JobKeeper Options available to assist your employee obligations
Insurance Questions Tradie Guide : COVID-19
TRAITS OF A GOOD MANAGER Ways to reduce
OVERHEADS
Things you can do to keep cost down
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CONTRIBUTORS
From the Editor
• Angela Smith • Anthony Igra • Jim Baker • John Quiggin • Leo Babauta • Monroe Porter • Robert Bauman • Sandra Price • Vanessa Petch
EDITOR Nigel Gorman EXECUTIVE EDITOR Caroline Miall
Hey Everyone, Well what a time we are all going through right now, this period will be remembered for a long time to come. Aussie Painters Network have decided to go back to doing monthly magazines now to keep everyone up to date with the latest on goings in the current climate. From reports we have received, less than 20% of painters aren’t working due to Covid 19. Work has slowed in some areas however a large majority still have work. A lot I have been talking too are still growing their businesses and hiring more staff. Very few are letting staff go. Painters in Australia have been lucky from the point that they are still able to work, it’s an individual’s choice whether they want to go to work or not. Whilst APN have been working remotely we have been updating our Membership Area with new and improved information for all painting businesses, go and have a look at what we have to offer to assist you in making your Business more Profitable.
Stay Home, Stay Safe and Remember
“We are here to HELP!!”
GRAPHIC DESIGNER J. Anne Delgado
Nigel Gorman
nigel@aussiepaintersnetwork.com.au
07 3555 8010
Contents 06 10
JobKeeper Trade through this period
13
19
Tradie Guide : COVID-19 Insurance Questions
32
The Importance of Meditation in Crazy Times
34
Change of Plan Getting through this present crisis will be tough but as long as we have the support of each other
THE NUTS & BOLTS
Important part is having cover at the time of the incident
How break-even can help Painters Weather this Storm Lifestyle Tradie’s Break-Even Guide for Tradies
Unlocking Australia: What can benefit-cost analysis tell us? Applying for JobKeeper
26
30
TRAITS OF A GOOD MANAGER
37 40
Ways to reduce Overheads How To Accept Ssttlement Offers
44
Industry Idiots
45
Important Contacts
Opinions and viewpoints expressed in the Aussie Painting Contractor Magazine do not necessarily represent those of the editor, staff or publisher or any Aussie Painters Network’s staff or related parties. The publisher, Aussie Painters Network and the Aussie Painting Contractor Magazine personnel are not liable for any mistake, misprint or omission. Information contained in the Aussie Painting Contractor Magazine is intended to inform and illustrate and should not be taken as financial, legal or accounting advice. You should seek professional advice before making business related decisions. We are not liable for any losses you may incur directly or indirectly as a result of reading Aussie Painting Contractor Magazine. Reproduction of any material or contents of the magazine without written permission from the publisher is strictly prohibited.
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JobKeeper JobKeeper has been legislated and applications are open however there still remains so many questions and a lot of confusion around JobKeeper and what employers can and can’t ask their employees to do. We’ll address some of the most frequently asked questions we’ve been receiving in this article. In addition to the JobKeeper subsidy legislation, amendments were also made to the Fair Work Act. These amendments are designed to give employers temporary powers to implement additional flexibility measures in their workplace. These will be referred to as JobKeeper enabling directions and will override any modern awards, employment contracts or enterprise agreements for those employers and employees who are part of the JobKeeper program. A brief outline of these changes are: • An employer can stand down an employee without pay either completely or partially for any period that they cannot be usefully employed. • An employer can change employment arrangements – ie alter the days of work, hours of work, change the location of work either to working from home or working from other premises. • An employer can direct their employees to undertake additional duties or alter their normal duties of work as long as they have the necessary skills, licences etc. • An employer can direct employees to take annual leave but only if the employee’s accrued annual leave balance doesn’t go below two weeks. • An employer can agree with an employee to take annual leave at half pay. These directions give employers more flexibility however we caution employers to proceed carefully before enacting these measures. These can only be utilised once you are on the JobKeeper program and there are quite stringent requirements and conditions around their use. For many small and medium businesses, these requirements may be too severe
6 | Aussie Painting Contractor
and difficult to comply with. They also carry penalties of up to $126,000 for an individual or $630,000 for a corporation if you get it wrong. So, it would be wise to proceed cautiously when using them. For many SME’s they may be better to consult with their employees and come to individual written agreements instead. The JobKeeper enabling directions would then be useful for those employees where agreements cannot be reached. Can I reduce an employee’s hours to equal to the $750 JobKeeper weekly payment? You could achieve this by consulting with your employee about the change to hours and receiving their agreement in writing. If the employee doesn’t agree then you could do it by enacting the above JobKeeper enabling direction if if you can demonstrate that the employee cannot be usefully employed because of changes to the business as a result of COVID-19 and you comply with the other related requirements. Proceed carefully however as if not enacted correctly it could be determined to be a demotion and / or constructive dismissal which could leave you at risk of an unfair dismissal claim. Can I reduce an employee’s wage rate salary or package to meet the $750 weekly payment? This is expressly prohibited under the amendments to the Fair Work Act. You cannot reduce an employee’s wage or hourly rate, so that they can work more hours to receive the $750 weekly subsidy. However, there are circumstances where you may be able to negotiate with your employees and consult with them about reductions in salary packages if you are paying above the award wage or you have salary packages that may include vehicles or other type of benefits. In those cases, it is worthwhile having a consultation with your employees and seeing if an agreement can be reached. This can only be done by agreement with the employee and when you pay above the award wage. We also strongly recommend you put this agreement in writing.
Can I ask a part time employee to increase the hours to equal to 750 weekly payment? There is no provision under these amendments to be able to do that. However, again we recommend employers have a conversation with employees and seek their agreement. I have an employee on paid leave or unpaid leave or WorkCover etc. Do I have to pay them the $750? This will depend on the specific circumstances but generally employees on paid or unpaid leave would receive the $750 weekly subsidy unless they are receiving other benefits through Services Australia such as paid parental leave. Employees on WorkCover will receive their normal payments through WorkCover. If they “return to work” during this period, then they would be included on the JobKeeper program. My employee is refusing to attend work or perform their duties. We would suggest employers treat this as they would a normal employment management issue and consult with your employee as to why they’re refusing. Is there about a valid reason why they’re not wanting to attend work or perform their duties? Do they have workplace health and safety concerns or issues? Do they have the correct tools or skills or resources to be able to undertake their work / duties at the moment? If there is a valid reason, then you would need to address that and try to alleviate or mitigate that risk. If there’s not a valid reason, then we would treat that as a performance management issue and we would invoke our normal performance management processes to deal with that. Can my employee use personal leave to care for children during school closures? Under the National Employment Standards an employee can utilise personal or carers leave to deal with an unexpected family emergency. This would’ve applied in the first week of school closures where we were given very little notice about the closures. However, since that time we’ve had gazetted school holidays and then State Governments provided information about school closures in the new term. These incidents would not be classed as unexpected family emergencies so personal leave would not apply now, however could access annual or unpaid leave instead.
