THE Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman (ASBFEO) Kate Carnell is encouraging dairy farmers in dispute to contact her office, following the release of an ACCC report reflecting on compliance with the Dairy Code of Conduct.

The ACCC’s Dairy Code: initial observations on compliance report identifies areas of concern including processors’ failure to publish standard form milk supply agreements on time, as well as failing to report on the number and nature of disputes.

Ms Carnell said the issues raised by the regulator, highlight the need for dairy industry participants to understand their rights and obligations under the code. She reiterated that her office was ready to provide assistance with disputes that arise under the code.

“The mandatory Dairy Code of Conduct gives Australian dairy farmers a framework to negotiate a fair price for their product,” Ms Carnell said.

“The code applies to all milk supply agreements entered into, or amended, on or after January 1, 2020. My office can provide small and family business owners in the dairy industry with information on the code, as well as options to resolve disputes and access to mediation and arbitration services.

“The Dairy Code of Conduct provides dairy farmers and other industry participants with avenues for dispute resolution within a fairer framework.”

“In addition to the Dairy Code, my office can provide broader assistance to small and family businesses that also include disputes under the Franchising, Horticulture and Oil Codes of Conduct.”

More information is available about ASBFEO’s dispute resolution services at asbfeo.gov.au

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THE INSURANCE INQUIRY report released by the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman (ASBFEO) has been welcomed by the Institute of Public Accountants (IPA), noting "there is still much to be done".

“The ASBFEO insurance report highlights the many issues facing small business owners, some of which make it impossible for them to carry on business as they can’t get insurance or the cost of insurance is prohibitive,” IPA chief executive officer, Andrew Conway said.

“Whilst this is evidence of market failure, the industry in its entirety should not be brandished with the same brush. The key factor, however, is one of affordability for the most suitable insurance product that meets and aligns with the small business owner’s needs.

“IPA shares the view that the hidden costs of insurance should be made transparent, including stamp duty and GST, which in some states make up 21 percent of the premium," Mr Conway said.

“This is in effect, revenue raising by governments who continue to place undue duress on the insurance system, which adds to increasing costs for consumers.

“The IPA will continue to advocate to properly educate small businesses on insurance needs and importantly, to educate and activate the insurance sector to better understand and meet the insurance needs of small business in a competitive market,” Mr Conway said,

About the Institute of Public Accountants

The IPA, formed in 1923, is one of Australia’s three legally recognised professional accounting bodies. With the acquisition of the Institute of Financial Accountants in the UK, the IPA Group was formed, with more than 40,000 members and students in over 80 countries. The IPA Group is the largest SME focused accountancy organisation in the world.  www.publicaccountants.org.au

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A NEW research centre dedicated to the legacy of one of Australia’s greatest union leaders will be established in 2021 at the Australia Institute.

The newly formed Carmichael Centre will be established at the Australia Institute’s Centre for Future Work, in the name of legendary manufacturing unionist Laurie Carmichael, who passed away in 2018 at the age of 93.

Laurie Carmichael played a pivotal role in Australia’s union movement over several decades. He campaigned to protect the right to strike, negotiated shorter working hours, developed innovative workers’ education and training programs, helped to negotiate the Prices and Incomes Accords in the 1980s, served on several federal government boards and commissions under the Hawke and Keating governments, and opposed Australia’s involvement in the Vietnam War.

He served in numerous leadership capacities during his career, including with the Amalgamated Engineering Union, the Amalgamated Metal Workers Union, and the Australian Council of Trade Unions.

The Carmichael Centre is being established with the support of Mr Carmichael’s family, and with funding from two of the organisations which Mr Carmichael led: the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union (AMWU), formed in 1995 through a merger that included successors to Mr Carmichael’s former unions, and the Australian Council of Trade Unions for which Mr Carmichael served as assistant secretary from 1987 through 1993.

Among other activities, the new Carmichael Centre will host a Distinguished Research Fellow position, who will conduct and publish research on themes related to Mr Carmichael’s legacy, including: industrial relations, social policy, manufacturing and industry policy, vocational education, international labour solidarity and peace, and the impact of unions on social well-being.

The centre will organise an annual lecture by a prominent labour speaker on Carmichael’s legacy; and it will also develop and publish an annotated on-line bibliography of Carmichael’s writings and other contributions.

The formation of the Carmichael Centre follows two years of discussions among unions and colleagues to plan an appropriate recognition of Carmichael’s influence and legacy. The Centre for Future Work is launching a public search for the first Distinguished Research Fellow, who will be appointed early in 2021.

“The Carmichael Centre will carry on Laurie Carmichael’s mission, based on his conviction that strong, innovative unions can help build a better society for all,” AMWU national president, Andrew Dettmer said.

ACTU national secretary Sally McManus said, “Laurie Carmichael was a principled, innovative, progressive union leader who understood that workers need collective power to make economic, social and democratic progress. We are so glad his ideas will receive the continued attention and study they deserve, through the work of the Carmichael Centre."

Mr Carmichael is survived by his son, Laurie Carmichael Jr.

