THE House of Representatives Standing Committee on Tax and Revenue has today presented its report titled Owning a Share of Your Work: Tax Treatment of Employee Share Schemes.

Employee share schemes are a means by which an employer can offer an employee shares or options in relation to their employment. In its report, the committee makes 18 recommendations to support the uptake and use of employee share schemes in Australia.

The committee’s overarching recommendation is that employee share schemes be treated as capital for the purposes of taxation, and that a tax liability would arise on the disposal of the assets granted, using the current capital gains tax regime.

The committee’s recommendations also include regulatory relief to reduce disclosure requirements in certain situations, enhanced collection and sharing of data relating to employee share schemes, a public awareness program, and an investigation by the Productivity Commission to identify how Australia’s existing arrangements in this space can be improved.

The Committee’s recommendations also include proposed amendments to the Tax and Superannuation Laws Amendment Employee Share Schemes) Act 2015 and the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997, to simplify the complicated and restrictive current tax arrangements for employee share schemes, and support more individuals to access tax concessions for employee share schemes.

Committee chair, Jason Falinski MP, advocated for policy changes in this space.

"Employee share schemes matter because they support new businesses, innovation and start-ups, which are the engine of higher productivity in our country," Mr Falinski said.

"Higher productivity leads to sustainably higher wages, better products and services, greater competition and more choice. All these outcomes directly impact on the quality of life that hard working Australians enjoy. Productivity is what makes life better, more affordable and easier."

A full copy of the committee’s report can be found on the inquiry’s website: https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/House/Tax_and_Revenue/EmployeeShareSchemes

ends

THE NSW Government's decision to deny construction workers from LGAs of concern being able to use rapid antigen testing as a means of proving they are safe to work is discriminatory and a slap in the face to an industry that has met every challenge Covid has thrown at it.

Union leaderes say the current rules have caused "untold distress and anxiety to a group of construction workers already doing it tough as a result of an issue not of their own making".

“The CFMEU, ETU and Plumbers union have been calling for the Berejiklian Government to support a rapid antigen testing regime in the industry since the start of the pandemic, and as an alternative to mandatory vaccination, and it is shameful that some construction workers are going to be excluded from it. Construction workers are being unjustifiably punished,” CFMEU NSW construction secretary Darren Greenfield said.

“Until today the Berejiklian Government had consistently resisted supporting rapid antigen testing in the industry. Despite this resistance, rapid antigen testing has been adopted widely across the industry following the long-term advocacy for its use by the CFMEU, ETU and Plumbers Union as a means of detecting and managing the risk of covid on construction sites.

“It is bizarre and defies any sensible rationale that in announcing the rapid antigen testing regime for every other industry that the government has excluded construction workers living in the 12 LGAs of concern from being able to use it as a means of proving they are safe to work. Construction workers, in an industry that is such an important pillar of our economy, deserve much better," Mr Greenfield said.

“Construction workers who live in Sydney's Western and South Western Suburbs are being discriminated against by a government that ignores the evidence of how the industry has successfully managed Covid.

“The industry has effectively managed the risks posed by Covid-19 since this pandemic began by putting in place upgraded and enhanced safety measures, including staggered start, finish and break times, social distancing on sites, enhanced cleaning and hygiene practices, mandatory face masks, contact tracing and elevated testing regimes - including rapid antigen testing.

“Many builders have adopted the Contact Harold system which tracks where workers are on sites and assists in identifying close contacts of any case where a covid-positive person has been on a site," he said.

“The measures put in place over the past 18 months are over and above what any other industry has done in response to the risk of Covid-19 at the workplace. These measures have ensured that any time Covid has been detected on a site the industry has acted immediately and successfully managed the risk to construction workers and their families.

“If the government is serious about increasing vaccination rates, they need to make vaccines easily available, providing workers with choice and back it up with a clear and consistent public information campaign so workers can make an informed and confident choices about their own health.

“Now that tens of thousands of construction workers have been vaccinated, we demand of the government introduce immediately the opportunity for antigen testing, which is already in place, as an alternative to mandatory vaccination. We will continue to fight for all workers in the construction to return to work unconditionally and to be treated no less favourably than any other worker," Mr Greenfield said.

“Workers should not be forced to pay the price for the bungled vaccine rollout, mixed messaging on vaccine safety and the ongoing failure by the State and Federal Governments to give people the accurate information they need to make their own health choices.”

ends

SUSTAINABLE Population Australia (SPA) has supported the call of its Patron, former NSW Premier and federal Foreign Minister, Bob Carr, to allow in 10,000 refugees from Afghanistan. Mr Carr made the call on ABC-TV’s Q&A program last night.

