Written by GEORGE LEKAKIS Financial Services Editor, The New Daily

Lawyers are charging super members thousands to make a simple insurance claim, says CEO of industry’s peak body.

One of the superannuation industry’s most senior figures has hit out at the legal profession for slugging super fund members who make successful disability claims through their super funds.

Pauline Vamos, the chief executive of the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia, believes lawyers have turned to milking fees from the superannuation system in recent years after state governments tightened eligibility rules for workers’ compensation schemes.

Ms Vamos said that ASFA was writing to legal societies across Australia to explain the superannuation industry’s concerns about lawyers targeting the liberal disability definitions of insurance policies offered by super funds.

“Lawyers are taking up to 35 per cent of disability payments made to super fund members,” she told The New Daily.

“Super funds have told me that lawyers are charging $3500 just to fill out a claim form.”

ASFA is the peak body for superannuation providers in Australia and is agitating for law societies to review the practices of their members in relation to insurance claims made through super funds.

Ms Vamos said that historically about 95 per cent of all disability claims were paid out by super funds and that it was hard to see how lawyers were adding value to the claims process.

In letters sent to the Law Society of NSW, Ms Vamos states that fund members “are incurring unnecessary legal costs when making claims, which only reduces their final benefit”.

ASFA’s biggest concern is that lawyers are encouraging clients who are denied claims to issue legal proceedings through the courts, rather than follow their super fund’s internal dispute resolution schemes.

“The feedback we are getting from super funds is that lawyers are superfluous in the claims process,” she said.

“We’ve told the law societies that we’re greatly concerned with the increased involvement of lawyers early on in the claims process.

“We’re also concerned about the failure of lawyers to the tell the truth to clients that most disability claims are paid.”

Ms Vamos said the number of lawyers involved in disability claims had trebled in the last few years, with the recent tightening of workers’ compensation in NSW a major driver of the profession’s interest in insurance policies marketed by super funds.

NSW lawyers defend their new patch

The New Daily sought comment from the CEO of the Law Society of NSW, Michael Tidball.

The society responded through a media spokesman, who defended the state’s lawyers against charges that they were targeting disability insurers.

“Where a (super) member is in need of assistance in making and maintaining their claim it is their legal right to seek legal advice, and if the client instructs, it is their lawyer’s obligation to help enforce their claim,” the spokesman said.

“Lawyers are able to help navigate the complex rules and processes surrounding claims.”

The spokesman suggested there were special circumstances in which it might become necessary for some clients to engage a lawyer.

“In cases of total and permanent disablement, lawyers will often be involved where the member requires urgent treatment, in which case it is entirely appropriate for ‘pressure’ to be applied to obtain a speedy resolution of the claim,” he said.

In response to claims that lawyers were collecting up to 35 per cent of a successful claimant’s payout and charging as much as $3500 for just filling in claim forms, the spokesman said ASFA had not provided more information to support the allegations.

“If there is a circumstance where a legal practitioner has been found guilty of conduct that would give rise to a complaint of unsatisfactory professional conduct, such as overcharging, this should be referred to the Legal Services Commissioner,” the spokesman said.

“We have invited ASFA to provide specific information in relation to such claims, however this has so far not been forthcoming.”

Premiums on the rise

ASFA’s attempt to influence the behaviour of compensation lawyers comes after members of industry funds copped big increases in insurance premiums in the last year.

Two of the country’s biggest funds – Cbus and Australian Super – hiked death and disability premiums by more than 80 per cent in 2014.

Earlier this year two other big funds – MTAA Super and HESTA – announced premium hikes of 110 per cent and 35 per cent respectively.

Superannuation consultants told The New Daily last week that the increased involvement of lawyers in the insurance claims process had been a major driver of recent premium increases.

The peak body for Australian surgeons is asking medical staff to share their experiences of bullying to so it can build up a better picture of the extent of the problem in the profession.

The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons has sent out a survey on bullying to all college fellows, trainees and graduates, while a hotline has also been set up for staff to anonymously detail any experiences of discrimination or harassment. 

