Since the mid-1950s, the Australian economy has moved from focusing on manufacturing and agriculture to services, says the Productivity Commission. Nine out of 10 of us now work in services and that sector accounts for about 80% of production.

Is your SME considering becoming a manufacturing innovator? The field is shrinking, but that may be a good thing for the standouts.

This article will help you navigate the road ahead and guide you on some highlights and inspiration.

Australia’s spending on innovation is declining

The latest Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show business spending on research and development (R&D) increased to $20,642M in 2021-22, a 14% jump from two years prior. A quarter of that R&D happened in manufacturing.

However, this increase is not reflected in the proportion of overall R&D spending as a share of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This continues to stay at just under 1% since 2017-18.

Universities Australia talks about a freefall in R&D investment.

The Federal Government’s pledge to boost R&D to 3% of GDP

At present, the government’s budget for R&D and tax incentive support for businesses is low and we rank 30th out of 42 countries in the OECD.

In August last year, the Federal Industry Minister, Ed Husic, announced Australia should aim for 3% R&D spend as a proportion of GDP. Then, last November, peak body Science & Technology Australia clarified this, calling for 2.4% by 2030 and 3% of GDP by 2035.

One way for our country to boost spending is to widen what qualifies for R&D tax credits. AIGroup suggests we look to the UK where businesses only have to show they overcame scientific or technology uncertainty rather than having a formal experimental process. 

However, tax credits are unlikely to incentivise R&D investment if businesses continue to struggle with the skills shortage.

High-impact R&D as crucial to Australian manufacturing

In October 2022, the Federal Government announced a $15B pledge to set up a National Reconstruction Fund to support advanced manufacturing capability. The fund offers equity investment, guarantees, and an online portal to entice investors. 

The fund’s priority areas are:

• renewables and low emissions technologies
• medical science
• transport
• value-add in the agriculture, forestry, and fisheries sectors
• value-add in resources
• defence capability
• enabling capabilities.

In November, Minister Husic announced the fund was open for business And Ivan Power, the fund’s inaugural CEO, told the Australian Financial Review last month that his remit is to work with companies, including SMEs, to help take their businesses to a global scale. He adds his aim is to diversify and transform Australian industry to harness Australia’s competitive advantages.

What high-impact R&D looks like

High-impact R&D approaches include those which adapt business models, harness innovative technologies, reduce waste, are environmentally sustainable, boost working conditions, say experts.

There are two schools of thought (not mutually exclusive) that can help drive high-impact R&D: open innovation (OI) and technologies from the fourth industrial revolution, Industry 4.0 (I40).

OI sees manufacturing business models embrace:

• Collaboration with other stakeholders
• Crowdsourcing
• Incorporating valuable ideas from inside or outside of a company or a market, such as new combinations of industries
• Human resource practices that build trust, long-term employment relationships and employment security. These will help to build an innovation climate.

There’s a balance between openness and intellectual property/competitiveness. A study has found that small manufacturing plants with a breadth of openness in innovation performance did much better than larger firms.

Meanwhile, I40 technologies incorporate the Internet of Things, computer simulation, additive manufacturing, collaborative robots, artificial intelligence, virtual/augmented reality, big data analytics, cybersecurity, cloud computing, and radio frequency identification (RFID). The latter helps with remote identification, offering businesses more control over their products.

The I40 movement is already benefiting manufacturing. Firms that adopt I40 technologies typically have strong vertical and horizontal integration of their operations. This reorganisation and investment in new tech can increase profit, minimise costs and reposition a business as a market leader.

Leading manufacturing innovators

AIGroup says a small number of R&D champion industries have done the most for business performance in the past decade:

• Professional, scientific and technical (from 3.12% to 4.16%)
• Manufacturing (4.1% to 4.3%), thanks to the mining boom
• Financial and insurance (0.32% to 0.23%)

Among the manufacturers, here are the most innovative, according to the Australian Financial Review BOSS, including:

• BluCem ZeoGlass, which uses recycled materials to make an acid-resistant concrete that can survive harsh environments, such as sewers
• PACT Group, Australia’s largest manufacturer of rigid plastic products, for its pandemic shift into making hand sanitiser
• Berger Ingredients and Coco & Lucas’ Kitchen for their ready-made plant-based meals, including by and for children
• Ryco Filters, which makes a kit that lets non-mechanics install a diesel fuel pre-filter and crankcase to a vehicle
• Geofabrics Australia which created a geotextile (partly made from plastic bottles) for large infrastructure projects.

Australia’s latest batch of the top 50 most innovative manufacturers will be announced on April 18. Check the @AUManuacturing website for updates. Here’s the list of the 2023 winners.

