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Federal budget 2022: Winners and Losers

With a federal election only a couple of months away, find out who's getting a cash boost — and who's not — in Treasurer Josh Frydenberg's latest budget.

Winner – Motorists

 

In an effort to bring down petrol prices, the government is cutting the fuel excise — the flat tax levied on each litre of fuel — in half.

The war in Ukraine has led to an increase in oil prices and some motorists have faced paying more than $2.20 a litre for petrol.

Mr Frydenberg says the cut will last for the next six months and will save motorists 22 cents a litre when they fill up.

To make sure the cut to the fuel excise is actually passed on to motorists, and not just used by retailers to make a bigger profit, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) will be keeping an eye on fuel prices.

The ACCC says that if retailers lie about passing on the tax cut and making fuel cheaper, it "will not hesitate to take appropriate enforcement action", including hefty fines.

While cutting the excise, even temporarily, was something some state and federal MPs had called for, other groups had warned it probably wouldn't mean immediate relief at the bowser, would only help motorists and would cost the budget bottom line billions of dollars.

But regardless, Mr Frydenberg and the government have decided to half the excise.

 

Winners – Taxpayers

 

To help with the increasing cost of living, low- and middle-income earners will receive an extra $420 back on their tax returns.

The government's low and middle tax offset is also back for another year, meaning that some people may get up to $1,500 back at tax time.

The budget estimates the payments will cost the government $4.1 billion over the next couple of years.

Before the budget, Mr Frydenberg made it clear that the assistance the government was offering would be "temporary and targeted" and not ongoing.

To find out how much you'll be getting at tax time, check out our tax calculator at the bottom of the story.

 

Losers – Renewables

 

There is no new direct funding in the budget for renewable energy generation projects.

Instead, the government is investing just under $250 million over five years to support investment in low emissions technologies including hydrogen.

At the moment, creating the hydrogen to use as a fuel source produces emissions and while projects are being proposed and at various stages, it's still unclear how long it'll take to reach the scale needed for it to be a viable alternative to fossil fuels.

It's also putting $148.6 million over five years to encourage investment in "affordable and reliable power" which includes $84 million over those five years for community microgrid projects in regional and rural Australia.

The government's spend on some of its key climate change agencies including the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) and the Australian Renewable Energy (ARENA) — both of which are tasked with investing in renewable or low emissions technologies — is set to decrease by 35 per cent over the next four years.

The budget shows that funding will go from $2 billion a year this year to $1.3 billion by 2025-26.

But that funding doesn’t include other measures outside of the CEFC or ARENA, that form the government's Long Term Emissions Reduction Plan.

 

Winners – Women

 

This year's budget includes a raft of announcements for women — including a big shake-up for the government's Paid Parental Leave (PPL) scheme.

Instead of offering two separate payments — two weeks of "Dad and Partner Pay" and 18 weeks of "Parental Leave Pay" — the two will now be combined, meaning parents can choose to split the leave between them in whatever way they'd like.

"It will assist to promote equality between mothers and fathers and empower families to make their own decisions without being restricted by policy settings defined by 'primary' or 'secondary' carers," the budget says.

The budget specifically says it's hoped the change will provide more of an incentive for fathers to use parental leave as well.

The government's also changing the scheme so that single parents will be able to access the full 20 weeks of leave and given the ABS estimated last year that 81 per cent of single parents are women, it'll no doubt help potentially thousands of women.

It's also adjusting the income test to include a household income threshold of $350,000 a year.

The government wants the new PPL scheme in place by March next year but has said it'll engage and consult with stakeholders before then.

According to the budget, the cost of the changes will be $346.1 million over five years.

What's not in the changes, though, is any payment of superannuation on PPL — something advocates have been pushing for in an attempt to close the superannuation gap between men and women at retirement.

When it comes to women's health, the government had already flagged a couple of key budget measures.

One of the new measures in the budget though is the listing of Trodelvy, a medication used to treat a rare form of breast cancer, on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, meaning some women will save tens of thousands of dollars.

It'll put $58 million over the next four years toward helping women with endometriosis — it includes $16 million for a specialised clinic in each state and territory, $25 million to cover the cost of MRIs under Medicare and $5 million to develop an Endometriosis Management Plan to support women with the disease.

Genetic testing for several conditions for couples who are planning to get pregnant is also going to become free as part of a new $181 million program.

Tests for conditions including cystic fibrosis, spinal muscular atrophy and fragile X syndrome can cost between $250 to $450, but will be free under Medicare (in most circumstances) from November next year.

