THE Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit has tabled its report on the Commonwealth Financial Statements, based on Audit Report No. 33 (2016-17), Audits of the Financial Statements of Australian Government Entities for the Period Ended 30 June 2016.

Committee Chair Senator Dean Smith said that the Auditor-General’s financial statement audits play a critical role in ensuring accountability to the Parliament and the Australian public for the expenditure of public funds.

“The audits provide independent assurance that this information is accurate and that the financial management of Commonwealth entities is effective,” Senator Smith said.

“The Committee has made a number of recommendations in its report to further improve the effectiveness and transparency of financial reporting by Commonwealth entities. In doing so, the Committee commends the Australian National Audit Office for its work each year in auditing the Consolidated Financial Statements and entity financial statements.”

The Committee’s report makes six recommendations, including that:

• a number of agencies should report back to the Committee on their progress in responding to any significant or moderate findings in next year’s financial statement audits;
• the Northern Land Council should report back on its progress in responding to two significant legislative breaches and any such breaches reported next financial year; and
• the Department of Finance should: reinstate, as a formal reporting requirement, disclosure of senior executive remuneration by all Commonwealth entities, consistent with previous practice; report back on options to further strengthen remuneration disclosure requirements; and develop benchmarks to enable entities to assess their own financial sustainability against agreed parameters over time.

Interested members of the public may wish to track the Committee via the website. 

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THE House Agriculture and Water Resources Committee will hold a public hearing in Canberra on Thursday, 7 September for its inquiry into water use efficiency in Australian agriculture.

The Department of Agriculture and Water Resources will give evidence to the inquiry for a second time.

Committee Chair, Mr Rick Wilson MP, discussed the hearing:

“The Committee has collected some interesting and compelling evidence over the last few months. As we approach the end of the evidence gathering phase of the inquiry, we now provide the department with an opportunity to address some of the issues and concerns raised in submissions and discussed by witnesses at public hearings”.

Public hearing details: 12.15 pm to 1.30 pm, Thursday 7 September,  Committee Room 1R2, Parliament House, Canberra

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

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THE Fair Work Ombudsman Natalie James has welcomed the passing of new laws that will significantly enhance its capacity to take action in cases of exploitation of vulnerable workers.

The Fair Work Amendment (Protecting Vulnerable Workers) Bill 2017 passed the Parliament on 5 September.

It includes a range of measures including an increase in the maximum penalties for employers who deliberately flaunt the minimum wage and other entitlements under the Fair Work Act 2009.

The new laws will apply from the day after the Bill receives royal assent, except for the new franchisor and holding company liability which will start six weeks later.

The new law will hold certain franchisors and holding companies responsible for underpayments by their franchisees where they knew, or reasonably should have known, about the contraventions and failed to take reasonable steps to prevent them.

The laws will apply to franchisors that have a significant degree of influence or control over the franchisee’s affairs.

The laws apply new, higher financial penalties to ‘serious contraventions’ which are 10 times the current maximum penalties. A court could impose these higher penalties where an employer knew they were breaching their obligations and this conduct is part of a systematic pattern of behaviour. In such cases maximum penalties of $630,000 and $126,000 per contravention could apply to corporations and individuals respectively.

The new laws will double the maximum penalties for record-keeping and pay slip breaches, to $12,600 per contravention for individuals and $63,000 for companies, and triple existing penalties in cases where employers give false or misleading pay slips to workers, or provide the Fair Work Ombudsman with false information or documents. Last financial year two-thirds of the FWO’s court cases involved alleged record-keeping or payslip contraventions with nearly one third involving allegations of false or misleading records being provided to the FWO.

Amendments moved by the Senate will also provide that where an employer has not met their record-keeping or pay slip obligations, the employer will have to disprove a wage claim put before a Court unless the employer has a reasonable excuse for not keeping records or issuing pay slips.

Ms James also welcomed the strengthening of laws governing “cashback” arrangements with the legislation specifically prohibiting unreasonable requirements for an employee to pay money to their employer or another person. These protections will now also extend to prospective employees unreasonably required to pay their own money to get a job.