And, if you’re looking for ways to innovate, we’re your partner in risk mitigation. Let us help you navigate this area. 

Useful links:

Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre Ltd
https://www.amgc.org.au/

Sovereign, smart, sustainable: Driving advanced manufacturing in Australia | Australian Parliament
https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/committees/reportrep/RB000196/toc_pdf/Sovereign,smart,sustainable.pdf

Tradies usually don’t have the time or inclination to report the theft of their tools to the police. This can prove costly but, as this article explains, you can minimise your risks and invest in protection for peace of mind.

The Rising Issue of Tool Theft in the Construction Industry

More than 29,000 tools were reported stolen in Victoria alone in 2022-23, according to the Crime Statistics Agency. They were worth a collective $20M.

Meanwhile, the Housing Industry Association says theft of tools, equipment, and materials costs “millions of dollars” each year.

Preventive Measures and Best Practices

You may be already working to secure your work sites, tools, and equipment, so it may be timely to review your approach. Keep in mind, tradies’ tools are most likely to be stolen in the following order: via forced entry, cut padlocks, a smashed window, or from a vehicle.

Use our checklist for a risk management refresh:

The site:

• Install good lighting, audible alarms, closed circuit television
• Hire a security guard service
• Invest in quality lockable storage containers
• Lock buildings and vehicles that hold your equipment/tools, particularly overnight
• Get to know the site’s immediate neighbours to encourage them to report suspicious activity
• Erect temporary fencing with your contact details to help stop trespassers and thieves
• Co-ordinate deliveries, where possible, so there’s not a huge lag before they’re installed. Be mindful of leaving high-value (and risk) items such as copper items, major appliances, hot water heaters, windows, etc. in plain sight.

Your tools and equipment:

• Paint or engrave your gear with a unique mark or a driver’s licence number
• Record serial numbers and type of your gear
• Photograph your tools for easy identification
• Remove batteries and place in a safe spot to disable your equipment
• Consider placing an AirTag or other remote security device in with your tools (even artificial intelligence equipped ones)
• Remote lock your tools via smartphone
• Personalise the lock on a new toolbox, rather than use the mass manufacturer’s tamper-proof one
• Opt for heavy duty padlocks for your storage box and chain them to your vehicle
• Note when materials/tools are moved to and from the site (a barcode ‘check out’ and ‘check in’ system is handy here).

If your tools are stolen, make sure you register your loss with the free Property Vault website. Check Facebook groups, Gumtree, and pawnshops to track down their illegal resale.

Understanding Equipment Insurance

Equipment insurance or general property insurance, also known as trade insurance, covers you for the theft or accidental damage of tools and equipment. Most policies contain a general condition requiring that the premises are maintained in a good condition (to manage the risk of theft) and a condition that requires theft of tools or equipment to be reported to the police.

Typically, this policy covers costs to repair or replace your stolen gear whether it’s at your home, worksite, building site, or in transit. You’ll even be covered for equipment that goes missing while your employees have taken them home.

You won’t be able to claim on the land or building owner’s insurance except where the latter was at fault – they caused, contributed to something or an omission. Other exclusions include:

• Types of accidental damage (think wear and tear, computer viruses, mildew, flood, mould, data processing failure, including damage because of being left outside)
• Open-air theft
• Motor vehicles – you’ll need a specific policy to cover these and
• Your loss of earning capacity related to the missing item.

Is tool insurance worth it?

Insurance might cost a few hundred dollars a year, but what are your tools and equipment worth to replace? Consider the average insurance claim is more than $4,410. Insurers do pay out claims and that’s where we can help, as your broker and advisor, to take the pain out of claims processing.

Also, you can combine trade insurance with your other policies, which could earn you discounts and simplify your premium payment schedule. Let us help you with that, too.

Don’t let tool theft disrupt your construction business. We’re your guide to insurance tailored to your unique circumstances.

Useful links:

Tradies losing thousands as thieves target tools | A Current Affair
https://www.traderisk.com.au/protecting-your-tools

Event cancellation is a major bugbear of the hospitality sector.

An estimated 21,000 events were cancelled during the pandemic in 2020, and that’s only counting Australian mass participation sporting events. There are also community events, weddings, entertainment shows, conventions, concerts, exhibitions, fashion/art/award events, and more.

However, event organisers, including hospitality businesses, are no longer at the behest of unforeseen disruptions, thanks to coverage available. It’s known as event cancellation insurance.