According to the budget, the government's pledging $1.3 billion over the next six years toward a broad range of measures and programs that have been identified in the National Plan to End Violence Against Women and Children.

As part of that, it's putting $54.6 million over the next five years toward the Keeping Women Safe in their Homes program, which will focus on giving women technology to check if people who've experienced domestic violence are being tracked.

There's been a big increase in the number of women who have been subjected to technology-based abuse like having their phones tracked or having hidden cameras installed in things like toys in their homes. 

The money will go into a couple of different programs which help women who have experienced domestic and family violence to check for spyware on their phones and computers and sweep their homes for hidden cameras.

While the government's announcements see extra funds for several programs, advocates and experts have consistently argued significant and long-term funding is needed for the sector.

Last year, Women's Safety NSW estimated the sector needed $1 billion a year in funding just to meet frontline services.

The peak body run by and for women with disability said it were disappointed the budget did not include any targeted measures to address the "violence, abuse and discrimination experienced by women and girls with disability”.

In a statement, Women With Disability Australia's (WWDA) executive director Carolyn Frohmader raised concerns about "the ability of mainstream programs to address the unique and insidious forms of violence experienced by women with disability".

"Compared to their peers, women and girls with disability experience significantly higher levels of all forms of violence, more intensely and [more] frequently, and are subjected to violence by a greater range of perpetrators and in a larger range of settings," Ms Frohmader said.

 

Neutral – Aged Care

 

There are a few more bits and pieces for aged care in this year's budget, after last year's huge $17.7 billion funding announcement.

But despite repeated calls from the sector, the government has given no indication in the budget that it's prepared to increase aged care workers' pay.

The aged care royal commission, which handed down its report last year, warned the sector has a shortage of workers and the ones who are there are under-recognised, underpaid and under-skilled.

The government has refused to get behind a case to increase wages in the Fair Work Commission, something one of the aged care royal commissioners, Lynelle Briggs, criticised as "short-sighted".

Instead, the budget includes $49.5 million to subsidise 15,000 vocational education and training places for those who are already in or are looking to enter the aged care workforce.

It's one of the ways the government is hoping to stop workers leaving the sector and follows an announcement earlier this year that current workers would get two bonus payments of $400.

The government's also putting $340 million to embed pharmacy services in residential aged care homes in a bid to improve how medication is managed within the facilities.

 

Winners – Regional Australia

 

Regional Australia gets a massive sugar hit in this Budget, with billions of dollars set aside for what the Deputy Prime Minister has described as "nation-building infrastructure projects".

The Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce has announced there'll be $7.1 billion over 11 years for a new 'Energy Security and Regional Development Plan'.

That money will go towards co-investment with states and territories, or private companies, in everything from upgrading ports and roads to building dams and logistic hubs in north and central Queensland, the Hunter in New South Wales, the Northern Territory and the Pilbara region of Western Australia.

There's also $2 billion for a new "Regional Accelerator Program", which simply brings together existing schemes designed to improve skills, education, exports and supply chains in the regions.

And there's $800 million in new money to improve mobile phone coverage in the bush.

 

Losers – Wages

 

In bad news for people's pay packets, real wages are not forecast to grow until later this year at the earliest thanks to higher-than-expected inflation.

At the end of last year, Treasury predicted the inflation rate would be 2.75 per cent. The reality has ended up being around 4.25 per cent.

The budget is predicting wages will only be just higher than inflation in the next couple of years, meaning cost of living pressures are unlikely to ease any time soon.

Despite current price hikes, the budget is forecasting inflation will taper off and wages will grow faster by the middle of the decade.

 

Winners – Refugees

 

While the government is keeping the humanitarian program capped at 13,750 — the same as the previous two years — it has announced extra places for Afghan nationals.

The budget includes $665.9 million over the next four years for an additional 16,500 places for people fleeing from Afghanistan.

In January, the Immigration Minister Alex Hawke announced the government would allocate 15,000 visas over four years for Afghan nationals fleeing the Taliban — 10,000 within the humanitarian program and 5,000 within the family stream.

It means Australia will offer more than 30,000 refugee visas to Afghan nationals over the next four years.

As for Ukrainian refugees, earlier this month, Mr Morrison announced a program to allow people on temporary humanitarian visas to stay in Australia for up to three years.

It means that around 5,000 Ukrainians who have been granted other visas to come to Australia — including student, tourist, skilled migrant and family reunion visas — will have more certainty and will be allowed to work, study and access Medicare.

Mr Morrison said the government "hadn't set a limit" or cap on how many Ukrainians it would give visas to.

