August « 2010 « Australian Regulatory Compliance Review from Langes+ Lawyers

August 22, 2010

Paid parental leave update

Regardless of the composition of the next government, it appears that the paid parental leave scheme which will commence on 1 January 2011 will be changed from 1 July 2012.

The current arrangement will provide eligible working parents with 18 weeks of pay at the weekly rate of the National Minimum Wage.

The ALP has announced “two weeks Paid Paternity Leave for fathers of newborn babies.

This will be provided in addition to Federal Labor’s 18 weeks Paid Parental Leave. Parents will still be able to choose to share the 18 weeks Paid Parental Leave between them.

Federal Labor’s new entitlement for two weeks dedicated paternity leave pay will be made available to eligible dads from 1 July 2012.”

The Coalition’s Paid Parental Leave scheme will:

provide mothers with 26 weeks paid parental leave, at full replacement wage (up to a maximum salary of $150,000 per annum) or the Federal Minimum Wage, whichever is greater;
include superannuation contributions at the mandatory rate of nine per cent;
allow two out of the 26 weeks to be dedicated paternity leave to be used simultaneously or separately to the mother’s leave, paid at the father’s replacement wage (up to a maximum of $150,000 per annum) or the Federal Minimum Wage, whichever is greater, plus superannuation.
use the same work test and eligibility conditions as the recently legislated scheme;
be funded by a 1.5 percent levy on companies with taxable incomes in excess of $5 million. The levy will apply only to taxable income in excess of $5 million.
be paid and administered by the Family Assistance Office

If the Coalition forms government, subject to the passage of legislation, the Coalition’s Paid Parental Leave scheme will be introduced on 1 July 2012. Until the Coalition’s scheme is fully operational, Labor’s legislated paid parental leave scheme, due to commence on 1 January 2011, will be maintained.

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Posted 22nd August 2010 by David Jacobson in Business Planning, Workplace

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Personal property securities administration

The Personal Property Securities Register to commence in May 2011 will be an online national register for many securities which are currently registered in separate state-based registers. It will also provide for registration of some security interests which are not currently capable of being registered.

But there will also be a cost to maintaining registration. Secured parties will need to set up systems to make information available to grantors and correct the register if necessary. Obligations of secured parties include:

Giving a copy of the verification statement to the grantor (Section 157)
Dealing with amendment demands (Section 178)
Providing information to interested parties (section 275).

Langes can help you with preparing for the introduction of the PPS Register.

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Posted 22nd August 2010 by David Jacobson in Personal Property Securities

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ASIC guide on unsolicited credit cards

ASIC has responded to Westpac Banking Corporation v Australian Securities & Investments Commission by issuing Regulatory Guide 201 Unsolicited credit cards and debit cards.

RG201 discusses ASIC’s views of the exceptions to Section 12DL(1) of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001 (ASIC Act) which provides that a person must not send another person a credit card or debit card.

In particular RG201 discusses when a card can be sent to renew or replace, or as a substitute for, the initial card with reference to Westpac v ASIC including when the new card can have expanded functionality.

The Guide also discusses the unsolicited issue of companion cards, the issue of replacement cards for cards that were never used and when it will consider no action letters.

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Posted 22nd August 2010 by David Jacobson in Corporations Act, Financial Services

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August 18, 2010

Electronic signature allowed for elector enrolment

Although the Electronic Transactions Act (Cth) has been in place since 1999 it has taken a political activist group to highlight its potential use. The Act is designed to encourage technological neutrality in transactions.

In Getup Ltd v Electoral Commissioner [2010] FCA 869 the Federal Court declared that an online voting enrolment using a signature generated by a digital pen was in order for entry on the roll of electors. The form otherwise met all statutory requirements.

Although the Australian Electoral Commission had accepted faxed copies of enrolment forms and scanned copies of forms sent by email it had refused to accept a form generated by GetUp’s ozenrol site.

The ozenrol site generated a claim form for enrolment in accordance with the statutory requirements, completed the relevant details, applied the signature generated using the signature tool and then generated a document in PDF format. That PDF document was then emailed to a third party provider UTBox which provides an online fax service. It then faxed the enrolment form to the relevant office of the Commissioner.