An independent research company is carrying out the survey, which the chair of the College's expert advisory group on bullying Rob Knowles said would enable staff who have been bullied to share their experiences without fear of retribution.

"The more accurate picture we can get, the more definite assistance we can offer the College in how they might tackle it," he said.

Neurosurgeon Caroline Tan, who has spoken of how her career was compromised after reporting a sexual assault she suffered from a colleague, welcomed the move as an important part of the effort to tackle bullying.

It comes as Monash Health continues to investigate senior neurosurgeon Helen Maroulis for allegedly bullying staff.

The Age understands the investigation will include interviews with former trainee surgeon Imogen Ibbett after she went public with allegations of bullying against Dr Maroulis on ABC's Four Corners program.

Dr Ibbett also claimed Monash Health did not want to hear about her experience of bullying when she contacted them to discuss it after she left the hospital.

Written by Craig Butt, Health Reporter With Julia Medew on Canberra Times 

Convene Queensland 2015 will have a fresh look, with more than 20 new exhibitors already confirmed for the 28 July event at Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre (BCEC).

Combined with the strong contingent of returning exhibitors the new faces mean the expo is set to be a sell out despite having more space on offer than last year’s inaugural Convene Q. Only about a dozen stands are still available and event manager Ally Eastaugh says the strong enquiry level indicates these will be snapped up over the next few weeks.

At the same time, buyer registrations have started strongly with quality business event organisers from the corporate and association sectors already confirmed. With some eight weeks to go before Convene Q, organisers are now moving into the next phase of promotion to buyers – including personalised, individual invites to select buyers.

‘The Convene portfolio is all about sharing knowledge and information and ensuring quality business connections. Convene Q fits that bill,’ says Eastaugh.

First time exhibitors include Cloudland in Brisbane, Con-X-ion Transfer Services, Mackay Entertainment and Convention Centre (MECC), Gold Coast Event Centre, Cruise Whitsundays and Rydges South Bank.

‘Convene Q provides the ability to really drill down to the detail, offering a depth of information that a regional expo like this can provide,’ says Eastaugh. ‘So we are extremely happy to have new exhibitors like Simply Great Ideas, The Styled Group, and The Tote Room – Creating Unique Events, all adding to the mix.’

See a list of confirmed exhibitors here:

http://www.convenequeensland.com/exhibitors-2015

Visitor registration can be found here

http://www.convenequeensland.com/visitor-registration

For more information contact Allyssa Eastaugh ph ++64 9 818 7807 email allyssa@promag.co.nz

Or Stu Freeman ph ++64 9 818 7807 email stu@promag.co.nz

The basis for successfully investing non-profit reserves lies in addressing 10 key questions faced by all board and investment committee members. 

This paper is intended to help people who have taken up the challenge and responsibility of investing money for the benefit of others. This is, for most, unpaid work carried out in an environment where:

1. resources available for support and development are scarce
   
2. a desire to help achieve important objectives meets a desire to avoid personal and organisational risk
   
3. volatile and unpredictable markets have become the norm.
   

This is also a paper for people in a fortunate position. If your non-profit has a significant reserve or genuine endowment, you are in possession of a strategically valuable asset. An endowment is a precious resource. Reserves of any kind are obviously valuable, but more so when you consider some of the facts. For most non-profits, reserves remain outside the tax system, meaning there is no tax on income received or capital gains realised. Imputation credit refunds, accessible to many, are considered a valuable source of additional income. Investment income is passive income and together with capital growth its production allows a non-profit to generate additional funds (often untied) for the cost of a management or advisory fee. Reserves and endowments also help make non-profits more sustainable and increase their self-sufficiency.

Finally, managed well, endowments not only help an organisation to achieve its mission, they are used by savvy leaders to attract talent and funders. They can and have been used to demonstrate vision, ambition, strength, self-determination, predictable cash flow and sound management. This is important in an environment where government funding is under pressure and non-profits compete in a donor/sponsor market worth $8.61 billion per year.

