Staff Event

Recent Events:

Our most recent function was our Staff Christmas Party at Byblos Restaurant and Bar in Melbourne which was held on 22 December 2011.  The trophy for the most 'interesting' behaviour was fought over and ultimately awarded jointly to Paul Langdon and Dwayne Anderson.  The food was great and the night most enjoyable.

Technical Items of Interest

One of the key areas of focus at the present time is the legislation underpinning the new Personal Properties Securities System.  The legislation came into operation at the end of January 2012.

Those clients with business interests will likely be affected by the legislation.

We have developed some internal expertise in the PPS so may be able to assist in a practical way if clients require support.

The federal government has also announced that it will introduce legislation to strengthen our tax laws to counter fraudulent phoenix activity.  The proposed changes increase the powers of the Australian Taxation Office to pursue directors personally for company tax debts.  In particular, the Director Tax Penalty regime is to be extended to superannuation guarantee amounts, making directors personally liable for a company's failure to pay employee superannuation.

The legislation has not yet taken effect, having been referred off to a Senate Committee.

One further matter of interest to clients is that we continue to see instances particularly in the bankruptcy area, where residential property is transferred between spouses prior to bankruptcy.  Clients should be aware that many of these transactions can be impugned for a variety of different reasons.

Other News

Danielle Roche continues on maternity leave for the next few months.  We keep in regular formal and social contact with her to ensure that her practice matters progress in the best possible manner.

Rebecca Curry is about to commence the second module of the Insolvency Education Program ("IEP") which is the senior academic program conducted by the Insolvency Practitioners Association of Australia.

Client Christmas Party 

The directors of the practice, in conjunction with staff and a wide group of clients and connections enjoyed the annual client Christmas Party, which we again held at Heritage Hill.  As usual, drinks were enjoyed in the homestead’s gardens, whilst a traditional jazz trio entertained us all with a number of Louis Armstrong’s tunes from the early 1950’s.

Our next major function will be held in July 2012, with a cocktail function for clients at the Dandenong Art Gallery.