The Importance of Event Cancellation Insurance

Minimising the risk of your event being interrupted, curtailed, relocated, postponed or abandoned is a tall order. Any of these circumstances could be a disruption:

• Natural disasters, such as those that are weather-related
• Disease outbreak
• Loss of access to public utilities
• Celebrities or performers not showing up because of sickness, death, an accident, or travel delays
• Terrorism (or the threat of it)
• Closed venue or accessibility problems (such as fire or other damage)
• Infectious communicable disease(s) (as agreed when you take out the policy)
• Travel delays
• The failure or non-delivery of equipment.

Event planning costs may be considerable. Think about your investment in sponsorship, corporate hospitality, merchandising, marketing, television, satellite broadcasts, and more. That list doesn’t include reputational damage to your business if an event has had to be cancelled.

Why should your business foot the bill when you’ve done everything to make the event happen?

What Does Event Cancellation Insurance Cover?

An event cancellation policy typically can protect you from the various circumstances listed above. Such a policy can be quite broad, covering you for many reasons beyond your control as the event organiser.

Event cancellation insurance can include cover for:

• Costs and expenses you can’t recover – this can be specified or 100% coverage
• Gross revenue, which protects your business from loss of event profit
• Additional costs you incur in trying to prevent the event’s postponement, interruption, or cancellation
• Public relations expenses to maintain your brand reputation
• Money in transit to a bank
• Expertise ‘on the ground’, including about risk minimisation, to your event staff, and
• Extra costs for not being able to leave a venue on time.

Choosing the Best Event Cancellation Policy

Policies can be secured for coverage of financial losses of between $10,000 and $10,000,000. That’s a wide range, so be sure to first determine for what you need coverage. The event venue, vendors or sponsors may contractually oblige you to take out a particular type of event cancellation coverage. Your local council may also have laws and regulations affecting your coverage and event.

Talk to us to help customise cover for your unique operations. Here’s what we’ll factor in about your business and its events:

• Size and scale
• Event type and nature
• Location and duration
• Budget
• Anticipated event revenue
• The excess that suits you to pay.

You’ll also need robust contingency plans: say if you’re planning an outdoor event, have a backup inside venue in case of inclement weather.

Other Types of Event Insurance

You can narrow your coverage or keep it broad. Here are your options:

Event cancellation insurance, for when you must postpone or cancel an event thanks to unforeseen circumstances (conditions apply). This policy can cover lost revenue, deposits, and non-refundable fees

Liability insurance, such as when a third party is injured or their property damaged during the event. Legal fees, medical and other costs are covered

Property damage insurance to protect against property damage, including the venue, decorations, equipment, and it can also stretch to repairs and replacement

Liquor liability cover where you serve or sell alcohol and there’s a related incident, so it could protect you against the costs of lawsuits

Equipment insurance, for peace of mind if you’re using your equipment for the event and ant coverage for equipment repairs or replacement if it’s stolen, or destroyed during a storm or fire

Weather insurance for losses resulting from adverse weather, which means you lose revenue or have extra costs to reschedule.

If an event is disrupted because of unforeseen circumstances, your business doesn’t have to absorb all out-of-pocket costs. Protect your business with the right-fit insurance. Let us help you ‘insure’ for the success of your events.

Only one in five Australians who have experienced sexual harassment at work make an official complaint about the behaviour.

But, thanks to Respect@Work laws, the onus on dealing with those and related issues has shifted more to employers. Prevention is key, but so is dealing with such claims appropriately. Those laws mean that since December, the Human Rights Commission (HRC) 
has had greater enforcement powers.

It’s worth explaining these changes. A survey of company directors found that less than half said their businesses were well-prepared to comply with the new sexual harassment standards.

New standards to be enforced

Four principles (consultation, intersectionality, person-centred, and trauma-informed) are driving the changes. From these flow the seven standards:

• Leadership: Senior leaders should have up-to-date knowledge about their obligations
• Culture: Workplaces must foster safety, respect, inclusion and value diversity and gender equality
• Knowledge: Workplaces must develop, communicate, and roll out a respectful behaviour and unlawful conduct policy
• Risk management: Take a risk-based approach to prevent and respond to unlawful behaviour
• Support: Firms must offer workers, leaders and managers access to appropriate support if they experience or witness unlawful conduct
• Reporting and response: Employers must have and communicate about options for workers and other impacted people to report and respond
• Monitoring, evaluation, and transparency: Collect suitable data for insight into the behaviour and its extent in your workforce. Assess and improve your work culture regularly.

An overview of recent reforms

The reforms span three federal laws:

• Sex Discrimination and Fair Work (Respect at Work) Amendment Act 2021, which came into force in September 2021
• Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Secure Jobs, Better Pay) Act 2022, which took effect in December
• Anti-Discrimination and Human Rights Legislation Amendment (Respect at Work) Act 2022, which also became law last December.

