Central Coast Business Review March 2022

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David Evers and Troy Marchant

AdviceCo State Government confirms UON Gosford campus site but no funding Coast now part of Six Cities Mega Region Rumbalara Residences to set a new standard in luxury Page 8 Edgar Adams’ Editorial For business, is there any alternative to a Morrison Federal Government?

Kelly+Partners Chartered Accountants, helping Private Business Owners who want to be better off.

02 7203 3090 kellypartners.com.au betteroff@kellypartners.com.au

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Cover story 4 David Evers and Troy Marchant – AdviceCo Making our clients wealthy

Business news 7 State Government confirms UON Gosford campus site but no funding 7 Coast now part of Six Cities Mega Region 7 Half-billion dollar Pacific Highway upgrade through Wyong 8 Hotel for Mingara Club 8 Food offer at Fountain Plaza complete with opening of new Thai 9 Rumbalara Residences to set a new standard in luxury 9 Central Coast Quarter approved 11 Central Coast Industry Festival to focus on advanced manufacturing and food 12 University of Newcastle to expand food and agribusiness footprint on the Central Coast 12 Nexus welcomes new tenants 13 Stevens Construction takes out MBA award for Wood Glen Erina project 13 Dealer of the Year Award to Worthington BMW 14 Council proceeds with Gosford Regional Library 14 Visitor Information Centre renewal and upgrade to cost $2.5 million

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14 Council set to start remediation works in Kibble Park Gosford 14 Public to comment on Greater Lake Munmorah Structure Plan 15 Flying Squad formation couldn’t have arrived at a better time 15 Charmhaven industrial development sold out 18 Feds cutting red tape for business 18 High Court sees through CFMEU attempt to erase shameful record of law breaking 19 .au domains – new opportunity but also a new threat that will impact your business 20 Employment Agreements v’s Workplace Policies 20 NSW to turbocharge economic growth with new department 21 ATO crackdown on family trusts

Regular features 6 Edgar Adams’ Editorial For business, is there any alternative to a Morrison Federal Government

11 Manufacturing news 12 Business Briefs 14 Central Coast Council news 15 Property news 19 Business tips 22 Funny business

Front cover: Adviceco Managing Director, David Evers with Director Troy Marchant – Photo: Jeff McGarn Also follow us on Facebook and Twitter

Central Coast Business Review Central Coast Business Review is a Registered Trade Mark of Adams Business Publications Pty Ltd P.O. Box 3259, Erina, NSW 2250 Phone: (02) 4367 0733 Fax: (02) 4367 0744 Email: info@ccbusinessreview.com.au Typesetting by Graphic by Design ph (02) 4365 6777 Print & Distribution by Bromley Direct ph 0412 439 773 © Adams Business Publications 1994. All rights reserved.

Reproductions in any part prohibited. While every effort has been made to ensure all information in this magazine is accurate, no responsibility will be accepted by the publisher, Adams Business Publications. The producer accepts no responsibility for illustrations or photographs supplied by organisations or individuals and/or typographical errors.

Phone 02 4367 0733 Email info@ccbusinessreview.com.au Web www.ccbusinessreview.com.au

be better off. www.adviceco.com.au

FORMERLY

CENTRAL COAST BUSINESS REVIEW MAY 2022

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COV ER S TORY

David Evers and Troy Marchant – AdviceCo Making our clients wealthy ADVICECO CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS roots go back to the mid 1980’s with National mid-tier accounting firm Love & Wallace. Love & Wallace had a branch office servicing some of the Central Coast’s larger companies such as Sterland Bros and Kingstone Homes.

After a change in leadership in November 2016, the business rebranded to AdviceCo Chartered Accountants & has gone on to become one of the leading business advisory firms on the Central Coast with close to 30 staff.

Managing Director David Evers and Director Troy Marchant, have had a long association with AdviceCo. “I joined the business in 1986 while I was studying Commerce at Newcastle University” says David. “I have had close to 40 years with the business, excluding a brief period where I worked in North Sydney for Bennell Innes.”

In 2000, David set up its Financial Planning business, partnering with Count Financial (“Count”). Count are one of Australia’s largest financial planning licensees with over 200 accredited firms across Australia. “We believe in growing our client’s wealth, so it made sense to offer Financial Planning and advice”, says David.

In 2009, AdviceCo partnered with Countplus – a national accounting firm aggregator listed on the Australian Stock Exchange. This provided the firm with the foundation to expand its advice offering with access to specialists across the

CENTRAL COAST BUSINESS REVIEW MAY 2022

country, but more importantly, provide a platform for the team to grow their professional careers with a national brand on the Central Coast.

It was also around this time that Troy Marchant re-joined the business, after a stint working in the UK with Deutsche Bank, to help setup a Business Coaching division offering workshops & seminars to small business. “I went overseas initially on a cricket contract. It was during this time that began to see what high performance coaching looked like. From that point of view, coming back to AdviceCo to setup the Business Coaching division really made sense.”

With that, the scene was set for the practice to provide a holistic advice service to clients and to encourage staff to become a part of the business. In rebranding AdviceCo, David and Troy set their business plan in four core values for the firm’s future - They call them “the 4-Pillars” • Clients • Team • Shareholders • Community This new direction and change in leadership brought about a new culture within the firm.

As the name implies, AdviceCo is a business advisory service, the focus on being pro-active accountants. “When we set about rebranding, we kept coming back to the word “Advice”. Everything we do is

about advice,” says David. While Troy says, “We believe one of the main reasons to have a good accountant is to help you grow your wealth through planning, tax strategies and advice.” David adds, “The Central Coast SME market responded positively to the rebranding and renewed direction we took, with our client base doubling in the last 5 years.” He adds further, “Importantly, by using technology effectively with software like XERO, we have managed to keep costs down and pass the savings onto clients, while at the same time, not overly increasing our internal headcount.”

They have invested in the team, with all the staff empowered and encouraged to use the experience and resources of the firm. As the name implies AdviceCo is a business advisory service, “It’s all about leadership,”.

Troy adds, “Since 2016, wwe have capitalised on our strengths and gotten rid of our weaknesses, the old leadership model was broken and road blocked. We needed to reinvent, which we did successfully.”

Clients The whole team keeps in touch with their clients, they don’t wait for clients to call them. “We are there to help our clients achieve their goals,” says Troy who adds, “Our clients see us as an extension of their business.”

The most important aspect of business management is financial reporting, the

COV ER S TORY

starting point for which is the tedious and time consuming bookkeeping process.

Many businesses fail at this point because they are unable to cope with the demands of recording the transactions that a business generates every day. Automating these tasks and being able to quickly access the reports needed for management as well as taxation and other statutory requirements is where accounting software becomes the focus.

As the largest user of XERO on the Central Coast, AdviceCo utilises the benefits of cloud computing which gives them the added advantage of advising clients without necessarily carrying out personal visits, as important as they are on a regular basis.

AdviceCo also embraces the latest technology to ensure that the firm operates at its maximum potential in terms of management and productivity.

The Team David and Troy have invested heavily in the AdviceCo Team encouraging them to grow personally and professionally. Some have become shareholders, including Debbie Bloffwitch, Cherie Tracey and Fiona Booth.

Debbie Bloffwitch has been with the firm for over 30 years and Cherie Tracey 14 years. Both are shareholders and Associate Directors in the areas of accounting and tax.

Additionally, Fiona Booth holds a Masters of Taxation.

In 2018 Principal Gerard Andrews and Steve Walker amalgamated their Wyong practice Walker Andrews Chartered Accountants with AdviceCo giving the business a “footprint” an in the northern end of the Central Coast. Both are also

AdviceCo Team: (front l to r) Cherie Tracey, Troy Marchant, David Evers, Debbie Bloffwitch, Christine Hallowes. (far right) Fiona Booth, (centre back) Gerard Andrews. Missing from photo - Steve Walker shareholders. In addition, Certified Financial Planner, Christine Hallowes joined four years ago after a 30 year career in banking and is a shareholder and Principal and has been a critical team addition in the Wealth Planning part of the business.

In 2021 the business revamped its employee offering, with a range of additional benefits to complement their career opportunities.

Shareholders ASX listed CountPlus Limited, a network of professional accounting and advice firms, is a shareholder in AdviceCo Pty Ltd. As such they provide the resources accounting firms need in a complex business world as well as providing a succession strategy to enable the future leaders of the business to grow their careers.

