Licensees

Licensee News

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.

POAAL meets with Senator Birmingham

July 29, 2013

POAAL's CEO Ian Kerr today met with Liberal Senator Simon Birmingham. Senator Birmingham sits on the Environment and Communications Committee in the Senate and has shown an interest in postal matters.

New tax tables 2013-2014

July 18, 2013

The ATO has advised that for the 2013-14 income year there are no changes to the income tax rates or thresholds and that employers can continue to use most tax tables. However, there have been changes to tax tables for some employees, such as those who have a Higher Education Loan Program debt

Melbourne meeting

July 14, 2013

Roger Revere, Australia Post's Vic/Tas Regional Manager, was guest speaker at two POAAL meetings in Victoria, where he gave an overview of the current state of the Australian postal market. Roger was joined by Area Manager Barbara Young, who updated Licensees on some current matters.

New Award rates from 1 July 2013

July 11, 2013

The Fair Work Commission has issued its Annual Wage Review decision regarding minimum Award pay rates. The Postal Services Industry Award has been affected by this increase.

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.