An online portal has been set up for employees, unions, as well as other bodies, to lodge complaints. The commission has the discretion to investigate complaints lodged more than 24 months after the incident happened.

What is the positive duty under the Sex Discrimination Act?

Under the ‘positive duty’ reform, employers must take “reasonable and proportionate” measures that aim to eliminate sexual harassment and more from their workplaces. This means  businesses and organisations of all sizes must be proactive.

The Human Rights Commission has greater enforcement powers over these unlawful behaviours:

• Discrimination based on gender in a work context
• Sexual harassment related to work
• Conduct that creates a hostile workplace environment on the grounds of gender
• Related acts of victimisation.

Since December, the commission can assess complaints and initiate action against employers who fail in these duties. It can apply to federal courts to order a business to follow a compliance notice. The commission could also start an inquiry into the issue. Under this power, they can compel a business to produce information, and documents, and they have the power to question witnesses.

The commission’s 112-page guidelines on the positive duty offer more details and examples of how businesses can be compliant. This ‘guidebook’ from the Australian Institute of Company Directors is also useful for more details on getting your board up to speed.

Key steps for employers

Frame your approach as ‘preventative action’, but ensure you still deal appropriately with harassment or discrimination complaints.

Build these risk mitigation strategies into your business processes:

1. Review your workplace culture and how workers, management and senior leaders behave. Does your culture ignore covert sexual harassment, such as sexist remarks or crude language? (Check out page 5 of this Safe Work Australia Guide to preventing workplace sexual harassment for what that might look like). Do people feel it’s safe to raise those and other sexual harassment complaints with their manager, your HR or leadership team? Find out with an anonymous survey

2. Revisit your policies each year to check they’re compliant. Importantly, how are they followed, are they effective and what needs improvement? Do they address your risks?

3. Run regular and customised training tIn-person, rather than online training, is more effective because trainers can better gauge learner engagement and understanding

4. Roll out control measures to deal with harassment and discrimination risks:  Match your control measures to your business, the situation and workers involved

5. Examine the effectiveness of your control measures: Find out how via the resources on the Respect@Work website.

It’s worth mentioning that behaviours such as sexual assault, indecent exposure, or threatening or obscene communications (phone calls, emails, letters, texts, or social media posts) could be criminal offences. You should manage those complaints and behaviours under workplace health and safety laws and refer them to the police, says Safe Work Australia.

Sexual harassment and insurance

To boost your risk management approach, consider investing in the right type of insurance policy. Typically, your options include management liability, that includes cover for employment practices liability. Draw on our risk management expertise to help review your coverage to ensure it’s the best fit for your current circumstances. Policy terms and conditions can change.

Useful links

Respect@Work website
https://www.respectatwork.gov.au/

Fair Work Ombudsman: Sexual harassment in the workplace
https://www.fairwork.gov.au/employment-conditions/bullying-sexual-harassment-and-discrimination-at-work/sexual-harassment-in-the-workplace

Safe Work Australia: Preventing workplace sexual harassment: national guidance material (published 2021, but has some good insights)
https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/sites/default/files/2021-03/Guide%20for%20preventing%20workplace%20sexual%20harassment%20-%20for%20publishing.pdf

Australia has about 60,000 registered not-for-profit organisations, according to the Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission (ACNC). 

There’s a huge diversity of types and areas covered including education, social welfare, health, religion, culture, human rights, animal welfare, and the environment. Not-for-profits (NFPs) range in size from volunteer-run groups with no revenue or funding to the Returned and Services Leagues (RSLs) with 800+ separately registered charities.

Do all not-for-profits need insurance?

Do NFPs need insurance?

Often NFPs will secure government or other funding to operate services. That funding body may require you to have minimum insurance coverage.

For example, your organisation may hold fundraising events or even just set up an information stall on your local council’s land. Before you can do so, you’ll need to send them a copy of your certificate of currency for public liability insurance. This cover can protect you and the council if a member of the public suffers property damage or injury if your pop-up tent self-destructs in gusty wind, for instance.

NFP management risks

Consider that every organisation faces risks, such as physical, environmental, financial, criminal, employee, and regulatory. Typically, not-for-profits can also face issues with festivals/events, fire, food and drink, machines, and vehicles.

The Institute of Community Directors Australia has this detailed list of risk areas for NFPs.