The government is also putting $9.2 million to extend existing youth support services for another year and $1 million over five years to create a Human Rights Advocacy Program.

 

Winners – Welfare Recipients

 

Pensioners, carers, veterans, job seekers and other eligible concession cardholders, plus some self-funded retirees, will receive a one-off payment of $250.

Like the payment for low- and middle-income earners, the extra cash is to help with the cost of living and will go to around 6 million people in the coming weeks. 

But there's been no movement in the amount of money people on the JobSeeker payment will receive per week.

At the beginning of last year, the government raised the payment by $25 per week, at a cost of $9 billion over four years.

This year's budget sees no further increase.

 

Neutral – Environment

 

Other than the big spend on the Great Barrier Reef, there are a couple of other measures in the budget related to the environment.

That includes $100 million over three years for a fund to support community-driven action to help restore the environment.

One of the more novel spends is $20.3 million over the next three years to plant trees to mark the Queen's platinum jubilee.

There's also $53 million over five years for koala conservation and protection that was announced earlier this year.

And the government will give $26.8 million over five years, so just over $5 million a year, for the management and protection of Commonwealth National parks.

 

Winners – Indigenous Rangers

 

Minister for Indigenous Australians Ken Wyatt has made a big commitment to grow the workforce of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander rangers.

The federal government will spend $636.4 million to create an estimated 2,000 additional ranger jobs by 2028 in regional and remote parts of the country.

The new funding will also encourage more Indigenous women to begin working as rangers on land and sea country.

The Country Needs People campaign has long been calling on the government to significantly invest in doubling the Indigenous ranger workforce and said the announcement is on a "global-scale".

The campaign's executive director Patrick O'Leary told ABC News the funding would assist traditional owners to "build and re-build" their communities in the face of climate change.

 

Neutral – Foreign Aid

 

There's been no huge increase to the underlying foreign aid budget, it'll continue to sit at around $4 billion a year.

But the government has ended a freeze on the indexation of funding which means it'll creep up by 2.5 per cent in the coming year, hitting almost $4.1 billion.

There is also an additional $460 million in so-called temporary and targeted measures, which includes things like vaccine delivery to the Pacific.

That means that the total unofficial aid budget will hit $4.549 billion this financial year - about $289 million more than was flagged in the budget last year for 2022-23.

While the official aid budget hasn't seen much movement, Australia has so far committed $156.5 million for assistance to Ukraine, both in the form of humanitarian, military and lethal aid.

 

Winners – First Home Buyers

 

The government is expanding its first home buyers scheme, where people only need to have a 5 per cent deposit to buy a house with no lenders mortgage insurance (LMI).

It's expanding the scheme from 10,000 places up to 35,000 places a year, but it comes with rules on who is eligible and how expensive the houses can be.

On top of that, it's creating a new regional housing scheme with 10,000 annual places from October 1 for first home buyers or people who haven't owned property in the last five years (including permanent residents).

This new scheme is aimed at encouraging construction in regional areas. To access it, people have to either build or buy a newly built home in a designated regional area.

The budget also includes money to extend the Family Home Guarantee scheme which, while not exclusively for first home buyers, is aimed at helping single parents either buy their first house or re-enter the property market.

The scheme means eligible people only have to come up with a 2 per cent deposit to buy a house and not pay LMI.

Last year, the government announced it would offer 10,000 places over four years — it's now adding 5,000 extra places a year.

The cost of all three schemes will be $8.6 million over the next four years.

While the move will mean more people may be able to buy a home sooner, experts have warned it won't do anything to solve housing affordability.

The government had also been urged by the NSW Liberal government, among others, to consider reviewing tax breaks for property investors to give first home buyers a better chance at getting in the market.

 

Neutral – Apprentices

 

While the budget has good news for apprentices, it also sees the existing incentives for employers of apprentices sharply decrease.

A new incentive scheme is being created to encourage businesses to put on more apprentices and hand new apprentices some cash.

But the bad news is that it's less generous than the incentive scheme due to end in just a few months.

The Boosting Apprenticeship Commencement scheme will end on June 30, as foreshadowed by the government.

It offers employers a 50 per cent wage subsidy for apprentices in their first year, up to $28,000, then tapers off in the years afterwards.

The new Australian Apprenticeships Incentive Scheme will replace it. It will offer lower wage subsidies — 10 per cent for first and second-year apprentices and 5 per cent for third-years — and it's restricted to a list of "priority" occupations.

If you're hiring someone for a "non-priority" occupation, you can get a one-off payment of $3,500.