Countplus was founded in 2007 by wellknown financial planner Barry Lambert who also started Count Financial before selling out to the Commonwealth Bank in 2011.

Historically Count has always had a strong link with accounting firms nationally.

AdviceCo’s Board of Directors is made up of David Evers as Managing Director, Troy Marchant and other representatives from Countplus, including respected industry figure, David Smith, who is the Board’s Chairman.

Community Both David and Troy believe strongly in ‘putting back’ into the community in which they live and do business. Over the years a number of local charities have benefited from donations with funds raised by staff, CONTINUED ON PAGE 19

Across business, property, criminal, family law and wills & estates law, our teams include

CENTRAL COAST BUSINESS REVIEW MAY 2022

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EDITORIAL

Edgar Adams discusses local issues

For business, is there any alternative to a Morrison Federal Government?

AS WE MOVE toward the climax of another Federal Election business owners need to think seriously about their future under a union controlled Labor Government.

As always the unions will finance most of the ALP’s campaign and of course that means there will be payback.

First cab off the rank will be the treatment of casual workers and gig workers.

The unions have been campaigning against casual and gig workers for years.

Only a few months ago they had a win in the High Court with a Decision that effectively ignored the casual loadings and adding them to the regular rate of pay.

It also redefined who is a genuine casual employee.

The unions hate casual employees because they can’t coerce them into union membership.

In the building and construction industry there is also the prospect of the CFMEU getting its way with a Labor Government in abolishing the Australian Building and Construction Commission (the industry watchdog).

Only a month or so ago the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia labelled the CFMEU as having a history of bullying, intimidation and other illegal behaviour.

On another front the Australian Taxation Office is ramping up its aggressive campaign against small and family businesses.

The ATO is notorious for going after small businesses with dubious claims of tax

avoidance and hanging them out to dry.

Right now they are going after family trusts that are perfectly legal but they see as a tax avoidance measure. (See article Page 20) They are salivating at the thought of a Labor Government to give them carte blanche to attack small business owners.

On the other hand the Morrison Government is committed to retaining the ABCC and keeping the ATO under some sort of control.

And we need to take into account that the Federal Government has cut red tape and saved small businesses billions. Read about that on Page 19) When it comes to Federal politics businesses need to ask who is on their side.

While we don’t want the Federal Government to change, I am beginning to think that a change of government next March might be a good idea.

This State Government has not taken the Central Coast seriously from the time they were elected.

While Parliamentary for the Central Coast, Adam Crouch prattles on about the millions the government has spent on the Coast since they came to government ten years ago it pales into insignificance when compared to the billions they are pouring into Western Sydney.

While acknowledging the investment in the new Gosford and Wyong Hospitals

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the government is building new hospitals across Western Sydney and elsewhere.

These two projects were needed to service the growing Central Coast population and were needed.

What this government has not done is taken education seriously.

Except for contributing to the construction of the University of Newcastle’s new Central Coast Clinical School and Research Institute adjacent to Gosford Hospital tertiary education is not top of mind for Mr Crouch or the government.

Let’s not forget former Premier Gladys Berejiklian’s promise in the weeks leading up to the last State Election – 3 years ago! – for an Employment and Education Precinct in Gosford that would see a new university campus set up.

It has taken two years for the announcement that the University of Newcastle had been accepted to build a new campus on the former Mitre10 site in Gosford.

Making the announcement on 11th April Minister for Infrastructure and Cities the Hon Rob Stokes MP said the campus would become the jewel in the crown of the new Employment Precinct.

However, Mr Stokes and the Minister for Skills and Training the Hon. Alister Henskens MP, who accompanied him to Gosford made no mention of funding that is part of UON’s proposal to build the campus.

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BUSINESS NEWS

State Government confirms site for Gosford campus for UON but no funding

University of Newcastle’s proposed Gosford Campus THE NSW GOVERNMENT has confirmed the University of Newcastle as the preferred partner to deliver a Gosford university campus on the former Mitre10 site in Mann Street, Gosford. An announcement two years in the making.

Making the announcement on 11th April Minister for Infrastructure and Cities the Hon Rob Stokes MP said the campus would become the jewel in the crown of the

new Employment Precinct along with the recently opened University of Newcastle Clinical School and Research Institute adjacent to Gosford Hospital creating all of the building blocks to be an economic and innovation powerhouse.

“The region is an important part of our six cities vision and we will make the Central Coast a premier destination to live, study, work and invest,” he said.

Coast now part of Six Cities Mega Region The NSW Government has passed legislation that will see the former Greater Sydney Commission become the Greater Cities Commission bringing together the cities of the Lower Hunter and Greater Newcastle, Central Coast, Greater Sydney and IllawarraShoalhaven.

The Six-City Megaregion is an initiative of NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet who outlined his Vision for NSW when assuming the premiership in December last year The Greater Cities Commission will be tasked with developing the six cities vision for metropolitan NSW, following the passage of landmark legislation this week.

Minister for Cities Rob Stokes said by bringing Newcastle, the Central Coast and Wollongong together with Sydney in our strategic planning, we are positioning the six cities of metropolitan NSW to be more prosperous, safer, cleaner, smarter and more fun to live in or visit.

“The Premier has set out his vision for the six cities, and the Greater Cities Commission will allow us to plan for a dynamic, diverse and globally competitive region,” Mr Stokes said.

“Thinking laterally will deliver better jobs, housing, education, health and lifestyle opportunities for a population which is expected to hit eight million in the next two decades,” he said.

Recruitment will begin soon for the new City Commissioners for the Lower Hunter

and Greater Newcastle, Central Coast and Illawarra-Shoalhaven Cities. The City Commissioners will be appointed in close consultation with relevant councils.

The Commission will develop a six cities strategic plan for discussion in mid-2022, before the finalisation of a new Region Plan by the end of 2023.

The Commission will consider important initiatives on fast and faster rail and better digital connections as key to the success of the region.

The Mega-Region concept for Sydney came out of a Discussion Paper prepared by the Committee for Sydney titled The Sandstone Mega-Region – uniting Newcastle, Central Coast, Sydney and Wollongong in 2018.

Introducing the report Committee of Sydney Chair and former Chair of the NRMA Kyle Loades said, “the links between Newcastle, the Central Coast, Sydney and Wollongong are strong — but until now they’ve been viewed through a prism of separate cities with occasional interaction and somewhat separate economic trajectories.

The Committee for Sydney has been investigating the potential of linking our region into a single entity — a ‘mega-region’, tied together like the sandstone basin our key centres sit on. The ‘Sandstone Mega-region’ makes up over 70% of the NSW population and nearly 25% of the national population.

Joining Minister Stokes was Minister for Skills and Training The Hon. Alister Henskens, SC MP who said the University of Newcastle was identified as the preferred university partner for direct negotiations following an expression of interest process and evaluation.

“Building a university campus in the heart of the new Gosford city centre has strong community support and will increase access to education and employment opportunities close to home, creating a pipeline of skilled workers,” Mr Henskens said.

However, neither minister mentioned the University’s submission for additional funding of around $18 million to match the Federal Government’s $18 million plus student places approved in the Federal Budget in 2019.

It is expected the State Government will commit a similar amount to the project as they did with the Clinical School and Research Institute.

Championed by CCBR and the Gosford Erina Business Chamber the campus will see Gosford become a world-class education precinct for Central Coast students looking to further their education.

Where’s the money?

Minister Stokes’ announcement, while welcome, failed to mention UON’s proposal for the Mitre10 site plus $18 million in funding to match Federal funding of $18 million plus 600 student places in the 2019 Budget.

Meanwhile the State Government continues to pour billions of dollars into Western Sydney for education, sporting and a range of community facilities .

Half-billion dollar Pacific Highway upgrade through Wyong Liberal candidate for Dobell, Dr Michael Feneley, has welcomed the Federal Government’s investment of $336 million in a $420 million upgrade of the Pacific Highway through the Wyong Town Centre which is being co-funded by the NSW Government.

The upgrade will replace the Wyong River road bridge with two new road bridges, and will also integrate the rail interchange with bus services, taxi services and disabled and short-term parking, provide new signalised intersections at Rose Street, Anzac Avenue, North Road and Cutler Drive, upgrade the existing intersection at Church Street, and replace the Rose Street rail bridge.

