James Wakim, former CEO of Arab Bank and current Board Member at Children’s Medical Research Institute, is leading an initiative encouraging businesses in Western Sydney to support a transformative cancer research program in Westmead.

ProCan, a global-first research program using “big data” technologies that will automate and greatly improve the speed and accuracy of cancer diagnostic testing and will facilitate much more personalised cancer treatments.

The side effects of existing treatments can be devastating, especially in young children. We know that children have a much greater survival rate when they are given the right treatment first time around. This database will mean doctors can effectively narrow down the best type of currently available treatment to target the patients’ individual cancer diagnosis, without wasting time trialing treatments that are less likely to work.

This is an opportunity to make your business part of something truly life-changing. We are looking for 1,000 Western Sydney businesses to pledge just $1,000 per year to help fund this life-saving project.

Your tax-deductible gift will help change the face of cancer research and impact countless young lives. To find out more, click here.

Parties to retail leases and to franchise agreements will need to be aware of the Retail Leases Amendment (Review) Act 2017 No 2 (the Act) which will commence on 1 July 2017.

Most Franchising agreements provide for a sub-lease or licence arrangement of retail premises which the franchisee obtains from the franchisor (who is the lessee in most instances) in order to operate the business in the premises. This means that any advantage (or disadvantage) the franchisor obtains through the Act as a lessee may affect the franchisee.

Some of the key changes to leasing of retail premises are:

• New Lessor Disclosure Requirements - requires full disclosure in the lessor’s disclosure statement of any obligation of the lessee to contribute to the lessor’s outgoings and prevents recovery from them of outgoings that are not disclosed.

• Turnover Rent - lessees may find shelter from turnover rent clauses in leases by utilising online transactions. The definition of turnover rent now excludes online sales revenue, except where the goods are delivered from or at the premises (or the Centre) or where the transaction takes place while the customer is at the premises.

• Minimum 5 year term to be repealed - the requirement for a minimum term for retail leases will be removed meaning lessees will no longer have the security provided by legislation of a term of no less than 5 years. Franchisees will need to be aware of this change in particular.

The Act also introduces changes to the rights and obligations of lessors:

• Outgoings - the definition has been extended to include management, operation, maintenance or repair of the retail shop building or land, and other fees charged by a lessor, for services provided by the lessor. Franchisees may need to bear these extra costs.

• Compensation for lessees - lessors will now need to pay the lessee compensation if they terminate the lease within the first six months, on the basis that the lessor didn’t provide a disclosure statement or because the disclosure statement was incomplete or contained information that was materially false or misleading.

Some other general changes which will occur as a result of the Act include:

• Return and registration of lease - The timeframe for the lessor providing a copy of the signed lease to the lessee has been amended from one month to three months.

• Bank guarantee - a lessor will now be required to return any bank guarantee within 2 months after the lessee has performed all obligations secured by the bank guarantee.

• Mortgagee consent - lessors are no longer entitled to recover any expenses involved in obtaining the consent of the mortgagee of the premises leased.

• Assignment of lease – amendments have been introduced to clarify the procedure that must be followed for the assignment of a retail shop lease and for a lessee to be released from liability to the lessor after assignment.

• Increased jurisdiction of Tribunal - the monetary limit on the jurisdiction of NCAT will be increased from $400,000 to $750,000.

If you would like to know more about how these changes will affect you, please contact Matthews Folbigg Lawyers on 02 9635 7966.

Anna Zdrilic, Principal, practices extensively in commercial and retail leasing. Anna can be contacted on 9806 7461 or annaz@matthewsfolbigg.com.au.

DISCLAIMER: This article is provided as a brief summary only and should not be relied upon or used as definitive or complete statement of the relevant law.

City of Parramatta has just launched the Church Street Retail Frontage Improvement Program (RFIP) which is offering eligible businesses, property managers, and property owners situated on Church Street, Parramatta (between Macquarie Street and Lennox Bridge) up to $20,000 to improve the quality of their shopfront, building façade, and awning.

Macquarie Bank's guide to protecting against the latest craze in cybercrime

It starts innocuously enough. You receive an email from a colleague; just the regular kind of short message they’re always sending and a link to an article they thought you’d like. But when you click on it, your troubles start.