Another risk to highlight is cyber security. One in five Australian charities and NPFs fear such an attack would devastate their organisation, according to the Australian Nonprofits State of the Sector 2023 report. It showed that in the previous 12 months, 8% of NFPs surveyed had experienced a cybersecurity incident. One breach included about 70 organisations and 50,000 donors were affected when a hacked telemarketer (Pareto Phone) held on to data for too long.

Spotlight on association or management liability

While you may be able to operate your NFP without insurance, if something goes wrong, even if your organisation is not at fault, the repercussions can be significant. NFPs who try to self-insure could expose their management and board of directors to substantial financial hardship risks.

For instance, investing in insurance coverage as part of your risk management approach could impact your:

• Ability to run public fundraising events
• Ongoing relationships with sponsors, supporters, and clients
• Reputation
• Workplace health and safety of your staff and volunteers
• Duty of care to volunteers, members of the public, attendees, contractors, etc. to ensure they aren’t injured on your premises, at your workplace or events or don’t suffer property damage
• Compliance with financial reporting, tax, auditing regulations
• Capacity to defend and fund legal or other claims of wrongdoing, even if you’re in the right.

Other ways to protect your business

Your organisation can take these steps to avoid your directors or officers’ breaching their duties:

• Know the laws that apply to your NFP
• Encourage a workplace culture of compliance, including transparency so people are apt to report breaches
• Assess and interrogate information you’re offered, even if it’s from another director, to help you make decisions for the NFP
• Audit the board’s skills and where you identify gaps, invest in expert advice or upskilling
• Develop strong risk-management processes, such as creating a hazard and risk register for current and would-be risks and how you’ll minimise them, and
• Set up robust compliance policies and processes.

As an NFP, chances are you indemnify your directors against liabilities that happen in good faith while they’re performing their duties. But you’ll need assets to cover that loss. 

If you don’t have that cushioning, director and officer insurance could be a good fit. This cover protects directors and officers from personal liabilities, such as claims arising from decisions they’ve made while doing their roles within their authority area. Policies differ, but typically won’t cover conduct such as dishonest breach of duties.

We can guide you on customised insurance to fit your NFP’s precise needs, whether it includes directors’ and officers’ cover.

Let us help bolster risk management to help protect your organisation from the many risks. 

Australians think of medical providers as their front-line defence for health issues, but who’s helping those healthcare practices to stay ‘healthy’?

This article is a guide on sector-specific risk management to help protect your business.

Healthcare practices’ risk factors to consider

Common risks for medical practices include:

• Compliance with the standards of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, which aim to improve services’ quality and safety to protect patients from harm. They’re a great resource to identify and deal with gaps in your systems and processes. Your state may have a clinical governance framework, such as in Victoria.
• Security, privacy, and data management – not just patient information, but that of your staff, suppliers, and other customers. The Office of The Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) offers factsheets about patients’ rights to their health information. The OAIC also sets out responsibilities about notifiable data breaches
• Worker safety, including ergonomic, burn out, biological, chemical, medical equipment, occupational violence/bullying/harassment, fatigue, etc
• Workplace health and safety, such as slips, trips and falls, infection control, etc.

A newer risk involves the use of generative artificial intelligence (AI), such as ChatGPT, in your processes (and maybe even diagnoses). This open-source article, published recently in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, describes the technology as a double-edged sword.

The research shows AI has promise as a tool for medical documentation as a language assistant or offering timesaving templates, such as for patient clinic letters, radiology reports, medical notes and discharge summaries. Risks include false information, and not being up to date with medical developments, so human judgement is a key to ensuring quality.

In reviewing your risk management matrix, check it spans physical, regulatory, psychosocial, ethical, technological, operational, clinical, legal, staffing, business continuity, and workforce issues. Another major risk is financial – inflation, economic uncertainty, insider or external fraud, and patients getting into arrears.

Strategies to reduce risk

Safe Work Australia has a guide to identifying hazards and managing the related risks in the medical/healthcare sector.

It lists a three-tiered approach that aims to:

1. Eliminate risks, but if this is not possible

2. Be reasonably practical in minimising them

3. Use administrative control measures.

Your options at that point are to provide training on safe working practices and scheduling workers’ shifts to reduce fatigue, for example.

It’s also important to focus on minimising financial risks. Check your risk management plans for how they can deal with issues such as medical errors, compliance breaches, reimbursement levels, malpractice claims, medical errors, and insurance claims. Each of those will impact finances whether the allegation is upheld or not.

Ensure you factor in the risk multiplier effect. Risk multipliers encourage you to widen your vista to the links between risks. Examples of these indirect risks include the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russian-Ukraine War, and the Israel-Palestine conflict.

