There have been some positive developments from the federal government on some small business issues.

Business Names
One of the centuries-old hangovers from Australia’s colonial days is being fixed. As simple a thing as registering a business name currently has to be done in every State if you want registration in each State. From around April 2011 all registrations will be handled centrally through the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) with recognition in every State. This might seem a small issue but the change is incredibly sensible. All the details are here:

<http://www.contractworld.com.au/general/ica-Australian-business-name-registration.php>

Shams and Phoenixes
It's pleasing when we receive complaints from people who have been 'screwed over' when they tell us that, eventually, action seems to be occurring. In April this year we reported on complaints from unrelated people concerning companies conducting ‘phoenix’ and sham contract operations in the tourism and construction industries in Queensland and northern NSW:

<http://www.contractworld.com.au/general/ica-illegal-workers-phoenix-companies.php>

We’ve received information from one of the complainants that the ATO and the Fair Work Ombudsman are undertaking some strong follow-up investigations:

<http://www.contractworld.com.au/general/ica-catching-the-phoenix.php>


Regards
Ken Phillips (Exec. Dir.) and
the team at Independent Contractors of Australia
PS: We’ve had some alert us to on-line business operators using standard contracts downloaded from American websites. We’re looking at these too.
<http://www.contractworld.com.au><http://www.contractworld.com.au/>