There's a big sweetener for apprentices starting training though. If they're in a priority occupation, they'll get $5,000 in direct cash payments over their first two years.

But everything changes after two years. From July 2024, the wage subsidies are scrapped and replaced with a $4,000 hiring incentive for employers and $3,000 for apprentices, but only if they're on the priority list.

What jobs are on the priority list you ask? We're not sure because the list hasn't been made available yet.

 

Winners – Mental Health

 

The government's putting in half a billion dollars over the next five years to pay for the next stage of the National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Plan.

The money is split among several organisations, services and government agencies around the country, including $42.3 million over four years for Lifeline and $14.8 million over five years for Headspace.

Australians on a mental health plan will again receive an additional 10 partially-Medicare subsidised visits to a psychologist, a measure first announced in the coronavirus pandemic.

There's also previously announced mental health support for people in flood-affected regions.

 

Winners – Farmers

 

There's a tax break on the way for farmers who make money by selling carbon credits.

The measure, which the budget estimates will cost $100 million over four years, was one of the things the Nationals secured in return for supporting the government's net zero by 2050 target.

The change means carbon farming income can be treated like other primary production income for tax purposes.

Otherwise, most of the measures in the budget build on existing initiatives to streamline exports and protect Australian agriculture from biosecurity risks like lumpy skin disease.

 

Losers – Draught Beer Retailers

 

The federal government had been rumoured to halve the excise, or tax, on draught beer but there's no relief in the budget.

It's something the Brewers Association of Australia had been calling for as a way to help pubs and hospitality venues struggling with lower trade because of the pandemic.

But it's a move that's likely to upset health groups and other distillers who've previously raised health concerns and criticised the idea as giving one part of the alcohol industry unfair treatment.

Spirits and Cocktails Australia also criticised the decision as sexist, saying their research showed only around 10 per cent of women said they regularly drank beer and so the tax cut would disproportionately benefit men.

Last year, the government gave $255 million in tax relief to small brewers and distillers.

 

Winners – Cyber Spying

 

One of the big spends in the budget is $9.9 billion for the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) over the next 10 years to bolster our cybersecurity and intelligence capabilities.

It's called REDSPICE (which stands for Resilience, Effects, Defence, Space, Intelligence, Cyber and Enablers package) and will see an extra 1,900 jobs created at ASD.

They'll include things like data analysts, computer programmers and software engineers.

In the budget, the government makes it clear the investment is to better equip Australia to defend itself and some of our critical infrastructure from cyber attacks and counteract them.

The government has warned about the possibility of cyber attacks from both China and Russia, going so far as to urge businesses to update their systems to better defend against any future attacks.

 

Winners – Recycling

 

The government's put $60 million aside in the budget to fund better technology to recycle soft plastics like bread bags and chip packets.

It's part of the government's much bigger $250 million recycling fund, which is designed to find new and innovative ways to make recycling more efficient.

The $60 million will go toward "advanced plastic recycling technology" and help the government reach its target of having 70 per cent of plastic packaging in Australia recycled or composted by 2025.

 

Neutral – Young People

 

Outside of workforce programs like the new apprenticeship scheme, there isn't a lot to get particularly excited about in the budget if you're under 25.

Some of the mental health funding is going specifically to services for young people, but a lot of them are already stretched given the toll the pandemic has taken over the last two years.

The extension of the government's first home buyers scheme may help some young people, but given so many under 25s are already priced out of the market, it's unclear how many younger Australians it will benefit.

There's also been no change in the budget for students at either university or TAFE.

 

Winners – Great Barrier Reef

 

It had already been announced but the budget includes the $1 billion for the Great Barrier Reef the government flagged earlier this year.

The majority of the funding will go toward improving water quality, with the rest set aside for reef management and research.

The federal government had faced calls to step up its action to preserve the reef after the United Nations' environmental body warned last year that it intended to list the reef as "in danger".

The $1 billion will be spent over nine years and will be administered through the Environment Department along with the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, and delivered through local communities, industries and traditional owners.

But some experts criticised the spend, saying it would mean nothing if global carbon emissions aren't reduced.

 

Losers – Tax evaders

 

This is a loser that most people are probably pretty happy about — the government is extending a task force that targets tax avoidance by multinationals, large public and private groups, trusts and wealthy individuals.

It is giving the Australian Tax Office (ATO) more than $600 million over the next three years to keep the scrutiny on those groups.

The budget forecasts the extension of the task force will make the government $2.1 billion in revenue from tax over the next four years.

