LOCAL STORIES

HELPING THOSE IN NEED

By Warren Strybosch

With food and petrol prices on the rise and now interest rates putting pressure on new homeowners, people are starting to find it hard to put food on the table.

Already, we are hearing stories of families having to go without. With likely interest rate rises continuing to occur this will place even more pressure on those families already struggling to obtain the essentials they require to get by on a day-to-day basis.

In this month’s edition we have tried to find some organisations in the local area who may be able to help those families doing it really tough and require some additional support. Started on page 14, we list some of these organisations that are providing food relief, a community meal, and/or shelter for the night.

We want to thank these organsiations for the work they do in looking after our community.

The great Australian dream of home ownership is being realised by fewer young people than it was half a century ago.

Data collected in the latest Census shows the home ownership rate of people aged 30 to 34-years-old sat at 50 per cent in 2021, a drop of 14 per cent since 1971.

For those aged 25 to 29, the decrease was also 14 per cent over the same period, dropping to 36 per cent in 2021.

Some of those people aged below 30 who owned their own home in the 1970s are among the Aussies with the highest rate of ownership in 2021. Baby Boomers – those born between 1946 and 1964 – make up the highest rate (82 per cent) of home owners in 2021. The data released on Tuesday by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare was drawn from information gathered in the latest Census, including that there were nearly 9.8 million households in 2021. Of those, 67 per cent were occupied by “owners”, with roughly half of those subject to mortgage. About a third of households, or 2.9 million, are occupied by renters.

“There has been a sharper increase in the proportion of young Australians renting compared with older Australians,” the institute said as part of its data release.

Youngsters Missing Out On Australian Dream

By Nick Gibbs (Australian Associated Press)

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Financial Planning Complaints Trending Down

By Warren Strybosch

With all the changes that have occurred in the financial planning profession, it was good to note that there was nearly a 50% reduction in complaints in the 2022 FY compared to the 2021 FY relating to ‘Failure to act in the client’s best interests’ and ‘Inappropriate advice’.

The evidence from AFCA (the external resolution board that handles financial planning complaints) provides us with a clear picture: The changes that have occurred over the past few years e.g. introduction of the FASEA Code of Ethics and increased education standards, have indeed had a positive impact for consumers.

I believe we are moving in the right direction as a profession. (Source: AFCA)

Fraser Island to go the way of Ayers Rock

Nick Gibbs (Australian Associated Press)

It’s hoped Fraser Island will follow the lead of Uluru and only be known by it’s Indigenous name, as the Queensland government flags an official name change.

The proposal will take a step forward this week as two months of public consultation begin, Resources Minister Scott Stewart said on Wednesday.

He hopes the process will lead to the Indigenous name of K’gari entering the common vernacular in the same way Uluru has replaced Ayers Rock.

“No one calls it Ayers Rock any more, they call it Uluru, and it’s about respecting our First Nations people, and about respecting the connection they have with this land,” Mr Stewart said. “(For) 60,000 years they’ve been calling it K’gari, I think it’s about time we started to do exactly the same.”

The reinstatement of K’gari as the island’s name has been a long time coming, chair of the Butchulla Aboriginal Corporation Aunty Gayle Minniecon said.

“It means so much to the Butchulla people,” she said.

“For us it’s about respect for our people. It’s important for us to let our ancestors know that our culture is still strong and we continue to care for our country.”

The consultation follows the island’s world heritage area being renamed K’gari last year, Environment Minister Meaghan Scanlon said “K’gari means paradise in the Butchulla language and as a popular destination for its natural beauty, is a much more fitting name for such an iconic place,” Ms Scanlon said.

“The name Fraser Island is culturally inappropriate – it is a tribute to Eliza Fraser, a woman whose narrative directly led to the massacre and dispossession of the Butchulla people.”

K’gari was originally known by Europeans as Great Sandy Island before it was changed to Fraser Island after Scotswoman Eliza Fraser was shipwrecked there in 1836.

While the World Heritage Area became K’gari last year, the official place name for the world’s largest sand island had yet to change.

Rental properties – An ATO focus area for 2022 returns

By Warren Strybosch

The ATO has issued a release stating that rental properties are one of its four main focus areas for the 2022 returns now being submitted. The ATO urged rental property owners to ensure they carefully review their records before declaring income or claiming deductions. The release highlights common pitfalls, including the importance of keeping adequate records.

Assistant Commissioner Tim Loh noted that the ATO’s Random Enquiry Program found that nine out of 10 tax returns that reported rental income contained at least one error. This is despite most of those property owners being assisted by a registered tax agent. While tax agents can only work with the information they gather from clients, the ATO said it expects agents to ask a few extra questions to ensure their client’s return is completed correctly.

Cats

Curfew

By Jodie Moore

There appears to be a growing trend amongst Melbourne councils to bring in stricter policies when it comes to cat ownership. In April 2022, Knox Council implemented a 24/7 ban on domestic cats leaving their owner’s property. There will be a 6 month grace period where only warnings will be issued but then this will change to a $91 fine for first time offences, then jump to $545 for subsequent breaches starting in October 2022.

In July 2023, Bass Coast Shire Council will also implement a 24/7 ban on cats straying from their owners property. They intend to have a 12 month education drive in the lead up to this ban. Manningham Council have announced that they will be implementing a trial 24/7 ban but have not yet announced a date for this. The general consensus for this growing trend is to protect the wildlife with a side note about protecting the cats themselves from injury and illness. Protecting the wildlife is important and a night curfew will help with this, but I think it is up to the cat’s owner to worry about illness and injury. However, what about the

consequences? Many outdoor cats help to keep the rodent population down. Will we suddenly see a spike in rats and mice throughout these Councils and neighbouring councils, potentially causing much bigger problems? There doesn’t appear to have been much thought given as to how local households will be able to implement this. Simply building a cat run or enclosing your property in a high fence will be costly (and potentially unsightly) and prohibit many low-income families from doing this. Locking cats up, particularly older cats that are used to being outside seems cruel and is no better than locking up a wild animal in a cage at the zoo. Families who are renting will likely be unable to get permission from their landlord to build an enclosure as well. Will this lead to a lot of cats having to be rehomed because the families can’t afford to catproof their property?

As I am sure you can guess, I do have a cat. She is a beautiful tortoiseshell DMH who loves being outside as well as inside. We have a number of cats in our street, and once they established their pecking order, they all seem to get on really well and we quite often find one or two other cats sitting near or in our front yard a couple of metres from our cat. Although they don’t sit together, it appears they still like the company of each other. We ensure our cat comes inside overnight, as do our neighbours and often that means she has to come in by 4pm in the summer otherwise she hides from us so she can stay out. Our house also doesn’t get a lot of sunshine inside throughout the day so she would miss out on that precious light if we were to keep her in 24/7.

What are your thoughts on a 24/7 ban on cats leaving their owners property? Email us at editor@findgeelong.com.au and we’ll publish your comments next month.