2020 May Issue | 7
I’m not eligible or can’t hold on for JobKeeper payments. Do I have other options? Unfortunately, there are many businesses in this situation however we want to reassure those businesses that there are other options available to you to assist in managing your employee obligations and allow you to trade through this period. They will depend on each business’ specific circumstances, so we encourage businesses to reach out and seek advice.
employees employment conditions then this most important part of the process is to consult with your employees. If you need to change a permanent worker’s hours of work or days of work, location of work, make positions redundant or enact stand downs then legally there is a consultation period required. Vanessa from HR Maximised is drawing on her extensive experience across a range of industries to assist small and medium employers navigate COVID-19 and plan for the coming months. Vanessa brings 18 years of experience across a variety of industries including manufacturing, agribusiness, trade services, IT, financial services and retail. She has held management and senior positions in HR, finance, administration and operational management and understands the chalenges of running a small to medium business. Vanessa Petch HR Maximised 0418 190 106
Finally, it’s important to note, whether you are on the JobKeeper program and utilising the JobKeeper enabling directions or not, if you are changing your
8 | Aussie Painting Contractor
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Unlocki What can Lockdowns work. That’s the evidence from many different countries now, including Australia. To be more precise, lockdowns reduce the effective reproductive rate of the virus to the point where it is below 1, meaning that, on average, each infected person passes on the disease to less than one other person. As long as this is sustained, the number of new cases will keep declining, as we have now seen. Potentially, as has been claimed to be the case in China, the number of cases will approach zero. It now seems clear that the best strategy is (near) eradication, pushing the number of infections down to (or near) zero, and preventing any resurgence.
The ideal case would come if we could confirm the virus had been wiped out completely in Australia (or in a particular state). Then, provided all new arrivals were subject to strict quarantine, we could drop all the restrictions except those that made sense for other reasons (encouraging/ requiring hand washing is an obvious example). But that’s unlikely to happen soon. In the absence of comprehensive testing, even if counted new cases fall to zero, it’s hard to be sure that there aren’t any uncounted cases. And it will be some time before new cases reach zero.
But when can we start, and which controls should be relaxed?
So, we need to consider which restrictions we should lift, subject to the constraint that the reproduction rate is still below one, meaning that any undetected outbreaks will ultimately fizzle out. The first step is to identify the restrictions that impose the greatest cost for the least benefit in terms of reducing reproduction.
It’s benefits versus costs
Which restrictions can go first?
These are questions which will need collaboration between epidemiologists, economists and other social scientists.
The worst risks of spreading the disease come when large numbers of unrelated people are together in close proximity for a long time. Cruise ships represent an extreme case, where nearly everyone can get infected. Sporting matches and mass meetings are less extreme but still dangerous examples.
As has just been suggested by Health Minister Greg Hunt, it’s time to think about relaxing controls.
The problem is essentially one of benefit cost analysis: which measures can be relaxed at least cost in terms of increased reproduction rates relative to the benefits that relaxation will generate. The epidemiologists have the expertise to answer the first question (as well as it can be answered with very limited evidence). Economists and social scientists have the expertise to answer the second.
10 | Aussie Painting Contractor
But at least on the anecdotal and intuitive evidence we have available, the most burdensome social restrictions are those that prevent gatherings involving modest numbers of family and close friends. Such gatherings post a much smaller risk than those of larger groups with more dispersed social networks.
ing Australia:
benefit-cost analysis tell us? Not only are the numbers small, but if other contacts are limited, any initial infection may be confined to a relatively small group.
The other key issue is that of option value.
or bushwalking? Coronavirus rules in Western Australia
If a decision can be easily reversed, at relatively low cost, it has an “option value” relative to a decision that is effectively irreversible. That’s why it made sense to lock down early, rather than waiting to see if the virus spread.
Given the big benefits from relaxing these restrictions and the low cost in terms of disease reproduction, these seem like obvious candidates for early easing.
School closures provide an example where option values are relevant. If we reopen the schools it will be costly to close them again.
Turning to economic activity, the costs of restricting an activity involving personal contact depend critically on the availability of remote-delivery substitutes.
Read more: Australian schools are closing because of corona-
Read more: Can I visit my boyfriend or my parents? Go fishing
Most obviously, office work of all kinds can be done remotely. Costs associated with lower efficiency and more goofing off are offset by the reduction in commuting costs. It’s entirely possible that the benefit to workers who place a high weight on commuting costs outweighs the cost to bosses who find supervision more difficult (and colleagues who enjoy social contact at work). Read more: Remote work amid the coronavirus pandemic: 3
virus, but should they be?
So, before reopening schools, we need to make sure that all the necessary facilities for handwashing and other health measures are in place, and that there is enough testing to detect infections before they spread. One final point. Apart from lockdowns, the one thing that has been shown to work well is testing. The more people we can test, the faster we learn about possible outbreaks and more closely restrictions can be matched to the threat level.
solutions
Conversely, as has been pointed out with a good deal of derision, there is no way of doing a haircut from 1.5 metres away. That wasn’t a good reason for excluding them from the lockdown (haircuts can easily be deferred after all) but it makes them a good candidate for subsequent relaxation.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------John Quiggin Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland
2020 May Issue | 11
12 | Aussie Painting Contractor
THE NUTS & BOLTS OF Applying for JobKeeper When the announcement on the JobKeeper program was made by the Prime Minister I could virtually hear the sighs of relief going through the business community. Nonetheless, the last few weeks have been a little confusing as the fine detail began to emerge. Now that we have received more information from the ATO on how this is going to work, we’re sharing it here so you know how to take advantage of the scheme for your business and your employees. Time frames are tight. Business owners can enrol in the JobKeeper program now to ensure ongoing business operations and give their employees a level of certainty moving forward. The construction industry may not be hit hard yet, however, a downturn in projects is expected over the coming months as the economic crisis unfolds further. Think ahead and make sure you utilise the assistance currently available to bring some financial certainty in for the future. Please find below a summary for your information to help you identify if you are eligible and the process to apply:
1. Confirm Eligibility - for both the employer and employee 1.1 Employer Eligibility: Turnover has fallen by 30% or more.