Please find the white paper by Koda here: http://kodacapital.com.au/docs/investing-for-non-profits--koda-capital.pdf

Joint media release from The Hon Josh Frydenberg MP, Assistant Treasurer, and The Hon Scott Morrison MP, Minister For Social Services: The Prime Minister’s Community Business Partnership today consolidated its commitment to increasing philanthropy in Australia.

The Partnership confirmed two measures to encourage philanthropy:

• simplifying the valuation requirements for donations of listed shares and managed funds; and
  
• enhancing portability for private ancillary funds (PAF)s on winding up.
  

The first measure removes the need for donors to obtain a valuation from the Australian Taxation Office for listed shares or managed funds greater than $5,000.  Donors will no longer need to pay a $241 fee to the Australian Taxation Office for these valuations.  This will reduce compliance costs for donors.

The second measure will provide consistent treatment for PAFs and public ancillary funds in the winding up phase.  It will provide PAFs, which are private funds set up to provide money or property to deductible gift recipients, with the flexibility to transfer their net assets to other ancillary funds.  This option is already available to public ancillary funds in the winding up phase. 

This measure was included as part of the Governments Autumn 2015 Repeal Day package.

These measures are part of the Government’s commitment to the Partnership, and to increasing philanthropy in Australia.

We would also like to acknowledge the work of Philanthropy Australia in contributing these and other ideas for reform to the Partnership.

AuSAE Conference and Exhibition (ACE) is not only a fantastic networking and professional development event; delegates can also win valuable prizes including a Hyundai i20 thanks to Auto Tender. With limited places remaining, we recommend clicking here to secure your place today.

		WIN A CAR AT ACE 2015  ACE delegates will have a one in 400 chance to win a Hyundai i20 Active4 Manual 3Door thanks to Auto Tender. To enter, simply visit all 12 participating booths, grab a coffee at the IVT coffee bar, visit the car stand and say hi to the AuSAE team. With such great odds, will we see you at ACE 2015? Entry T&Cs apply.
		WIN A TICKET TO ACE 2015  Would you like to be sponsored to attend ACE 2015? Simply book a PRODOCOM Communications Needs Assessment and they will send you a ticket to ACE valued at $1090! PRODOCOM offer leading association digital communication solutions including mobile app, FAX, email and SMS solutions. Contact Simone on simone.aikens@qld.prodocom.com.au with the subject line “AuSAE offer” today. First in best dressed as PRODOCOM have just 10 ACE tickets to giveaway!
		WIN OTHER GREAT PRIZES AT ACE 2015   Thanks to our fabulous partners and exhibitors, we have many other great prices to give-away valued over $2,000 each! You could win a trip overseas, holiday interstate, great technology products or perhaps even your organisation's very own benchmarking study report! All you need to do is visit participating stalls in the ACE Exhibition.

There is only two weeks remaining to register and be part of ACE 2015. So click here to register today or here to view the full ACE 2015 Program.

Applications will open next week for nib foundation’s seventh annual Community Grant funding round.

The national charitable foundation is again looking to support charity-run, grassroots initiatives that make a positive difference to the health and wellbeing of communities across metropolitan and regional areas of Australia.

The annual funding round will see the foundation allocate between 10 and 15 grants of up to $50,000 to registered charities to undertake community-based programs that run for up to 12 months.

nib foundation Chairman, Keith Lynch said that the community grants are a good example of how even modest amounts of funding can assist a dedicated not-for-profit group to make a real difference by tackling an area of need within its own community.

“Our focus is on supporting programs that aim to make real change to health issues and meet a demand that is not adequately addressed by existing services,” Mr Lynch said.

“This may include improving access to current and targeted health information and education, building capacity to cope with health challenges through improved social connectedness, mentoring and peer support, or trialling new ways to improve physical, mental and social wellbeing,” he added.

The foundation seeks to partner with organisations that are offering practical approaches to addressing these important health issues for young people and carers.

“These two groups have growing, unmet health needs that are not currently being adequately addressed by existing services and we see any opportunity to help meet these needs,” Mr Lynch said.

Since its establishment in 2008, nib foundation has committed more than $12 million in funding to over 80 programs that are having a lasting impact by making a real and measurable difference to health and wellbeing in communities across Australia.