It will also duplicate the Pacific Highway to two lanes in each direction between Johnson Road and Cutler Drive.

Construction start is planned for mid2024, to be completed by mid-2027.

CENTRAL COAST BUSINESS REVIEW MAY 2022

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BUSINESS NEWS

Hotel for Mingara Club at Mingara and will have a distinctive presence at the entrance to the club.

“This development will provide muchneeded quality accommodation on the Central Coast which is great for local tourism and will further position Mingara as an iconic destination. In addition, the project will provide an injection into the local economy through the provision of local jobs and supply opportunities for businesses,” Mr Barnett said.

Mingara Club entrance with adjacent proposed hotel MINGARA LEISURE GROUP has announced plans to build a 82-room hotel adjacent to its club facility at Tumbi Umbi.

The $21 million hotel will be the culmination of Mingara’s original site masterplan to locate a hotel on the site when they moved to their new premises some thirty years ago.

Mingara CEO, Paul Barnett said, “After undertaking the appropriate due diligence to explore the feasibility of the project, we have partnered with a team of special-

ist consultants to design a hotel offering for the Mingara precinct with Marchese Partners being appointed architects.”

A Development Application has been lodged with the Central Coast Council for the project.

The Mingara hotel will feature 82 rooms over five floors and will provide easy access to all the club facilities for guests staying there. Aesthetically, the hotel will look and feel like the recent transformation works

The Greens The Entrance bowling club Meanwhile Mingara is proceeding with the redevelopment of The Greens The Entrance club following an electrical fire that destroyed the clubhouse last year.

Mingara is investing $20 million in a new club house with lounge and sports bar and two undercover bowling greens.

Demolition of the damaged club building was completed in early 2022.

Mingara reached an agreement with Central Coast Council in May last year to acquire the property at 2-4 Park Road, The Entrance which had been occupied by The Greens Club under lease from Council for over eighty years.

Food offer at Fountain Plaza complete with opening of new Thai

The opening this month of a new Thai restaurant at Fountain Plaza Erina has created a new ‘food precinct’ that will attract a wider patronage to the Plaza particularly in the evenings and weekends.

Probably the most successful commercial centre on the Central Coast, Fountain Plaza, in recent years has drawn a growing number of food outlets taking advantage of its location, parking space and a changing demographic with money in their pockets.

NK Thai Kitchen owner Phillip Panin has opened the restaurant having owned a similar restaurant in Sydney for many years.

Also, opening next month is Harrys Schnitzel Joint a growing fast food restaurant chain with four stores in Newcastle.

Meanwhile, Fountain Plaza is home to a CENTRAL COAST BUSINESS REVIEW MAY 2022

number of other food outlets all of which complement the food offer: Cheekie Charles opens for breakfast seven days a week and is well known as a coffee stop for workers heading off for the day and continues through until late afternoon. Until COVID hit Cheekie’s also opened on Friday and Saturday nights.

Owner Craig Scott says that he will be opening in the evenings soon although he makes a point, as do many other café and restaurant owners, that good staff are very hard to find which is delaying his move.

Bakehouse Café which is owned by Paul and Kate Mackie opened in Fountain Plaza about twelve years ago. The Mackie’s are long standing Central Coast bakery family with five other cafes plus a central kitchen in Erina that produces breads, pastries and cakes daily for their stores.

Yume Modern Japanese Restaurant, owned by Cordon Bleau Chef Stanley Song, opened about three years ago. Yume has become a popular venue for their Teppanyaki menu.

Guzman y Gomez Mexican takeaway is part of a growing fast food chain setting up in Fountain Plaza three years ago.

New York Pizza Bar Grill was an initiative of the Brand Group, owners of Fountain Plaza, set up five years ago to promote the

Plaza as a food hub. Subsequently purchased by Joe Walters and Belinda Lawler.

The New York inspired restaurant with its popular bar and menu has proved to be a popular lunch spot for local business people and even more popular on evenings from Wednesday to Sunday.

Remy & Co Pizza and Pasta Bar. This unique little restaurant located in the alleyway between Fountain Plaza and the adjacent Platinum Building specialises in Italian cuisine. Set up in 2014 and now owned by Amelia Preston and Ben Lawrie for the past year this restaurant is finding itself a name for food lovers across the Central Coast.

Ilya, formerly known as Quattro, is located adjacent to Fountain Plaza in the Platinum Building, this restaurant was established as an upmarket restaurant to service the occupants in Platinum some twelve years ago. While it has had a number of owners Chef Benjamin Craig who bought it a year ago has transformed the venue creating a new menu and opening for breakfast and lunch from Monday to Thursday and dinner Friday Saturday and Sunday. With a seating capacity of 90 people Ilya has introduced Live Music Fridays featuring a number of well known local musicians which is proving very popular.

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BUSINESS NEWS

Rumbalara Residences to set a new standard in luxury

Central Coast Quarter approved

St Hilliers’ proposed residential development on the Gosford waterfront showing both 25 and 22 storey towers as well as future stages.

Architect’s image of Rumbalara residential building A at 87-89 John Whiteway Drive, Gosord

Architect’s image of Pool and resort amenities at Rumbalara ALCEON GROUP, one of Australia’s leading privately-owned financier and investment companies with extensive experience in real estate development, is about to start construction on one of the largest luxury residential developments to be undertaken on the Central Coast in Gosford.

To be known as Rumbalara and built on the highest point in Gosford overlooking Brisbane Water the development is on the edge of the Rumbalara Reserve at 87-89 John Whiteway Drive on a former sandstone quarry site.

Alceon opened a state-of-the-art Display Suite in the Bon Building in Gosford in early April using the latest advances in technology to showcase the development and in the first two weeks sold 25 units off-the-plan at prices from $760,000 to $2.6 million.

Alceon sales consultant Todd Campling said that they received over a thousand registrations of interest in the first two weeks of their marketing campaign.

Alceon have partnered with well known and respected Sydney builder Deicorp to deliver the project. Deicorp expect to start construction in early June with a forecast completion by the end of 2024.

Alceon received Development Approval for the State Significant development from the NSW Planning & Environment Department in November last year after a lengthy and expensive three year process.

The masterplanned resort style development on a 2.3ha site will comprise four buildings ranging in size from 6 to 12 storeys with 260 apartments and 400 space basement car park around a garden and pool setting designed by architects Marchese Partners.

Rumbalara’s residents and their guests will be welcomed by a onsite concierge in the exclusive 1,000sqm club house featuring: club lounge & billiards room, day spa & gym, private dining suites, exclusive WFH space, 12-person cinema, 2 virtual golf rooms and resort pool and firepits.

The development was placed on Exhibition in April 2021 and received 28 submissions of which 12 were objections, mostly for building height, density, amenity impacts, bulk and scale, traffic, removal of trees and construction impacts.

Reasons given for the consent were that: • The project is estimated to be worth $98.3 million and would generate up to 472 construction jobs.

• The plans include a publicly accessible elevated walkway and viewing platform overlooking Gosford and a public pocket park.

• The Planning Department approved the revised plans on the grounds it achieved “design excellence in accordance with the Gosford SEPP state environment planning policy”.

“The department is satisfied the proposed development would result in a positive contribution to the Gosford city centre,” the determination states.

St Hilliers, one of Australia’s leading private, integrated property and construction groups received Development Approval for a staged residential tower development on the Gosford Waterfront on 21st April enabling them to commence construction shortly.

To be known as Waterfront, Stage 1 will comprise, a 22 storey tower building with 136 residential units and 621sqm of retail space plus on-site parking for 183 cars and landscaping.

St Hilliers Development Manager Justyn Ng said that construction would commence next month in June.

St Hilliers acquired the former Gosford Primary School site of 1.13 hectares six years ago in 2016 with the State Government declaring that the redevelopment of this site would transform the Gosford CBD. In late 2018 St Hilliers completed the first stage of the redevelopment of site now known as Central Coast Quarter with the construction of a 7-level $50 million commercial building for the NSW Department of Financial Services.

In September 2019 St Hilliers lodged a masterplan DA with the NSW Department of Planning for an integrated mixed-use precinct with a hotel, residential apartments, food, beverage and retail outlets and multiple public thoroughfares The development was designed to revitalise the southern end of Mann Street, Gosford.

