Licensees

Licensee News

Federal election: Coalition postal policy

September 3, 2013

POAAL has received a formal response from the Coalition on their postal policy. The Coalition has confirmed that it has no plans to privatise Australia Post. The Coalition has also confirmed that it will ensure that Australia Post Board members are equipped with relevant industry experience.

Federal election: Update on postal policies

August 27, 2013

POAAL has been actively lobbying during the current federal election campaign on postal and small business matters. With the election now under two weeks away, POAAL has received formal responses from The Nationals and from The Australian Greens.

ALP small business policy

August 22, 2013

POAAL Director Dennis Jenner met with Bernie Ripoll, the federal Parliamentary Secretary for Small Business, to discuss small business issues impacting Licensees and Mail Contractors.

Superannuation changes

August 3, 2013

Changes to superannuation came into effect from 1 July 2013, including an increase in the superannuation guarantee and the removal of the superannuation guarantee eligibility age limit.

Small business policy

August 1, 2013

This week Shadow Minister for Small Business, Bruce Billson, spoke at a forum in Melbourne regarding the issues facing small business owners and how the Coalition plans to respond to those issues.

Increase to LPO payments 2013-14

July 31, 2013

POAAL's recent consultations with Australia Post on LPO payments resulted in an increase in LPO payments for all Licensees. There are increases for manual (FAP150) LPOs as well as LPOs with EPOS. Licensees should check their July LiPOMS to make sure that the increases have flowed through.

Licensee Resources

POAAL has researched and prepared some simple resources for current and prospective Licensee members. These free resources are just a sample of some of the resources available to financial members of POAAL.

The Franchising Code of Conduct regulates the conduct of franchisees and franchisors. It is a mandatory industry code under the Trade Practices Act.

The Code protects prospective and current franchisees through its disclosure provisions and its dispute resolution procedure.

The ACCC has responsibility of administering the Franchising Code of Conduct and investigating potential breaches. It may also facilitate discussion between franchisees and franchisors to resolve problems, avoiding the potential for matters being escalated to a point where breaches of the Act arise.

Licensed Post Offices are deemed to be franchisees under the Franchising Code of Conduct and as a result Australia Post and Licensees are bound by the Code. The Code provides Licensees with an extra level of protection in addition to the LPO Agreement.

Information onthe Franchising Code of Conduct can be found on the ACCC website.

Franchisee manual

The ACCC has put together a franchisee manual to help franchisees and prospective franchisees to understand their rights and responsibilities under the Franchising Code of Conduct. The manual can be downloaded from the ACCC website.

Disclosure Document

Each year, Australia Post is obliged under the Franchising Code of Conduct to prepare a disclosure document for every Licensed Post Office.

Australia Post must provide a copy of the disclosure document to prospective Licensees at least 14 days before the incoming Licensee takes over the LPO.

Under the terms of the Franchising Code of Conduct, Australia Post is required to provide disclosure documents to existing franchisees (Licensees) within 14 days of request. The disclosure document must be updated annually, within four months of the end of the financial year.

This means that Australia Post must have an up-to-date disclosure document prepared for each LPO by 31 October each year. Licensees should request an up-to-date disclosure document from Australia Post each year. By requesting the disclosure document at the beginning of November Licensees will guarantee that they receive the most recent disclosure document relating to their business.

Some of the information included in the disclosure document includes:

details of the franchisor (Australia Post), including the business experience of Australia Post management
any plans Australia Post may have to establish another outlet nearby
details of any litigation involving Australia Post

Current Licensees should mark it on the calendar – request a disclosure document every year from Australia Post. Note that current Licensees can only request a disclosure document from Australia Post once every 12 months.

POAAL has prepared a pro forma letter that Licensees can use to request a copy of the disclosure document from Australia Post.