FITNESS AUSTRALIA has received confirmation that gyms and fitness facilities will reopen from Monday, October 26, with certain restrictions in place provided key trigger points are met, while regional Victoria facilities may be able to reopen earlier subject to trigger points and public health advice.

Fitness Australia CEO Barrie Elvish said the confirmation follows the weekend roadmap announcement by Premier Andrews, which did not provide clarity on the dates and restrictions for the industry to reopen.

“This week Fitness Australia has received confirmation that fitness facilities and gyms in metro Melbourne will be able to open with set restrictions from Monday October 26, provided trigger points are met, while other areas of Victoria may be able to open earlier if trigger points are achieved,” Mr Elvish said.

“Although the restrictions are still to be determined Fitness Australia also welcomed the verbal confirmation we received that the industry will be engaged to develop protocols and procedures for reopening and we are looking forward to working with the Victorian Government in coming weeks.

“We know gyms can open and operate safely with a robust COVID-Safe plan in place. We have successfully achieved this in Queensland with the endorsement and state-wide implementation of a Fitness Australia-led Fitness Industry COVID Safe Plan and need to make this a priority in Victoria.”

Mr Elvish said the mental and physical health of Victorian’s had suffered during isolation, job losses and continued uncertainty and getting people back to the gym safely to resume an exercise routine was essential.

“Fitness facilities and gyms are an essential service and we cannot underestimate the vital role they play in managing and maintaining mental health, physical health and wellbeing,” Mr Elvish said.

Fitness Australia will continue to work with Victorian authorities to provide further reopening information to the fitness industry over the coming weeks, he said.

www.fitness.org.au

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KEY PLAYERS in the superannuation sector will be scrutinised at the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics public hearing on September 10, 2020, as part of the committee’s ongoing review of the four major banks and other financial institutions.

Chair of the Committee, Tim Wilson MP, said, "These hearings are an important part of the committee’s scrutiny of the financial sector.

"Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic a significant number of Australians have accessed their super to support themselves during this difficult time. It is crucial that the superannuation sector is operating effectively, fairly and to the benefit of fund members," Mr Wilson said.

The committee’s examination of the groups will also include monitoring the sector’s progress on implementing relevant recommendations from the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry.

Public hearing details

Date: Thursday, 10 September 2020
Time: 10am to 4.45pm
Location: Videoconference

10am—ISPT Pty Ltd
11am—Break
11.15am—Industry Super Holdings
12.15pm—Lunch break
1.15pm— Mine Super
2pm—Hostplus
2.45pm—Break
3pm—AMP
3.45pm—CBUS
4.45pm—Finish 

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

SUPERANNUATION mergers have led to a 20 percent decrease in fees for fund members, according to research from Rainmaker Information.

This result is based on a detailed study of 13 mergers that occurred over the past three years involving 22 super funds that represent $410 billion in member’s money.

Mergers have become more common since the findings of the Productivity Commission were publicly released in January 2019.

Of the 13 mergers, 11 were traditional mergers, while two were integrations of  super funds, being the combining of Virgin Super and Mercer Super Trust and the integration of the trustee offices of Catholic Super and Equipsuper.

In all 11 of the traditional mergers the more expensive fund’s fees lowered, with an average decrease of 21 percent.

For the fund with lower fees in the traditional mergers, seven of the 11 saw their fees drop, a reduction of 5 percent on average.

“Mergers have created efficiencies and economies of scale for the funds, which has led to members being better off,” executive director of research at Rainmaker Information, Alex Dunnin said.

“Regulators and political leaders continue to heap pressure on funds to merge, particularly if they lack scale or consistently under perform.”

Nine of the 11 funds saw their fees drop or stay the same when comparing the average pre-merger fees against the post-merger fees.

Of these results the average fall was 14 percent.

However, of the two fund integrations, fees actually went up on average across the funds.

"Fees don’t go down just because a super fund merges, they go down because the trustees redesign the product," Mr Dunnin said. “Products are more likely to be redesigned in a merger but not when funds just combine their back offices.”

Seven mergers occurred in the 18 months since the findings of the Productivity Commission were announced, compared to six in the two years prior.

Further to this, several other large-scale mergers have been announced since Rainmaker conducted this research, including:

• NGS Super and Australian Catholic Super
• CBUS and Media Super
• The acquisition of MLC by IOOF, which could overtake the merger of First State Super, VicSuper and WA Super (to form Aware Super) as the biggest merger in Australia’s superannuation history if it was to lead to the consolidation of their APRA-regulated superannuation funds.

On top of this, more details have been announced regarding the merger between MTAA Super and TasPlan.

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Australian medicinal cannabis company Althea has applauded the interim decision by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) to amend the current Poisons Standard to down schedule cannabidiol (CBD) to allow greater access through a new Schedule 3 entry1.

The proposed amendment would allow Australian patients to purchase CBD products upon consultation with a pharmacist, without the need for a prescription

The Therapeutic Goods Administration today released a notice of interim decision to amend the Poisons Standard for CBD. The proposed amendment to down schedule CBD from Schedule 4 would allow CBD to be supplied for therapeutic use under a new Schedule 3 (Pharmacist Only Medicine) entry.

This new, nonprescription cannabis channel would allow Australian patients to purchase CBD products over the counter upon consultation with a pharmacist, without the need for a prescription.

Althea has engaged with the TGA throughout the consultation process and is supportive of the down scheduling of CBD. The proposed amendment would bring patient access into closer alignment with comparable international jurisdictions, improving access to CBD products for therapeutic use.

Since listing in September 2018, with a focus on patient access, Althea Group Holdings Limited (ASX:AGH) has quickly grown its footprint in the Australian medicinal cannabis market and is one of the leading providers in the space.

“We applaud the TGA’s interim decision in this matter and see it as one of the biggest developments in our industry to date," Althea CEO Josh Fegan said.

"The interim decision reflects the significant shift in community and government attitudes towards medicinal cannabis since it was legalised in Australia in late 2016, which has seen it move from a fringe alternative towards an accepted mainstream option.

"As a strong advocate for patient access, Althea has closely monitored the proposed amendment since it began and has participated in the consultation process. We are excited by the TGA’s interim decision to down schedule CBD products and see this development as a big step forward for prescription cannabis products already available in Australia.” 

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