Licensees

Licensee News

POAAL appears before Productivity Commission hearing

September 12, 2011

POAAL appeared before the Productivity Commission’s recent public hearing in Melbourne to discuss the effect of lowering the low value threshold for incoming international parcels from its current level of $1000.

Hand-held scanners for all EPOS LPOs

August 31, 2011

Australia Post has agreed to invest in hand-held scanners for all EPOS LPOs. In response to POAAL's strong representations, Australia Post had already supplied PDTs to several hundred LPOs across Australia. POAAL has continued to push for all LPOs to have access to wireless scanning technology, and this further rollout of about 2100 PDTs will mean that all LPOs with EPOS should have a PDT by the end of 2011.

Productivity Commission Retail Inquiry

August 26, 2011

POAAL has made a submission to the Productivity Commission's current inquiry into the Australian retail sector. POAAL's submission addresses the current issues affecting the retail sector, including the impact of the internet and the effect of the mining boom on LPOs.

The NBN, EPOS and manual LPOs

August 17, 2011

Can the NBN help smooth the way for the installation of EPOS at manual LPOs? There are currently 464 LPOs without access to EPOS, and EPOS is central to LPOs being able to offer the full range of Australia Post products and services.

Carbon tax

August 15, 2011

POAAL has made a submission to the Parliamentary Inquiry into the proposed carbon tax. POAAL holds concerns regarding the impact of the proposed Carbon Tax on the postal sector – in particular LPOs. The small business owners who operate LPOs are limited in their ability to pass on to customers any increase in operating costs that might arise from the introduction of a carbon tax.

WA motor registration renewals

August 12, 2011

Australia Post has changed the process for WA DPI Motor Registration Renewals so that Licensees can override the printing of multiple privacy statements. POAAL's WA Branch and National Office raised this matter with Australia Post, resulting in savings on consumables and time for Licensees.

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.