 

 

Georgia Hitch

ABC News

www.abc.net.au

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Privacy Policy

Contents

1. Privacy Policy

2. How do we collect personal information from you?

3. What type of personal information do we collect?

4. How do we use your personal information?

5. How do we disclose your personal information?

6. Access to your personal information

7. Accuracy and correction

8. Our security procedures

9. Data breach notification

10. Identifiers

11. Links to other sites

12. Collecting data

13. Changes to our Privacy Policy

14. Complaints resolution

15. Disclaimer


1. Privacy Policy

1.1 Rundles (Company) respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your privacy. The Company understands the importance you attach to information that identifies you (your ‘personal information’) and we want to help you protect it.

1.2 We are bound by and committed to supporting, the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs). This Privacy Policy explains how we handle information that we learn about you when you submit any personal information to us or our associated entities in person, by mail or email or by visiting our website.

2. How do we collect personal information from you?

2.1 We will only collect personal information which you have voluntarily provided to us or consented to us collecting the information. We may collect personal information about you in a variety of ways, for example:

2.2 From time to time, you may be able to visit our website or deal with us anonymously or by pseudonym. However, we require certain personal information to be able to provide you with the services and information you request. If you do not provide us with certain personal information, we may not be able to provide you with access to those services or respond to your request.

3. What type of personal information do we collect?

3.1 The type of personal information we may collect from you includes (but is not limited to):

4. How do we use your personal information?

4.1 The Company will use the information you supply for the purpose of providing you with the service(s) agreed under our engagement, such as accounting or business advisory services.

4.2 We may also use the information we collect for our internal business and management processes (for example, accounting or auditing purposes), monitoring and improving our website, keeping you informed about our services and company news, and for any other purposes that would be reasonably expected by you and to allow us to comply with our obligations under the law.

4.3 The Company may also use your personal information for the purpose of marketing our services. If you do not want to receive marketing material from us, you can unsubscribe by contacting us as detailed below:

5. How do we disclose your personal information?

5.1 Your personal information will only be disclosed to those employees or consultants of the Company related to the agreed provision of services. Depending on the nature of the engagement, we may need to disclose your personal information to third parties which may include service and content providers (for example accounting or auditing service providers or our website hosting service providers), dealers and agents, or our contractors and advisors.

5.2 The Company shall not knowingly provide personal information to any third party for any other purpose without your prior consent unless ordered to do so by a law enforcement body, court of law or other governmental or regulatory body or agency.

5.3 The Company may store, process or back-up your personal information on servers that are located overseas (including through third party service providers). The privacy laws in other countries might not be the same as in Australia. However, where the Company provides your personal information to third parties overseas, the Company will take such steps as are reasonable to ensure that your information is handled and stored in accordance with Australian privacy laws and this Policy.

6. Access to your personal information

6.1 You can request us to provide you with access to personal information we hold about you by sending us an email: reception@rundles.com.au (no spam please) or writing to us at PO Box 223, COLLINS STREET WEST VIC 8007.

6.2 We may allow an inspection of your personal information in person, or provide copies or a summary of relevant documents, depending on what is the most appropriate in the circumstances. Any charge we make for providing access will be reasonable and will not apply to lodging a request for access. Your request to access your personal information will be dealt with in a reasonable time.

6.3 Note that we need not provide access to personal information if a request is frivolous, or where to provide access would pose a threat to health or public safety, unreasonable interference with another person’s privacy, or be a breach of the law. If we refuse access, we will provide you with reasons for doing so.

7. Accuracy and correction

7.1 To enable us to keep our records properly, please notify us if you believe that any information we hold about you is inaccurate, incomplete or out of date and we will take reasonable steps, in the circumstances, to ensure that it is corrected. You can notify us by sending us an email: reception@rundles.com.au (no spam please) or writing to us at PO Box 223, COLLINS STREET WEST VIC 8007.

8. Our security procedures

8.1 The Company takes your privacy very seriously. We will take reasonable steps in the circumstances to protect any personal information you provide to us from misuse, interference or loss and unauthorised access, modification and disclosure.

8.2 We will also deidentify and destroy the personal information we hold about you once our legal obligations cease. Our security procedures are reviewed from time to time and we update them when relevant.

8.3 Please be aware that the transmission of data over the internet is never guaranteed to be completely secure. It is possible that third parties not under the control of the Company may be able to access or intercept transmissions or private communications without the Company’s permission or knowledge. The Company takes all reasonable steps, in the circumstances, to protect your personal information. However, we cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information you transmit to us. Such transmissions are done at your own risk.