SPA national president Jenny Goldie said the first plane load out of Kabul, of a mere 26 people, by Australia was pathetic and took no account of the scale of its obligation to the many Afghans who had worked for and beside Australians for 20 years.

“The scenes of people running in front of planes and even hanging on to the landing gear showed the desperation of so many,” Ms Goldie said.

“Despite the spokesperson for the Taliban, Zabihullah Mujahid, in its press conference on Tuesday, assuring his compatriots who had worked with the US and its allies that they would not be treated with revenge, nevertheless, the fear of the people is clearly evident.

“The record of the Taliban is not good, particularly in its treatment of women and girls who thankfully have had two decades of respite from its excesses. For 20 years women and children have had access to school and family planning clinics, both of which helped bring the fertility rate down from 7.5 to 4.5 children per woman.

“Last month in two provinces where they had taken control, Taliban leaders issued an order to local religious leaders to provide them with a list of girls over the age of 15 and widows under the age of 45 for marriage with Taliban fighters.

“This is inhumane,” Ms Goldie said.

“While we cannot take every Afghan who is afraid of the Taliban, nevertheless, we must help the interpreters and others who have worked with our troops to get out and come here under our Humanitarian program.

“We are signatories to the 1951 Refugee Convention and these people clearly fill the definition of a refugee, namely, someone who has a well-founded fear of persecution, war or violence in his own country.”

www.population.org.au

ends

WESTERN Australia’s lack of action to curb pollution from liquefied natural gas (LNG) is ‘directly undermining national emissions targets’ and the Paris Agreement, while costing taxpayers billions according to WA’s leading conservation group.

Appearing in front of the Senate Economics References Committee inquiry on Friday, the Conservation Council of WA (CCWA) director, Piers Verstegen, said the WA-based LNG sector was the fastest growing source of pollution in Australia, and the primary reason that Australia was unable to adopt a responsible science-based position on climate change.

“The oil and gas industry have made record profits for the last decade, but the vast majority of these profits have flowed to overseas shareholders, while Australian taxpayers pick up a multi-billion dollar bill for the pollution from this industry," Mr Verstegen told the committee.

“We conservatively estimate that the Australian taxpayer has forked out roughly $1.4 billion over the last five years, just to offset WA’s rising pollution from the LNG export industry.

“This is a giant back-door subsidy fuelling the world’s fastest growing pollution source. It should be an international scandal.”

Western Australia is the only state where carbon pollution has risen substantially since the 2005 baseline under the Paris Agreement. This increase has been driven by growth in LNG exports, and it is a primary factor preventing Australia from making meaningful progress on emissions.

“While protecting Australia’s fossil fuel exports has motivated Australia’s obstructionist position on the national stage, the lack of domestic action and refusal to adopt stronger targets can largely be put down to protectionism for the LNG industry," Mr Verstegen said.

“If Australia didn’t need to accommodate pollution growth from this industry it would be far easier to meet more ambitious targets.

“The LNG industry is holding our country back and our country is in turn holding the world back from greater ambition on climate change.

“The WA government approach to climate policy has been to shift the cost and liability of rising LNG emissions to other states. But no other state has agreed to this and nobody is talking about where the savings are going to come from in other states and other businesses to offset this pollution growth.

“Currently, the cost of this is being met by Australian taxpayers who are forking out billions of dollars through the Emissions Reduction Fund to offset growth in LNG pollution, while record LNG profits flow to overseas shareholders.”

Meanwhile, Woodside is pressing ahead with plans for its Scarborough LNG project in WA’s North West, which campaigners say will produce in excess of 1.6 billion tonnes of carbon pollution over its lifetime – equivalent to 15 coal-fired power stations. 

This is despite the recent IPCC report’s ‘code red’ warning and International Energy Agency analysis which showed any attempt to reach net zero emissions by 2050 would mean no new gas project approvals beyond 2021, the CCWA said.

This has led to questions over the long-term viability of fossil gas projects and whether the failure to transition to alternative energy sources – particularly in renewables – is costing Western Australian jobs and investment, according tot he CCWA.

Independent research from CCWA has demonstrated that "inaction on climate change in WA is holding back the creation of more than 200,000 jobs in industries like renewable energy, green metals and low carbon agriculture". CCWA said this was far more than the number of jobs created by the LNG industry.

“The political influence of companies like Woodside has stifled and held back economic activities which would create thousands of jobs and made WA’s economy far less competitive," Mr Verstegen said.

“Meanwhile, the LNG industry creates very few jobs itself. It is the smallest employer by sector in WA.

“In economic terms, the LNG industry is ripping us off, while at the same time undermining the conditions that support human habitation on this planet.”

The Inquiry into Australia’s oil and gas industry will submit its findings to the Senate later this year.

