most influential companies, we are excited to participate in the development of next-generation micropayments technology that has the potential to open up entirely new ways of conducting business for Australian enterprises and enable compelling new experiences for Australian consumers," Mr Benton said.

“For example, in a world of fast paced technology change, low cost micropayments to pay for internet content or tiny payments for device to device transactions.”

The eftpos digital strategy was devised with an Australian focus, creating world-class innovations to compete with global payments players. The digital strategy has five key elements:

• Mobile Wallets including Beem It;
• e-commerce;
• Digital identity, using connectID;
• Fintech ecosystem access;
• National QR code payments rollout.

The initial objective of the micropayments proof of concepts, led by eftpos entrepreneur in residence, Rob Allen, was to investigate ways to create a seamless, sub-cent micropayments experience as an alternative to traditional online paywalls and subscriptions in the digital world. 

“By combining the new eftpos API infrastructure with a consumer wallet-based experience, digital identity, and an AUD-based stablecoin using Hedera’s superfast, secure and low-cost distributed network, the PoC’s objective was demonstrably achieved,” Mr Allen said.

“Use cases like this simply are not possible on other public blockchains. Along with several partners, we are now exploring a variety of use cases that this combination of technologies enables and the options to commercialise them.

“Being on the Hedera Governing Council will provide us with the combined technical insight of all the Council members as well as a unique global perspective to improve our speed to market.”

Mance Harmon, CEO and co-founder of Hedera Hashgraph, said, “As Australia’s debit card system operator, eftpos is a critical component of the country’s financial infrastructure, processing over 2 billion transactions in 2020 worth an average of more than $300 million each day.

"We are pleased that they have joined the Hedera Governing Council as part of their new Australia-first digital product strategy. We look forward to their collaboration with other Council members and participants of the Hedera ecosystem to help make micropayments and other innovative financial models a reality for millions of consumers and billions of IOT devices.”

As the 17th council member, eftpos joins a growing network of large enterprises, including Avery Dennison, Boeing, Dentons, Deutsche Telekom, DLA Piper, FIS (WorldPay), Google, IBM, LG Electronics, Magalu, Nomura, Swirlds, Tata Communications, University College London (UCL), Wipro, and Zain Group. 

Members of the Hedera Governing Council are responsible for running the initial nodes of the Hedera network, as well as guiding both strategy and software development, over a maximum of two consecutive three-year terms. This contributes to stability and is conducive to maintaining diversity and decentralisation of the public network.

Hedera Hashgraph’s node policy and codebase are undergoing continuous updates, to which council members will contribute, supporting a governance model that eliminates the risk of forks, provides safeguards for users, and preserve the integrity of the Hedera network.

https://hedera.com/council.

About Hedera

Hedera Hashgraph is a decentralised public network on which developers can build secure, fair applications with near real-time finality. The platform is owned and governed by a council of the world's leading organisations including Avery Dennison, Boeing, Dentons, Deutsche Telekom, DLA Piper, eftpos, FIS (WorldPay), Google, IBM, LG Electronics, Magalu, Nomura, Swirlds, Tata Communications, University College London (UCL), Wipro, and Zain Group. The Hedera whitepaper can be found at www.hedera.com/whitepaper.  www.hedera.com. @hashgraph.

About eftpos

Eftpos is Australia’s debit card system, processing over 2 billion debit card transactions in 2020 worth an average of more than $300 million each day. Eftpos is wholly owned by its 19 members, comprising the largest financial institutions and retailers in Australia, including Adyen, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited, Australian Settlements Limited, Bank of Queensland Limited, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Limited, Citigroup Pty Limited, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Coles Group Limited, Cuscal Limited, EFTEX, Fiserv, Indue Limited, ING DIRECT, National Australia Bank Limited, Windcave Pty Ltd, Suncorp Bank, Tyro Payments, Westpac Banking Corporation, and Woolworths Group Limited.  www.eftposaustralia.com.au

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THE Joint Standing Committee on Treaties will hold a public hearing in Canberra on Monday, February 1, 2021 to discuss amendments to the Convention on the Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

The Committee will hear evidence on changes to the lists of protected species arising from the CITES 18^th Conference of the Parties.

CITES protects endangered species by regulating international trade in those species and their products.

“Two small, but lucrative industries – musical instrument manufacturing and sea cucumber fishing, are likely to be the most affected in Australia,” Committee Chair Dave Sharma MP said.

“Musical instrument makers will benefit from an easing of restrictions on the use of Rosewoods, while people wishing to export sea cucumbers will need to obtain a permit to export this endangered species.”

The Committee will also review recent amendments to the Agreement on Mutual Recognition in relation to Conformity Assessment, Certificates and Markings between Australia and the Republic of Iceland, the Principality of Liechtenstein and the Kingdom of Norway [European Free Trade Association – European Economic Area].

Public hearing details

Date: Monday 1 February 2021
Time: 11am – 12 noon
Location: Committee Room 2R1, Parliament House

Access to the public hearing is restricted as a pandemic control measure. The hearing can be accessed online.

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