The 2023 BDO Global Risk Landscape Report explores the concept of risk multipliers and how businesses can shift to a risk-multiplier mindset. That helps identify and minimise risks before they become ‘existential’ threats.

And while you’re scoping possibilities, consider KMPG Australia’s future trends, predictions and opportunities for the healthcare system.

Benefits of effective risk management for healthcare

Developing, adopting, and implementing transparent and methodical risk management plans can cut the costs of hazards and risks to your health practice. That’s according to a World Hospital Health Services’ study.

Other benefits to your medical practice include:

• Improved efficiency and efficacy
• Enhanced reputation
• Better compliance.

Types of insurance medical practices need

A key part of your risk management approach is to invest in insurance tailored to your unique healthcare practice circumstances. Typically, you should consider:

• Workers’ compensation – compulsory if you have staff
• Professional indemnity to cover you, your partners, and staff if they’re sued or a claim lodged against them individually for breaches of confidentiality, civil liabilities, or negligence, for example
• Medical malpractice insurance to cover health professionals and the practice related to a patient suing the business for acts, errors or omissions in connection with the treatment
• Business or office insurance to protect the building and/or contents from fire, theft, water, and property damage, etc.
• Cyber insurance to give you peace of mind should your business suffer a cyber attack.

Talk to us to help you review your policy coverage to ensure it reflects your current operations and offerings. Protect your practice with our guidance.

There was a flush of SME business travel post COVID-19, and even the uncertain economic times since hasn’t curbed that interest.

But with the increasing risks of flight delays or cancellations, political/industrial disruption or illness, how can you protect your business travellers?

This article explores two types of cover – corporate travel insurance and journey insurance. We’ll explain which could be the best fit depending on your circumstances.

What does corporate travel insurance cover?

Corporate travel insurance, also known as business travel cover, protects staff and owners who travel in their state, interstate, or overseas for business. It offers cover for your company should serious illness, accidents, or travel disruptions have financial repercussions.

This policy also protects business owners travelling with their family on personal trips. 

Typically, corporate travel insurance covers:

• Personal liability, injury and illness (e.g. food poisoning) while travelling
• Emergency overseas medical and evacuation costs
• 24-hour emergency help
• Damaged or lost items such as luggage, personal belongings, travel documents, cash, and credit cards
• Evacuation expenses due to political risk or natural disaster
• Missed transfers and transport
• Excess cover for rental vehicles
• Kidnap and ransom.

As well, some policies also cover cancellation, extra expenses, repatriation expenses, deposit loss, non-refundable flight and accommodation costs, and overseas medical expenses. However, if you’re opting for a business credit card for travel protection, you may find they’re often quite limited.

Business travel insurance often won’t cover pregnancy, childbirth, or alcohol or illegal drug-related incidents. And, avoid the government’s list of ‘do-not-travel’ to countries. 

If your staff do get in trouble overseas, this is how Australian consular services can help. They won’t pay your medical bills, though.

When is corporate travel insurance important?

When travelling for business, this creates obligations on the employer.

Just say one of your managers is attending a US conference for work, and is injured in a car accident. US healthcare could potentially bill your company for thousands of dollars. Other pricy countries for healthcare include Monaco, Luxembourg, Qatar, Norway, and Switzerland. Corporate travel insurance is a good investment against those possible unexpected costs.

And, if your employee’s luggage goes missing or is delayed, or there are issues with their money and travel documents, or they are kidnapped, corporate travel cover can also help.

Such a policy is also useful for domestic travel. For example, your staff member can’t travel due to sickness in their family, or their luggage has gone and, with it, clothes and a digital device for their business presentation. Domestic travel insurance comes into play for cancellation of flights/services, baggage cover and car hire excess.

However, ensure they have written proof of the loss and if a theft is involved, report it to the police within 24 hours.

What does journey insurance cover?

Meanwhile, journey insurance sounds like the same thing as corporate or business travel cover, but it’s different. Journey insurance protects your staff who are injured (or killed) while travelling between work and home.

Typically, workers’ compensation won’t cover this transit if the workplace is in NSW, Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia, and Tasmania.

Most journey insurance policies include coverage for:

• Loss of wages and benefits because of an injury
• Rehabilitation support
• Expenses for relocating, vehicle medication following permanent disability
• Home help and domestic costs
• Payment of credit card debts
• Compensation if the staff member has broken bones
• Lump sum payment for permanent disability or death due to the injury or disappearance, and
• Funeral expenses.

When is journey insurance important?

Journey insurance is a perk for would-be and current employees. Offering this benefit can make your business a standout employer in the era of a skilled labour shortage and high job vacancy rates. Staff will appreciate you’re serious about your duty of care to them.

