May 2017

An effective corporate compliance program is essential to good governance and risk management. Many businesses have invested significantly in compliance over the last decade yet continue to experience compliance breaches. With a number of recent well-publicised compliance breaches, it is worth considering some of the key characteristics of an effective compliance program. Why have a compliance program? A business that does not have an effective compliance program is at greater risk of non-compliance. Regulators around Australia are actively searching for non-compliance and are often successful in their enforcement efforts against non-compliant businesses. During 2015–16, ASIC completed 1,441 high-intensity surveillances and 175 investigations. ASIC secured 22 criminal convictions and of those 13 resulted in a custodial sentence. During 2015–16, the ACCC was involved in 48 consumer protection court cases (19 new…

A variety of businesses are involved in selling energy. These businesses include caravan parks, building managers, shopping centres, office buildings, airports, industrial parks and solar power providers. Energy sellers in the Eastern States of Australia must either operate under licence or an exemption. The sale of energy, under the Retail Law, includes the sale of energy at cost, i.e. without profit. National Consumer Framework The Eastern States (except Victoria) are governed by the National Energy Retail Rules (‘Retail Rules’) and National Energy Retail Law (‘Retail Law’), implemented as part of the National Energy Consumer Framework. Obtaining an electricity retail authorisation is a complex and time-consuming process. Broadly, it requires that an applicant prove to the Australian Energy Regulator (‘AER’) that it can meet financial, operational, and technical requirements. An alternative…

Month: May 2017

Establishing an Effective Compliance Program: Five Tips

Selling Electricity: Licence Requirements