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M A N U FAC T U R I N G N E W S

Central Coast Industry Festival to focus on advanced manufacturing and food

One pf two Robots in operation at Chamberlain Group’s West Gosford factory WITH THE PAST two years being extremely tough for businesses on the Central Coast, manufacturers and agri-businesses are no exception. Local businesses have had to adapt their strategies and operations to deal with supply chain breakdowns, skills shortages, rising costs and other challenges stemming from catastrophic bushfires, floods and COVID-19.

To support local businesses to rebound from these significant challenges and help the local industry build resilience against future disruptions, Central Coast Industry Connect (CCIC) will host the inaugural Central Coast Industry Festival and Expo.

Jointly funded by the Commonwealth and New South Wales Governments under their Disaster Recovery funding arrangements, this major event will be the first of its kind for the region.

The festival is an initiative of manufacturers’ network group, Central Coast Industry Connect The festival is aimed at helping futureproof businesses, raise awareness about the extraordinary innovation capabilities of local businesses in these sectors and generate interest from Sydney-based business owners to relocate or start a new business here.

Festival organiser Alex Blow said, “By showcasing the diverse range of innovative products made right here on our doorstep, the festival will support the growth of our local manufacturing and agricultural production sectors, which employ thousands of Central Coast locals and contribute around $3.36 billion a year to our economy.”

Many people are unaware that manufacturing and agriculture are our region’s second largest employers. Therefore, another key objective of the festival is to highlight the significant employment opportunities available to current and future generations.

An entire day will be dedicated to bringing industry, schools and universities together to showcase the variety of interesting career paths on offer within the food, beverages, agriculture and advanced manufacturing sectors.

Run over two weeks in August and September, the festival will deliver a comprehensive program of free events for attendees, including industry and com-

munity education sessions and a series of capability-building workshops for producers and suppliers. These events will culminate in a three-day Expo that will feature 50 of the Central Coast’s best local food, beverage, agriculture and advanced manufacturing exhibitors who will showcase their products and services. The Expo will welcome the broader community on day 3, offering consumers the chance to sample locally produced food and beverages and open their eyes to the volume and quality of brands manufactured on the Central Coast and the variety of employment opportunities available in these sectors.

CCIC Executive Chairman Frank Sammut said, “The Central Coast Industry Festival is an important event for the region. When I look at the future of manufacturing, I see the importance of being able to engage parents and students to educate them on the opportunities manufacturing presents, the level of technology employed and the variety of jobs available. For the sectors involved, the festival will provide the opportunity to learn about each other, cultivate new business opportunities and learn about best practice activities to build business strength and resilience.”

The Central Coast Industry Festival and Expo will be held at Mingara Recreation Club, Tumbi Umbi from August 22 to September 3 and the Expo will run from Thursday, September 1 to Saturday, September 3.

It will be open to the public on the final day. To learn more about the festival and expo or express interest in being an exhibitor, contact Alex Blow at alex@centralcoastfoodalliance.com.au.

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CENTRAL COAST BUSINESS REVIEW MAY 2022

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BUSINESS BRIEFS

University of Newcastle to expand food and agribusiness footprint on the Central Coast

Professor David Cameron-Smith The University of Newcastle has announced the appointment of internationally renowned nutrition scientist Professor David Cameron-Smith into the newly created role of Professor of Food Innovation.

Professor Cameron-Smith will be based at the University’s Ourimbah campus and will lead the high-quality research and training in food and agribusiness that is conducted across all three of the University’s Colleges, ensuring opportunities for growth are maximised.

Key objectives of the role are the development of a Centre of Food Innovation and harnessing the large industry presence in the region, including the Central Coast Primary Industries Centre on the Ourimbah campus, and the relatively new University Doctoral Training Centre in Food and Agribusiness at Ourimbah.

Commenting on the appointment, ViceChancellor Professor Alex Zelinsky AO said it reinforced the University’s ambitious goals for the Central Coast.

“I am excited by the enormous opportunities this role will create for us to work in partnership with industry, government, and community to build the Central Coast region into a thriving economic hub,” Professor Zelinsky said.

“We are absolutely committed to driving economic growth and providing opportunities for people on the Central Coast, and David’s considerable research and leadership experience will play a critical role in furthering our work in this region.”

Recent examples of this activity include the University’s Memorandum of Understanding with the NSW Government to be an innovation partner and the announcement of additional funding for industry PhDs which will provide students with additional experience alongside the food and agribusiness industries.

Professor Cameron-Smith joins the University of Newcastle from the Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences, a research institute of the Agency for Science and Technological Research (A*STAR), where he focused on a research strategy to extend Singapore’s capabilities in advanced biotech-based food manufacturing, with the aim of providing clinically validated food solutions that improve health in the face of challenges such as rising metabolic disease and an ageing population.

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CENTRAL COAST BUSINESS REVIEW MAY 2022

Nexus welcomes new tenants

Nexus Smart Hub North Wyong Nexus Smart Hub at North Wyong continues to attract businesses looking for the fastest internet on the Central Coast as well as amenities that include meeting rooms, breakout areas and kitchen facilities.

Over recent months businesses that have moved in include: Breaking Barriers Disability Services now occupies the largest tenancy at Nexus with over 20 staff.

Beaumont Strata Management is a leading strata and community title management specialist, with offices across Sydney, have recently moved into a new larger office space at Nexus to accommodate their growing team.

Established in 1981, Beaumont Strata specialises in strata and community title management of commercial, industrial and retail properties located across Sydney’s north and western suburbs.

CareData, a family owned and operated business providing support workers for the aged care Industry along with workforce planning services recently moved into Nexus.

BUSINESS BRIEFS

Stevens Construction takes out MBA award for Wood Glen Erina project

Dealer of the Year Award to Worthington BMW

Stevens Construction Directors Jason Lewis and Steven Mailey with MBA Award Erina based builder, Stevens Construction, has won the Apartment Development award at the Master Builders Association Awards held in Newcastle in late February for ‘The Rise’ Wood Glen Building B project at Erina.

In the commentary the judges said, “Stevens have delivered an extremely high standard of apartments living in this, the first of two stages of ‘The Rise’ project.

The high level of finish throughout the project with all areas are of 1st class finish with the parking areas being noted by the judges.

The Rise Building B comprises 34 luxury two and three bedroom apartments.

Wood Glen Retirement Village is owned

by RetireAustralia. Architects were Marchese Partners International

Helen and Brad Worthington and Worthington’s staff with BMW Trophy BMW Group Australia announced the winners of its annual BMW Trophy, Mini Excellence and 2021 Dealer of the Year awards at an in-person gala ceremony held in Sydney in early April.

In addition to recognising the Group’s top-performing staff, the event was attended by a number of BMW Group’s global management executives “This was an opportunity for us to pay tribute not only to our dealers’ sales success, but their commitment to invest in the company’s brand portfolio and the creation of an elevated experience for customers while navigating turbulent retail conditions.”

BMW Group Australia’s Dealer of the Year award for 2021 was presented to

Worthington BMW’s Brad Worthington who had demonstrated success across key areas of their operations, including customer centricity, target achievement and business excellence received BMW Group’s Provincial Dealer of the Year Award

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CENTRAL COAST BUSINESS REVIEW MAY 2022

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CEN T R AL COA S T COUNCIL NE WS

Council proceeds with Gosford Regional Library

Architect’s image of proposed Gosford Regional Library Central Coast Council is seeking Expressions of Interest for the construction of a new Gosford Regional Library.

With the site now established and the development application under assessment by the NSW Department of Planning, works are expected to commence mid-year, with completion expected to be May 2024.

Council Administrator, Rik Hart said the new Regional Library will be the first of its kind for the Central Coast and will offer an iconic building in the heart of the Gosford Central Business District, where the community can connect, create and collaborate.

Funding for the project comes from: Gosford Council Special Rate Variation $8.1m Developer Contributions $8.5m Federal Government funds $7.0m Proceeds sale of ‘Kibbbleplex’ building $4.1m Total $27.7m “This new library, to be over four spacious levels and costing $27.7 million, is a truly

modern facility offering more than essential books and literacy. It also will be very much the heart of an active and connected community, with spaces for children, for study and focus, dedicated meeting rooms, function space, innovation areas for creative work and much more,” Mr Hart said.

