Lord Howe Island Board s3

Board Meeting: November 2013 Agenda Number: 8(iii) File Ref: PO0030

1LORD HOWE ISLAND BOARD Business Paper

Business Licensing Policy Update

BACKGROUND

In May 2013 the Board adopted the Business Licensing (Commercial Undertakings) Policy.

All businesses licensed by the Board during 2012/13 were provided with a copy of the new policy and asked to submit an Application for Business Licence Form, if required under the new policy, to enable licences to be issued for 2013/14 going forward.

A public notice was placed in the Signal, on the Board’s public noticeboards and the website advising the public of the new policy.

CURRENT POSITION

National Business Names Register

A national business names registration service commenced on 28 May 2012, replacing the state and territory services. The registration service is administered and managed by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).

Risk Management

The Business Licensing Policy states:

Businesses must 3 (d) Maintain appropriate and adequate insurances including public liability insurance.

4(d) When applying for, or renewing, a business licence, copies of all the relevant licences, permits, approvals and registrations issued by the Department of Fair Trading must be attached to the application or renewal.

Advice has been sought in relation to the Boards requirement to ensure compliance with the above clauses. In brief, the recommendation received is that:

 It is a risk management decision, based on the level of financial risk and exposure to the Board, whether the Board check that every licensee has appropriate insurance cover.  The Board can issue a licence without requiring proof that the licensee holds relevant approvals from other State and Commonwealth agencies for their activities. Holding the relevant approvals is a compliance matter for the agency regulating the activity. It is however often a standard requirement in a licence agreement that the licensee warrant that they hold the necessary approvals.

of 2 Seventy one Business Licence applications have been received. Thirty seven licences have been issued for a five year period concluding 30 June 2018. Approval in principle has been granted to thirty four applicants pending provision of evidence of adequate public liability insurance being held.

Non-Commercial Undertakings

The issue of business activities conducted on the Island by persons or entities not normally based on the Island has been raised with the Administration as a matter of concern.

Under the current policy tradespeople and professionals brought to the Island by residents to undertake specific works are deemed commercial undertakings and are therefore required to hold a licence. This requirement raises the following issues:

 Residents requiring the services of tradespeople/professionals not normally based on the Island are faced with prohibitive expenses associated with covering the costs of travel and accommodation, in additional to standard fees for services. Imposition of the requirement to hold a business licence for one-off jobs will increase the cost to the end user by $375.95 (Business Licence Fee $250 + associated Waste Fees $125.95 2013/14).  The Board does not have the resources to monitor these types of one-off activities and ensure compliance with the requirement for a business licence.

Delegation to Issue Licences

In accordance with the current instrument of Delegation of Authority under the Lord Howe Island Act 1953 the power to issue and renew licences under clause 70 of the Lord Howe Island Regulation 2004 rests with the Lord Howe Island Board Chairperson, Chief Executive Officer or Manager Business and Corporate Services.

Amendments have been drafted to the Business Licensing (Commercial Undertakings) Policy (Attachment A) to address the matters noted above.

RECOMMENDATION

The Board adopt the proposed amendments to the Business Licensing (Commercial Undertakings) Policy as per Attachment A.

Prepared Jemima Spivey A/Manager Business & Corporate Services

Endorsed Bill Monks A/Chief Executive Officer