Get in touch with us to help protect your business against the risks of travel – domestically and internationally. We can help tailor the right level of cover for your needs and risks, including those in the destination and stopovers. 

In the fast-paced world of commercial transportation, ensuring that your insurance premium and policy are as hardworking as your road operations is crucial.

Check out these tips to help get the most value, while still transporting goods safely.

Factors impacting commercial truck insurance

First, let’s understand what drives the premium. Insurers consider:

• Vehicle type, including the size, model, and truck age and condition
• Vehicle value
• Type of carrier, so what you transport be it tradie tools, standard freight, dangerous goods, animals, etc. and their value
• Radius class (or limits), such as the truck distance travelled, areas covered, whether interstate, commuting to and from work, etc. If you venture outside the radius limit of your policy, you may face extra excess fees or claim issues
• Drivers’ age, experience, safe driving record and no-claims history, and
• The safety rating of your trucking business.

Add to those risk factors, the stubbornly high inflation rate, and supply chain issues increasing claim and repair costs. The more coverage a commercial truck insurance policy offers, the higher the premium. Typically, though, most truck insurance policies will cover your truck for theft and fire.

Using dashcams

Investing in dashboard cameras may indirectly help reduce your insurance costs over time. Here’s how:

• Motivates drivers to improve their driving behaviour because you’ll be able to monitor individual driving habits
• Gives you analytics for timely feedback about driver performance, so you can intervene with safety coaching
• Offers useful evidence – video footage – to determine who’s liable if there’s a claim. Fewer at-fault accidents mean lower excess payments for your business
• Along with a safe-driving policy, dashcams send a strong message about your safety culture to would-be recruits.

Typically, truck dashcams and outward and inward facing cameras (so they can monitor driver attention) are particularly useful for fatigue management. There are even artificial-intelligence powered dash cams that use machine vision; handy for real-time audio and visual alerts, plus live streaming. Trucking companies are using them to record drivers and look out for speeding and heavy braking.

These may sound like something out of Big Brother, but dashcams can also boost security. Consider using them to record break-ins or suspicious behaviour. That evidence can help police locate your stolen assets.

Augment your excess

Opting for a higher excess figure on your insurance policy is another strategy to reduce your overall premium. By agreeing to pay a larger sum out-of-pocket in the event of a claim, policyholders can often secure lower monthly or annual insurance costs.

This approach can be financially beneficial for those who are willing to accept a higher immediate expense during a claim, in exchange for long-term savings on their insurance premiums.

Get the same carrier to insure your personal care and truck

Bundling your policies into a package is a great way to slim your premiums. Insure your personal car with the same insurer and you may get an even better premium.

That’s where we can come in. We pledge to help you find the lowest possible premium rate without compromising your coverage and safety. Let us do the shopping around for you and present you with options for customised cover.

Myths abound among small-to-medium-sized businesses about the need for product liability insurance and its coverage.

But it’s not just for mistakes or products that break or malfunction. An insurance industry report has found almost half of business owners surveyed said law changes about product changes were complex. That’s just one part of the product liability picture.

Here’s your refresher guide to this important policy.

What is product liability insurance?

Product liability insurance offers protection to manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers, and even sole traders and importers, should a third party allege negligence about your product(s). Third parties may have suffered personal injury or property damage, so would claim for compensation under Australian Consumer Law. 

A product liability policy could cover that compensation amount, plus legal fees and court costs even yours and the claimant’s if you lost.

Each product liability policy may define the term ‘product’ slightly differently. Typically, it means anything that you or someone on your behalf has:

• Sold, supplied, re-supplied, or distributed
• Imported, exported, installed, or assembled, 
• Manufactured, produced, built, extracted, processed, or grown
• Modified, altered, such as by quality, usability, performance, or safety adding new features, simplifying it, changing the colour/shape/material
• Serviced or repaired, or
• Bottled, labelled, or handled. 

Options for this cover include:

• Scope of cover depending on your risk exposure, industry/sector, business size, premises location, and type of work you do, etc.
• Policy limits, which set a maximum the insurer will pay for a single claim or claims during the policy period
• The amount of the deductible, which is the amount that you will contribute to each claim. This may assist in managing your premium.
• Exclusions – ensure you know what these are for your policy.

What doesn’t product liability cover?

However, each product liability insurance policy is different as the policy wording will detail. For example, some may exclude coverage for particular product types or incidents. As well, you could forfeit coverage for:

• Lack of warnings, such as not disclosing nuts or other allergens that may be in a food product you make/sell
• Outright deception such as through misleading marketing
• Design issues, including undocumented changes
• Product recall costs that you incur
• Products that include or produce the hazardous material, asbestos
• Inadequate or inaccurate instructions.

