THE banks’ treatment of small business customers will be forensically examined by the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman (ASBFEO) Kate Carnell, who will conduct hearings in the coming weeks to gather evidence regarding cases of alleged unconscionable conduct.

During an investigation into the nation’s banks, the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services heard from various small businesses severely impacted by questionable banking practices. 

The Minister for Small Business Michael McCormack has asked the Ombudsman to look into these cases and determine whether subsequent government and industry reforms have done enough in addressing their problems and others like it.

“We have royal commission powers in situations like this and we plan to use them; we will conduct hearings and will use the powers set out in our legislation to require banks to appear and to provide us with the documentation that we need to thoroughly conduct this inquiry,” Ms Carnell said.

“There have been reforms made in this space, but what my office will do is make sure these changes go far enough to ensure small businesses are safeguarded against banking misconduct.

“I’ll be making recommendations to the government – and potentially to the banks as well – about possible changes, whether it be legislative, regulatory or even cultural, that may still need to be made to help prevent these sorts of situations happening in the future.

“We’re not in any way suggesting small businesses shouldn’t pay their debts; this is about addressing the imbalance of power between banks and small business owners, who in some cases have lost everything because their banks are basically riding roughshod over them.

“I’ve made the point in the past that small businesses who are at loggerheads with their banks over their finances, need a solution to their problem sooner rather than later; a royal commission may help mum-and-dad small businesses air their grievances, but it won’t save their business.

“Anything short of immediate action threatens the survival of small businesses who are struggling right now, and it’s my intention to ensure small businesses facing financial difficulties are given the help they need now, to allow them to survive and thrive.”

www.asbfeo.gov.au

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WHILE Britain faces the economic, diplomatic and political unknown, nations on the other side of the Channel are also pondering their future with some officials, including Germany’s Vice-Chancellor suggesting that the Brexit vote could bring about the collapse of the EU.

On Thursday, one of the EU’s most distinguished legal professionals, Professor Verica Trstenjak, will look at the meaning of Brexit from a European perspective during a ground-breaking University of Sydney Business School Seminar.

Professor Trstenjak is an interim judge (juge par intérim) of the EU’s civil service tribunal and a former Advocate General of the European Court of Justice.

She has provided legal opinions on the Common European Asylum System, the Charter of Fundamental Rights and the transfer of asylum seekers from one Member State to another.

Professor Trstenjak’s work has been widely published and she is a member of editorial board of several legal journals including European Law Review (SSCI),  European Journal of Commercial Contract law, Ecolex, Italian Law Journal and others.

She is also a member of the International Academia of Comparative Law, Member of Academia Europaea and a Council Member of European law Institut.

 Seminar Details

Date:                           Thursday 1^st September 2016

Time:                          2.00PM

Venue:                        Case Study Lecture Theatre 2090

                                    University of Sydney Business School.

Cnr Codrington and Abercrombie Street, Darlington.

INTERNATIONAL experts will begin delivering a series of mental health and wellbeing workshops in Brisbane and regional areas from August 29, 2016).

The Queensland Mental Health Commission has partnered with Maudsley International to design and deliver the training which aims to enhance mental health and wellbeing awareness and knowledge through local community organisations.

The training follows the establishment of three regional Mental Health and Wellbeing Hubs in Central Highlands, Northern and Western Queensland and Logan and Southern Moreton Islands earlier this year.

Hubs staff will join local community organisations to take part in training on the Wheel of Wellbeing and Mental Wellbeing Impact Assessment. A partnership between the Queensland Mental Health Commission and the Department of Education and Training will also see the training made available to their staff.

The Wheel of Wellbeing uses a positive psychology approach to teach simple techniques for promoting wellbeing, through a focus on the six areas of body, mind, spirit, people, place and planet. Mental Wellbeing Impact Assessment is a systematic approach to understanding how the design of services and programs can be used to promote mental wellbeing across the community.

The two weeks of training begins in Brisbane today, followed by training in Townsville, Emerald and Logan next week (Monday 5 September 2016). To coincide with the training, the Queensland Mental Health Commissioner Lesley van Schoubroeck will join international mental health and wellbeing expert Tony Coggins for a mental health and wellbeing forum in Emerald on Wednesday 7 September 2016.

Last week the Minister for Health and Ambulance Services Cameron Dick and Queensland Mental Health Commissioner Dr Lesley van Schoubroeck launched the Queensland Rural and Remote Mental Health and Wellbeing Action Plan 2016-18 which details initiatives to promote mental health and wellbeing in rural and remote communities.

About QMHC: The Queensland Mental Health Commission was established to improve the mental health and wellbeing of all Queenslanders by driving ongoing reform.

ends

IMPROVING outcomes, regulation and oversight, providing certainty in funding and recognising its importance in skilling people for the jobs of the future are critical recommendations in CEDA's latest research on the forgotten middle child of education – VET.

Releasing CEDA’s latest research report VET: securing skills for growth, CEDA Chief Executive, Professor the Hon. Stephen Martin said VET delivered vital grassroots skills that industry needed but scandals and a disconnect with industry had significantly weakened this important tier of the education sector.

“That is why CEDA’s report is calling for a comprehensive national review of the sector to underpin COAG discussions to reach a new National Partnership on Skills Reform,” Professor Martin said.

“The imminent conclusion of the Commonwealth-State funding agreement for VET (National Partnership on Skills Reform) next year, and the fact that there are currently no signs of how or if this will be extended, is a significant issue for the sector.

“Comments from the Federal Minister for Education Senator Simon Birmingham last week suggest that the government is taking the right approach to cutting off dodgy private operators with poor outcomes from utilising VET FEE-HELP. However, much more needs to be done.

“The skyrocketing VET FEE-HELP costs have been concentrated to a relatively small number of private operators and must be fixed. However, what is equally concerning is the drastically plummeting enrolments in government supported providers.”

Professor Martin said there needs to be a refocus on working with industry to ensure courses are being linked with the labour market to ensure students have real employment outcomes on completion of a course.

“There also needs to be more focus on teaching broad-based skills competency that are transferable across occupational clusters, rather than narrowly focused courses that are too restrictive in a rapidly evolving labour market,” he said.

Professor Martin said there were many positives about VET and it had proven itself an adaptive and agile tier of the education sector.

“It has already shown that it can be responsive to Australia’s skill requirements by increasing the delivery of courses providing qualifications in childcare, aged care and disability care as demand has rapidly increased in the services sector of the economy,” he said.

“With the right policy settings, this sector is well positioned to meet the workforce challenges posed by digital disruption and automation and continue delivering skills needed by industry.

“As Australia faces coming decades of rapid technological change, which will require reskilling and new skills, our education sector needs to be strong at every level.

“The scandals in recent years in the VET sector, despite only relating to a small number of operators, have done significant reputational damage and it is now vital that the sector is supported to rebuild.”

The CEDA report also recommends:

• Improving data and transparency of data to help stakeholders make more informed decisions;
• Ensuring regulators have the power to act if standards are not being met; and
• Providing national information around providers, pricing, qualifications, audit findings and satisfaction survey results to the public.

VET: securing skills for growth is being launched in Melbourne at noon with a keynote address by Victorian Minister for Training and Skills, the Hon. Steve Herbert. Other speakers include: Australian Council for Private Education and Training CEO, Rod Camm (contributing author); PwC Skills for Australia CEO, Sara Caplan; Metro Trains Chief People and Performance Officer, Nick Dickinson; and BUPA Aged Care Australia Managing Director, Louise Dudley.

For more details about the event or to download the report go to www.ceda.com.au

ENDS