It’s not The Australian or The New York Times that you’re taken to. Instead, you’re directed to a screen that tells you all of the data stored on your computer has been encrypted. Worse still, you’re not going to get it back unless you pay. And to top it off, for every 30 minutes you delay, a piece of data will be destroyed or the price of having it unlocked will increase.

What’s happened is that you’ve just downloaded dangerous ransomware to your system. And ransomware is on the rise....Click here to read more.

Macquarie has been providing Business Banking solutions for over 30 years and provides SME clients with tools and strategies to grow and develop their business. You can get regular updates by subscribing to the monthly newsletter, Strictly Business by visiting macquarie.com.au/businessbanking. If you would like to find out more about how Macquarie can support you to take your business further, call us at our Parramatta office on 0418 253 049 and be connected with one of our real estate banking specialists in your region.

This information has been prepared by Macquarie Bank Limited ABN 46 008 583 542 AFSL and Australian Credit Licence 237502 (“Macquarie”) for general information purposes only. This information does not constitute advice. Opinions expressed are subject to change without notice. No member of Macquarie accepts any liability whatsoever for any direct, indirect, consequential or other loss arising from any use of this information.

In the past year, demand for outpatient cancer services − that is treatments not requiring an overnight stay in hospital − in south west Sydney rose by up to 10 per cent. Our population in this part of Sydney is among the fastest-growing in the country and as population grows, the incidence of cancer in its many forms also escalates.

Across Australia, the number of cancer patients in Australia grows by approximately 3 per cent a year. That's 5,000 new cases each year, about half of which require radiation treatment. In 2015, more than 131,000 cancer patients presented for treatment in south-western Sydney. More than half of this number (51 per cent) needed treatment for tumours, including radiation and surgery.

Right here in Liverpool, we're building what will become the most advanced radiotherapy treatment tool in the world − and for the first time, we're inviting the people of Western Sydney to come and see it.

Anyone familiar with the work we do at the Ingham Institute would have heard us talk about the MRI-Linac. We're in the business of fighting disease, and the MRI-Linac will, once it's completed, be one of the world's most advanced tools for attacking cancer.

We're designing and building the MRI-Linac so that we can offer these patients image guided radiation therapy − or in other words, radiation that can much more accurately track and target tumours using MRI as the patient is being treated, something that cannot be done today. As a result, we will also be able to offer more powerful radiation treatment while at the same time, avoid the risk of damaging healthy tissue.

Liverpool is one of only four research institutions in the world, and the only one is Australia that is building an MRI-Linac machine, and we believe our design is unique compared to other models currently under development. Working with South West Sydney’s Cancer Therapy Centres and specialists from Sydney, Wollongong, Queensland, Stanford, Western Sydney and NSW Universities, our researchers are essentially inventing new technological solutions to improve the effectiveness of radiation therapy for cancer patients.

We've reached a point where we can not only demonstrate the technology works, but explore how it will one day revolutionise the way we treat cancerous tumours here and around the world. We are inviting our neighbours in Western Sydney to experience history in the making and book a tour of the MRI-Linac while it is still under construction.

Guided tours are free and can be arranged by calling the Ingham Institute on 1800 66 55 41. On a tour you will be able to step inside the bunker housing our MRI Linac prototype and see close-up what the future of cancer therapy looks like.

The MRI-Linac is just one of the dozens of research and development projects we have underway at Ingham Institute, developing new ways to improve human health and save lives. We encourage anyone who's interested in the work we do and its potential, to come and take a look.

To register for the MRI-Linac tour, call 1800 66 55 41. Visit www.inghaminstitute.org.au for more on Ingham Institute's medical research.

City of Parramatta’s vision to be "Sydney’s central city, sustainable, liveable, and productive – inspired by our communities" – will be achieved by placing people at the centre of its future planning.

Council has eight draft documents currently on public exhibition until Monday, 8 May 2017 which will form the basis of significant work to deliver Council’s vision.

City of Parramatta invites you to share your feedback on these policies, to ensure they accurately reflect the needs and aspirations of the community.

As a valued member of the business community, Council would like to draw your attention to and invite you to give feedback on both the Draft Public Car Parking Strategy and Draft Civic Link Framework Plan which are currently on public exhibition. 

