Tuesday, 07 September 2010 11:57

Attorney-General, Robert McClelland, today announced further measures to assist Australian legal practitioners undertaking international pro bono work.

These measures follow the establishment last year of the International Pro Bono Advisory Group to promote international pro bono work by Australia’s legal profession and identify linkages with the Government’s international development assistance programs.

The Advisory Group aims to promote and enhance international pro bono work by:

· publicising international pro bono opportunities to the Australian legal community;

· supporting practitioners interested in international pro bono work; and

· promoting links between international pro bono providers, governments and NGOs.

To achieve these priorities, additional measures to help better target and coordinate international pro bono work have been agreed, including:

· $100,000 for the National Pro Bono Resource Centre to help Australian law firms and barristers meet some of the costs associated with international pro bono work;

· launching a new website portal with links to international pro bono opportunities, resource materials, case studies and practical information for practitioners considering international pro bono work; and

· a ‘Statement of Principles’ aimed at guiding, informing and assisting the delivery of international pro bono legal work.

In addition, an International Pro Bono Roundtable will be held on 27 August 2010 to share lessons learnt in undertaking international pro bono work and explore opportunities for better coordinating this work. The Roundtable will coincide with the 3^rd National Access to Justice and Pro Bono Conference in Brisbane.

Pro bono legal work makes a valuable contribution to the maintenance of the rule of law and access to justice in our region and Australian lawyers have a significant role to play.

The Advisory Group website portal can be found at www.ag.gov.au/internationalprobono.

Tuesday, 07 September 2010 11:57

The Rudd Government welcomed new regulations prescribing short and simple product disclosure documents for margin loans, superannuation and simple managed investment schemes that commenced yesterday.

Product disclosure documents will be more accessible for consumers and less costly for business to produce by reducing their length to just a few pages.

Minister Tanner said: "Cutting down product disclosure documents from over one hundred pages to eight pages and making it easier for businesses to use alternative methods such as the internet for disclosing large amounts of detailed product information will also reduce costs for industry."

These reforms were undertaken through a Better Regulation Ministerial Partnership between the Minister for Financial Services, Superannuation and Corporate Law and the Minister for Finance and Deregulation. These Partnerships form a key part of the Rudd Government's better regulation agenda and have proved effective in ensuring a disciplined and coordinated approach to delivering regulatory reform across government.

Minister Tanner said the product disclosure statement reform marks the completion of the Government's second Better Regulation Ministerial Partnership.

"This furthers the Government's ongoing commitment to remove unnecessary or poorly designed regulation to reduce business costs and support Australia's long-term productivity growth."

Minister Bowen said: "Providing short and readable product disclosure documents will make it much more likely that investors will read this information and consequently make better investment decisions."

"These changes complement the Government's Future of Financial Advice reforms that are designed to improve the quality of financial advice that has been provided to Australian investors."

In developing shorter product disclosure documents the Government has consulted extensively through a number of public information sessions, a margin lending industry consultation group and an Advisory Panel of key financial services industry and consumer representatives. Consumer testing sessions were undertaken as part of the project.

The draft regulations were also released for public consultation, following which significant numbers of submissions were received that informed the final regulations.

The regulations and related explanatory material are available on www.comlaw.gov.au

Attachment

Further Information on Product Disclosure Statements

The regulations prescribe product disclosure statements (PDSs) not exceeding eight pages in length for superannuation funds and simple managed investment schemes. Margin loan PDSs are required to be no longer than four pages.

The regulations prescribe the section headings and contents of the shorter PDSs, to ensure that consumers are provided with the key information they need to make an investment decision. Additional information can also be included provided the prescribed length is not exceeded. The prescribed content covers key information such as product features and benefits, risks, taxation, investment options and fees and costs. For margin loans, certain additional information specific to these products is prescribed, including an explanation of what a margin call is and how investors can manage the risk and consequences of receiving a margin call.

The regulations also provide for other material to be located outside the PDS document itself, with a reference included in the PDS telling readers where they can find this information. This is an important mechanism allowing disclosure documents to be kept short and concise, while providing full information elsewhere for those consumers who want to read it. Importantly, the material referred to in this way is deemed to be part of the PDS and the full range of liability and enforcement provisions of the law apply to it. This ensures that consumers continue to be effectively protected against any defective or misleading information included in disclosure documents and associated material.