9. Data breach notification

9.1 Under the Privacy Amendment (Notifiable Data Breaches) Act 2017 (Cth), the Company is required to give notice to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) and affected individuals of an “eligible data breach”. This means that if we hold personal information about you, and there is unauthorised access to or disclosure of your personal information, and if you, as the “affected individual” would be likely to suffer serious harm from this access or disclosure, we must notify both you and the OAIC.

9.2 “Serious harm” could include identity theft, threats to physical safety, economic and financial harm, harm to reputation, embarrassment, discrimination or harassment. The test is whether a “reasonable person” would expect you to suffer serious harm.

9.3 If you are likely to suffer serious harm from a data breach, we will notify you of:

9.4 We will notify you using the same method that we usually use to communicate with you. If it is not practicable for us to notify you personally, we will publish the notification on our website.

9.5 There are some circumstances in which we do not have to notify you of a data breach. These include:

9.6 Depending on the nature of the breach and the harm, we will also consider informing other third parties such as the police or other regulators or professional bodies.

10. Identifiers

10.1 We will not adopt as our own, any government identifiers you may provide to us such as TFNs etc.

11. Links to other sites

11.1 The Company’s website may provide links to other sites for you to access. You should be aware that these other sites are not subject to this Privacy Policy or our privacy standards and procedures. You will need to contact them directly to ascertain their privacy standards.

12. Collecting data

12.1 The Company’s website may deposit “cookies” in a visitor’s computer. Cookies are pieces of information that a website transfers to an individual’s hard drive for record keeping purposes. Cookies are only sent back to the website that deposited them when a visitor returns to that site.

12.2 Cookies make it easier for you by saving your preferences while you are at our site. We never save personal identifiable information in cookies. Most web browsers are initially set up to accept cookies. You can, however, reset your browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent.

13. Changes to our Privacy Policy

13.1 This information relates to our current Privacy Policy. From time to time, we may vary this policy for any reason. We will publish any changes on this website.

13.2 By continuing to use our website and continuing to provide us with your information, you confirm your acceptance of these changes. This Privacy Policy was last amended in October 2021.

14. Complaints resolution

14.1 The Company is committed to providing a fair and responsible system for the handling of complaints from parties whose personal information we hold. If you have any concerns regarding the way we have handled your privacy, please send us an email at reception@rundles.com.au or write to us at PO Box 223, COLLINS STREET WEST VIC 8007. We will address any concerns you have through our complaints handling process and we will inform you of the outcome of your complaint within a reasonable timeframe.

14.2 If after receiving our response, you still consider that your privacy complaint has not been resolved, you may refer your concerns to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at www.oaic.gov.au

15. Disclaimer

15.1 By using the Company’s website, you signify your understanding and agreement to comply with all terms and conditions and confirm your acceptance of the terms of this Privacy Policy and consent to the use of your personal information as set out in this Privacy Policy.

15.2 If you do not agree with the terms of this Privacy Policy, please do not use the website or otherwise provide us with your personal information.

Revised Terms of Business – for Rundles Website

Terms of Business – Engaged Clients of Rundles

1. Who may instruct us

As an engaged client, you, and any other person you nominate in writing from time to time (provided we have acknowledged such nomination), are authorised to give us instructions and information on behalf of all persons we are acting for and to receive our advice and documents on their behalf.

If we are acting for a business, and we receive conflicting advice, information or instructions from different persons, we may refer the matter to the board of directors, partners or proprietors (as applicable) and act only as requested by them.

2. You and your spouse/partner

We will advise you and your spouse/partner on the basis that you are a family unit with shared interests. We may deal with either of you and may discuss with either of you the affairs of the other. If you wish to change these arrangements, please let us know.

3. Know your customer

We may be required to verify your identity for the purposes of the anti-money laundering laws. We may request from you such information as we require for these purposes and make searches of appropriate databases.

4. Your responsibilities

You must provide us with all information necessary for dealing with your affairs including information which we reasonably request, in sufficient time to enable our services to be completed before any applicable deadline. We will rely on such information being true, correct and complete and will not audit the information except to the extent we are specifically engaged to provide audit-related services.

You authorise us to approach such third parties as may be appropriate for information that we consider necessary to deal with your affairs.

You must keep us informed on a timely basis of changes in your circumstances that may affect our services.

5. Qualifications on our services

To the extent our services involve the performance of services established by law, nothing in the engagement letter or these terms reduce our obligations under such law.

You must not act on advice given by us on an earlier occasion without first confirming with us that the advice is still valid.

Our services are limited exclusively to those you have engaged us to perform. Unless otherwise specified in the engagement letter, our services cannot be relied upon to disclose irregularities and errors, including fraud and other illegal acts, in your affairs.

