WORLD-RENOWNED brain scientist Dr Michael Merzenich will deliver a keynote address at the 'I Can Change My Brain' conference at Deakin University in Melbourne, Australia on Sunday, February 26, 2017.

Dr Merzenich is Chief Scientific Officer at Posit Science and Professor Emeritus at University of California San Francisco (UCSF).

Dr Merzenich will speak on how breakthroughs in brain plasticity in his lab (and in the labs of colleagues across the globe) have now entered the final stage of translational research – resulting in strategies and products that people can engage with today to monitor and improve brain performance and brain health.

Three decades ago, Dr Merzenich forever changed the way scientists look at the brain with his seminal experiments showing that the adult brain remains plastic – capable of changing chemically, physically and functionally, throughout life, based on sensory and other inputs.  Previously, scientists believed that the brain was plastic only in childhood.

Dr Merzenich realized that plasticity could be harnessed to create tools to benefit humanity. He first applied plasticity in the co-invention of the cochlear implant, which has restored hearing to hundreds of thousands of people living with deafness.

With the wide adoption of personal computers and, then, mobile devices, Dr Merzenich focused on how to create online (and in app) assessments and exercises that continuously adapt and personalize to monitor and improve individual health and performance. 

The exercises in the BrainHQ brain-training platform from Posit Science have been shown to improve performance across a wide range of populations in more than 140 peer-reviewed journal articles.

Studies in healthy mature adults have shown gains in standard and real world measures of cognition (e.g., brain speed, attention, memory and executive function); quality of life (mood, confidence, self-rated health, functional independence); and everyday activities (balance, movement, driving).

Last year, Dr Merzenich was awarded the Kavli Prize, the highest honor in neuroscience. The prior year, he was awarded the Russ Prize, the highest honor in bio-engineering.  

He has been elected by his peers to both the National Academy of Sciences and to the National Academy of Medicine in the USA. He also is a member of the Norwegian Academy of Sciences and Letters.

Dr Merzenich frequently appears on television and in the press. He may be best known to Australian audiences for his role in the award-winning television series Redesign My Brain.
Dr Merzenich is the author of several books, including Soft-Wired: How the New Science of Brain Plasticity Can Change Your Life.

More information about the conference can be found at http://changemybrain.businessbrainmapping.com

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THE Australian Retailers Association (ARA) has been informed by the Fair Work Commission that the Penalty Rates decision will be handed down tomorrow, February 23, 2017 at 11am in Melbourne.

Members will be aware that the ARA has been leading the case to reduce the Sunday Penalty Rates under the General Retail Industry Award 2010, from double time (200%) to time and a half (150%).

Following the considerable financial contributions made by retailers and associations including the ARA, Master Grocers Association (MGA) and Franchise Council of Australia (FCA), we are hopeful on behalf of the sector that the decision will be in the industry’s favour.

A positive outcome will increase employment in the retail industry and support economic growth in the overall sector.

ARA Executive Director, Russell Zimmerman and his senior legal team will be at Fair Work tomorrow on Exhibition Street and will be available for comment following the decision.

The ARA wishes to clarify, that despite reports from some media outlets, the ARA was not privy to when the Sunday Penalty Rates decision would be made, nor privy to any content regarding the decision.

ARA regularly conducts general briefings as part of their ongoing commitment to members. The Employment Relations briefing held yesterday broadly discussed potential outcomes and what they could mean for retailers, and eagerly awaits Fair Work’s decision tomorrow. 

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 Retailers Association (ARA) today congratulated the NSW Government on successfully implementing significant changes to the NSW Retail Leases Act, to increase transparency and fairness between NSW retail businesses and landlords.

ARA Executive Director, Russell Zimmerman, said the improved retail lease protections and streamlined processes will create stronger and fairer relationships between retail tenants and landlords.

“As the retail industry is constantly evolving it’s great to see the NSW Government implementing progressive changes that ensure the legislation remain relevant to all retailers throughout Australia,” Mr Zimmerman said.

The Retail Leases Amendment (Review) Bill 2016 was presented to NSW Parliament on Tuesday to introduce reforms to the Retail Leases Act 1994 to improve fairness in the marketplace.

“The amended Act will give retailers a better understanding of retail centre values and side deals, ensuring leasing costs are transparent for both large and small retail businesses,” Mr Zimmerman said.

“These significant changes will ensure greater transparency and certainty about retail lease deals during negotiations and simplify the process of transferring a retail lease.”

A Retail Code of Industry Practice has been developed by the ARA, Franchise Council and Pharmacy Guild who have managed with the State Government to have the Shopping Centre Council of Australia agree to sign the code.

“The Code will address information asymmetry and encourage the reporting of sales and occupancy costs by category, giving retailers a better understanding of how a shopping centre is performing,” Mr Zimmerman said.

“This Code allows retailers greater transparency when negotiating lease deals, not only enhancing competition in the retailing space, but also putting retailers on a level playing field with landlords,” he said.

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 Institute of Public Accountants (IPA) is calling on the Government to introduce simpler structure options for small business to streamline and reduce regulation and red tape and/or extend the use of safe harbours.

“The IPA has long held the aspiration of achieving the simplification of the small business taxation system through the application of a structure which eliminates the need for multiple structures,” said IPA chief executive officer, Andrew Conway.

“Multiple structures are commonly needed to achieve tax outcomes which would otherwise be unavailable through a single entity. 

“Small businesses seek measures which promote asset protection, the retention of profits for working capital, lower tax rates, access to CGT discounts, succession planning and income distribution.  A combination of entities is generally used to achieve these outcomes.

“When a small business operates through separate legal structures, the current taxation system treats the structures as taxation entities separate from their owners, resulting in a quantum leap in tax compliance and complexity.

“International evidence shows entities specifically designed for small businesses provide a number of advantages such as asset protection, income streaming and retention of after tax profits.

“A simplified small business entity regime which combines the attributes of companies, trusts and partnerships could significantly reduce regulations and red tape for small businesses.

“The creation of this new small business structure would allow small business entities to use a single simplified structure rather than the current complicated ownership structure such as trusts.

“If such a structure allowed the optional retention of income at the corporate tax rate, it would allow most of the benefits that can currently be obtained via the use of a company and discretionary trust via a cheaper and simpler vehicle to administer.

“It is most unfortunate that the taxation of trusts has not been rewritten and updated to reduce complexity, despite numerous recent announcements to this effect.

“The compliance burden from the use of trusts to the small business sector must not be underestimated.  A simplified taxation of trusts regime could go a long way in creating a flexible small business structure of choice,” said Mr Conway.

publicaccountants.org.au

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