The Court declared that the signature satisfied section 10 of the Electronic Transactions Act and should be accepted.

ABC News

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Posted 18th August 2010 by David Jacobson in Business Planning, Web/Tech

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August 17, 2010

Personal property securities register fees

The Commonwealth Attorney-General’s Department has released a Cost Recovery Impact Statement containing recommendations for the cost recovery arrangements for the Personal Property Securities Register (PPSR).

It is expected that the Register will commence operation in May 2011.

The proposed fees (exclusive of GST) include:

Register Financing Statement for an undefined duration: $130
Register Financing Statement where duration is 7 years or less: $7.40
Register Financing Statement where duration is more than 7 years but less than 25 years: $37.00
Search the online register by reference to the grantor’s details, by serial number or by registration number:$3.70

Searches through the contact centre by phone will be charged at the same price as an online search. Searches through the contact centre by mail, email or fax, and requiring a printed search result will attract a higher fee of $29.50.

More information about Personal Property Securities

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Posted 17th August 2010 by David Jacobson in Personal Property Securities

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Privacy of your pizza information

The hacking of the customer information database of Hell Pizza New Zealand (reported here) raises the question again of whether there should be mandatory customer notification in such cases.

Hell Pizza has notified its 230,000 customers to change their internet passwords. The information that has been lost includes not only pizza preferences but also phone numbers, home delivery addresses and email addresses.

Australia only has voluntary data breach notification.

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Posted 17th August 2010 by David Jacobson in Privacy

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August 11, 2010

APRA superannuation prudential practice guides

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has released prudential practice guides (PPGs) for superannuation trustees in the areas of capital, risk management, adequacy of resources and fitness and propriety.

The PPGs are intended to assist registrable superannuation entity (RSE) licensees to satisfy licence conditions and operating standards under the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 (SIS Act) and the relevant SIS Regulations.

The practices outlined in the four PPGs are not affected by the recommendations of the Super System Review Panel (‘Cooper Review’) that were released on 5 July 2010.

Draft prudential practice guides on management of conflicts and reserving practices that were also issued for consultation in 2009 will be further reviewed subject to any Government response to the Cooper Review’s recommendations on these subjects.

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Posted 11th August 2010 by David Jacobson in Superannuation

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Change in Queensland courts jurisdiction

The Civil and Criminal Jurisdiction Reform and Modernisation Amendment Bill was passed by Queensland Parliament on 3 August 2010.

Amongst other things it will increase the monetary limit for civil disputes in the District Court to $750,000 and in the Magistrates Court to $150,000.

The Bill will commence on proclamation.

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Posted 11th August 2010 by David Jacobson in Business Planning

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August 1, 2010

ALP’s superannuation policy

The Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Superannuation have announced that if re-elected the government will implement a simple, low-cost superannuation product called “MySuper” from 1 July 2013 as recommended by the Cooper Super Review.

It will also require that an individual’s TFN will be the primary identifier of member accounts from 1 July 2011.

It will continue to allow art to be part of self-managed superannuation funds despite the review’s recommendation that it be excluded. (UPDATE: New storage rules)

MySuper products will offer:

No entry fees, with exit fees limited to cost-recovery.
A ban on commissions and conflicted remuneration structures in relation to retail distribution and advice in line with Government’s financial advice reforms.
New duties that require superfund providers to deliver value for money or be stripped of their licence by the regulator.
A single, simple and easy-to-understand investment option designed to maximise a person’s retirement income.
Standardised reporting requirements in plain English.

MySuper funds will be licensed by APRA, which will also monitor and publish MySuper fund investment returns and costs. Anyone making contributions to superannuation will be able to open a MySuper account.

Use of Tax File Numbers (TFNs) will help locate lost accounts and help members consolidate and switch accounts. Legislation willo ensure that, from 1 July 2011, an individual’s TFN will be the primary identifier of member accounts. This will be subject to strict conditions to ensure privacy and security of information.

If re-elected a full response to the Cooper review will be released by the Government by the end of 2010, following further industry consultation.

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Posted 1st August 2010 by David Jacobson in Superannuation

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