Where our engagement is recurring, we may amend our engagement letter and these terms where we consider it is necessary or appropriate to do so. If you do not accept such amendments, you must notify us promptly in which case you may terminate our engagement in accordance with section 18 below and those amendments will not apply prior to such termination.

6. Reliance on advice

We will endeavour to record all advice on important matters in writing. Advice given verbally is not intended to be relied upon unless confirmed in writing. If we provide verbal advice (for example during a meeting or telephone conversation) that you wish to rely on, you must ask us to confirm the advice in writing.

7. Investment and financial advisory advice

We will not provide you with investment or financial advice regulated under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) unless we have expressly agreed to do so in writing, specifying an applicable Australian Financial Services Licence number.

8. Professional obligations

We will comply with the professional and ethical standards of the Accounting Professional and Ethical Standards Board, available at apesb.org.au. This includes APES 110 Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants (including Independence Standards), which among other things contains provisions that apply if we become aware of any actual or potential ‘non-compliance with governing laws or regulations’ (NOCLAR). Where any such non-compliance poses substantial harm (such as serious adverse consequences to investors, creditors, employees, auditor, group auditor or the public), we may be required to disclose the matter to an appropriate authority.

9. Conflicts of interest

We will inform you if we become aware of any conflict of interest in our relationship with you (including between the various persons your engagement letter covers) or in our relationship with you and another client. Where conflicts are identified which cannot be managed in a way that protects your interests then we will be unable to provide further services to some or all of the persons to whom this engagement applies. If this arises, we will inform you promptly.

We may act for other clients whose interests are not the same as or are adverse to yours, subject to the obligations of conflicts of interest and confidentiality referred to above.

10. Fees and payment

Our fees will be charged on the basis set out in the engagement letter and have been set based on the level of skill, responsibility, importance and value of the advice, as well as the level of risk.

If we have provided you with an estimate of our fees for any specific work, this is an estimate only and our actual fees may vary.

We may provide a fixed fee for the provision of specific services. If it becomes apparent to us, due to unforeseen circumstances, that a fixed fee is inadequate, we may notify you of a revised figure and seek your agreement to it.

In some cases, you may be entitled to assistance with your professional fees, particularly in relation to any investigation into your tax affairs by the ATO. Assistance may be provided through insurance policies you hold or via membership of a professional or trade body. Other than where such insurance was arranged through us, you will need to advise us of any such insurance cover that you have. You will remain liable for our fees regardless of whether all or part are to be paid by someone else.

We will bill periodically and our invoices are due for payment within 14 days of issue. Any disbursements and expenses we incur in the course of performing our services will be added to our invoices where appropriate.

Unless otherwise agreed to the contrary, our fees do not include the costs of any counsel, or other professionals or third parties engaged with your approval.

We may charge interest on late paid invoices at the rate of 2% above the RBA cash rate. We may also suspend our services or to cease to act for you on giving written notice if payment of any fees is unduly delayed.

We intend to exercise these rights only where it is fair and reasonable to do so.

11. Lien

If permitted by law or professional guidelines, we may exercise a lien over all materials or records in our possession relating to all engagements for you until all outstanding fees and disbursements are paid in full.

12. Client monies

We maintain a trust account for dealing with client monies on their behalf. We can only accept money into our trust account on your behalf if you have provided us with a written trust account authority letter which details the authority given to us in relation to that trust money.

13. Confidentiality

We will take all reasonable steps to keep your information confidential, except where:

· we need to disclose your information to our service providers (including auditors of client monies if applicable) or regulatory bodies in performing the services, our professional advisers or insurers or as part of an external peer review from time to time. Our files may also be subject to review as part of the quality review program of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand. By accepting your engagement you acknowledge that, if requested, our files relating to your engagement will be made available under this program. We will take reasonable steps to ensure any such recipient (other than a regulatory body) keeps such information confidential on the same basis;

· we are required by law, regulation, a court of competent authority, or those professional obligations referred to in section 8 above, to disclose the information;

· we provide limited information (but only to the extent reasonably necessary) to potential purchasers (or their professional advisors) of our practice but we will take reasonable steps to ensure that any such recipient keeps the disclosed information confidential; or

· you give us permission to disclose the information.

We may retain your information during and after our engagement to comply with our legal requirements or as part of our regular IT back-up and archiving practices. We will continue to hold such information confidentially.

We may mention that you are a client for promotional purposes.

