Who is the expert steering your SMSF?

If you’re not across non-arm’s length expenditure rules or whether a six-member fund would suit you, it’s probably time you got specialist advice. John MaroneyContributor Financial Review, Oct 5, 2021 While the Productivity Commission’s major report into super in 2018 focused on Australian Prudential Regulation Authority-regulated funds, there were two important findings about self-managed super funds. First, SMSF members, along …

Skills crisis: Unqualified brickies employed by construction companies to keep up with housing boom

Kim MacdonaldThe West Australian, 6 October 2021 Highly-qualified bricklayer Nicholas Murphy has called out dodgy bricklaying going on at some WA construction sites. Credit: Ian Munro/The West Australian Pirate brickies cashing in on the building boom are creating structural problems in homes that the new owners will spend decades paying off. Industry experts, an online building forum and a highly-qualified …

Mandy Cant sues BHP over alleged racial abuse at Pilbara mine site

Danielle Le Messurier The West Australian, 7 October 2021 2:00AM Mandy Cant, 51, alleges the abuse occurred on three occasions over two months in 2016. Credit: Jon Gellweiler/The West Australian A highly anticipated trial involving an Aboriginal woman who allegedly endured months of racial abuse at a BHP mine site in the Pilbara could lead to WA mining companies being …

Nasal spray to treat Covid-19 enters phase 2 trials

University of Newcastle and Hunter Medical Research Institute researcher Nathan Bartlett led the study. Ellie Dudley Reporter The Australian, October 6, 2021 A nasal spray offering users protection from Covid-19 could soon be employed as another line of defence against the virus, as encouraging results from a preliminary trial of the solution trigger a second phase of studies. The revolutionary …

The most unusual roadtrip in Australia

Lockdown? What lockdown? By tractor, on foot or by campervan, these determined adventurers haven’t let a pandemic derail their travel plans. By Fiona Harari Sam Hughes and his colourful one-man convoy in Darwin. Picture: Helen Orr From The Weekend Australian Magazine October 2, 2021 The roads to freedom are paved with travellers. They’re an eclectic bunch, often roaming in vans, with …

Facebook in crisis

CHRIS GRIFFITH The Australian, 7 October 2021 Facebook has slowed its product rollout to address the crisis caused by damaging media reports. The Wall Street Journal reports that the move was made in response to the media reports and congressional hearings examining a trove of internal documents showing harms from its platforms. “Executives at the social-media company have also put …

Attorney-General Michaelia Cash pushes states to fix defamation laws after Voller verdict

Attorney-General Michaelia Cash. Picture: Martin Ollman EXCLUSIVE Richard Ferguson Reporter The Australian, October 7, 2021 Attorney-General Michaelia Cash is pushing the states to make urgent reforms to the nation’s defamation laws to reverse a High Court ruling that has exposed governments and publishers to legal action over the offensive ­social media comments of third parties. Senator Cash has written to …

Lawpath raises $7.5 million to scale its on-demand legal platform for small businesses

Eloise Keating SmartCompany, October 5, 2021 Lawpath founder Dom Woolrych. Source: supplied Lawpath has secured $7.5 million in fresh funding to further scale its legal tech platform for small business owners, as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to disrupt the traditional legal industry. Founded by Dominic Woolrych at the end of 2014, Lawpath offers small business customers a cost-effective, one-stop shop …

Government proposes franchising register to make $180 billion sector fairer

Lois Maskiell SmartCompany, October 6, 2021 Minister for Employment, Workforce, Skills, Small and Family Business Stuart Robert, Source: AAP/Mick Tsikas. The federal government has released plans to improve transparency in the $180 billion franchising sector that’s often plagued with disputes between franchisees and franchisors. The draft amendments, which were announced as part of the May 2021 budget, will see the …

Four Pillars: The SME loan guarantee scheme isn’t working. Risk-averse banks have been reluctant to lend

 Richard Gluyas Australian Banking Association CEO Anna Bligh says overall ‘lending to small and medium-sized businesses has held up well’. Picture: AAP The Australian, October 5, 2021 If the third incarnation of the SME Recovery Loan Scheme is going to tip the scales at anything like the much-touted $40bn level, the banking sector must shed its heightened aversion from the …