The Directors of Boyce Chartered Accountants recently announced Elizabeth Timmins as the winner of the firm’s employee of the year award for 2011. Elizabeth was selected by the judging panel as a stand-out winner of the award in recognition of her extraordinary contribution to the firm over more than 17 years. 

The employee of the year award was initiated by the firm’s leadership group in 2008 to honour fellow Director and friend, the late Tony Quirk. Tony joined Boyce in 1991 and went on to become the youngest-ever Director appointed in the firm. Tragically he died prematurely at the age of 34. 

As in previous years, finalists from each of the Boyce offices were selected by their peers and supporting written submissions forwarded to a panel of judges which included Boyce HR Manager, Gabrielle McFarland. 

“The judging panel was thrilled that in this, the fourth year of the TQ Award, the calibre of the finalists was once again outstanding,” said Ms McFarland. 

The criteria for judging includes demonstrating a genuine care for clients, contributing to the social fabric of the firm, acting in a professional manner, living the firm’s values on a daily basis and meeting the high performance expectations of the role within Boyce. 

Ms McFarland cited Elizabeth’s impressive technical expertise in a complicated area such as superannuation and the effort and care she takes to achieve the best outcomes for clients as just two of the characteristics that contributed to Elizabeth winning the award in 2011. 

“Not only is Elizabeth an amazing contributor in terms of expertise and client work, she is a great team member and always a positive ambassador for Boyce,” said Ms McFarland. 

Boyce Cooma Director, Kathy Kelly, said Elizabeth has made an outstanding contribution to the firm and is highly regarded by her colleagues and peers in the industry. 

“Elizabeth shares her knowledge and expertise selflessly and displays a passion for her work that inspires those around her,” said Ms Kelly. 

It has been a big year for Elizabeth who earlier in the year was awarded the “Best Practice Award 2011” by the SMSF Professionals’ Association of Australia (SPAA). This award acknowledges members who demonstrate ‘best practice’ self-managed superannuation fund (SMSF) advice whilst also promoting the professionalism of the association and industry generally. Elizabeth was recognised for her consummate technical and strategic knowledge, and her ability to explain the legislation in a “plain English” manner. 

Elizabeth accepted the TQ Employee of the Year Award at a special morning tea held in the Boyce Cooma office. She typically acknowledged the support of her fellow team members as well as remembering Tony Quirk in whose memory the award was initiated. 

“It is great to have this award to remember what a top bloke Tony was,” said Elizabeth.

The Directors of Boyce also acknowledged the achievements of the finalists from the other Boyce offices – Sarah Pye (Dubbo), Jono Hart (Goulburn), Hannah Keady (Moree) and Grant Goldsworthy (Wagga Wagga). 

Elizabeth is pictured above second from right with Boyce Cooma Directors - Jono Forrest, Julie Schofield and Kathy Kelly.

New national Work Health and Safety (WHS) laws have been developed to replace the existing state based Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) laws. 

The WHS laws mean that the same safety protection and the same penalties for safety offences will apply across all locations in Australia. 

The current state based safety laws are similar in some ways to one another but there are differences which can be confusing. Under the national WHS laws, Australian workers should be entitled to the same work health and safety standards wherever they work. 

The nature of work has changed over the years. Places of work have become more diverse; for example it is becoming more common for some workers to work from their home. Alternative employment arrangements such as labour-hire, contractors and the use of volunteers are also becoming more of an everyday occurrence. The national WHS laws have been developed to reflect these changes. 

The Work Health and Safety Bill 2011 has been passed by Parliament and is awaiting Royal Assent. 

The Bill is an important part of the harmonisation of Australia’s work health and safety laws. Queensland, New South Wales and the ACT have passed model WHS laws which mirror the Commonwealth Act and will all start on 1 January 2012. Other states will follow. 