The Draft Public Car Parking Strategy provides plans to support economic activity in the City while alleviating congestion by reducing car movements in the CBD.

The Draft Civic Link Framework Plan establishes Council’s aspirations for a Civic Link – public open space and a cultural spine that connects Parramatta Square and the Transport Interchange to the river foreshore precinct. 

Have your say on these strategies, or attend one of Council's drop-in sessions and speak to a planner.

Love it or hate it, networking is an essential business skill and most professionals don’t know how to do it effectively. In this extract from a Great Managers MasterClass, Managing Director Sandra Wood will help you understand the techniques used by successful networkers and give you a fool-proof process that will make you feel more prepared, and more confident at the next WSBC (or any other) networking event!

Watch the video below:

1 in 3 Australian men and 1 in 4 Australian women will be diagnosed with cancer before the age of 75.

Thanks to donors’ incredible generosity, My Westmead has been able to proudly support the work of The Crown Princess Mary Cancer Centre at Westmead Hospital. This purpose built state of the art facility provides fully integrated research, prevention, diagnostic, treatment and rehabilitation programs for patients and families coping with cancer.

Despite their busy schedules, five of the Westmead Hospital’s Oncologists have kindly agreed to speak at the upcoming My Westmead Community Seminar “New and Novel Treatments for Cancer”.

When: Tue 30 May 2017

Time: 1:30pm

Where: Level 2 - The Westmead Institute for Medical Research

176 Hawkesbury Road, Westmead, NSW

RSVP: Please call Alison Whittaker on 02 9845 9019 or visit mywestmead.org.au

The presentation will be followed by Q&A session. Tea and coffee will be provided.

Join us and hear from our guest speakers:

Professor Nicholas Wilcken - Director of Medical Oncology at the Westmead Cancer Care Centre

Dr Mark Wong - Medical Oncologist at Westmead Hospital and Clinical Senior Lecturer at the University of Sydney

Dr Matteo Carlino - Medical Oncologist at Westmead and Blacktown Hospitals

Dr Adnan Nagrial - Medical Oncologist at Westmead Hospital and The Garvan Institute

Dr Alison Salkeld - Radiation Oncologist at The Crown Princess Mary Cancer Centre

Attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions to the oncologists about their current work.

Zoe Johnson, Cancer Care Co-ordinator and Clinical Nurse Consultant for Breast Cancer, and Noeline Ranzac, Nurse Unit Manager at The Crown Princess Mary Cancer Centre will also be in attendance to answer questions arising.

Cancer will touch most Australians at some stage of their lives, either personally or through relatives and friends, as every year over 123,000 new cases of cancer are diagnosed in Australia.

This is a free event not to miss. It is open to the wider community; however places are limited so bookings are required.

To RSVP or for more information, call Alison Whittaker on 02 9845 9019 or visit mywestmead.org.au

This May, don’t miss Laugh for the House, an outrageous night of stand-up comedy for a fantastic cause!

Proceeds from this bumper night of laughs go towards Ronald McDonald House Westmead, a ‘home away from home’ for seriously ill children and their families.

Headlined by Jimeoin, one of Australia’s most beloved comedians, Laugh for the House also features the hilarious Simon Kennedy as MC, and fresh young talent Emma Zammit.

Jimeoin is acclaimed as one of the hottest stand-up comics of his generation and a true comedy master. A prolific writer with an exceptional audience rapport, he is known for his brilliant wit and charming observations on the absurdities of everyday life.

Join us to Laugh for the House and help raise vital funds to help Ronald McDonald House Westmead keep families close when they need it most.

When: Thursday 18 May, 2017

Where: Riverside Theatres, Parramatta

Cost: $50* per ticket

Welcome to the April 2017 edition of our Economic and Market Outlook, brought to you by Pitcher Partners Sydney Wealth Management.

This edition provides commentary on the following topics:

• International economy
• Australian economy
• Australian equities
• International equities

To read the full version of the Economic and Market Outlook April 2017, please click here.

Should you have any queries in relation to the above, please do not hesitate to contact the author or your Pitcher Partners relationship partner.

Contact

Martin Fowler

Partner, Wealth Management

Pitcher Partners Sydney

T: +61 2 8236 7776

E: martin.fowler@pitcher.com.au