“It is important to note that this project is already fully funded and secured, and would not be possible without the commitment from the Federal Government, as well as from the local community who helped pay for the library over many years through the former Gosford City Council’s special rate levy.”

Federal Member for Robertson, Lucy Wicks MP said the project will provide improved library facilities and up to date technology for our local community.

“It will also provide an economic boost to our region, supporting around 200 FTE jobs during the construction with a further 35 FTE ongoing roles.”

Public to comment on Greater Lake Munmorah Structure Plan Central Coast Council has placed the Draft Greater Lake Munmorah Structure Plan masterplan on public exhibition after being deferred in April 2020 due to concerns about the location and width of a biodiversity corridor.

The Structure Plan will set a coherent framework for development, facilitating the future growth and prosperity of the area, and will identify: • Appropriate development footprints for new residential and employment land, and any relevant staging requirements; and • Appropriate transport, environmental and open space networks to cater for expected population growth.

It will be an important step in the implementation of the directions of the NSW Governments Central Coast Regional Plan 2036 (CCRP) and will set the direcCENTRAL COAST BUSINESS REVIEW MAY 2022

tion for detailed planning instruments including Local Government Plans (LEPs) and Development Control Plans (DCPs), as well as higher level planning tools such as Masterplans and Public Domain Plans It comes at the same time that the Darkinjung Aboriginal Land Council has applied to the Department of Planning to rezone land located on the northern side of the Pacific Highway, about 300m north east of the intersection with Elizabeth Bay Drive that would see 600 homes built on the 55Ha site.

The Plan establishes a 20-year framework to guide the future growth of the study area from 8,407 people to approximately 15,000 people, over a 20 year period that addresses housing and employment land supply, infrastructure provision, ecology, traffic and transport.

Visitor Information Centre renewal and upgrade to cost $2.5 million Council has commenced construction to transform the Visitor Information Centre at The Entrance with a budgeted cost of $2,474,237.

Council says that the exciting multipurpose facility will deliver the community an interactive visitor centre, new and modern amenities including 24/7 adult accessible change facility and event toilets, improved layout and decking, a dedicated space for local makers and creators, a bookable function area and a purpose-built greenroom.

Council Director Corporate Affairs and Chief Financial Officer, Natalia Cowley said the upgrade has been designed to provide an interactive facility and accessible amenities for locals and visitors to enjoy.

“The Entrance is one of the Coast’s most popular tourist destinations and this project creates an interactive space to better educate and inform visitors about all there is to do and see throughout the region,” Ms Cowley said.

Council set to start remediation works in Kibble Park Gosford Central Coast Council will start remediation work on Kibble Park Gosford shortly as part of the Kibble Park Place Plan identified that opportunities for this key central Gosford open space, including making it more accessible, safe and vibrant,” Council Administrator Rik Hart said there had been community discussion about the future of the fountain in Kibble Park, which has not operated since 2016.

“An assessment of the cost to refurbish the fountain and surrounding degraded area revealed it would not provide good value to the community or use of ratepayers’ money,” he said.

“By removing the fountain and levelling this space, it will make it more accessible and usable for events and community activities.

“Council will be running a community forum on public art in June and will be inviting members of the community to be part of a public art reference group.”

PROPERT Y REPORTS

Flying Squad formation couldn’t have arrived at a better time AT A TIME when developers, tradespeople and homeowners on the Central Coast have been frustrated by the delays in Development Approvals and Construction Certificates, the announcement by Minister for Planning and Minister for Homes Anthony Roberts of a Regional Housing Flying Squad to help regional councils clear development approvals faster, couldn’t have come at a better time according to Caine King, Chapter Chair of UDIA Central Coast.

Throughout the Central Coast, demand for housing and employment land has increased to unprecedented levels in recent years. The long wait lists for any new housing have been compounded by strong enquiry and overflowing workloads in the industry and at Council.

In response to high demand over the past two years, developers have sought to increase production where possible, bringing forward planned stages to deliver more dwellings or employment land to the market sooner. Unfortunately, Council has faced a ‘triple whammy’ of a financial collapse resulting in resource issues, IT challenges and then COVID impacts at a time when the demand for housing and employment land on the Coast is extremely strong.

This has resulted in a back log of DA’s and approval times slowing.

As a result, the Central Coast is falling behind on meeting its supply needs as judged by market indicators of demand.

Residential vacancy rates are at less than 1% compared to Greater Sydney at 1.7%.

House value growth and rental price growth have risen higher than Greater Sydney as well.

The commitment by the NSW Government to help Council staff with their heavy workload is very much welcomed.

UDIA is also encouraged that the recommendations put forward in our submission to the Regional Housing Taskforce have been taken on board resulting in the formation of the Regional Housing Flying Squad.

“We hope that Central Coast Council can benefit from this support which should alleviate some of the backlog and get the construction industry back on the tools to get houses built This is such a positive announcement at a time when Central Coast has once again been buffeted by yet another crisis in the shape of storms and floods,“ said Mr King.

SALES

Charmhaven industrial development sold out

A 14-unit industrial development in the Charmhaven industrial area at 4 Fairmile Close, has sold out only months after completion indicating the strong demand from buyers with most units selling off the plan to investors / owner buyers prior to completion for around $3,500 to $4,500 per sqm.

Built by SD Group for Park Commercial Pty Ltd the architect designed complex on a 5,699 sqm lot comprises 14 units with features including balconies and glass fronts to allow for natural light, top of the line amenities and kitchenettes and approval for mezzanines for extra storage or office space, plus 4-5 allocated card spaces.

Additionally, all front units have outdoor terraces leading off the mezzanines.

The last units sold were: Unit 13 of 137 sqm plus 25 sqm mezzanine sold to an investor for $480,400 or $3,506 per sqm Unit 11 of 150 sqm plus 52 sqm mezzanine sold to an investor for $589,900 or $3,932 per sqm Rick O’Toole from DiJones Commercial Central Coast who sold ten of the units said, “Charmhaven has become a high growth area in the northern Central Coast with developers, investors and owner occupiers keen to enter the area’

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PROPERT Y

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PROPERT Y

Owner occupier buys 2.5ha in Dell Road, West Gosford

Investors buying Tuggerah industrial units off-the-plan

Terms of lease are $53,000 per annum plus outgoings and GST for 3 years with 2 x 2 year options.

Ty Blanch and Robert Bose from LJ Hooker Commercial Central Coast negotiated the lease.

Complete Credit Solutions Pty Ltd leases in Donn-Mann Business Centre Gosford

A local owner occupier manufacturing company has paid $1,710,000 (GST not applicable) for a 2,553 sqm industrial zoned block with 530sqm building at 30 Dell Road, West Gosford.

Built about 30 years ago the building comprises high clearance warehouse, front showroom/reception area/office plus large mezzanine office and male and female amenities with extensive hardstand.

The property was sold at auction through Karen Aubrey from LJ Hooker Commercial Central Coast who said there were nineteen registered bidders. “Bidding started at $900,000 with investors taking it to $1.4 million and then dropping out. Two local businesses took the price to $1.71 million, well over the reserve.

The first stage of The Key on Gavenlock, 51-53 Gavenlock Road, Tuggerah, comprising 14 industrial units is nearing completion with agents Ty Blanch and Brett Dowling from LJ Hooker Commercial Central Coast report that enquiry has been strong.

Unit 4 of 157sqm has sold for $533,611 plus GST and Unit 5 of 364sqm has sold for $1,164,388 plus GST. Only three remain to be sold out of the 14 in the first stage.

The property is being developed by Sydney builder VBuild.

New Berkeley Vale unit complex sold offthe-plan

Forgotten Tuggerah precinct comes to life

A 16 Unit complex at 23-25 Lake Road, Tuggerah zoned B5 within the growing Tuggerah railway corridor and Bulky Goods precinct on the North Eastern side of Wyong Road has seen all units sold.

Forgotten about for a number of years, this precinct has come to life with the success of the Super Centre, regional sporting fields and approval for more bulky goods developments.

All of the units have been sold prior to construction commencing, with investors jumping into this opportunity very quickly.

Confidence from purchasers is underpinned by the activity in the immediate area and implementing of the Tuggerah Town Centre master plan.