Each business needs to determine whether it satisfies this test.This is a link to the ATO website which helps you to determine your eligibility. As a way of a summary example you would be eligible if your turnover for the "test" period you choose is 30% less than the same period last year. So for qualification from the start of the scheme, the turnover "test" month used can be either March 2020 or April 2020, this would need to be 30% less than the same month eg. March or April 2019. To qualify at a later time, the turnover "test" month can also be May, June, July, August or September 2020, provided that the turnover "test" month is the month in which the first fortnight for which you claim the JobKeeper payment ends, or another earliermonth. You only need to satisfy the fall in turnover test once – you don't need to test your turnover in the following months or quarters. However, there are ongoing monthly turnover reporting requirements.
Please ensure when you undertake this test you keep appropriate records to substantiate your eligibility. Alternatively, if you find you are not eligible say for March or April you can continue to check for your eligibility in May, June etc
2020 May Issue | 13
1.2 Employer Eligibility: Other tests • Carried on a business on 1 March 2020 • Employed at least 1 eligible employee and continue to employ them for the period you are claiming the JobKeeper payment 1.3 Employee Eligibility The eligibility criteria need to be applied to employee separately. So it is possible that some employees are eligible and some are not for the JobKeeper payment.
The following ATO link details the criteria by which an employee is eligible. In general, an employee must have been: • Employed on 1 March 20 (for casuals they MUST have been employed by the business (systematically) from 1 March 2019 and not a permanent employee elsewhere, • At least 16 years old at 1 March 2020. • You can NOT claim for employees that started after 1 March 20 or left before 1 March 20 or are nominated in the JobKeeper scheme by another employer.
2.2 Nominating - Eligible Business Participant - Sole Trader, Partner in a Partnership, Adult Beneficiary of Trust or Director or Shareholder of a Company In this instance you can also nominate yourself. If your business has more than 1 Business Participant eg 2 Beneficiaries of a Trust ONLY ONE of these can be nominated. Sole traders can complete the nomination process through ATO online services using myGov, or in the Business Portal or through a registered tax or BAS agent. Other Eligible business participants can enrol using the JobKeeper eligible business participant nomination form (Copy of the form is attached). 3. Pay EACH ELIGIBLE Employees at
least $1,500 per fortnight
2. Nominating - Employees and Eligible
For each Eligible Business Participant and each Employee the business has nominated in Step 2 above it must pay at least $1,500 per fortnight. If you are eligible for the Job Keeper payments for the month of April this means you must have paid each eligible business participant and employee at least $3,000.00 gross wages by 30 April 2020.
2.1 Employee
THIS IS IMPORTANT FOR THE ELIGIBILITY OF THE PAYMENT.
Please refer to the ATO Fact Sheet for further details. JobKeeper Payment — Information for employees.
Business Participant
Before you enrol to receive JobKeeper payments, you need to notify each eligible employee that you intend to nominate them as eligible employees under the JobKeeper Payment scheme. You must tell those employees that you have nominated them as an eligible employee to claim the JobKeeper payment. They must agree to be nominated by you by completing the JobKeeper employee nomination notice (Copy of the form is attached) and returning it to you for your records. It must be returned to you prior to 30 April 2020 and a copy forwarded to us. If it is not practical to have each employee complete and return the notice to you the ATO will allow you to create your own employee nomination notice. The nomination form does not need to be provided to the ATO, however employers are required to keep a copy of the completed form as part of their record keeping obligations under the law.
14 | Aussie Painting Contractor
4. Enrol for the JobKeeper Payment Login into the Business Portal using your myGovid. • Select 'Manage employees' then the link for the JobKeeper payment. • Fill in the JobKeeper enrolment form and provide your: • eligibility information • expected number of eligible employees • contact and bank details. • Notify all your eligible employees you have nominated them. To ensure you receive your JobKeeper payments as early possible, you should enrol by the end of April. However, enrolments are open till the end of May if you need more time. Alternatively we can apply on behalf of your business via the tax agent portal.
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E-LEARNING PORTAL Advanced Estimating Course for Painters - $250.00 Quoting Off Plans Calculating Overheads Hourly Rates and Labour Costs Tendering and Contracting Financial Management for Painters - $150.00 Basic Book-keeping Interpreting Financial Reports BAS and GST Marketing a Painting Business - $150.00 Effective Social Media Web-sites and Marketing Plans Starting a Painting Business - $150.00 Business Structures Workplace Health and Safety Legal requirements Contracting Painters WHS Management - $120.00 Risk Assessment Handling Apprentices Industry Specific SWMS and JSAs Relevant AS/NZ Standards and Codes of Practice WHS Management Plans Effective Customer Service - $150.00 Maintaining a Professional Image Closing the Sale and Following Through Quality Assurance 16 | Aussie Painting Contractor
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5. Keep all Records Ensure you maintain all records. The ATO may require you to prove how you came to determine your eligibility and your employees eligibility for the Jobkeeper payments. They may even request this 3 years down the track. Where the appropriate substantiation can not be provided the ATO may require any payments received by you to be repaid. 6. Ongoing Requirements Each month you will need to: • reconfirm your reported eligible employees, • if your eligible employees change or leave your employment, you will need to notify the ATO through the business monthly declaration report, • you must also provide information as to your current and projected GST turnover. This is NOT a retest of your eligibility, but rather an indication of how your business is progressing under the Jobkeeper Payment scheme.
Direct Links to Information Resources
• ATO Portal for JobKeeper Payment Information • Treasury Portal for JobKeeper Information Portal • JobKeeper Payment – ATO Information for Eligible Employers • JobKeeper Payment – ATO Information for Your Eligible Employees • JobKeeper Payment — Treasury Information for employees • JobKeeper Payment – ATO Information for Sole Traders and Other Entities • Fact Sheet Supporting businesses to retain jobs • Fact Sheet Protecting integrity (compliance measures) • FAQs If you have more questions or need help with enrolling for the JobKeeper program, call my office on 3399 8844. Visit our website at www.straighttalkat.com.au Copyright © 2020 Robert Bauman.
Finally…
To receive the initial $3,000 payment per employee in the first week in May the application will need to be lodged by 30th April 2020.
