THIS WEEK the House Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs will hold two further public hearings for its inquiry into homelessness in Australia.

At hearings on Wednesday and Thursday, the Committee will hear from representatives of all three levels of government, including the Lord Mayors of Sydney and Melbourne, the Northern Territory Government, and Federal Government agencies including the National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation.

Other witnesses will include the Community Housing Industry Association and academics from the ANU Centre for Social Research and Methods who have been monitoring the level of housing stress being experienced by Australians during the COVID-19 period.

The Committee will also have the opportunity to hear from individuals with lived experience of homelessness, who will provide a valuable perspective for the inquiry.

Chair of the Committee, Andrew Wallace MP, said the Committee was keen to hear from witnesses about the unique challenges in addressing homelessness in different regions of Australia, and about how the community can better support people who may be particularly vulnerable, including older Australians and veterans.

"We know that the issue of homelessness presents in different ways across the country, from our largest capital cities to our most remote communities. These hearings are an opportunity for the Committee to hear about the different approaches to providing housing and homelessness services in these different communities," Mr Wallace said.

"The Committee will also hear about support services for groups of Australians that we know are particularly at risk of homelessness, including older Australians and veterans, and about the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 situation."

In order to ensure public safety during the COVID-19 situation, witnesses will participate in the hearing remotely, via teleconference. Interested members of the public are invited to listen to the live broadcast, available at aph.gov.au/live.

Further information, including hearing programs and submissions to the inquiry, is available on the Committee’s website.

Public hearing details

Date: Wednesday, 29 July 2020
Time: 8.45am to 4pm
Location: Via teleconference

Date: Thursday, 30 July 2020
Time: 8.45am to 4pm
Location: Via teleconference

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WHEN the COVID restrictions began in March, the Financial Services Council’s (FSC) participating life insurers put two major initiatives in place – the commitment to Frontline Healthcare Workers and the Total and Permanent Disability (TPD) claims initiative.

The frontline healthcare workers initiative ensures that frontline healthcare workers are not prevented from obtaining life insurance cover purely because of their exposure, or potential exposure, to coronavirus through the crucial work they are doing on the frontline.

The TPD claims initiative ensures that if people lose their job, are stood down or have reduced working hours due to COVID, this will not affect their TPD cover.

Today, the Financial Services Council (FSC) announced the extension of both these initiatives until January 1, 2021. In the case of the COVID TPD claims initiative, claims need to be lodged on or before March 31, 2021.

FSC CEO Sally Loane said, “These initiatives aim to ease any concerns Australians may have about their life insurance cover during uncertain times.

“What this means is that participating life insurers will have provided additional support to the community right through to the end of 2020.

“If anyone is unsure about what cover they have, contact your superannuation trustee, life insurer or financial adviser.”

https://fsc.org.au/policy/life-insurance/commitments

About the Financial Services Council

The Financial Services Council (FSC) has over 100 members representing Australia's retail and wholesale funds management businesses, superannuation funds, life insurers, financial advisory networks and licensed trustee companies. The industry is responsible for investing almost $3 trillion on behalf of more than 15.6 million Australians. The pool of funds under management is larger than Australia’s GDP and the capitalisation of the Australian Securities Exchange and is the fourth largest pool of managed funds in the world.

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A 32-YEAR-OLD DEREGISTERED tax professional from Queensland has been sentenced at the Brisbane District Court to three years jail today for fraudulently obtaining $192,140 from the ATO by lodging false Business Activity Statements (BAS) and amendments without her clients’ knowledge. She was also ordered to pay $158,845 in reparations.

Alana Hodge, a formerly registered (BAS) agent, was employed by seven businesses. Ms Hodge was trusted by these businesses to manage their business tax obligations.

She abused their trust by changing the bank account details and contact information in the ATO business portal. She went on to lodge 47 false BAS for seven of her clients without their knowledge between 2015 and 2017.

Assistant Commissioner Adam Kendrick said that tax and BAS agents play a vital role in contributing to and protecting the integrity of the Australian tax and super systems.

“The ATO knows that the majority of registered agents do the right thing, but unfortunately there are some agents who take advantage of their clients for financial benefit,” Mr Kendrick said.

Ms Hodge attempted to obtain a further $65,056 in GST refunds, however, she was unaware the ATO had already received a tip off from one of her client’s accountants and were already undertaking an investigation into the suspicious activity. The funds were not released.

“As demonstrated in today’s case, even registered tax professionals can be dishonest and take advantage of their clients," Mr Kendrick said. "That is why it’s important for the ATO and Tax Practitioners’ Board (TPB) to work together to maintain the integrity of the tax profession and identify those who try to undermine their trusted position.”

The ATO has a program dedicated to identifying and addressing agents whose behaviour has an immediate and ongoing threat to the integrity of the tax and super systems, their clients, and the wider Australian community.

“We want to assure the community we take these matters seriously and work closely with the TPB to combat dishonest behaviour.”

The TPB terminated Ms Hodge’s registration in October 2018 and banned her for the maximum five-year term.

This matter was prosecuted by the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions.

https://www.tpb.gov.au/make-complaint.

ATO reporting: via the app or by calling 1800 060 062.

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THE Queensland Government should mirror key planks of the Western Australian Government’s COVID-19 recovery plan for the Sunshine State’s own economic revival, Queensland Resources Council chief executive Ian Macfarlane said.

Mr Macfarlane said the WA Recovery Plan, launched by Premier Mark McGowan at the weekend, adopted many recommendations the QRC had already made to the Queensland Government, the Premier’s Queensland Industry Recovery Alliance and the Parliamentary Inquiry into the Government’s response to the COVID-19 recovery.

“The resources industry in Queensland, like WA, has been one of the very few sectors to keep our Queenslanders working and earning.  We have kept the lights on during one of the darkest periods in Queensland’s history,” Mr Macfarlane said.

“Like the industry in WA, the Queensland resources sector needs the State Government to help kick-start new projects with support for exploration, reduced assessment timeframes and exemption for affected mining tenement holders.”

In response to QRC’s 40-point Resource Industry Recovery Agenda, the Palaszczuk Government has increased funding for the Collaborative Exploration Initiative by $10 million.

“For the resources sector to do more, we need the Queensland Government to do more,” Mr Macfarlane said.

Specifically, QRC is seeking:

• Streamlined assessment and approval processes for new and expanded resource projects;
• A 10-year royalty freeze on all resource commodities to provide certainty, particularly for investments in new and expanded projects; and
• An Industry Development Plan with a commitment to work with the sector on its long-term growth and prosperity.

Premier Mark McGowan’s WA Recovery Plan states:

“The mining sector is the backbone of the WA economy and has played an integral part in keeping Western Australia in a strong economic position throughout the pandemic.

"The McGowan Government will continue to support mining exploration to build a pipeline of new activity to complement existing operations.

"Initiatives will include building on the industry’s understanding of the state’s geoscience, encouraging exploration activities and ultimately kick-starting new projects across Western Australia.

"Amendments to mining regulations will reduce assessment timeframes for exploration applications, thereby fast-tracking new opportunities.

"Changes to regulations will also allow mining tenement holders to apply for expenditure exemptions if they are able to demonstrate that the COVID-19 pandemic affected their financial capacity to meet expenditure conditions of their leases.”

Link to the WA Recovery Plan: www.wa.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-07/WA_Recovery_Plan.pdf

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