Applications for the 2015 Community Grant round open on Monday 1 June and close at 5pm on Friday 26 June 2015. Application forms are available at nibfoundation.com.au

For more information contact:

Renea Jaeger

Corporate Affairs Manager

r.jaeger@nib.com.au

02 4914 1739 or 0402 376 835

Full Media Release Here.

By Survey Matters

About the research

Following the outstanding success of the Associations Matter Studies in 2013 and 2014, Survey Matters is about to embark on the 2015 research.  So far we have gathered the opinions of over 20,000 members of professional and industry associations across Australia and New Zealand, and we are excited to announce the launch of this year's study.

This year we will be drawing on the feedback already provided in previous studies to delve deeper into members' opinions on their most important issues, and seeking input into how their association can assist.  Whilst some questions will remain the same to track trends over time, much of it will differ based on information that is already known – after all, members don’t want to answer the same questions over and over!

We intend to combine both professional and industry associations into one body of research.  This allows us to benchmark the same questions across each association type, but still enables us to explore different topics unique to each. 

We are also asking you for ideas about specific topics or questions you would like to see included.

Timing

• Registration for the 2015 Study is open now
  
• The survey will run between July and September, 2015
  
• Results will be available before the end of the year
  

Benefits

• By taking part you will contribute to valuable sector information and will be able to benchmark your performance against other associations.  
  
• The unique structure of the survey provides the opportunity to use it as a tool to conduct your own membership survey, for a fraction of the cost of doing it individually.
  
• The collaborative nature of these studies enables smaller associations to access the benefits of membership research at an affordable price 
  

REGISTER HERE

What do participating associations say about these studies?

“Our individual results, benchmarked against the overall findings, delivered great information for us to use – it validated some of the work that we had already done and provided practical insights into other issues.“

“We have found the Survey results extremely helpful in prioritising activity and shaping the future strategy of our association by assisting the Board and management to better understand members' current needs from an association.”

“This was a very easy project to participate in: Survey Matters took care of everything.  They … were very professional and delivered an extremely thorough report at the end.”

Sourced directly from LinkedIn Pulse here: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/thats-how-we-have-always-done-around-here-craig-cicardo-sr- Written by Craig Cicardo Sr

Often professionals are brought in to “shake up” the culture, or spark life into a once thriving organization that is encountering hard times. Sometimes, being on the cutting edge, scrapping the old core values, and starting from scratch is the philosophy used to get that organization back to the top, instead of complying with the organization's age old blue print.

Yes, it is true, some have achieved great things by refusing to acknowledge the existing methods which have resulted in prior success while introducing a whole new way of thinking and doing things... on the other hand, refusing to acknowledge the past, refusing to follow any aspects of the original blue print, and being a hard headed individualist, has led to continued failure time and time again.

Many gurus want to blame the “that’s how we have always done it around here” mentality by existing employees, as the biggest barrier for new ideas to take hold. However, let’s take a step back and consider this - maybe the failure to find a compromise between new ideas and old ideas is the barrier that stands in the way of turning around the once thriving, top of the mountain organization, that has fallen on hard times.

Perhaps we can come to a conclusion that it is best to comply with the existing blue print of proven success while applying our own unique individual characteristics and methods. By doing this, we not only respect how things achieved greatness at one time, but ignite imminent success by supplementing the now and the future, with our fresh ideas and abilities. Meanwhile, those who have been through the good and the bad times with the organization will appreciate the acknowledgement of past success, and will be more than likely to accept new ideas that will help strengthen the once effective means that led to those past years of success.

It is just as great to be a contributor to greatness as it is to be a revolutionary trying to change the world. If things become stagnant where they were once great, it isn't necessarily good to trash the ones who say, "that is how we have always done it around here." What may be better, is to comply with "how it has always been done," while simply putting a new spin on it.