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2020 May Issue | 17
18 | Aussie Painting Contractor
Tradie Guide : COVID-19
Insurance Questions The ongoing issues from Coronavirus / COVID-19 have tradies asking plenty of questions. Insurance might not be at the top of the list, but we have started receiving questions from our clients. We’ve put together a list of questions that tradies have asked us, or that we suspect they might start asking. Please keep in mind that we are insurance brokers, and therefore deal with many different insurance companies and policy types. The information below is general and does not relate to a single specific product or policy. • Does my insurance include “business interruption” cover? • Are there any financial hardship provisions? • Can I pause my public liability insurance? • Can I cancel my public liability and restart it later? • Does my public liability insurance cover pandemics? • Does my income protection insurance cover pandemics? • Does my personal accident insurance cover pandemics? • Does my insurance include “business interruption” cover? Business interruption is a specific type of insurance that can cover your business for a period of time if you cannot operate the business. Under usual circumstances, this might be if your premises were affected by fire or flood, and you couldn’t operate the business until repairs were completed. For the vast majority of our tradie clients this isn’t an issue, and therefore they won’t hold this type of insurance.
It’s not included in any standard forms of insurance (such as public liability) so if you do have cover, it would generally be something you’d know about. Whether or not business interruption insurance would respond to a claim involving COVID-19 is another matter. We haven’t had any claims lodged at this point, but according to this article, most (if not all) business interruption policies will have an exclusion for pandemics or “quarantinable diseases”. COVID-19 falls into both categories, meaning that there would be no cover in this instance. Are there any financial hardship provisions? The General Insurance Code of Practice does have a financial hardship section, however this relates only to cases where you owe an insurance company. Financial hardship provisions do not apply to premiums for insurance. That being said, as your broker we’ll always do our best to help with flexible payment terms. What about Premium Funding? If you’re paying your insurance monthly via a Premium Funding contract, there are no set financial hardship provisions, however they will work with you to get through this period. If you are having difficulty keeping up your monthly insurance payments, please contact Premium Funding directly on 1800 005 110. Can I pause my public liability insurance? We can’t pause or suspend your public liability insurance. You can cancel it and take out another policy at a later date, however there are serious implications of doing this.
2020 May Issue | 19
Can I cancel my public liability and restart it later? You certainly can, however many tradies (and even some insurance brokers) don’t understand how this can leave you exposed.
That all sounds perfectly fine, right? But during the months in-between, the stairs fail and the homeowner suffers a serious injury as a result of the failure.
Many people think you need public liability insurance at the time of doing the work, but when it comes to a claim, the important part is having cover at the time of the incident.
The carpenter’s insurance would not cover him for the incident, as he didn’t hold public liability insurance at the time of the incident.
This is known as an “occurrence-based” policy, which is the category public liability falls into. Of course, many incidents resulting in a claim do occur at the time of doing the work, but other incidents can occur some time after the work has been completed. An example could be a carpenter who builds a set of stairs. Everything seems fine with the stairs at the time, and both the carpenter and client are happy. With the COVID-19 scare, the carpenter decides to down-tools for a couple of months, thinking there will be less work around. He’ll spend some time with his kids, do some work on his own home and live off his hard-earned savings for a few months. He cancels his public liability insurance, knowing he won’t be undertaking any more work, and will take out a new policy once he does start working again.
20 | Aussie Painting Contractor
The fact that he held insurance at the time of undertaking the work is irrelevant. That’s a huge risk for the sake of saving a couple of hundred dollars. This is nothing to do with the quality of the policy or how good the insurance company or broker is. Public liability policies are occurrence-based, and they’ll only pay if you have cover at the time of the occurrence. We have an article here which goes into more detail about this issue. It’s talking about cancelling your cover completely rather than cancelling for a short period, but it’s still relevant. Does my public liability insurance cover pandemics? We’ve looked through a few public liability insurance wordings and can’t find any exclusions for pandemics. In saying that, we can’t think of a public liability insurance claim for a tradie that would involve a pandemic anyway, so it may not be relevant.
Does my income protection insurance c over pandemics? At Trade Risk we don’t deal with income protection, but we have referred hundreds of clients to financial advisers over the years to assist. There appears to be no exclusion for pandemics on most retail income protection policies, so the answer is probably yes, but you need to check your own policy or speak with your financial adviser. As an example, MLC have produced this guide confirming that there are no exclusions on their policies for COVID-19. They do make an important point though, that it must be the illness which leaves you unable to work. You will not be able to claim if it’s only selfisolation (and not the actual illness) stopping you from working. Does my personal accident insurance cover pandemics? We’re waiting on confirmation, but there doesn’t appear to be a specific exclusion for pandemics. You’d also need to ensure you had an accident and sickness policy, and not just an accident policy. All personal accident policies will have a waiting period, and this is the period you must be unable to work for before making a claim.
Amongst our tradie clients this is commonly 14 or 28 days, so for a typical COVID-19 illness you might be lucky to not reach the waiting period anyway. In our opinion, it’d be much better to recover quickly and not have to claim, than to suffer a serious enough illness that you do have to claim. But of course, insurance is there to be claimed on, so if you are unlucky enough to suffer more serious symptoms that keep you from working for longer, we will always lodge a claim for you. Other questions If you have any other questions about how your business insurance might respond to COVID-19 please contact us. Our team are fully operation at this time and we’re here to help you. Please keep in mind that like many of our clients, we are also a family-owned small business affected by the current social and economic issues.
www.traderisk.com.au 1800 808 800
2020 May Issue | 21
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TRAITS OF A
GOOD MANAGER
Managing people has and will always be challenging. Frequently, we promote our best technician to manager and then wonder why he or she doesn’t succeed. Being a good manager requires communication, organizational skills and a desire to get things done. It also requires patience and an understanding that not all of your employees think like you. Here are some thoughts on what you can do to be a better manager. Look to control employee behavior not change personality. Personalities are complex and a result of genetics, life experiences, habits and other beliefs. Remember that demanding teacher that took control of the classroom. When the bell rang, little Johnny Hellion’s personality did not change. He wanted to misbehave just as much in this class as others but the teacher’s methods did not allow it. Focus on controlling employee behavior, not trying to change who they are. If you have a whiner, don’t listen. If someone is late, don’t tolerate it. If someone is a gossip, don’t participate. Establish clear production targets and monitor job progress. Phrases such as work fast and bring the job in on time are of little value. How can the job be late when you never established what on time was? Set realistic daily and weekly production goals. Monitor results and targets. Never set false goals or unrealistic production quotas as employees are not stupid and
26 | Aussie Painting Contractor
they know when you are lying to them. Make sure the targets are achievable. Gain buy-in at the beginning of job. Anything we measure we get better at doing. Coach and develop employees. Everyone likes to be helped but no one likes to be criticized. Think of how many mentors you have had in your life. I bet it’s just few. Think of how many critics you have encountered in the workplace; I bet its dozens if not hundreds. Frequently, we think we are coaching employees but they see it as criticism. Try to coach people pre-task not post-task. Post task is about what I did wrong or need to correct. Pre-task is before any behavior has actually taken place. Create a checklist of tasks employees should learn and gradually train them. Focus on the future and what needs to be done. Don’t make it personal. Try to avoid comparisons. Comparisons are particularly discouraging to people who are trying to improve and may not believe in themselves. It would be fun to play basketball with Lebron James but I have no illusions I would win. As a coach it’s not about making all players into superstars like Lebron James. It’s about getting the non-super stars to improve. Comparing them to yourself might discourage them. Instead of “I would do it this way”, try “have you considered this”. When employees disappoint you, I doubt they were doing it on purpose.
