CHAIR of the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB), Ian Taylor, reminds financial planners and advisers who have not yet registered with the TPB that time is running out to take advantage of the transitional registration option which ends on June 30.

Financial planners and advisers who are providing tax (financial) advice as part of their advice to clients for a fee or reward, must be registered with the TPB as a tax (financial) adviser in order to provide this service legally. This applies to:

• Australian financial services (AFS) licensees 
• authorised representatives (ARs) 
• individual ARs
• corporate authorised representatives (CAR) - where an AR operates through a CAR structure, both will need to be registered
• employee representatives who may be required to be registered for the purpose of a company or partnership having a sufficient number of registered individuals - being registered tax (financial) advisers or tax agents. 

"You currently have two options available to register as a tax (financial) adviser," Mr Taylor said. "These options are transitional registration (only available until 30 June) and standard registration.
 
"You may decide that transitional registration is the best option: transitional registration gives you extra time to satisfy the registration requirements under the standard registration option. This includes individuals meeting qualifications and experience requirements, and companies and partnerships meeting the sufficient number requirement," Mr Taylor said.
 
"To register under the transitional option you must have sufficient experience to be able to provide tax (financial) advice services to a competent standard – which is generally the equivalent of 18 months or longer of full time experience," he said.
 
"If you wish to take advantage of the transitional registration option, it is only available until June 30 this year. After this time all registrations and renewals will need to meet the standard registration requirements."
 
Further detail about the registration options is available on the TPB website www.tpb.gov.au

THE Australian Retailers Association (ARA) Executive Director, Russell Zimmerman, said today retailers welcomed moves to create consistency across Queensland in shop trading hours.

“Retailers have long bemoaned the inconsistent approach to trading hour zones in Queensland and the move by the Queensland Government to create consistency should be welcomed," Mr Zimmerman said.

While not encompassing all the changes some retailers might want, Mr Zimmerman said this was a significant move by the State Government which would grow many businesses and create jobs in a globally competitive environment.

The opt-in options for the regions, and a five year moratorium on the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission (QIRC) making case-by-case decisions, will remove a very expensive legal barrier for retailers as they no longer have to provide funding to change trading hours.

“Like other States, this means that changes over the next five years will need to be legislative. This subsequently allows customers and retailers to have their say through their elected representatives on changes to be made to trading hours,” Mr Zimmerman said.

The ARA has been in consultation with the Queensland Government via its members and Board members.

About the Australian Retailers Association:

Founded in 1903, the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) is the retail industry’s peak representative body representing Australia’s $300 billion sector, which employs more than 1.2 million people. The ARA works to ensure retail success by informing, protecting, advocating, educating and saving money for its 5,000 independent and national retail members throughout Australia. For more information, visit www.retail.org.au or call 1300 368 041.

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THE Australian Bankers’ Association (ABA) will join the four major banks at the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics’ public hearings in March for the review of the performance of Australia’s banking and financial system.

One of the committee’s focus areas is on how  individual banks and the banking industry as a whole are responding to issues previously raised in Parliamentary and other inquiries, including through the Australian Bankers' Association's April 2016 six point plan to enhance consumer protections and in response to Government reforms and actions by regulators.

The Chair of the committee, Mr David Coleman, MP, stated that ‘these hearings provide an important mechanism to hold the banking sector to account before the Parliament’.

‘As the ABA is charged with addressing numerous issues of concern to consumers, it is important that they are scrutinised by the committee.’

Public Hearing Details:

Public hearing day 1

Friday, 3 March 2017
Committee Room 2R1,
Parliament House, Canberra
NAB - 9.15am to 12.15pm

Public hearing day 2

Tuesday, 7 March 2017
Main Committee Room,
Parliament House, Canberra
CBA - 9.15am to 12.15pm
ANZ - 1.15pm to 4.15pm

Public hearing day 3

Wednesday, 8 March 2017
Main Committee Room,
Parliament House, Canberra
Westpac - 9.15am to 12.15pm
ABA - 1.15pm to 3.15pm

Website: www.aph.gov.au/economics

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PARLIAMENT’s Intelligence and Security Committee will hold two public hearings on Thursday for its review of the Telecommunications and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2016.

The Bill amends the Telecommunications Act 1997 to introduce a regulatory framework to manage national security risks of espionage, sabotage and foreign interference to Australia’s telecommunications networks and facilities. These networks and facilities form the backbone to other critical infrastructure sectors in Australia, such as energy, banking and finance, and are vital to the delivery and support of services such as power, water and health.

The regulatory framework established by the Bill is intended to formalise and strengthen existing industry-Government engagement and encourage early engagement with Government agencies on managing national security risks.

Public hearings will be held as follows:

Thursday 16 February 2017

Committee Room 2R1, Parliament House, Canberra
9.00am to 10.00am: Attorney-General’s Department

Committee Room 1R3, Parliament House, Canberra
4.30pm to 6.00pm: Roundtable hearing with Communications Alliance, Optus, Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association, Australian Industry Group and the Australian Information Industry Association

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

Further information about the inquiry, including submissions, can be accessed via the Committee’s website at http://www.aph.gov.au/pjcis

ENDS