THE Palaszczuk Government is backing business and giving young Queenslanders access to gain a valuable qualification for free to build a career in the industries where we know there will be jobs.

The Skills Strategy is a blueprint to deliver Queensland’s next generation of skilled workers.

A huge part of The Skills Strategy includes free apprenticeships for people under 21 years of age, across 139 qualifications.

"This is great news for young Queenslanders but even better news for businesses as they won’t have to bear the cost of training an apprentice," Queensland Premier Anastacia Palasczuk said.

Qualifications on offer are in traditional trade areas as well as non-trade areas such as electrical, plumbing, engineering, healthcare, hospitality, and early childhood.

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THE Financial Services Council (FSC) today welcomed the release of the Morrison Government’s Royal Commission implementation roadmap, confirming the government’s intent to act on all of the Commission’s recommendations by the end of 2020.

FSC CEO Sally Loane said with the release of the roadmap, industry has certainty and can approach the task of implementation in a more targeted way, ensuring resources are allocated and directed at the Federal Government’s priorities.

“It is very important to move quickly to rebuild consumer confidence and enhance consumer outcomes, however any legislation to implement the recommendations should be treated with the same diligence and rigor as any other new bill to be brought before the Parliament,” Ms Loane said.  

“The industry is committed to embracing this program of reform through action, strengthening the trust and ties between financial services and the community.

“The FSC is committed to working with Government to ensure all recommendations are implemented in the timeframes.”

The FSC said it looked forward to working on the implementation of the following recommendations:

• 2.4 – Ending grandfathered commissions for financial advisers;
• 2.7 – Reference checking and information sharing for financial advisers;
• 1.15 – Enforceable code provisions for industry codes of conduct;
• 4.7 – Application of unfair contract terms provisions to insurance contracts.

There are a number of recommendations due to be implemented that the FSC believes require further discussion with government:

• 2.10 – A new disciplinary system for financial advisers;
• 7.1 – Compensation scheme of last resort. 

Ms Loane said modernising the default superannuation system to end the proliferation of duplicate accounts by implementing a ‘default once’ framework has not been dealt with as part of this implementation roadmap.

“We look forward to the Government providing a response to the issue and timing for the reform as part of its response to the Productivity Commission’s report into the efficiency of the super system,” Ms Loane said.

www.fsc.org.au

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AUSTRALIA'S four major banks will appear before the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics at public hearings in Canberra on November 8 and 15, 2019.

The Chair of the committee, Tim Wilson MP, said, "These hearings are an important mechanism for the Parliament to publicly scrutinise and hold Australia’s four major banks to account.

"The committee’s scrutiny will include examining the four major banks’ progress in implementing the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry.

"Given the widespread misconduct across the financial services sector identified by the Hayne Royal Commission, it is important that financial institutions are held accountable and to ensure that they make the crucial improvements needed to start restoring trust in our financial institutions," Mr Wilson said.

Beyond actions taken by the sector, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg released a royal commission implementation road map today, which outlines how the Morrison Government will move on all recommendations requiring legislation by the end of 2020 – with one-third planned to be finalised this year.

In a future series of hearings the committee will extend its scrutiny beyond the four major banks to smaller banks and the insurance, superannuation and financial advice sectors.

Public hearing details

Date: Friday, 8 November 2019
Time: 9.15am to 4.15pm
Location: Committee Room 2R1, Parliament House, Canberra

9.15am–12.15pm: Westpac
1.15pm–4.15pm: Commonwealth Bank of Australia

Date: Friday, 15 November 2019
Time: 9.15am to 4.15pm
Location: Main Committee Room, Parliament House, Canberra

9.15am–12.15pm: National Australia Bank
1.15pm–4.15pm: Australian and New Zealand Banking Group 

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

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INDUSTRY Super Australia (ISA) has welcomed the Federal Government’s commitment to implementing the recommendations of the Hayne Royal Commission.

ISA chief executive Bernie Dean said the government’s implementation roadmap set out an ambitious legislative timetable that should deliver important protections for consumers, including the requirement that ongoing fee arrangements must be renewed annually, introduction of a new disciplinary system for financial advisers, and bans on hawking of super products.

"ISA is a strong advocate for legislative reform that is in the best interest of members and whilst quick implementation is to be commended, it should not compromise the interests of members," Mr Dean said.

"While the recommendation relating to stapling will be dealt with as part of the Government’s response to the Productivity Commission, ISA will continue to work with Government as they determine their response to this important recommendation.

"Industry super funds preferred model is to automatically combine a worker's super each time they change jobs into a single quality checked account," he said.

An independent cost-benefit analysis of ISA’s model by KPMG found it would deliver up to $416 billion in performance dividends to members and eliminate multiple accounts, with consumers standing to benefit from close to $200,000 more in super over their working life.

"This is in comparison to the ‘fund-for-life’ model which could see workers stuck in a single underperforming fund for life," Mr Dean said.

Separately, ISA is urging the Federal Government not to lose sight of the other key reform priorities in the superannuation sector.

"Both the Royal Commission and Productivity Commission made it clear that underperformance is the single most costly drag on the system, costing consumers hundreds of thousands of dollars in retirement savings," Mr Dean said.

"Dealing with this chronic underperformance must remain the government’s top priority when it comes to superannuation, along with the elimination of multiple accounts and stopping the scourge of unpaid super," Mr Dean said.

“The Royal Commission did a very good job of identifying where the problems and misconduct were – now the government must get on and fix them," he said.

“We welcome the government’s commitment and the ambitious reform program they have set out and we stand ready to work with them as they implement these important protections for consumers.

“While this important work is underway, we urge the government not to lose sight of the other challenges such as chronic underperformance and the fact that one in three workers are not even getting paid super," Mr Dean said.

www.industrysuper.com

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