Rarely is an employee driving to work thinking about how he or she going to mess with your head. It’s a byproduct of their behavior. Employees simply make mistakes due to work habits, lack of ability, poor communication from you as supervisor, etc.
that” makes the person defensive. Instead use questions such as “what can we do to get back on track or how can we keep this from happening again.” Talking about how something should be done is better than talking about what went wrong.
Develop a sense of urgency. A good manager is someone that sees a piece of trash in the front of the office, and he or she stops to pick it up. Work to find pride in your accomplishments and promote such an attitude with co-workers. Focus on the end result and rejoice in the accomplishment.
Avoid poor communication practices. Be aware of your body language. Don’t lean into people, fold your arms or point. Instead talk with open hands. Be aware of your tone. We judge people by their tone, not necessarily the actual spoken word. If there is a heated discussion and someone gets mad, postpone the conversation until both parties calm down. Allow the employee to state how he or she feels about the situation. Say, “I can certainly understand how you might feel that way but the situation we need to address is…”
Plan ahead and don’t become addicted to crisis management. Firefighting can be addictive as you can get an adrenalin rush by being “the man.” Planning better and upping your organizational skills is the number one way to improve productivity. Set aside quiet to time think jobs thru, finish estimates and layout production goals. Have a pre-job meeting on each and every job. Use this meeting to communicate estimate expectations. Set daily crew goals. Order material before hand and have it delivered. Supply house trips should be avoided at all costs. Use sound conflict communicate skills. It is ok to disagree about tasks. It is not ok to disagree about each other. Avoid “why” questions and focus on what and how questions. Stay future focused. “Why did you do
In summary, becoming a professional manager requires learning new skills. Many of these skills are unconscious communication methods we learned from our parents and other bosses. Work at being a better communicator and planner. You’ll be happy with the results.
Monroe Porter
is president of PROOF Management a firm that teaches seminars and runs networking groups for painting contractors.
www.proofman.com
2020 May Issue | 27
Lead Kills
Find out if the things around you are safe for humans and pets.
Buy your DIY- Sampling Lead Test Kit/Lab Analysis Lead Kit Lead Group’s lead Test Kit are the only ones available in Australia. Even LOW level of lead is HARMFUL CLICK HERE for videos on How to use the sampling kit For donations, CLICK HERE This Lead Safe World Project of The LEAD Group, aims to achieve a lead safe world by 2041
You take the samples and send them to Sydney Analytical Labs.
www.lead.org.au 28 | Aussie Painting Contractor
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How break-even can help painters
Weather this Storm Currently, we’re all struggling through an unprecedented crisis. With no end in sight, how can painters in business best prepare themselves? By focusing on the fundamentals — starting with your break-even point.
this number to set a stretch target (break-even plus a profit margin) for our tradies. When this stretch target is met by our team, we’re hitting break-even AND making profit on top of that.
In the current climate, understanding this number will help you set targets daily, weekly, monthly and yearly to help you survive the battle.
Without this number, our tradies would work day in, day out, with no goal. As the trade business owner, we’d have no idea whether our costs are being covered. Even worse, whether the business is going backwards.
Do you know your business’s break-even point? H2 - What is the break-even point? When you’ve hit this break-even point, you’re not losing money nor making money. However, your costs are covered.
Your break-even sets expectations — and keeps them motivated to hit that magic number, using sales strategies Lifestyle Tradie teaches. You can check these out in our free Kick-Ass Tradies Facebook group via this link https://www.facebook.com/groups/kickasstradies/ H2 - How to apply break-even in your trade business The part you’ve been waiting for, ‘how?’ This is a process we’ve streamlined over the years and now, want to share it with you.
In regular circumstances, this may be calculated on a quarterly basis. But during this crisis, you need to be doing it now. Here are the three steps in the process: Step 1. Start by looking at your expenses (money going out of your business). Your aim is to keep your costs as tight and lean as possible. Step 2. Go through your profit and loss statement (P&L) to see where you can make savings. Be thorough and be ruthless. Step 3. Review your bank statements, and consider the return on investment (ROI) for every deduction. If there’s no ROI, scrap it. If you prioritise this process, you’ll have a clear understanding of your business’s financial health. H2 - Why is break-even important for painters? Apart from knowing your break-even point, you also need to know what to do with that number. In our plumbing business, Dr.DRiP Plumbing, we’ve used
30 | Aussie Painting Contractor
In Lifestyle Tradie’s Break-Even Guide for Tradies, we share the exact steps to knowing your break-even and setting targets so you can quickly implement it into your painting business. Knowing your break-even point in this crisis will set you up with the confidence to survive the battle and win the war. H2 - What’s next? Download your copy of Lifestyle Tradie’s Break-Even Guide for Tradies, which includes our trade-specific break-even formula and KPI Tracking Form. Join our free Kick-Ass Tradies Facebook group to learn how to set team targets using your business’s breakeven point.
Angela Smith
Co-founder – Lifestyle Tradie
“Helping Trade Business Owners Fast-Track Financial & Lifestyle Success”
Lifestyle Tradie is an award-winning education hub and community for tradies. Since 2009, we’ve taught thousands of tradies how to be better business leaders.
YOUR COVID-19 TOOLKIT We’ve all be thrown a massive curveball called COVID-19. There’s lots of stuff going on right now. The fear and panic is unsettling for our employees and our customers. As trade business owners, it’s up to us to instil calm and confidence through strong leadership, staying positive and having a rock-solid game plan.In this toolkit, we’ve created done-for-you resources you can use immediately. You’ll fi nd two explainer videos from Andy Smith, a guide on how to facilitate a COVID-19 toolbox meeting, a policy and memorandum, email, text, call script and social post that you can use and implement right now.
