Having trouble viewing this newsletter - click here to view it online.

NEWSLETTER APRIL 2013

Peregian Accounting Services
Unit 3 12 Grebe Street
Peregian Beach Q 4573

April is a great time of year for getting out and enjoying the warm days without the humidity of summer, especially with the rain easing over the last week. We are fortunate to live and work so close to many areas of natural beauty that offer spectacular camping, hiking, riding, climbing, swimming, fishing, and more. Where's your favourite spot?

Have you taken reasonably practicable steps to ensure the safety of anyone who does any work for you anywhere?

This is the executive summary:
If you're thinking of engaging people to work for you, or if you already have a long-standing arrangement with contractors, you need to re-examine your operations in light of the "reasonably practicable" steps required of you, and the amount of control you have. Additionally, it would be a good idea to take reasonable steps to ensure you have someone who is competent, experienced, registered and licenced as appropriate. Taking their word for it may not be enough to protect yourself.

A recent court case (Baiada Poultry Pty Ltd v the Queen [2012] HCA 14) has clarified the definition of "reasonable practicability" contained within the new Workplace Health and Safety Laws that were harmonised across most states and territories last year and this year.

Under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld) people who engage contractors have general duties of care for the health and safety of their contractors, which are qualified by the idea of what is "reasonably practicable". When determining whether "reasonably practicable" steps have been taken to ensure safety you must consider the following factors:

  • the likelihood of the hazard occurring;
  • the amount of harm that would result if the hazard occurred;
  • what you knew, or should have known, about the hazard and ways it could have been eliminated or the risk reduced;
  • the availability and suitability of hazard-reduction methods;
  • the cost of reducing the risk or eliminating the hazard.

In the Baiada case, they looked at the impact that control has over your liability to protect those whom you contract, and how that affects the reasonably practicable steps you take to ensure their safety. "Control" in this case means control over potential safety issues, as well as control over what your contractors do. Essentially, the greater the amount of control you have over how and where your contractors work, the greater the duty of care you have for their safety and the higher the bar is set for what is "reasonably practicable".

In making his decision in Baiada, Justice Heydon gave an example of a householder who engages competent and experienced tradespeople to perform the electrical and plumbing work. In his example he said it would be reasonably practicable for the householders to rely on the contractors to determine how to safely perform the work, rather than for the householders to give them instructions. Presumably this is because the tradespeople use their industry experience to pre-empt and control for potential safety issues, and the tradespeople determine how they will perform the job. The householder has less control in this situation than, say, the licenced builder whose subbies use the builder's equipment and install per the builder's instructions.

What this recent case didn't address, however, is yet to be fully tested - how far do you have to go in checking that you have a bona fide expert? Must you verify with the Building Services Authority, with QMBA, with all the potential relevant authorities to verify everything you are told? Do you have to check the bona fides of everyone who works for them? Can you get them to sign something that certifies all work is completed 100% according to the law, and is that enough protection? These are all valid questions with no clearly defined answers as yet. Where there are questions about a contractor's competence or experience it might still not be enough to rely on the expertise of specialised contractors to ensure they take care of their own safety, even if you know nothing about how to do their job and have no control over how they do it.

Therefore, until the courts resolve it more it would seem prudent to take every precaution to ensure that anyone who works for you has a safe working environment, whether employee or contractor. You have a positive duty of care to ensure that this is so, but you can rely on the advice of experts provided you have no reason to doubt their ability or credentials. No doubt a lawyer may say this is not technically 100% correct but it sure sounds like the gist of it. Be aware.

Peregian Beach near our office
Peregian Beach near our office
LINKS
ATO Home page
ASIC Home page
Institute of Public Accountants Home page
Xero home page
MYOB Home page
Quickbooks Home page

Contact
Peregian Accounting -
Adaptive Accounting

Web:www.adaptive.net.au
Email: info@adaptive.net.au
Phone: 61 7 5448 1218
Fax: 61 7 5448 1221



Upcoming Due Dates

  • April 28 : March 2013 quarterly BAS due date for lodging and paying (only for those lodging using paper forms).
  • April 28 : March 2013 quarterly IAS due date for payment (lodgement only required if you are varying the instalment amount).
  • April 28 : March 2013 quarterly superannuation contributions due for payment to funds.
  • May 15 : 2012 Income Tax Return due date for all entities, including individuals, that did not have to lodge earlier and are not eligible for the 5 June 2013 concession.
  • May 21 : April 2013 monthly BAS due date for lodging and paying (only for those on monthly reporting cycles).
  • May 26 : March 2013 quarterly BAS due date for lodging and paying.
  • May 28 : Fringe Benefits Tax annual return due date for lodging and paying.

In Tax News

From 1 July 2013 the ATO will require that individual taxpayers provide EFT details on their tax return if they are expecting a tax return. The ATO will then pay the refund directly into the nominated bank account, which must be an Australian bank account but it can be a joint account or a trust account. At this stage only individual income tax returns with an expected refund will have to use their EFT details to receive their refunds; companies and partnerships may still receive refunds via cheque.

2011-12 Income Tax Returns due next month

By now you should already have received a letter or an email from us reminding you that, if you have not lodged already, you should contact us as soon as possible to lodge your 2011-12 income tax return. We pride ourselves on doing a thorough job preparing tax returns that are accurate and comprehensive, but the process of achieving this can be time-consuming. So, the sooner you respond to our letters and emails the better.



If you have any feedback or suggestions for our newsletter please email us at newsletter@adaptive.net.au

Until our next contact
Good Health & Good Luck

Privacy Policy & Disclaimer | Unsubscribe from newsletter | Contact us| www.adaptive.net.au
© 2013 Peregian Accounting Services - Adaptive Accounting Pty Ltd