About the CCWA

The Conservation Council of WA (CCWA) is the state’s foremost non-profit, non-government conservation organisation representing more than 100 environmental organisations across Western Australia. 

 ccwa.org.au

ends

INVESTMENT design house Stoic Asset Management has become the largest co-investor in Elanor Investors Group’s (ASX: ENN) newly established Hotel Accommodation Fund with key property-backed domestic tourism assets across Australia.

The $346 million fund is made up of 14 high-quality hotels in the luxury and regional hotel sectors. Stoic Asset Management executive chairman Guy Hedley said the fund focused on focus on the luxury and regional hotel sectors and was expected deliver significant earnings growth with an average distribution yield of 10 percent over the next three years and a guaranteed 8 percent return to June 30, 2022.

The fund’s strategy is to grow the portfolio to more than $500 million and a potential listing on the Australian Securities Exchange.

Stoic Asset Management is an outcome-driven investment management group that designs fit for purpose investment products. It is also the sole co-investor in Elanor’s Wildlife Park Fund and a major investor in Elanor’s Burke Street Real Estate and Healthcare Real Estate funds.

The Elanor Hotel Accommodation Fund includes a hotel operating company and three property trusts. The first property trust in the Elanor hotel fund holds six hotels including the ibis Styles operated by Accor at Byron Bay in northern NSW, Albany, Western Australia, Barossa and Clare, South Australia, Eaglehawk, Victoria and Canberra.

The second trust holds five hotels in Mudgee, Port Macquarie, Tall Trees, Wagga Wagga, Wollongong. The third has Adabco Adelaide, Mayfair Hotel Adelaide, and the famed Peppers Cradle Mountain Lodge in Tasmania.

“Along with luxurious city-based hotels, the portfolio has a unique focus on high-end regional accommodation for which there is a market shortage,” Mr Hedley said.

“Regional areas attract a considerable proportion of Australia’s tourism market and have experienced growth with an increase in intrastate and interstate travel by domestic tourists throughout COVID-19. We expect demand to surge as domestic and international travel revives.”

Mr Hedley said Stoic Asset Management’s strong partnership with Elanor Investors Group helped put it ahead of the market when it came to commercial property opportunities in Australia.

“These are unique and highly sought-after opportunities in the visitor economy – Australia’s fourth largest export sector,” he said.

“We are continuing to look for further high-quality hotel, resort and retreat opportunities in Australia’s thriving domestic tourism market.”

https://www.stoicam.com.au/

ends

DESPITE being more likely to recommend their employer, nearly half of early childhood education and care professionals would not advocate pursuing a career in the sector, according to new research from industry super fund HESTA.

Launched today, the State of the Sector 2021: Early Childhood Education and Care Workforce Insights report looking at the working experience and attitudes of HESTA members reveals the industry – already facing chronic workforce shortages – faces significant challenges attracting and retaining talent.

Almost one in five early childhood education and care (ECEC) professionals surveyed said they were considering leaving the industry within two years. Among the biggest issues were dissatisfaction with wages, feeling unappreciated by the community for their role as early educators, and a lack of opportunities for growth (promotion).

The research did find positive sentiment across a range of measures related to how ECEC professionals felt about their employers, with 87 percent saying they felt somewhat or strongly supported by their employers during COVID.

However, this did not flow through to a greater willingness to advocate for working in the sector. 

Although 42 percent of respondents said they would strongly recommend working for their employer, 43 percent were strong detractors when it came to recommending a career in the industry. Less than a third of respondents said they would strongly recommend a career in the industry.

“This research shows the big gap between how professionals feel about where they work and whether they see a long-term career in the industry,” HESTA CEO Debby Blakey said.

“It’s great to see individual employers stepping up and supporting their employees, but unless the broader issues of low pay, a lack of development opportunities and community perception are addressed, the industry will face a chronic shortage of skilled professionals.”

In a 2019 workforce report on the future of the ECEC workforce, the independent Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA) forecast the sector would need more than 39,000 extra educators by 2023 - a 20 percent increase in the workforce.

HESTA has more than 63,000 members working in the sector. As part of this workforce research project, HESTA surveyed professionals working across health and community services in May 2019 and in July 2020. More than 4600 members responded to the survey, including more than 360 ECEC professionals.

Questions looked at member’s job intentions, their employment satisfaction drivers, their attitudes towards their employer and industry, as well as how the COVID-19 pandemic affected their work, financial situation and industry outlook.

HESTA members working in ECEC had the lowest median super account balance of any industry cohort, with 74 percent having a median account balance of less than $50,000. Hit hard by the pandemic, nearly 20 percent of HESTA members working in ECEC also made a claim under the Federal Government’s early release of super (ERS) scheme. This group saw their median account balance fall by an average of 49 percent.