Transition to the New Laws 

All states and territories have agreed to a set of principles to ensure that transitional arrangements are consistent across Australia, although some slight variations are expected as each jurisdiction will be changing from a different health and safety system. 

It is important to start preparing for the change as early as possible and to get information and help with the process. There will not be a national regulator as a result of introducing national Work, Health & Safety Act. The Commonwealth and each state and territory will continue to have its own regulator to administer the WHS laws in their jurisdiction.

What You Need to Be Aware Of 

While the Act is largely similar to the current NSW Occupational Health and Safety Act 2000, there are a number of important differences. 

Business operators must do what is reasonably practicable to eliminate or minimise risk to health and safety. 

Company directors will have a positive and proactive duty to exercise due diligence. This represents a shift away from attributed liability (i.e. being held liable for contraventions by the company) and requires directors to:  Acquire and keep up-to-date knowledge of health and safety matters. Gain an understanding of hazards and risks associated with the company’s operations. Ensure appropriate resources are available for use to eliminate or minimise risks from work carried out.  Ensure appropriate processes for obtaining information about incidents, hazards and risks, and responding to them.  Ensure processes for complying with duties are implemented, e.g. reporting, consultation arrangements, training and instruction.  Verify the provision and use of resources for the matters listed above.
Workers must exercise reasonable care that their acts or omissions do not adversely affect the health and safety of any person at a workplace. 

There will still be a requirement to have Health & Safety representatives or committees who will represent defined work groups at a workplace. 

National model regulations and priority codes of practice are currently being developed. While these are largely consistent with the current New South Wales codes of practice there will be some altered provisions. Industry associations are be able to provide advice in regard to specific codes of practice that affect your business. 

Further information can be obtained from www.worksafeaustralian.gov.au. 

Gabrielle McFarland, Boyce HR Manager 

Source Information: www.aigroup.com.au/ohs/nationalohsreview/; www.langes.com.au/australian_regulatory_compliance/2011/11/29/work-health-and-safety-bill-cth-passed/

Boyce Financial Services (BFS), the financial advisory division of Boyce Chartered Accountants, was recently awarded the prestigious “Lonsdale Associate of the Year” award. 

Lonsdale Financial Group supports a network of more than 100 financial planning practices and 250 financial advisors from across Australia. The “Associate of the Year” award is bestowed annually to a practice judged on continuous business growth and success over the preceding 12 months. 

In presenting the award to BFS, Mario Modica CEO of Lonsdale, acknowledged the rapid growth and success of the relatively young business. 

“It is an outstanding achievement for a practice to receive this award having only been in business for 3 years”, said Mr Modica.

The award recognised the success of BFS in terms of revenue growth, positive compliance audit ratings, continual knowledge improvement through participation at forums and professional development days, and alignment to Lonsdale network values. 

Lindsay Garnock, Director of BFS (pictured at right middle with Mario Modica CEO Lonsdale on left and Andrew Rutter—Head of Distribution Lonsdale on right), said that much of the growth of the business has been due to clients being attracted to the ‘fee for service’ model offered by BFS where clients pay an agreed amount per annum not a percentage of funds under management. 

Fee for service pricing will become obligatory for all financial planning businesses under the recently announced FOFA (Future of Financial Advice) reforms. 

“Our commitment to client care and to a transparent and fair pricing structure has helped the business grow,” said Lindsay.

“We took the industry lead in setting a ‘fee for service’ pricing model and will continue to explore other ways to ensure our clients receive the best advice and service possible.” 

The Lonsdale “Associate of the Year” award is just another string in the bow for BFS – earlier in the year Elizabeth Timmins, senior superannuation strategist with Boyce was awarded the “Best Practice Award 2011” by the SMSF Professionals’ Association of Australia (SPAA).

Lindsay Garnock, Elizabeth Timmins and Boyce Financial Services Pty Limited are Authorised Representatives of Lonsdale Financial Group Limited, ABN 76 006 637 225, AFS Licence No. 246934.