HOW TO CONDUCT A TOOLBOX MEETING
CRISIS-PROOF YOUR TRADE BUSINESS IN 2020
w w w. lif es tyle tradie .co m. au
2020 May Issue | 31
The Importance of Meditation in Crazy Times These are times of heightened change, disruption, uncertainty, fear, anxiety. It can feel pretty crazy for most of us. So how do we cope? What can we do in the middle of chaos and crisis? This is when meditation becomes of critical importance. Without meditation, we have no way of dealing with the anxieties coming up. All of our old ways of coping (which don’t normally work very well) are not working at all: • Distraction and ignoring (how can you ignore something that’s everywhere?) • Procrastination and avoiding (you can’t avoid this crisis) • Control of all kinds (you can’t control this, though we’re all trying to find ways to control) • Exiting, quitting (you can’t exit from the world) • Complaining, lashing out at others (you can do this, but it only makes the situation worse) • Worrying (yep, that’s happening a lot) So if our usual ways of coping with worry and uncertainty cannot work right now … what can we do? We can freak out. Or we can meditate. It’s our choice.
What Meditation Can Do Right Now Meditation isn’t magic, but it is a medicine for uncertainty and anxiety. Here’s what it can do for us in these times of heightened fears: • Help us to notice when we’re caught up in anxious thoughts — when you notice this, you can do something about it • Help us to see the feelings that are arising for us, which we might not normally notice • Interrupt the thought cycles we get caught up in, that might be keeping us from being present or sleeping, by dropping our awareness into the sensations of the body
32 | Aussie Painting Contractor
• Help calm down and see that in this moment, things are not dangerous, they are actually OK • Bring calm focus when we need to get some stuff done These are just a few things you might see from meditation. Obviously, there’s much more to it. But it’s worth practicing. How to Form the Meditation Habit If you don’t already have a meditation habit, don’t worry … it’s absolutely doable. If you’ve done it before but let it drop, don’t worry … just let go of any guilt and start again.
Here’s what I recommend: • Pick a time. Let’s say 7am each day. Actually, it’s best to pick something you already do every single day, and tie the habit to that event — right when you wake up, for example, or right after you shower. • Set a reminder. Put the reminder on your phone and calendar every day, so you don’t forget. Also put a paper note somewhere you’ll see it. Forgetting to do the habit is very common in the beginning. • Set a timer for 2 minutes. When you’re ready to meditate, pick a comfortable spot (a chair or couch is fine), and set a timer for just 2 minutes to start with. Yes, that’s very short, but it’s a great way to start out a new habit — start very small, so it’s easier to stick to. You can increase it by a couple minutes every 7 days, if you do well at sticking to it. • Just pay attention to your breath. It’s a simple thing to put your attention on — turn your mind’s attention to the breath, and leave it there for the 2 minutes. When (not if) your mind wanders from the breath to thoughts … simply notice, and bring the mind back to the breath. Don’t worry about getting distracted, it happens to everyone. Just keep coming back to the breath. • When the timer goes off, thank yourself. A little gratitude helps to stick to any habit. Thank yourself for making the effort, and notice what good this small practice has brought you.
Zen Habits Meditation Room If you’d like to meditate with me and the Zen Habits community, we’ve created a Zen Habits Meditation Room on Zoom to help people during these uncertain, anxiety filled times. We’re aiming to have three meditations a day:
Daily Schedule
This schedule might change from day to day, but we intend to hold about 3 meditations each day. You can join at one of these times: Morning meditation with Coyote Jackson: 7am Pacific / 10am Eastern (14:00 GMT) – for 15-30 minutes Mid-day meditation with Leo Babauta: Noon Pacific/3pm Eastern (19:00 GMT) – for 15-20 minutes Evening meditation (silent, not guided): 6pm Pacific/9pm Eastern (01:00 GMT) – for 30 minutes. We will sit together but no one will guide the meditation. Once again, join us in this Zoom room: If you join and there is nobody there, enjoy the space! Use it to sit and do your own meditation.
Leo Babauta
a successful ‘simplicity’ blogger and author from California, the creator of top 25 Blog
ZEN HABITS
2020 May Issue | 33
CHANGE OF PLANS When this article goes to print on 1st May, my final job in business will be finished. I will be in full retirement and living off my Superannuation and shares that have been building steadily for the past 25 years. My wife and I will also be 35,000 feet in the air on a Singapore Airline flight bound for Europe. It will be the start of our annual overseas holiday that we both look forward to so much. Every year my wife Wendy spends hours upon hours on the planning of each trip which usually starts around eight months prior to leaving. Every detail is meticulously worked out of where to go, countries to see, routes to take, accommodation, flights, car hire, etc, etc. She would make an excellent Travel Agent. If it’s taken a few days to open up the magazine, then we will have arrived at a place called Annecy in France. It is a major tourist area situated at the top-end of the third largest lake in the country (being 14.6km long and 3.2kms at its’ widest point). It’s only a short distance from the mountains of Switzerland which makes it an even more attractive place to visit. We were here 5 years ago and swore we would come back and stay longer.
34 | Aussie Painting Contractor
Our accommodation is on the bottom end of the lake. It’s a 3 bedroom house and is booked for four weeks. In a few days, Wendy’s sister and her girlfriend will be joining us for around seven days before heading off on a ten day Viking River Cruise and then flying out to New York. After they leave, our son and his girlfriend will arrive and spend a short time with us before they do a bit of travelling around themselves. Two of our best friends will then join us in our last week at Annecy and then the four of us will fly to Dubrovnic and spend ten days together touring Croatia, another favourite place of ours. We then say ‘goodbye’ as they are booked on a Mediterranean cruise from Venice. Wendy and I will then stay on for another few weeks (together, alone with no guests) making our way up to Munich for our flight home. OK! As you may have realised the above trip did not happen. It couldn’t have because of the restrictions in travel, so please disregard all that was said above as there has been a change of plan and I now will re-write my opening statement.