If the house gets a little outdated, do we tear it down and build a brand new one? Not if it there is a little vision, patience, and work ethic (and a little money). We rip up the rug, and put down hardwood floor. We replace the linoleum with tile, and put in some granite counter tops... When the foundation is solid, you don't need to scrap what exists- just have some vision, the guts to take advantage of some fresh ideas, and the stamina to see what was once at the top of the mountain, find its way back. Furthermore, when the old accepts the new, and the new respects the old...the once great will rise even higher and take their success to another level.

Sourced directly from Knowledge Direct

So, you’ve decided to embrace online learning at your association. You know what a source of non-dues revenue this can be, and you know how popular eLearning has become in the association space. Well, not to be a Debbie Downer, but the board is going to have some questions. Have you anticipated the risk in online learning? Do you know how to overcome the challenges that come with implementing such an initiative? Pour yourself a cup of coffee, and let’s talk.

Risk 1: Being under staffed and ill prepared for implementation and delivery

How many people are in your education department? Will you have enough people to help with course creation, managing your LMS, marketing your courses? Not being prepared for the amount of work that goes into creating a successful online learning initiative could kill the program before it even starts. You’ll need to determine how many departments need to be involved and who needs to be trained. Creating the internal infrastructure to support online learning is a critical first step.

Risk 2: What if we build it and no one comes?

Before you run out and purchase a shiny new LMS with all the bells and whistles, have you considered the demand for online education at your association? You‘ll need to consider the size of your audience, the commonalities among that audience (will they require the same courses), growth within the occupation your association serves (a growing occupation offers more potential members and non-members to consume your educational offerings), and licensure/certification requirements (if members and non-members must maintain certifications and licenses then you have a built in audience with a need for your courses). Additionally, is professional parity an issue? In other words, do members need to keep up with the Joneses professionally? For example, a marketer is often considered only as good as his or her credentials and someone who is a member of a marketing association has an advantage over a marketer that isn’t in terms of professional credibility. You should also determine if your association caters to members and nonmembers within a profession that encourages professional and personal enrichment. For example, development directors and fund raisers often desire additional information and best practices for putting on fundraisers and seeking endowments for their nonprofits.

Risk 3: Not marketing your courses effectively

Market research is critically important to marketing your courses effectively. You must know who your audience is, what they need, what they want, what messaging resonates with them, and their reason for choosing online education. This allows you to create positioning and messaging strategies that work. Will you use email? Will you offer incentives? Will you run promotions? What about social media? Will you engage members and potential members on Twitter? What about content marketing? Will you write blogs and create infographics that add value for your members? Make sure you’ve taken the time to plan your marketing strategy. Sit down with the board and create a strategic plan to determine your goals and a marketing plan to make those goals happen.

Risk 4: Bad course design

You repurposed an old PowerPoint presentation. It has tons of text on the slides because there was a lot of information to cover. Your subject matter experts say the information is accurate and educational. Yet, members and nonmembers aren’t coming back to take more courses. This is probably because your courses just don’t appeal to learners. Maybe its aesthetics or presentation style, maybe the information is boring and tedious to get through. Maybe the learner simply can’t retain the information as presented. In truth, creating effective courses is half art, half learning science. An instructional designer knows how to present information in bite sized pieces that are easy for the learner to understand and engage with. If you don’t have an instructional designer on your team, consider hiring one or seeking additional information on course design best practices from reputable sources such as this blog, or Articulate’s website. You might also want to invest in a solid piece of course design software such as Storyline, or make sure your LMS provider offers you a course design tool.

Rewards

No risk, no reward they say, and in this case it’s true. Online learning can change the game at your association. No longer must you suffer declining numbers and live events with poor attendance. You can achieve success with eLearning creating a stream of non-dues revenue. You can reach a wider audience than ever before, and you can change the course of a young professional’s life by creating courses that fill the skills gap left upon graduating from college and entering the professional arena. You can reduce costs associated with training and career development. You can also make an environmental impact because eLearning is ecofriendly. Yes, starting an online learning initiative at your association is risky. There are costs involved and you’re going to need to prove that ROI to the board. But, you can do it! If you carefully anticipate and address the risks of online learning and plan for success, you can achieve a successful outcome and reap the rewards of board member accolades and satisfied learners.