The provisions for superannuation and managed investment scheme PDSs provide for a transitional period of 24 months for implementation. After the initial 12 months, businesses will have to comply with the new regime if they amend an existing PDS or offer new products requiring a new PDS. After 24 months, all PDSs will need to comply with the new regime. The margin loan PDS provisions apply from 1 January 2011, coinciding with the date when margin loans come under Commonwealth regulation.

Having fulfilled its key mandates, the Financial Services Working Group will cease operation on 30 June 2010. However, Treasury and ASIC along with industry will continue work on simplifying disclosure documents as part of their ongoing duties. Such work will include making improvements to the Financial Services Guide, which will now be undertaken as part of the Future of Financial Advice reforms announced by Mr Bowen on 26 April 2010 in response to the Parliamentary Joint Committee report on Financial Products and Services. ASIC is also working on a separate project with industry to improve Statements of Advice.

Tuesday, 07 September 2010 11:57

SHANGHAI: Queensland company, Total Energy Solutions (TES) continues to lead the way in providing solutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reducing energy costs for Chinese government and public organisations.

Treasurer Andrew Fraser yesterday joined TES and Xuhui District Government representatives as the company was officially appointed as a preferred supplier of energy conservation services for Government buildings in the Xuhui District of Shanghai.

"TES has proven its value in providing world-class energy conservation services to the Queensland Government and is in a good position to now provide its greatly beneficial services to the Xuhui District Government," Mr Fraser said.

"The company comes into a particular building or organisation, assesses the energy-using products and practices, and provides advice and solutions to save energy and save money. Following the process can save millions of dollars over time.

"The Premier opened TES's office here in April 2008, and the company has already won two energy conservation projects in Shanghai - Yueyang Hospital and Shanghai No. 3 Hospital. The total contract value of these projects combined was more than $1 million.

"This new appointment will help TES expand its business in the Xuhui District of Shanghai, and win more business in the future through a stronger, long term relationship with the Xuhui District Government."

Mr Fraser said that the Queensland Government's export agency, Trade Queensland, has a strategy to assist Queensland companies to go global with expertise in green building, architectural and design services, clean technologies and training programs, with a strong focus on China.

"This is a region of great potential for Queensland's green building sector. The World Bank estimates that half of the world's building construction will take place in China by 2015. China will build five million buildings, equivalent to con structing ten New York Cities, in the next 20 years," Mr Fraser said.

Mr Fraser also witnessed the signing of four further Memorandums of Understanding between Queensland institutions and Shanghai.

MOUs signed:

- Two agreements between University of Queensland - Shanghai Second Military Medical University.
One agreement will underpin the establish of a neurogenetics research program to enable further studies of diseases such as schizophrenia, motor neurone disease and epilepsy and the other will provide for medical student exchanges.

- Griffith University - Institut Pasteur Shanghai letter of intent.
The partnership will enable the establishment of a collaborative 'drug discovery' laboratory.

- Queensland University of Technology - Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University.
This agreement between QUT and Shanghai's largest tertiary hospital will see collaboration on projects surrounding wound healing and wound managemen t.

"These MOUs are important partnerships between internationally renowned organisations that will enable our top researchers to share ideas with their Shanghai counterparts in order to make new discoveries that increase our understanding of science and medicine."

Last night, the Treasurer hosted a State Reception at the Australian Pavilion at World Expo, which showcased Queensland's new wave of environmental architecture and design firms.

"The Creative Industries Unit's HEAT Architecture initiative is designed to increase the international profile and export sales of Queensland's architectural and related design businesses.

"Shanghai, and China generally, is a mecca for talented and creative architects. Its our goal to see Queensland's architects tap into this massive, exciting market."

Mr Fraser said 18 leading architectural and related design businesses had travelled to the Expo in Shanghai to participate in business development act ivities targeting China's growing architectural and urban planning sector.

Queensland Week runs from 20-26 June and involves business events and cultural performances in the Australian Pavilion, with additional events at venues throughout Shanghai.

For more information about Queensland's participation at Expo visit www.qld.gov.au/worldexpo2010

Tuesday, 07 September 2010 11:57

The State Government is investing an additional $1.6 million to support apprentices and trainees who must travel to attend training, the Minister for Education and Skills, Lin Thorp, said today.

• Increase the daily intrastate accommodation allowance from $22 to $30.
• Increase the daily interstate accommodation allowance from $50 to $70.
• Increase the intrastate travel allowance from 16c to 20c per kilometre.
• For apprentices travelling from the West Coast, the increase in the travel allowance will be from 20c to 25c per kilometre.