When this article goes to print on 1st May, my wife and I will be at home in Brisbane. Because of the ‘Covid 19’ Pandemic we had to cancel our trip, as has my sister-in-law and her friend, my son and his girlfriend and also the two friends that were going as well. As you can imagine we are all devastated, but as the saying goes, ‘You have to do what you have to do’. Fortunately we are getting most of our money back that has been paid out so we will only lose part of it, but going by the ‘Idiom’, that’s the ‘price one has to pay’. The $70,000 or so that collectively would have been spent overseas, will now stay in our bank accounts. When you think that many countries rely on tourism (including Australia), hundreds of millions of dollars will not be going into their or our economies and as far as I can see, won’t be for at least another twelve months. The companies that miss out are not only the ones that we directly booked in advance for but also it will be the souvenir shops, restaurants, petrol stations, entry fees to parks and historical sites, scenic tours, clothing stores and of course, patisseries and coffee shops. Unfortunately it will ruin many businesses as they won’t be able to withstand the loss of income but this is one of those unexpected events in life we all need to deal with. As Forest Gump once said, ‘Shit happens’.
With any sudden or unexpected problem, to survive in business it’s essential to know how to adapt to change as soon as possible. It could be anything from staff phoning in sick, cancelation of a job, bad weather conditions, vehicle or plant hire equipment breakdowns or even a computer virus. Many of these problems are inevitable so a remedy can be planned well in advance, but in the present situation of ‘Covid 19’, it took everyone by surprise and businesses did not know exactly what to do or how to handle it.
If we look back through the centuries though, we have gone through wars, pandemics, the Spanish flu, viruses, depressions, recessions and even an attack (September 11). All these have affected the World’s economy in one way or another but we have managed to come out of them as a stronger, united people. Getting through this present crisis will be tough but as long as we have the support of each other (and I think our Government is doing a great job also with the relief packages), we will get through it.
By the way! I have also put full retirement on hold for the time being (because of the plummet in Superannuation and the share market) and back into semi retirement for the time being. As there is nothing else to do, I figured I may as well keep myself busy, work around the house and do a few jobs here and there until a vaccine is developed and things get back to normal; believe me it will.
It has taken a while but we are now aware of the correct procedures to be put in place. If you’re not quite sure though, it would be a good idea for you and your staff to do a FREE course such as the ‘COVID-19 Accreditation Course’ that the ‘National Institute of Painting and Decorating’ has developed. Once you know what is required, then you can tell your customers of the social distancing and precautions you have in place and that it will be safe, for both parties, to work on their property.
Please stay safe and if things are getting you down, talk to someone. Remember that you are not alone in this.
Jim Baker www.mytools4business.com
2020 May Issue | 35
50 YEARS A HOUSE PAINTER
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36 | Aussie Painting Contractor
Ways to reduce
OVERHEADS If you’ve been reviewing your business’s financial position and are looking for ways to improve your cash flow, one of the first things to look at are your expenses. As your business grows, so will your costs, but there are things you and your employees can do to keep them down as much as possible and so improve your cash flow. It’s important not to rest on your laurels. Continually thinking of ways to reduce your overheads is essential for a healthy cash flow, so conducting regular reviews of your business expenses should be a regular task.
Reducing expenses
Although there’s no getting around paying for things like phones, internet, power, office equipment and rent, there are ways to keep these costs to a minimum. Review these expenses and consider the following:
Communications – with fierce competition in this
industry, it should be easy for you to negotiate a better deal for phone and internet use. Talk to your current supplier about a new deal and if they won’t come to the party, shop around for a new one.
Energy costs – some of this is obvious, such as
turning off things when they’re not in use. Green energy options are worth looking into, especially if you’re shopping around for a new energy supplier.
Rent – if your business is not client-facing, you might
consider working from home. Not only can you claim your home office as a business expense, but not paying commercial rent is a huge saving. More and more businesses are becoming virtual – it’s worth considering if yours can be as well.
2020 May Issue | 37
It’s worth joining industry associations relevant to your business. They often organize discounts for their members. And the networking contacts you make will often have ideas about savings or deals they’ve made that are reducing their expenses.
Outsourcing
The great thing about outsourcing is that it frees you up to spend more time in activities that grow your business. This is especially true of administrative tasks, so you could look at outsourcing: Payroll – this is time consuming and often stressful, especially if you make mistakes. Outsourcing this task eliminates those factors and frees you up for more profitable activities.
IT systems – unless you’re an actual IT-based business, retaining someone to look after your IT needs is a very costly expense. Outsourcing your IT often means you can negotiate a contract that’s almost as good as having someone on site because there’s lots of competition in the IT industry.
You might also want to consider reducing your staff expenses by converting some of them to part-time instead of full-time employees, especially if the workload justifies it. 38 | Aussie Painting Contractor
Ways to save
There are a number of things you can look at here, tried-and-true methods for keeping costs down. Some of the most effective are: Business taxes – talk to your accountant or a business tax specialist about ways you can legally save on your taxes. For instance, can you claim an area of your home as an office, which is a legitimate business expense? Importing – you could look at importing your business’s raw materials. It could be that they’re cheaper to buy from an overseas supplier than the one you’ve been using locally. Make the most of technology – moving your accounts to a cloud-based system, reducing manual paperwork processes and communicating with your customers over Skype or Zoom instead of visiting them face-toface will all help reduce costs. You can even have your staff work from home and, as mentioned above, save on renting a commercial space. Summary As with most things in business, learning how to reduce costs comes down to planning and creative thinking. Talk to your staff as they might have ideas on savings, and it’s important to make sure that they’re doing what they can on a regular basis to keep costs down.
Sandra Price
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How To Accept
SETTLEMENT OFFERS I recently had two clients (let’s call them Jason and Peter) who were both offered a settlement deal by their debtors. Contractors Debt Recovery had made adjudication applications on behalf of both of them, and the offers had been received once the debtors had read the case against them. It was clear that they could not produce any valid reasons not to pay my clients. One client received a letter from the debtor’s solicitor offering full payment within 14 days on the condition that the application be withdrawn. The other client received a phone message from his debtor offering to ‘work it out’. I discussed the matter with both clients. Jason wanted me to withdraw the adjudication application as he felt he was sure he would get his money within the 14 days. I was not so confident, but as the letter came from a solicitor it held a bit more water. So Jason agreed to the deal. Peter asked me if he should call his debtor back, but he really didn’t feel like talking to him. I advised Peter to fax his debtor a request to put anything he had to say in writing. He did so, and sure enough Peter also got a written offer to pay the whole amount on the condition that the application be withdrawn.