“The values dad fought for all his life are more important than ever: fairness, equality, democracy, and peace. I am deeply proud that his legacy lives on, including through the work of the Carmichael Centre,” Laurie Carmichael Jr said.

Australia Institute executive director, Ben Oquist said, “The Distinguished Research Fellow will make a very important contribution to progressive labour research in Australia. We are deeply honoured to host the Carmichael Centre, and to advance Laurie’s vision of a better, fairer world of work.” 

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ELIMINATING sexual harassment in the legal profession is part of the Law Council’s long-running commitment to inclusion and diversity in the legal profession.

The recent release of the National Action Plan to Reduce Sexual Harassment in the Australian Legal Profession (NAP) heralds the start of a united and coordinated process to address the issue.

Law Council president, Pauline Wright said the NAP aimed to address the regulatory and cultural change factors necessary to facilitate better experiences for legal professionals.

“Sexual harassment is unacceptable in the legal profession and the Law Council and its Constituent Bodies are committed to its elimination,” Ms Wright said.

“One way of achieve this, is to outline specific law reform proposals as policy positions of the Law Council. 

“The NAP also includes measures that the legal profession can implement to drive cultural change,” Ms Wright said.

Recommendations include:

• Advocating for federal law reform amendments to the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth) (SDA);
• Supporting the work of the Australian Human Rights Commission, particularly in relation to the establishment of a Workplace Sexual Harassment Councilamending the SDA, the harmonisation of federal and state and territory discrimination laws; and the establishment of education and training programs for judicial officers and tribunal members;
• Driving cultural change in the legal profession through a proposed reformulation of Rule 42 of the Australian Solicitors’ Conduct Rules; the development of national model sexual harassment policy and guidelines and a centralised source of information and suite of educational tools; the facilitation of a consistent complaints process; the consideration of bystander provisions; and supporting those who have experienced sexual harassment;
• ·Advocating for the establishment of a Federal Judicial Commission.

“The NAP and the measures proposed will not solve every problem relevant to sexual harassment,” Ms Wright said.

“It is important to note that this a living document, setting out a framework for change, the specifics of which will continue to evolve as each measure is developed.

“The NAP is just the start of a united and coordinated process that will continue to be reviewed and refined as the measures are developed and implemented in consultation with the Law Council’s constituent bodies."

WHILE THE Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has done a fantastic job in its administration of the Federal Government’s stimulus packages, a small number of entities may have wrongfully missed out. 

The report by the Inspector-General of Taxation and Taxation Ombudsman (IGTO) recognised the good work of the ATO in this area but indicates some taxpayers should have been allowed to demonstrate their trading circumstances other than by lodging a BAS before March 12, 2020.

“The ATO is to be commended for its administration of the JobKeeper scheme,” Institute of Public Accountants (IPA) chief executive officer, Andrew Conway said.

“However, a small number of entities may have been denied access to JobKeeper and the cash flow boost. According to the IGTO report, certain financial supplies can satisfy the requirement to evidence business activity which is not limited to notifying the making of a supply via lodgement of a business activity statement (BAS).

“In fact, if a new business opened a business account then this would be sufficient to indicate their business activity intent.

“Accountants, as trusted advisers, should review their small business clients to ensure those that may have been eligible but denied access, are now brought to the attention of the ATO.

“It is unfortunate if some small businesses closed where they could have rightfully accessed the cash flow boost,” Mr Conway said.

www.publicaccountants.org.au

About the Institute of Public Accountants

The IPA, formed in 1923, is one of Australia’s three legally recognised professional accounting bodies. With the acquisition of the Institute of Financial Accountants in the UK, the IPA Group was formed, with more than 40,000 members and students in over 80 countries. The IPA Group is the largest SME focused accountancy organisation in the world. 

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THE Australia Financial Security Authority (AFSA) has announced Federal Gobvernment changes to bankruptcy laws that were amended in 2020 to cope with the COVID-19 economic situation.

In March 2020, the Australian Government announced a series of changes to bankruptcy law, as part of the wider economic response to the COVID-19 pandemic.. The temporary changes included:

• an increase in the debt threshold, which enables creditors to apply for a bankruptcy notice;
• an increase to the timeframe for a debtor to respond to a bankruptcy notice;
• an increase to the temporary debt protection period available to debtors.

As of January 1, 2021, those temporary changes will cease, according to AFSA. An amendment has also been made to adjust the bankruptcy threshold. This means:

• the minimum amount of debt that can trigger bankruptcy is $10,000, down from $20,000;
• the amount of time an individual has to respond to a bankruptcy notice is 21 days, reduced from six months;
• temporary debt protection allows for 21 days relief from creditors, instead of six months.

Before the temporary changes were implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the minimum amount of debt that could trigger a bankruptcy was $5,000. The Federal Gvernment has amended the bankruptcy regulations to adjust the threshold for petitioning bankruptcy to $10,000 or more.

www.afsa.gov.au

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ON DECEMBER 18, the Federal Court of Australia sentenced Brisbane based Kent Scott Hacker to seven and a half months in prison. He, and his related companies, were also fined over $640,000  for multiple offences under the Tax Agent Services Act 2009 (TASA).

