Licensees

Licensee News

Orange and Dubbo Licensee teleconferences

May 29, 2012

POAAL recently held teleconference meetings for Licensees in the Dubbo and Orange areas of NSW. These two meetings were held via teleconference to allow Licensees from a wide area to meet without the need to leave the comfort of their own home. The POAAL members who took part were able to join a discussion on a wide range of issues important to them.

Tasmanian Licensee meeting

May 21, 2012

Licensees from all over Tasmania met in Campbell Town for a roundtable discussion and a meal. We welcomed some new Licensees who have only recently taken over their LPOs. An open discussion was held, which gave Licensees the opportunity to discuss the issues important to them.

No cross-subsidy from reserved services

May 7, 2012

The ACCC last week issued its annual report into cross-subsidy between Australia Post's reserved service and other services, which found that the reserved service (60c stamp) is not subsidising any part of Australia Post's business.

Brisbane meeting

May 1, 2012

Licensees from the Brisbane area came together to discuss current issues in the postal sector at a POAAL meeting held in Tingalpa at the end of April. POAAL CEO Ian Kerr led the discussion, touching on local and national issues of importance.

Perth Meeting highlights

April 22, 2012

Australia Post's Steve Ryan and Jim Watson made a presentation at the POAAL meeting for Licensees held in Bayswater. Licensees took part in a wide-ranging discussion, touching on many issues affecting LPOs.

Campbelltown meeting

April 13, 2012

POAAL's Bob Chizzoniti hosted a Meet 'n Eat for Licensees at the Campbelltown RSL on 11 April. Bob led discussions on carded articles, hand-held scanners, CEPOS and a wide variety of other matters.

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.