40 | Aussie Painting Contractor
I advised Peter to prepare a letter outlining the conditions under which he would accept the offer, which of course included a ‘no payment, no withdrawal’ rule. Peter got his money. Jason is still waiting, and faces starting the payment claim process from scratch, or commencing winding up the debtor. The difference lies in control and power. Peter maintained his position of power and controlled the manner in which he accepted the offer. Jason relinquished his power, and didn’t control the process. When you get an offer from a debtor to pay, you need to follow these 6 steps. WHY – should you accept the offer? Are there other pressing reasons why you would entertain an offer? Perhaps there are other business or personal reasons that are best served if you settle quickly for as much as you can get. This is really for you to decide. If the offer is an insult, then you will probably want to keep the pressure on. As a general rule, if you’re not being offered at least 70% of what you are owed, it’s a joke of an offer and I’d keep fighting. Your debtor clearly wants to avoid a fight if he can, which is why he’s made an offer in the first place, so keep going. But this is open to each individual circumstance.
WHO – is making the offer? Don’t negotiate with someone who is not authorized to make payment offers. Often you will strike a deal with someone who has been playing with you, just to see how low you will go. Then when you accept the offer, you are told that that person was never authorized to make offers. This can happen if your debtor is a large company where you might be dealing with project or site managers. Are you sure these guys can make settlement offers on behalf of the company? So if you are not sure if the offer is coming from a senior enough person, ask them for written confirmation that they are duly authorized to negotiate a payment settlement on behalf of the company. Advise them that you will only consider an offer once you have such confirmation in writing. WHAT – are they willing to pay for? This is the business end of the deal. How much are they offering? Often you will have a gut reaction to the number once you see it. Go with that most of the time. If an offer is reasonable it is generally better to accept it and save yourself the time, stress, and cost of a much harder fight. I would stress here that this applies to ‘reasonable’ offers. Most of the time you will get pathetic offers that your instinct will immediately reject. Often there will be vast slabs of work (often variations) that the debtor will not pay for, instead offering payment for some tiny item of contract works. That is the time to push forward with your adjudication, payment claim, or other recovery process. The golden rule here is DO NOT MAKE A COUNTER OFFER. If you are offered $30 000 payment on a $100 000 debt, don’t suggest that you will accept $70 000. This is a road to nowhere, as your debtor will never accept your counter offer. He may come up to $50 000 if you’re lucky. Remember, your role is to accept offers. It is your debtor’s job to come up with one that you will accept. If you reject an offer, then keep your mouth shut and keep going. Your debtor then will have to fight on, or make a better offer. WHEN – will payment be made? This is the time to impose some control. When you have accepted an offer, the worst thing you can do is relax because ‘it’s finally all over’. This is when it can all go south. When you have a figure you can live with, you need to define when it is due for payment. And I mean ‘when’ precisely. That means a day and time.
This is a crucial step because by imposing this rule you can test your client’s credibility. If they hesitate at any kind of a deadline then you know the offer is not real. They may offer another deadline that you can live with, but make sure that your power is intact. That means that you continue your adjudication or recovery action right up to the time that money hits your bank account. If you relinquish this power, you can kiss your money goodbye. WHERE – will payment be made? Again this is another aspect of controlling the process. Where do you want the money to arrive? It may come to you by couriered cheque. Or a cheque may be sent to your lawyer’s office, or to your office. This step only applies to payment by cheque, but you must define where the cheque will be sent, and advise your debtor accordingly. HOW – will payment be made? This is the most important aspect of control, because you need to confirm that you have actually been paid before drop your recovery action. Today there are many ways of moving money around: Most of the time you would accept payment by either cheque or direct transfer into your account. Remember that if you accept a cheque it MUST be a bank cheque. Offer to pay your debtor for the cost of the cheque in order to make it easier for him to comply. If you can’t get a bank cheque out of him, then you will only consider payment to be made on the clearance of the money, NOT receipt of the cheque itself. Or you could provide account details for a direct transfer. Evidence of this will be an online receipt. But be careful. I have seen one of these faked using liquid paper and a photo copier. So again only consider payment to be made once you can see the cash in your account. This will usually be a day after the transfer. So have a go at writing an offer acceptance letter incorporating all the elements above, and preserve your power, and control the process. Anyone can make offers. It’s your job to turn them into cash.
Anthony Igra
For more great articles and video information about dealing with payment problems go to www.contractorsdebtrecovery.com.au
or call us on 1300 669 075
2020 May Issue | 41
DO
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HAVE
AN
Apprentice? Aussie Painters Network is the preferred industry consultation provider for Master Painters Decorators & Signwriters' Association of Queensland Union of Employers (RTO 30048) to provide an exceptional quality, convenient experience for apprentices. We work closely with employers and their apprentice with access to thorough, easy to use, online training resources, combined with onsite tutoring and hands on simulated work environments in our custom built Painters Training Wheels.
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www.aussiepaintersnetwork.com.au Call : 1800 355 344 or 07 3555 80102020 May Issue | 43
The The Industry Industry Idiots Idiots
44 | Aussie Painting Contractor
IMPORTANT
Contacts
Aussie Painters Network www.aussiepaintersnetwork.com.au
Ph. 0430 399 800
National Institute for Painting and Decorating www.painters.edu.au
Ph. 1300 319 790
Australian Tax Office www.ato.gov.au
Ph. 13 72 26 / Ph. 13 28 65
Award Rates www.fairwork.gov.au
Ph. 13 13 94
Fair Work Building & Construction www.fwbc.gov.au
Ph. 1800 003 338
Mates In Construction www.matesinconstruction.com.au
Ph. 1300 642 111
Workplace Health and Safety Contacts Comcare WorkSafe ACT Workplace Health and Safety QLD Victorian WorkCover Authority WorkCover NSW SafeWork SA WorkSafe WA NT WorkSafe WorkSafe Tasmania
www.comcare.gov.au www.worksafe.act.gov.au www.worksafe.qld.gov.au www.vwa.vic.gov.au www.workcover.nsw.gov.au www.safework.sa.gov.au www.commerce.wa.gov.au/WorkSafe/ www.worksafe.nt.gov.au www.worksafe.tas.gov.au
1300 366 979 02 6207 3000 1300 362 128 1800 136 089 13 10 50 1300 365 255 1300 307 877 1800 019 115 1300 366 322
www.actcancer.org www.cancercouncil.com.au www.cancercouncilnt.com.au www.cancerqld.org.au www.cancersa.org.au www.cancervic.org.au www.cancerwa.asn.au
(02) 6257 9999 (02) 9334 1900 (08) 8927 4888 (07) 3634 5100 (08) 8291 4111 (03) 9635 5000 (08) 9212 4333
Cancer Council Australia ACT NSW NT QLD SA VIC WA
2020 May Issue | 45
