THE Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) will appear before the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics at a public hearing in Canberra on Wednesday, September 18, 2019.

The Chair of the Committee, Tim Wilson MP, said, "This hearing is an important mechanism for the Parliament to scrutinise the ACCC’s effectiveness as competition regulator and national consumer law champion.

"As the ACCC has significant responsibility for competition issues, it is timely to examine the regulator on these matters, particularly in relation to the financial services industry," he said.

In the consumer law area, Mr Wilson said, "Since the committee’s last hearing with the ACCC in June 2018, the Parliament has passed legislation to strengthen penalties under Australian Consumer Law by aligning them with the maximum penalties under the competition provisions of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010."

"The committee looks forward to examining the ACCC’s recent work on its priority areas and the range of ongoing inquiries and market monitoring."

Public hearing details

Date: Wednesday, 18 September 2019
Time: 11.05am to 1.50pm
Location: Committee Room 2R1, Parliament House, Canberra

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

SHOULD Australia move to fixed four-year parliamentary terms? A parliamentary committee will hold a roundtable discussion on this topic on Thursday  November 7, 2019, and has invited questions and views from the public.

Andrew Wallace MP, Chair of the House Social Policy and Legal Affairs Committee, said the Australian Parliament’s House of Representatives was the only lower house in the country with three-year parliamentary terms.

"Four-year terms could address the community’s concerns about the revolving doors of politicians and policy by providing more stability and opportunities for longer-term outcomes," Mr Wallace said.

"All of our state and territory parliaments have four-year lower house terms, with Queensland moving to four-year terms in 2020 following a successful referendum in 2016. On the other hand, there may be down-sides to fixed parliamentary terms. Current events in the United Kingdom show that this issue is one that needs careful consideration."

The roundtable will consist of a panel of Constitutional experts including laureate professor emeritus Cheryl Saunders, professor Gabrielle Appleby, professor Anne Twomey and professor George Williams.

"Any change to parliamentary terms would require popular support from voters, so we’re offering voters the opportunity to be involved in the process from the very beginning," Mr Wallace said.

The roundtable will be open to the public and streamed live on the Parliament's website. Australians can participate by submitting questions and views via the roundtable website.

The Committee will also consider questions posted live on Twitter on the day of the roundtable. The House’s Twitter account, @AbouttheHouse, will post live commentary from the event.

Following the roundtable, the Committee intends to present a short report to the House reflecting the issues discussed.

For more information go to the Committee’s website.

Public roundtable details

Date: Thursday 7 November, 2019
Time: 9am to 12.15pm
Location: Committee Room 2R1, Parliament House, Canberra

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

PRESSURE selling insurance products, over the phone or otherwise, is not acceptable according to the Financial Services Council (FSC).

FSC CEO Sally Loane said insurers should not be able to make outbound calls with the view to sell life insurance or consumer credit insurance when people were not aware the call was coming - in other words, being called cold.

“There is no place for cold calling and pressuring random people into buying a life insurance product they don’t need, want or understand,” Ms Loane said.

“For an outbound call to be justified, a person must first have given their positive, clear and informed consent, before being contacted. 

“Additionally, given there is no legislated time frame in which calls need to be made, the FSC believes an initial call should be made within three months of consent.

“It is important to note that the industry has already made significant improvements through better use of monitoring and oversight, through remuneration practices, appropriate incentives, culture, training and the FSC Life Insurance Code of Practice.

“These anti-hawking measures ensure the conduct on all calls is at the highest standards,” Ms Loane said.

The FSC submission is in response to Recommendation 4.1 of the Financial Services Royal Commission, that hawking of insurance products should be prohibited. 

A copy of the submission can be found here: https://fsc.org.au/resources/1852-fsc-submission-unsolicited-telephone-sales-of-direct-life-insurance/file

About the FSC

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 14.8 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. The FSC promotes best practice for the financial services industry by setting mandatory Standards for its members and providing Guidance Notes to assist in operational efficiency.

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THE Future of Financial Advice (FoFA) legislation has failed to deliver affordable financial advice, denying many people access to appropriate advice leading into their retirement, according to the Institute of Public Accountants (IPA).

To fill this void, IPA is advocating that all Australians should be able to get limited financial advice and support from their trusted adviser, the accountant.

“The Productivity Commission observed that 48 percent of Australian adults indicated having unmet financial advice needs. So, obviously there is an advice gap in Australia which needs to be addressed” IPA chief executive officer, Andrew Conway said.

“The IPA has developed a revised financial services licensing regime for accountants, which recognises their existing qualifications and experience.

“Our members are answerable to high levels of professional and ethical standards, subject to ongoing quality assurance evaluations, and must maintain currency of knowledge through committed and continuous professional development and training," he said.

“It, therefore, makes perfect sense for public accountants to fill the financial advice void; unshackling them to have genuine discussions with their clients.

“We believe it is the right time to introduce a new, extended Accountants Exemption,” 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.  In late 2014, the IPA acquired the Institute of Financial Accountants in the UK and formed the IPA Group, with more than 37,000 members and students in over 80 countries.  The IPA Group is the largest SME focused accountancy organisation in the world. The IPA is a member of the International Federation of Accountants, the Accounting Professional and Ethical Standards Board and the Confederation of Asian and Pacific Accountants.   

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