“New evidence gathering powers contained in the legislation will allow the Fair Work Ombudsman to require a person to provide information or documents to the FWO or to attend before senior FWO officials to answer questions on oath or affirmation that relate to underpayment of workers,” Ms James said.

There are strong protections for individuals in relation to these evidence gathering powers including; supervision by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal and the Commonwealth Ombudsman, rules preventing the evidence a person gives from being used against them personally, the right to have a lawyer present if they attend to answer questions and the right to claim reimbursement of reasonable expenses.

Ms James reiterated previous statements that this power will be deployed as a last resort – while most employers work with the FWO to address concerns that may have arisen about an employee’s entitlements and provide FWO with the information it needs to resolve such matters, those engaging in deliberate breaches of the law often do not cooperate.

“We will always welcome new tools, resources or powers that will help the agency address serious cases of non-compliance and exploitation in the workplace, especially when it comes to protecting the most vulnerable members of our community,” Ms James said.

“My Agency will continue to be fair and balanced in its approach and will to operate in accordance with our compliance and enforcement policy.

“However, employers who know their obligations and systematically fail to meet their workplace obligations should be on notice that we will use all the powers at our disposal,” Ms James said.

Ms James said she looked forward to working with the community, including franchisors and their advocates and advisers, to help them understand the new laws and the ways they can contribute to building a culture of compliance with them.

“Now is the time for franchise systems that care about their reputation to take steps to ensure their employees receive their lawful entitlements,” Ms James said.

"The Fair Work Ombudsman will work with any franchise that is serious about doing the right thing by its workers."

Summary of key changes

• Certain franchisors and holding companies become responsible for underpayments by their franchisees or subsidiaries where they knew, or reasonably ought to have known, about the contraventions and failed to take reasonable steps to prevent them
• A new category of serious contraventions has been introduced, with penalties that are ten times the current maximum where employers knowingly contravene and it is part of a systematic pattern of contravening conduct
• New penalties for providing Fair Work inspectors with false or misleading information or records, and new prohibitions for hindering or obstructing them
• The prohibitions against unreasonably requiring employees to make payments, commonly seen as cashback arrangements, have been strengthened and extended to prospective employees
• Maximum penalties for record-keeping and pay slip breaches have been doubled, and the maximum penalty for false or misleading employment records has been tripled.  New penalties apply for giving false or misleading pay slips
• Employers who do not meet record keeping or pay slip obligations and cannot show a reasonable excuse, will need to disprove wage claims made in a court
• The Fair Work Ombudsman’s evidence-gathering powers have been strengthened

www.fairwork.gov.au

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THE Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS) welcomes the Plastic Bag Ban and Container Refund Scheme Law which passed through Queensland’s Parliament last night.

The Waste Reduction and Recycling Amendment Bill, which introduced these measures, was passed with bipartisan support.

James Cordwell, AMCS Marine Campaigner said:

“This new law sets the gold standard for waste reduction in Australia. With the tide of ocean plastic pollution on the rise, Queensland is showing leadership in tackling this problem.”

“Queensland is the most polluted state in Australia, according to the Keep Australia Beautiful Litter Index, with the incidence of litter 41% higher than the national average.”

“Our coastlines are being littered with millions of plastic pieces. Eleven items of plastic, on average, are found along every metre of beach from the Sunshine Coast to the Gold Coast.”

“Plastic pollution is choking and entangling our turtles, marine mammals and birdlife. It fills up their stomachs, reducing the space for food, which often results in starvation.”

“This new law has the potential to reduce Queensland's plastic litter by half - drastically cutting the plastic that ends up in our oceans, entangling or choking marine wildlife. To realise this potential the Queensland  Government must implement world’s best practice regulations and community education in coming years.”

“Education is vital. You can have a fantastic system, but if the community isn’t adequately informed on how it works and how they can participate, you’re heading for failure.”

“This is a win-win initiative for Queenslanders, capable of saving marine wildlife and cleaning up our coasts. We look forward to working with the Queensland Government to ensure the new laws are implemented successfully,” said Mr Cordwell.

www.amcs.org.au

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