Sizes of the units range from 88m2 – 160m2.

Prices from $3,500/m2 - $3,550/m2

An industrial unit complex with units ranging from 189sqm to 225sqm have all sold off the plan and during construction.

Being developed by well known Wyong builder LA Commercial Pty Ltd, this small complex is superbly located at 6 Corella Close, Berkeley Vale and was well received by the market.

Six of the eight units have been purchased by Owner Occupiers, showing the strength in the local market.

Sales values ranged from $2,600/sqm early in the process, to $3,175/sqm for later sales as the market experienced increases in value.

Practical Completion of the Units are expected in late May, with occupation following shortly afterwards.

Brad Rogers Raine & Horne Commercial Central Coast & Mark Davies Chapman & Frazer.

LEASINGS Timber wholesaler leases at Tuggerah A timber wholesaler has leased Unit 1 of 366sqm at 10 Pioneer Avenue, Tuggerah Business Park.

Complete Credit Solutions Pty Ltd have leased a 550sqm in the DonnMann Business Centre, 91-99 Mann Street, Gosford previously leased by nib Health Fund call centre.

Currently set-up as a call centre the premises comprise meeting rooms, offices, training room, open format workspace and staff amenities. The fit-out also includes carpet tiled flooring throughout, suspended grid ceiling LED lighting and ducted airconditioning.

Terms of lease are $176,000 per annum including Outgoings plus GST for a term of 3 years with 3 year option.

Building owner Paul Sclavos said that with this lease the building is now fully leased again.

Anthony Scarcella from LJ Hooker Commercial Central Coast negotiated the lease.

Cubbyhole unit leased Unit 60 in the Cubbyhole Warnervale complex has been leased for one year at a rental of $11,440 per annum plus Outgoings and GST. The 60 sqm industrial micro-unit Jaimy Vegter from DiJones Commercial Central Coast negotiated the lease All Coast Property Maintenance leases at 12 Reliance Unit 11, 12 Reliance Drive, Tuggerah Business Park has been leased to All Coast Property Maintenance to allow for their business growth.

The 135 sqm unit is part of a 32-unit complex recently completed in the Park and owned by an investor who acquired the property in late 2020 for $434,500.

Terms of lease are 1 year with 2 year option at a rental of $25,000 per annum plus Outgoings and GST giving the investor a return of 5.9% per annum.

Jaimy Vegter from Raine & Horne Commercial Central Coast negotiated the lease.

CENTRAL COAST BUSINESS REVIEW MAY 2022

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BUSINESS TIPS

Feds cutting red tape for business

High Court sees through CFEMU attempt to erase shameful record of law breaking

Initiatives that will see a reduction in the sea of regulations imposed on them by governments at all levels.

By The Hon Ben Morton MP Minister Assisting the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Minister for the Public Service, Special Minister of State

REGULATION DETERMINES WHEN a business can open, what they can sell, the services they can provide and opportunities to grow and invest. When the Prime Minister asked me to take on the Morrison Government’s Deregulation Agenda, I jumped at it because of my own experience and that of my parents who had successfully run their own family businesses in Wyong NSW Deregulation Agenda.

As I revealed at Australia’s inaugural Regulatory Reform Conference last month, our Deregulation Agenda is expected to deliver benefits of over $21 billion over the decade.

Good deregulation means removing duplication.

We know from talking to businesses, they want to comply with regulation, but they only want to do it once. And fair enough, too. We have numerous regulators at different levels of government monitoring the same businesses and mandating the same information from them in different ways.

Rather than talking to each other, they push the burden onto business to resubmit the same data over and over again.

Creating duplicated efforts, wasted time and lost revenue.

Imposing duplicative standards on businesses doesn’t help anyone; it just jacks up prices for consumers and wastes businesses’ valuable time.

In February my Ministerial colleagues and I announced more cross-government common sense changes that will cut red tape and save time and money for hundreds of thousands of businesses. We’re changing laws to allow the use of trusted overseas product safety and information standards in Australia. We estimate this will save Australian businesses $136 million every year and improve safety for Australians and their families.

My long-held view is that our starting point should be not to regulate. Instead we should take a hard look at regulations to ensure they’re justified and minimise CENTRAL COAST BUSINESS REVIEW MAY 2022

burdens. When we talk about deregulation, we don’t mean no regulation, we mean well-designed, well-targeted and wellimplemented regulation. We want to free businesses from the barriers, blockages and bottlenecks that put undue obstacles in their way.

We’re taking advantage of technological solutions to make it easier for businesses to meet their requirements. We have committed $2.8 million to digitise legal documents making it easier and quicker for individuals and businesses to communicate with each other.

We have also invested in a range of technologies that make it easier, cheaper and quicker for businesses to comply with a range reporting requirements.

This includes $48 million to make it easier for industry to seek environment approvals for major developments, $20 million to slash time for up to 55,000 small and medium businesses lodging mandatory reporting, and $33 million to help farmers and businesses wanting to participate in the carbon market. Because deregulation is not just for business.

We are working with States and Territories to make it easier for tradies and licensed professionals including teachers, architects and real estate agents to work where the work is. Almost all States and Territories have amended laws to remove the need for licensed workers to apply and pay for additional licences to work in different States and Territories.

I am pleased WA is set to pass its own law

by July. Some fly-in, fly-out workers have wallets packed with different licences just to do their job. Many others simply don’t bother to take up work interstate.

Our reform has worked, not by having a national licence, not by trying to harmonise or align State rules, but to replace them with a description of accountability and transparency.

We shifted the focus on the needs of businesses while ensuring we continue to keep workers and the community protected. We estimate this will benefit 168,000 workers each year and add about $2.4 billion to the economy over 10 years.

While I was pleased to see the Leader of the Opposition, Anthony Albanese, recently speak about deregulation, it was quite disingenuous. Labor were not supportive of these reforms. Instead, they voted in support of the Greens who tried to destroy them. Imagine the lost opportunity if they were successful.

Mr Albanese claimed Labor would deliver CONTINUED ON PAGE 19

The folly of the Labor’s policy to abolish the construction watchdog has been highlighted by a significant High Court decision.

The decision of the High Court to overturn a Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia is a significant relief for the nation’s $210 billion building and construction sector and brings to an end attempt to erase from history countless examples of bullying, intimidation and other illegal behaviour demonstrated by the CFMEU and other construction unions for decades.

Denita Wawn, CEO of Master Builders Australia said, “This is a huge relief for our industry and means that the horrific track record of building unions will be relevant when courts consider penalties for future breaches.”

“Construction unions have a long and sorry history of law breaking, particularly right of entry, misrepresentation and anti-coercion, which far exceeds any other union. This case means that record won’t be erased from history and remains relevant,” she said.

“Over the last 5 or so years, the ABCC has succeeded in around 98 of 107 cases in the Courts, which resulted in around $16 million in penalties of penalties for breaches of the law by building unions. Over $14.5 million of these penalties were imposed on the CFMMEU for well over 1600 separate contraventions of workplace laws,” Denita Wawn said .

“To say that a track record like that isn’t relevant misses the point of why we have the ABCC and why it must be retained,” she said.

“The High Court decision has backed the reason why we need the ABCC – to ensure that penalties can determined in a way that stops the continuation of the CFMMEU’s history of non-compliance with the law, by making it something that is too expensive to maintain” “The ALP has promised to that the ABCC will be abolished if there is a change of Government and this decision should hopefully make them reconsider. We are an essential part of economic recovery, so they need to tell the 400,000+ businesses and almost 1.2 million workers we employ what their plans are to stop lawbreaking in our industry.”

BUSINESS TIPS

.au domains – new opportunity but also a new threat that will impact your business

By Michael Trimblett Certified Ethical Hacker General Manager, Loyal I.T. Solutions AFTER MARCH 24, 2022, any business (or association or individual) with a connection to Australia will be able to register a new top-level domain name, meaning for the first time ever, you can have a domain name that excludes the .com and simply end in .au. Never before have you been able to buy a top-level domain name simply ending in .au.

For example, Loyal I.T.’s domain name is currently loyalit.com.au, we can now purchase loyalit.au. But beware, what if someone else were to purchase loyalit.au and masquerade as loyalit.com.au? Will you see

the difference when you are busily checking your email? But, it’s not just for email, what about websites? At a glance would you see the difference between www.loyalit.com.au and www.loyalit.au? These are the real threats we will see emerge from the new top-level domain name becoming available.