The court granted the Tax Practitioners Board’s (TPB) request for permanent injunctions against each entity, restraining Mr Hacker, One Stop Global Staffing Pty Ltd (OSGS) and Naleview Pty Limited, from further provision of unregistered tax agent services. Mr Hacker was also restrained from providing BAS services whilst unregistered.

It is a welcome outcome after a protracted investigation and litigation, during which Mr Hacker continued to act illegally, according to the TPB.

This saga commenced when the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) raided OSGS offices in November 2018 and uncovered evidence validating ATO suspicions that Mr Hacker had been preparing and lodging tax returns for thousands of taxpayers whilst unregistered with the board. The TPB acted swiftly on the information, and by February 2019 had launched a Federal Court action against Mr Hacker and his two companies. 

During the proceedings, Mr Hacker gave an undertaking to the Federal Court that he would stop providing tax agent services to clients for a fee or other reward. Intelligence from the ATO confirmed that despite this undertaking, he continued to provide services to clients.

The TPB, concerned of the potential risk to the public, successfully sought a court order forcing Mr Hacker to display large notices at the OSGS offices warning taxpayers of the risks of using Mr Hacker’s services.

In June 2020, the Federal Court ruled that Mr Hacker and his businesses had repeatedly been in contempt of court. The court also found that Mr Hacker had contravened the TASA 45 times and his two companies 42 times.

Chair of the TPB, Ian Klug said, "The TPB will act firmly against those that act outside the law and supports the imposition of the penalties handed down to Mr Hacker and his associated companies. For nearly two years, Mr Hacker has brazenly and consistently ignored court orders and his behaviour has put his clients at risk and undermined the integrity of the taxation system. The TPB will continue to target unregistered preparers to ensure the professional and ethical standards of the tax profession is maintained.

"The sentencing, fines of over $640,000 and the imprisonment of Mr Hacker, sends a strong message to other rogue advisers and the community that illegal acts of this nature will not be tolerated."

About the Tax Practitioners Board

The TPB regulates tax practitioners in order to protect consumers. The TPB aims to assure the community that tax practitioners meet appropriate standards of professional and ethical conduct. Twitter_@TPB_gov_au, LinkedIn and Facebook. 

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IRISH Smart Grid technology company, VIOTAS, has established a base in Melbourne from which it will deliver its leading-edge Demand Response (DR) services to commercial and industrial electricity consumers throughout Australia from 2021.

Supported by Enterprise Ireland for its market entry, the company, which specialises in the development of technologies that enable electricity consumers to earn revenue by providing critical services to the power system, has earmarked Melbourne as a regional hub from which it will roll-out further operations throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

VIOTAS was founded in 2013 in Limerick, Ireland with a mission to enable zero-carbon power systems by harnessing the flexibility of electricity consumers to accelerate the use of renewable energy on the wider power system.

The company’s services leads to a reduction in the continued reliance on fossil fuel generation to balance renewable generation by instead contracting large electricity consumers to provide this balancing function and other, higher-value services that ensure the reliability and security of the power system. By reducing the percentage of power reserved for fossil fuel generation in-turn increases the percentage of zero-carbon renewable generation that can be delivered by the power system.

For VIOTAS’s commercial and industrial clients, by electing certain non-critical electricity loads to be automatically reduced at key times, they will receive payments in the same way that power stations do for generating electricity. This presents a significant opportunity at times when the wholesale electricity market price reaches highs of $14.50 per kilowatt-hour.

The company’s high-speed technology boasts the ability to detect and react to power system issues faster than the blink of a human eye, enabling their Demand Response clients to access a broader range of high-value payments that are typically the domain of grid-scale batteries.

VIOTAS has been the fastest growing Demand Response provider since entering Ireland's highly competitive market and was titled Ireland’s fastest growing technology company in the 2019 Deloitte Technology Fast 50 Awards.  The company’s disruptive technology has played a key role in shaping their home market as Ireland has, by necessity, turned to innovative solutions to achieve increasingly ambitious national renewable energy targets.

“Our services are underpinned by our best in class technology that is designed from the ground up to meet the challenges associated with integrating increasing amounts of renewable energy onto the power system," VIOTAS co-founder, CEO and CTO, Paddy Finn said.

"We are a company that looks towards the future, and Australia, a country whose coat of arms symbolises moving forward, never backwards, clearly shares our view of the world. We are excited to deliver our services to commercial and industrial clients in Australia to help facilitate the use of more renewable energy on the wider power system in a way that retains value in the economy.”

While investing heavily in its global expansion, VIOTAS has focused its attention on Australia as a key market on account of the challenges arising due to the increasing prevalence of renewable energy on the power system. Ireland’s response to similar challenges in recent years is highly regarded as a global exemplar by power system operators worldwide.

VIOTAS Australia managing director, Michael Zammit said, “I am truly delighted to be leading VIOTAS Australia having seen the extent of what they have achieved in Ireland. The technology behind our services is complex but our business model is simple; we generate significant revenue for our clients, improving their competitiveness, and retaining value in the Australian economy.”

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