Here are common myths among SMEs about product liability:

• It’s just for big business
• Only manufacturers need it
• General liability insurance has you covered for product liability
• It covers any claim against a business
• It’s expensive
• Coverage is one size fits all
• Only needed for businesses selling physical products (software is a ‘product’)
• Covers trademark infringement or copyright infringement, and
• It will protect a business sued for an accident that happens on its premises.

Public v product liability insurance

Often, a public liability policy is packaged with a product liability But it pays to check the policy, as they are separate coverages:

• Product liability covers your business when your product damages or causes harm to a third party or their property, while
• Public liability is about your liability to the public and other third parties who are not your employees, such as if a visitor trips and hurts themselves at your business premises or shelving breaks in your shop and destroys someone’s belongings.

Do I need product liability insurance?

The law does not require your business to have product liability insurance, although some contracts with major retailers may require you to take out cover.

However, consider if your business can afford not to have this essential cover – do you have a nest egg, a ‘just in case’ fund? The problem is it is difficult to gauge how much you’ll need to cover a claim and keep your business operating. Legal costs can quickly escalate.

Ensure you invest time and expertise in assessing your risks. We can help you develop and refine your product risk strategy. Keep us posted about planned business changes, such as expanding your product lines. It’s in your interest not to leave insurance as an afterthought.

As a hospitality business with a licence to sell alcohol in Australia, you face quite a few legal issues in your operations. This article updates you on the risks and advises on how to manage them, particularly over the summer.

Risks for businesses that sell liquor

More than 2,380 businesses sell alcohol in Australia through packaged liquor, clubs, hotels, on-premises, producer-wholesaler, or small bar licences. Here are the common risks if you’re one of these businesses:

• Not having a fit-for-purpose leasing agreement for your premises – check the generic one you’re probably being offered meets your specific business circumstances
• Issues with securing and maintaining the right licences and permits to sell alcohol. Make sure you abide by laws about contactless delivery, licensed trading hours, alcohol-free zones, etc
• Ensuring you only serve alcohol to people of legal drinking age (18 and over) by checking their valid identification if they look under the age of 25, just to be sure
• Breaching responsible serving of alcohol by selling liquor to a drunk person
• Maintaining a safe and fit for purpose environment and facilities for people attending the premises
• Injury due to food or alcohol sold or supplied
• Non-compliant labelling on the alcohol you sell – it must meet the Food Standards Code.

To minimise the risks of intoxicated customers, consider offering a more diverse range of non-alcoholic options, but be mindful of pricing (and profit margin). Many newer products can match the price of alcoholic drinks, meaning consumers may not be swayed to drink the healthier option.

Three other key risks involve public liability, product liability, and worker safety.

Public liability

Your hospitality business has a duty of care to patrons and other visitors to your premises., such as contractors, suppliers, and members of the public.

Public liability insurance helps protect your business against claims from third parties (not your workers) for personal injury or property damage. Specifically, those claims would centre on your business possibly being negligent or having defective premises.

Typical public liability claims in the hospitality sector include injuries or damage due to slips, trips and falls, and assaults.

Having the right insurance can cover the damages cost, lost income while those injured recover, compensation, and legal fees. Consider if multiple patrons are affected and if the costs to your business escalate.

Product liability

Product liability insurance covers your business for injuries or damages that happen due to the products – such as alcohol – that you sell. For instance, serving food that is contaminated due to poor hygiene practices resulting in food poisoning to a number of patrons.

A product liability policy (usually part of a combined public & products liability policy) is your protection against financial loss should your product – defective or not – cause property damage, physical injury, or other losses to those using the product. Key issues here are contamination, allergic reactions, or other health problems that your products, such as liquor, could cause.

Workers’ compensation

Nearly four in 10 hospitality workers drink at levels that mean they have an increased risk of alcohol-related disease or injury. That’s according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Research backs that up, finding the risk rises with a high workload – more than 40 hours a week. The Australian Burden of Disease Study has identified 29 diseases and injuries linked to alcohol consumption.

Keep these factors in mind as you invest in compulsory workers’ compensation insurance for your staff. It covers the wage costs of staff who are sick or injured due to their work for your business. The policy also funds medical expenses and rehabilitation.

However, staff training, and refreshers, about safe working practices and responsible alcohol consumption can help minimise these risks in your workplace. Can you bring more festive cheer to your workplace by ensuring it’s a safe space for staff to more openly discuss and address safety incidents, hazards, and issues? 

Talk to us for more tips on boosting your risk management approach.