The Australian Cyber Security Centre warns that opportunistic cybercriminals could register your .au domain name in an attempt to impersonate your business.

All Australian businesses will have until September 20, 2022 to exclusively reserve their .au equivalent domain name, then it becomes available to the general public.

What this means is if you own mycompany. com.au, you can register mycompany.au until September 20. After that date, all bets are off and anyone in the world will be able to register any .au domain, including your company’s domain name if you haven’t already. You bet there’s talk about this on the dark web, so you need to prepare yourself and your business.

You would have gathered from my cyber security advice over the past twelve months, that hackers follow a hacking framework.

The first step of this framework is ‘reconnaissance’, which is ‘get to know your target’.

This involves Googling any publicly available information about your business. If you have your team and positions listed on your website, the hackers know all they need to perform a spear phishing attack. If you have not registered your .au address and they see John Smith works in accounts, the hacker can register the .au domain and send an email from John Smith in accounts .au address to a target. If the target isn’t looking closely enough at the email address, they could be tricked into doing the hackers bidding such as transferring a large amount of money into a bank account the hacker nominates. This isn’t a hypothetical situation, it is an attack that has been in use for years, and we will see an increase in its use as soon as the .au domains become publicly available.

Be prepared. Make sure you acquire your .au domain today.

CON T INUED ART ICLE S David Evers and Troy Marchant – AdviceCo Making our clients wealthy CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5

and then matched by AdviceCo. They include: Central Coast Kids in Need, Camp Breakaway, CoastLink and Coast Shelter.

In 2020-21 David initiated the AdviceCo Community Grants Programme, with a commitment to give a corporate donation of $20,000 annually to a Central Coast charity. All staff members are encouraged to volunteer in the community.

AdviceCo is a major sponsor of the Gosford Erina Business Chamber of which David is Treasurer and the Bay2Bay Running Festival of which Debbie Bloffwitch is an integral member.

The future Finally, David says, “Our number one focus is to make sure our clients and team achieve their goals, while at the same time making the Central Coast a better place to do business, including giving back to the community. If that happens, then we are making a difference.”

Troy agrees, “It’s all about developing and growing our talented team, when I see the team step-up and give a client a great result or some great advice, I know we are doing a good job. I know that our team genuinely cares about our clients.”

For business, is there any alternative to a Morrison Federal Government?

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6

ing their intentions to build the campus in Gosford the university said they needed $18 million from both Federal and State Governments plus student places and the Mitre10 site.

Member for Robertson, Lucy Wicks, to her absolute credit, had the $18 million included in the 2019 Budget plus student places.

One the other hand the NSW Government has had to be dragged kicking and screaming to announce the Mitre10 site and ignored the funds.

While they continue to announce hundred of millions of dollars almost every week for projects of every descrip-

tion for Western Sydney they continue to prevaricate on a lousy $18 million for the Central Coast.

If Mr Crouch, Mr Stokes and the Premier have some idea that they can drag this out until the end of the year so that it becomes an election announcement it will show their utter contempt for the Central Coast.

Edgar Adams Editor

Feds cutting red tape for business CONTINUED FROM PAGE 18

“microeconomic reform through national consistency and removing duplication” but fails to realise the Morrison Government has already achieved this through National Cabinet last year.

By listening to what Australians and businesses have to say, and freeing them from the burdens of cumulative, duplicative and unnecessary regulation,

the Morrison Government is enabling industries to grow and create jobs. I’m proud of all we’ve achieved as part of the Deregulation Agenda, as well as the foundations we’ve built to support consistent reform in years to come.

We will continue to find the best and most efficient ways to make Australians’ lives easier.

CENTRAL COAST BUSINESS REVIEW MAY 2022

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BUSINESS TIPS

Employment Agreements v’s Workplace Policies – What is the difference and why do businesses need both?

By Warwick Ryan, Partner, Hicksons Lawyers

EMPLOYING AND MANAGING staff is complex and can be both time consuming and a risk for businesses and managers. At some point in the employment relationship, paperwork will be needed to clarify the employment relationship.

There are two main types of documents businesses use to detail the employment relationship: employment agreements (Agreements) and workplace policies (Policies). Both documents, although very different, are important for any organisation employing staff. Importantly, these enable a clear understanding of the employment relationship for both the staff member and manager.

Employment Contracts (Agreements) Employment agreements specify the legally binding relationship between an employer and employee. They usually includes important information like: when and where the work is to be carried out; what the pay will be; and what the employee has to do.

These Agreements can also include more general directions such as confidentiality requirements and the ownership of intellectual property.

There are additional employment obligations , which may not be written into the Agreement but are implied by law. For

example, employees have a duty of fidelity – i.e. that an employee should not engage in activities which compete with their employer while an employment relationship exists.

If the employer or employee breaches a term of the contract, the other party can apply to a court.

Other Employment Obligations Additional laws which determine factors such as safe working conditions or minimum pay rates for a particular job are set out in legislation (laws) and modern awards, or the enterprise agreement contract. A breach of these can lead to a criminal prosecution.

Workplace Policies Employers have the legal right to manage employee’s behaviour in the workplace, within reasonable limits. These requirements can vary from day to day. However, other operational directions are ongoing and often applicable across all workers. An example includes process for handling incidences of bullying or harassment. These are generally referred to as Policies.

Policies capture these operational directives into a framework of behaviour and performance standards. Policies are general in nature and provide operational guidelines for employee conduct and the behavioural expectations of both the employee and employer. An employee’s knowledge of the organisations expectations is particularly important in maintaining a positive culture and preserving a functional work environment.

These policy guidelines should be monitored and enforced to preserve the workplace culture.

Drafting a Good Workplace Policy A key feature of a good Policy is flexibility.

Importantly, unlike Agreements, Policies can generally be implemented and varied without the agreement of the employees.

However, there are requirements in many Employment Awards for employee consultation before implementing a major workplace change. So an employer should speak to staff about any proposed new policy, or changes to an existing policy, before implementing it.

Can Your Workplace Policies be Enforced in Court?

When Australian courts have previously considered the enforcement of Policies, the main question has been whether Policies are included as terms of the employment agreement – and are therefore enforceable. The court have shown themselves as willing to do enforce Policies on occasion – depending upon the way the employment agreement and the Policies are drafted.

Where a court finds that it was the intention that the Policies be treated as part of the Agreement, both the employer and the employees may be legally bound to comply with terms set out in Policies.

In a recent decision, the Full Federal Court found an employer was liable for a breach of the Policy as they were incorporated into the terms of the Agreement.

Relatively small damages were awarded against the employer in that case, but in other cases the damages have been far more significant.

So, Agreements and Policies are important considerations for businesses. To avoid liability for the breach of their own Policy, employers need to be comfortable that their policies have not been incorporated into the employment agreement. There are some simple steps to avoid this pitfall and protect employers, and we can assist you with this.

NSW to turbocharge economic growth with new department The Department of Enterprise, Investment and Trade (DEIT), a new NSW Government department, opened for business one April 1st reinforcing the state’s commitment to economic development, job creation, innovation, new technologies, and liveability.

Minister for Enterprise, Investment and Trade Stuart Ayres said the new department brings together enterprise and trade, tourism and hospitality, arts and culture, sport, and Western Sydney under one cluster.

“Bringing together these agencies and groups into a new ecosystem will help drive our state’s post-COVID economic transformation and create sustainable jobs of the future CENTRAL COAST BUSINESS REVIEW MAY 2022

right here in NSW,” Mr Ayres said.

“We are positioning NSW as the best place in the world to do business − where innovation, trade, tourism, sport and culture work together to drive the dream combination of economic strength and vibrant lifestyle.

“We want to help NSW businesses find new markets and help drive collaborative partnerships between government and nongovernment organisations to fuel economic growth, and make Western Sydney an economic powerhouse.

“This is also about ensuring we have the world’s best arts and cultural institutions, sporting facilities and events to create thriving

communities and attract tourists alike.”

DEIT Secretary Amy Brown said the new cluster will not just focus on economic outcomes but has a mandate to ensure liveability is a key focus for prosperity.