14. Privacy

You must make all necessary notifications and obtain any necessary consents for us to process personal information you provide to us. We collect and use that personal information for the purposes of providing the services described in the engagement letter to you and we will comply with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) when processing that personal information. Our privacy policy provides further details of our privacy practices.

15. Ownership of materials

We own the copyright and all other intellectual property rights in everything we create in connection with your engagement. Unless we agree otherwise, anything we create in connection with your agreement may be used by you only for the purpose for which you have engaged us.

16. Limitation of liability

Our liability is limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation.

You agree not to bring any claim against any of our principals, partners, directors, shareholders or employees in their personal capacity.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, we are not liable to you for:

· indirect, special or consequential losses or damages of any kind; or

· liability arising due to the acts or omissions of any other person or circumstances outside our reasonable control, or your breach of these terms.

17. Limitation of third party rights

Our advice and information is for your sole use, and we accept no responsibility to any third party, unless we have expressly agreed in the engagement letter that a specified third party may rely on our work.

18. Termination

Each of us may terminate this agreement by giving not less than 21 days’ notice in writing to the other party except where a conflict of interest has arisen, you fail to cooperate with us or we have reason to believe that you have provided us or any other person with misleading or factually inaccurate information, in which case we may terminate this agreement immediately. Termination will not affect any accrued rights.

19. Communication

You must advise of any changes to your contact details. We may send any communications to the last contact details you have provided. Unless you instruct us otherwise we may, where appropriate, communicate with you and with third parties via email or by other electronic means. The recipient is responsible for virus checking emails and any attachments. There is a risk of non-receipt, delayed receipt, inadvertent misdirection or interception by third parties in any form of communication, whether electronic, postal or otherwise. We are not responsible for any such matters beyond our control.

20. Applicable Law

Our engagement is governed by Victorian law. The courts sitting in Victoria will have non-exclusive jurisdiction in relation to any dispute between us.

21. Interpretation

If any provision of the engagement letter or these terms is void, that provision will be severed and the remainder will continue to apply. If there is any conflict between the engagement letter and these terms, these terms prevail.

22. Disputes and complaints

If you have any concerns about our costs or services, please speak to the person responsible for this engagement, who is identified in your engagement letter. To resolve your concerns we have policies and procedures in place to deal appropriately with complaints and will use best endeavours to resolve a complaint or dispute to the mutual satisfaction of the parties involved. We may require you to detail your complaint in writing to allow us to fully investigate any concerns that you raise.

23. Third party responsibilities

We may utilise outsourced service providers and cloud computing service providers, who may be located within Australia or overseas.

To perform the services, we may provide these third parties with access to your data, to the extent this is required to perform the services. 

Your data will be stored in servers physically located in Australia and in accordance with our Cyber Security Policy, the security practices of the third party service provider and our Privacy Policy. 

24. Consumer Data Rights

You may consent for an Accredited Data Recipient under the Consumer Data Right (CDR) to disclose your CDR data to us. You may nominate us as your Trusted Adviser for this purpose. As your Trusted Adviser, we will only access the data necessary to provide the services in your engagement letter.

25. Professional Charge Rates

The following table outlines our current hourly charge rates for the professional services we provide. These rates are updated annually.

Professional Hourly Rate Services (excl GST)

Minimum

Maximum

Partner Services

$400

$500

Consultant Services

$200

$465

Manager Services

$290

$360

Senior Accountants

$225

$285

Accountants

$125

$180

Graduate Accountant

$100

$125

Admin Services

$130

$185

Bookkeepers

$60

$80

Client COVID-19 Safety Information

For the safety of all our staff, clients and visitors, we are requiring all clients and other visitors to adhere to our COVID-19 safety protocols.

Thank you for your patience and cooperation.

  1. To obtain a safer and faster service from our team members, we recommend that you call or email to make an appointment whenever possible.
  2. Under the current CovidSafe requirements, we will be conducting business as usual in the office, however the office doors will remain locked, and clients/visitors will need to ring the doorbell for assistance.
  3. Clients/visitors to the office will be required to be double vaccinated, wear a face mask and practice safe distancing.
  4. Clients/visitors to the office will be asked to provide verification of their COVID19 vaccination status via any of the government regulated certification services.
  5. Clients/visitors to the office will be asked to “Check-in” either via the Service Victoria QR Check-In service, or manually by the register at reception.
  6. If you are experiencing flu like symptoms or have recently come in contact with a person who has had indirect or direct exposure to COVID-19, please do not attend our offices in person. Ring the accountant to cancel the appointment and set up an online meeting.
  7. Clients/visitors details will be shared with local public health authorities if any meeting participants advise that they have been exposed to COVID-19.