“During the pandemic we saw the critical role our early educators play in supporting our community," Ms Blakey said.

“We also saw just how precarious their employment and financial situation is. We know from the early release of super, the heartbreaking prevalence of financial hardship among these members and it points to the need to improve the quality and security of jobs in the sector.”

Over a third of respondents reported that their household income was less than $60,000 and almost one in five reported their household earned less than $40,000.

“HESTA strongly supports free universal childcare as a key productivity measure to improve women’s workforce participation and lifetime earning potential in order to lead to better outcomes for generations of Australian children,” Ms Blakey said.

“When Australia faced the initial shock of COVID-19, early educators were there to support the push to protect our community. Now is the time to ensure a long-term, sustainably funded, early childhood education sector. But this funding must also look to lift low wages and improve conditions for those who are so vital to delivering these critical services.”

The report is available at hesta.com.au/ECECreport21

KEY FINDINGS

• 47% of respondents would strongly recommend their leader or manager.
• 42% would strongly recommend to family and friends working for their employer. This was strongest among younger members (18-29 years of age), with 64% recommending working at their employer and 77% their employer’s services.
• 54% of respondents would strongly recommend their employers’ services.
• The top three reasons given for staying with their employer were: colleagues and coworkers, employer’s location and ‘liking the company I work for’.
• The top three reasons for leaving an employer were: developing new skills, trying something different and not being paid enough.
• Their salary was the most disliked aspects of their roles followed by not enough opportunities for growth (promotion).

ends

THE Queensland Resources Council (QRC) has welcomed the announcement by Senex Energy it will spend $40 million on increasing natural gas production at its Atlas operation in Southern Queensland.

The expansion will enable Senex to increase its annual gas supply at Atlas, located near Wandoan, by 50 percent to reach 18 petajoules a year.

Under a Queensland Government policy, Senex’ Atlas gas project is classified as a domestic-only production tenure which means its gas can only be sold to Australian end users. 

QRC chief executive Ian Macfarlane said the QRC supported the government’s domestic gas policy, which was introduced to give Queensland and Australian manufacturers reliable access to gas.

Mr Macfarlane said Australia’s domestic gas supply market is expected to tighten over the next 12 months, reinforcing the importance of gas companies like Senex expanding their operations to supply more gas, including to manufacturers in southern states. 

"It’s a clear signal to other states they need to do more to shore up their own energy needs by opening up their own fields,” he said. 

“The resources sector is transitioning to a lower emissions future as fast as the technology will allow, but it can’t happen overnight. In the meantime, Australia will continue to need sources of energy like gas, especially for manufacturing purposes.” 

Mr Macfarlane said Senex’ expansion plans, which the company estimates will inject $15 million into the local economy and create 100 new jobs in the construction phase, are another example of the resources sector playing a critical role in underpinning the state economy and supporting regional communities.

www.qrc.org.au

ends

THE Financial Services Council (FSC) has released the second draft of the Life Insurance Code of Practice 2.0 (Code) for public consultation.

The revised draft released today incorporates feedback from the first consultation draft, as well as recommendations from the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services inquiry into the life insurance industry, ASIC reviews, Productivity Commission reports, feedback from consumer advocates and the Hayne Royal Commission.

FSC CEO Sally Loane said, “The Code, which is mandatory for all FSC’s life insurance members and will be governed by the independent Life Code Compliance Committee, has been reviewed line by line and letter by letter from the starting point that every clause can be improved.

“We have had the Code independently re-structured and re-written by plain English experts to ensure that the Code is as easy to read and as easy to navigate for everyday Australians as possible,” Ms Loane said.

“The FSC appreciates the consultative approach taken over recent months by consumer groups which has helped us develop a stronger and more consumer-focused Code.

“The FSC is pleased to present this version for a final public consultation before we submit the Code for registration under ASIC’s new enforceable code regime.”

The first Code originally came into effect on June 30, 2016, binding all life insurance FSC members to minimum standards of service for consumers for the first time. The Code covers all new policies taken out in Australia, because all life insurers issuing new policies in Australia are FSC members.

“I am proud of the current Life Insurance Code of Practice and of the industry’s enthusiasm to adopt it, but we recognise that Codes can always be further improved, and that’s what this version sets out to do,” Ms Loane said.

“We look forward to working with all stakeholders to ensure the Code gives consumers the confidence to get life insurance and trust that it will work as they expect and when they need it.”

Interested parties can give their feedback on this draft of the Code until September 29, 2021. Send any feedback to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

To find out more, including to download a copy of the revised Code, go to https://fsc.org.au/resources/2247-fsc-life-insurance-code-of-practice-2-0-final-consultation-version/file

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.

ends