“The quality of our neighbourhoods, workplaces and cities has a significant factor on our economic development and our ability to attract talented workers, students and innovative companies to NSW,” Ms Brown said.

“The new department will allow for more cohesive inter-agency planning and decision making, allowing us to build on our reputation as the number one place for people across the world to invest, live, visit, study, grow and play.”

BUSINESS TIPS

MIND YOUR BUSINESS

By Troy Marchant, Director, Adviceco Chartered Accountants

ATO crackdown on Family Trusts IN AN EFFORT to crack down on Family Trusts, the Australian Tax Office (ATO) released a draft ruling and accompanying guidance in February.

The draft ruling suggests that they intend to target ‘reimbursement arrangements’, generally referred to as Section 100A. There is much detail trustees and beneficiaries need to get their heads around, but for the purposes of this article, we’ve attempted to cover the main points as simply as possible.

What is Section 100A? • Section 100A applies where a beneficiary becomes presently entitled to a share of the income of a trust estate under a reimbursement agreement.

• A ‘reimbursement agreement’ is defined to be an agreement that provides money to be paid, property transferred, or services or other benefits provided to someone other than the primary beneficiary (for example, an adult child). A reimbursement agreement does not have to be in writing, but could be a simple verbal arrangement.

• Where 100A applies, the income is not assessable to the beneficiary; instead,

the trustee is assessed on the income and the trust pay tax at the top marginal rate.

• Section 100A is concerned only with tax avoidance arrangements.

What is the ATO worried about?

The term ‘reimbursement agreement’ is not legally binding, in that no reimbursement is enforced.

The Draft tax ruling sets out the ATO’s concerns about certain arrangements involving adult children of controllers of discretionary trusts. Under the arrangements, the adult children are made presently entitled to trust income but it is not intended that they retain any benefit of that income, and the arrangements are predicated on avoiding tax.

A simple example may be where the controllers / trustees of the trust may be on the highest marginal tax rate and agree with their adult children who are on a much lower tax rate to record a trust distribution in the adult children’s’ tax return to take advantage of the lower tax rate. The tax is paid by the controllers and the balance of the trust distribution reverts to the controllers.

This would be deemed as a reimbursement agreement.

So what happens next?

A few things: • There needs to be a ‘connection’ between the creation of the present entitlement to a share of the income of a trust estate and an agreement that is a ‘reimbursement agreement’.

• The reimbursement agreement must provide for the payment of money / transfer of property /provision of services or other benefits for one or

more persons other than the beneficiary alone.

• One or more of the parties to the reimbursement agreement must have entered into it for a purpose of eliminating or reducing someone’s income tax.

• Lastly, the exception to 100A is satisfied where an agreement is not entered into in the course of ‘ordinary family or commercial dealing’. To fall within this exception, the transactions between family members and their entities must be capable of explanation as achieving normal or regular familial or commercial ends (the draft ruling outlines nine definitions of what constitutes ordinary family or commercial dealing).

When are the changes likely to come into effect?

It is noted that the draft ruling suggests a retrospective application with arrangements entered into before 1 July 2014 generally not targeted for ATO review, unless it forms part of a broader ATO investigation into historical tax issues of the trust. There is a case before the Courts that may shape the outcome of the draft ruling later in 2022.

Trustees who intend to distribute their income for the year ending 30 June 2022, will need to carefully consider the implications of these announcements in deciding how to distribute.

As part of year-end tax planning and preparation of the 2022 trust distributions, and if you have any concerns about previous distributions which may be considered a reimbursement agreement, we recommend trustees speak to their advisor or contact our team at AdviceCo to understand your options: mail@adviceco.com.au

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For further information phone 4367 0733 or email info@ccbusinessreview.com.au CENTRAL COAST BUSINESS REVIEW MAY 2022

21

22

FUNNY BUSINESS

AN AIRLINE WAS having engine trouble, and the pilot instructed the cabin crew to have the passengers take their seats and get prepared for an emergency landing.

A few minutes later, the pilot asked the flight attendants if everyone was buckled in and ready.

“All set back here, Captain,” came the reply, “except the lawyers are still going around passing out business cards.”

Did you hear about the banker who was recently arrested for embezzling $100,000 to pay for his daughter’s college education?

As the policeman, who also had a daughter in college, was leading him away in handcuffs, he said to the banker, “I have just one question for you. Where were you going to get the rest of the money?”

An accountant applies for the position of Chief Financial Officer. There are a number of candidates and he is called in for an interview. They ask him a number of questions and one of the panel suddenly says “What is nine multiplied by four?”

He thinks quickly and says “Thirty five.”

When the interview is over he goes outside, takes out his calculator and finds the correct answer is not thirty five. He thinks “Well, I blew that,” and goes home very disappointed.

The next day he is called and told he has got the job. “Wonderful,” he says, “but what about nine multiplied by four? My answer wasn’t right.”

“We know, but of all the candidates you were the closest.”

A very successful businessman had a

meeting with his new son-in-law. “I love my daughter, and now I welcome you into the family,” said the man.

“To show you how much we care for you, I’m making you a 50-50 partner in my business. All you have to do is go to the factory every day and learn the operations.”

The son-in-law interrupted, “I hate factories. I can’t stand the noise.”

“I see,” replied the father-in-law. “Well, then you’ll work in the office and take charge of some of the operations.”

“I hate office work,” said the son-in-law.

“I can’t stand being stuck behind a desk all day.”

“Wait a minute,” said the father-in-law. “I just made you half-owner of a moneymaking organization, but you don’t like factories and won’t work in an office. What am I going to do with you?”

“Easy,” said the young man. “Buy me out.”

A butcher, who had had a particularly good day, proudly flipped his leg of lamb on a scale and weighed it. “That will be $16.35,” he told the customer.

“That really is a little too small,” said the woman. “Don’t you have anything larger?”

Hesitating, but thinking fast, the clerk returned the leg of lamb to the refrigerator, paused a moment, then took the same one out again.

“This one,” he said faintly, “will be $19.65”.

The woman paused for a moment, then made her decision. “I know what,” she said, “I’ll take both of them!”

An Irishman is stumbling through the woods, totally drunk, when he comes upon a

preacher baptising people in the river.

He proceeds to walk into the water and subsequently bumps into the preacher.

The preacher turns around and is almost overcome by the smell of alcohol, whereupon he asks the drunk, “Are you ready to find Jesus?”

The drunk shouts, “Yes, oi am”.

So the preacher grabs him and dunks him in the water.

He pulls him up and asks the drunk, “Brother, have you found Jesus?”

The drunk replies, “No, oi haven’t found Jesus”.

The preacher, shocked at the answer, dunks him into the water again for a little longer.

He pulls him out of the water and asks again, “Have you found Jesus, brother?”

The drunk again answers, “No, oi haven’t found Jesus”.

By this time the preacher is at his wits end and dunks the drunk in the water again – but this time holds him down for about 30 seconds and when he begins kicking his arms and legs he pulls him up.

The preacher again asks the drunk, “For the love of God man, have you found Jesus?”

The drunk wipes his eyes and catches his breath and says to the preacher, “Are you sure dis is where he fell in?”

Quote of the month “The best way to predict the future is to create it.”

Peter Drucker

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CENTRAL COAST BUSINESS REVIEW MAY 2022

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3/4 Lucca Road, Wyong Contact Agent

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14/1 Bounty Close, Tuggerah Contact Agent

40 & 41/2 Warren Road, Warnervale – Contact Agent

4/310 The Entrance Road, Erina Contact Agent

33 Margaret Street, Wyong Contact Agent

293m2 – Industrial/Warehouse Rick O’Toole 0413 285 235

62m2 – Industrial/Warehouse John Meares 0422 362 222

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127m2 – Medical/Consulting Jaimy Vegter 0421 323 102

458 Pacific Highway, Wyong Contact Agent

184-186 Brick Wharf Road, Woy Woy – Contact Agent

2/319 Mann Street, Gosford $30,000 gross per annum plus GST

Shop 9/34-38 Cutler Drive, Wyong – Contact Agent

2.26ha – Industrial/Warehouse Rick O’Toole 0413 285 235

Rick O’Toole 0413 285 235

Land-Development

139m2 – Industrial/Warehouse Andrew Dunn 0458 864 236

56m2 – Retail John Meares 0422 362 222

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