Tasmanian Business Reporter December 2018

6 Tasmanian Business Reporter - DECEMBER 2018
THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
Customers come first
THE Australian Securities
and Investments Commission
has recently approved a new
Banking Code of Practice.
Did you miss it? Well, it’s
not entirely surprising as it
was approved during the hearings
of the royal commission
into misconduct in the banking,
superannuation and financial
services industry and was,
perhaps, lost among the stories
of financial misconduct.
It is ironic it received little
fanfare because the new Australian
Banking Association
Code has been under review
for some time and is part of
the association’s attempt to
build trust and confidence in
banks – the very things that
the stories from the royal commission
have been eroding.
Recognition
In a statement about the
new code, ABA CEO Anna
Bligh said the review was recognition
by banks they need
to do better when it comes to
customer service and meeting
community expectations.
I agree the new code has
addressed some of the banks’
failings in the areas of small
business lending, overly complicated
products, and complex
loan terms and conditions,
but not all.
Paul
Ranson
TCCI Vice-Chairman
And I’m not alone. Australian
small business and family
enterprise ombudsman Kate
Carnell has also raised concerns
about the ABA’s code,
especially in relation to small
business lending.
What is curious about Ms
Carnell’s comments is her call
for the new Banking Code of
Practice to be adopted across
the entire industry – comments
that echo the ABA’s
own call for its new code
to be adopted by non-ABA
members.
Most Tasmanians would
be surprised to learn not all
banks are governed by the
ABA code. Yet, the reality is
that the ABA code only applies
to the 24 or so member
banks of the ABA.
So, what are the protections
afforded the customers of the
remaining financial institutions?Well,
if you believe
the Ombudsman and the ABA
CEO, you’d think there were
none.
There are more than 70
financial institutions, identifiable
as customer owned
banks, building societies and
credit unions that are members
of the Customer Owned
Banking Association – of
which Bank of us is one – and
that subscribe to their own
Code of Practice, namely the
Customer Owned Banking
Code of Practice (COBCOP).
We have a long history of
putting customers first and
behaving ethically and COB-
COPoutlines how the sector
delivers on its pledge to always
put the customer first.
Confidence
Our customers already have
confidence in knowing they
are covered by a plain English
commitment to fair and responsible
banking.
Like all good charters, it
needs to be reviewed regularly.
The current COBCOP was
always scheduled for review
early next year prior to the
commencement of the new
ABA code on July 1, 2019.
COBA, as our industry
body, has started the review
process on our behalf. They
have been watching several
related processes in order
to determine its timing and
scope.
These processes include
ASIC’s approval of the
BCOP, other government policy
announcements on codes
and of course, the Financial
Services Royal Commission.
Supportive
The royal commission has
uncovered shocking examples
of misconduct in our sector,
in particular by the big four
banks and the approval of the
new ABA Banking Code is a
step in the right direction in
raising banking standards.
COBA has stated that they
will take the ABA’s code
into account in its review.I
am supportive of any change
across the financial services
industry that will help build
trust and confidence and improve
consumer protection.
We look forward to making
sure the COBCOP continues
to meet our customers’ expectations.
www.tcci.com.au
Live – and learn
Craig
Hortle
Workplace Health & Safety
ONE of the best teachers
in life is experience.
The WHS legislation
requires that a business
needs to ensure the Person
Conducting a Business or
Undertaking has appropriate
processes to receive
and consider information
about work-related incidents,
hazards and risks,
and to respond in a timely
manner. The purpose of
this is to create a work
environment that is able to
investigate incidents or accidents
so that hazards and
risks can be eliminated.
Each workplace should
have a mechanism for
reporting and investing
incidents, accidents and
near misses.
There a number of different
methodologies used
for accident investigation.
What method you may use
needs to identify clearly an
outcome, address the factors
that led up to incident/
accident and what factors
occurred during the incident.
Some investigations
look for factors into the
following areas:
• people – witnesses and
personnel associated with
the incident;
• environment – weather,
workplace and incident
scene;
• equipment – vehicles,
plant, tools, infrastructure;
• procedures – documents,
reports, charts, maps and
• organisation – training,
communication, resources,
organisational culture
and management etc.
This provides for clear
definition of the areas that
factors that contributed
to the event and in what
areas change may need to
occur so the event does
not happen again.
A near miss provides a
“free hit” as an opportunity
for investigation and
the outcomes implemented
to mitigate hazard and
risk in other similar business
areas.
for Customer Satisfaction*
two years in a row!