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June Newsletter, 2022
Welcome to our June newsletter and thank you to all our valued members for their continued support. This newsletter continues with some topics from our last newsletter and also has some new and exciting topics which have been requested from our members.
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We have a new membership benefit to share with you this month which involves some special offers from our business partner Nuvocreative which can lead to great savings for your website and this offer is only available for current members of Community Management Solutions. Please see inside for an article on this great offer.
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Our finance team have been very busy these last month’s assisting our members with complex audit work as well as payroll and bookkeeping. A lot of our clients are realising how cost effective it is to allow us to provide these services to them so that they can concentrate of other areas of business and service delivery.
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Our theme in relation to employee wellness continues in this newsletter and I have prepared Part 2, which specifically refers to wellness initiatives and how this can positively impact the culture of your organisation and satisfaction of your people which is all part of the puzzle to strive to become an employee of choice.
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A sincere thank you to all those members who attended my webinar on Recruitment and in the webinar hosted by Brian in relation to Health and Safety. Both webinars were very well received with numerous questions and follow ups and we have some additional information on the findings and frequently asked questions for all our members to peruse.
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Our next webinar will be one on Investigations and details on that will be provided in this newsletter. I strongly recommend our members attend that webinar, as how to conduct a proper ethical investigation is not easy so the information provided will certainly help our members when having those difficult and challenging conversations.
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On behalf of the organisation I would like to extend a sincere welcome to our three new board members James, Georgina and Christine who bring a wide range of professional and personal skills to our board. A brief profile of each is included in this newsletter.
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The team and I are always concerned about the health and safety of children and in this newsletter we have a word search and colouring in competition for children to complete which emphasises child safety so please encourage your children to complete and send them back to us to go in the running for a toy world voucher.
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Our teams have been very busy in assisting our members with very difficult situations and scenarios which require time, expertise and patience to come up with a number of possible solutions, It is when difficult and confronting situations occur which can be quite unexpected when the true value of membership comes to the fore and we are able to guide our members to safety.
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In closing we have some new membership options available to you, your current membership is classified as a gold membership, but we also have new options which include diamond and platinum for those members who would like to take advantage of our extra discounted add on services to meet all your needs. If you are interested in these options, then please give me a call.
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CMSolutions: Your trusted partner, providing the safety net in the tough times and peace of mind at all times.
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Stress Leave
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A stressful work or home environment can quickly take its toll, and it is not uncommon to hear the phrase “Stress Leave” when burnout employees are requesting time off.
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The fable of Stress Leave, leaves many employers confused and unsure how to process this type of leave, but the truth is; Stress leave is not any different to Personal Leave.
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Depending on your workplace’s policies, your employee may still need to supply a medical certificate and submit a leave form upon their return.
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An employee may possibly submit a WorkCover claim for a stress related illness or injury, but this is not approached any differently than say a broken limb, or a bump on the head. Before any such claim can succeed however, they have to be able to demonstrate that their medical condition was caused (or contributed to) by “unreasonable management action taken in an unreasonable way”. Performance management processes are specifically excluded from being considered in such claims.
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Adopting “Mental Health Positive” practices in your workplace are a good way to avoid employee burnout, and opens up avenues for stressed workers to seek the help they need, before it affects their performance.
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Call our Team today on 07 3852 5177 if you would like further information about Stress Leave and what you can do as an employer.
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CMSolutions staff Member Profile - Stacey
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Stacey Scott has been an integral member of our finance team since 2012 and has just completed 10 Years’ Service. She holds a Cert IV in Bookkeeping and her position within CMSolutions team is that “Bookkeeping Team Supervisor’. Stacey also provides MYOB training for our many clients.
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Stacey enjoys her regular Pilates and gym sessions also coffee with her girlfriends and just maybe a Wine or two.
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She is looking forward to travelling overseas again soon with first stop being Italy and then onto Greece.
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Stacey has three adult children who coincidently share the same birth date, she is also hoping for some grandchildren soon.
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Stacey & her husband own and operate a Brumby’s Bakery, while her husband manages the shop Stacey of course takes care off all the bookwork in her own time. This also gives her first hand knowledge of small business operation.
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Our last newsletter introduced you to the benefits of considering implementing a wellness program and a discussion on the objectives.
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I am a firm believer in the benefits of such a program. People are looking for more than just security and remuneration, flexibility within the workplace, the ability and capacity to work from home and other employee benefits linked to an employee wellness program are some of the things that people want to see from an employer.
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A lot of HR practitioners talk about best practice, cultural and employee alignment and the importance of talent engagement and retention. All of these factors are independent yet related as part of an organisations overall people strategy or at least they should be.
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As we are all busy meeting the needs of our clients it is easy to overlook these factors, but it is important to always have one eye on these issues and not lose sight on what we are trying to achieve. A failure to understand these principles may result in employee burnout, cultural misalignment and low employee and volunteer retention.
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This article needs to be read in conjunction with the previous article so if you have not yet read the previous article then please do so.
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The following is a brief list of some the wellness initiatives that some organisations have included, some may be suitable for your organisation, some may be impractical due to cost, or your service delivery model, or other factors but as in all things take what is useful discard what is useless and see what you may be able to introduce to your organisation as part of your wellness program.
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Also please make sure that if you have volunteers also give them the opportunity to participate in any programs that you introduce.
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- Flexible working hours – with the pressures of private life, the economy, COVID19, cost of living, transport costs, family and other responsibilities the need for some form of flexible working hours or working location is on the top of most people’s list. This may be possible and if so please consider it depending on the nature of your work. In line with flexible working hours is of course the ability to work remotely usually working from home which has shown to be possible and productive in a lot of professions.
- The introduction of appropriate voluntary activities which are designed to provide stress release for staff is very important. An example of this could be meditations, exercise classes, yoga, arts and crafts, training sessions in stress release or similar activities are very important to break up the working day, these could be offered before or after work or during lunch times if practicable.
- Lunch and learn presentations are becoming more popular, you may be able to arrange learning sessions over lunch on relevant activities such as food preparation, nutrition, mental health, benefits of exercise, non-smoking sessions, stress techniques etc.
- Develop employee supported wellness programs such as subsidised gym membership, reduced cost classes for employees with a private company.
- Financial Education - with the stresses of the increase cost of living and the increase pressure which comes with that lessons and or advice in how to manage finances, create and comply with a budget to give people life skills to enable them to cope with this challenge.
- Communication with your employees and volunteers - giving your people a clear understanding of their roles and your expectations, listening to their concerns and trying to find responsible solutions together. Give your people when you can autonomy in decision making and do not be afraid to complement your people when it is warranted.
- Support and Celebrate Community Involvement – encourage your people either individually or as a group or team to participate in community and or volunteer activities perhaps for a charity of similar organisation to improve the culture within your team.
- Onsite fitness - if your budget and organisation can provide a place to exercise on site at work perhaps either before, after or during lunch breaks. Basic equipment can be provided as long as a safe proper space can be utilised for this practice and encouraged.
- Work with business partners - Try and utilize your networking to provide opportunities for your people for example a business relationship which offers less expensive insurance or a membership with a purchasing company for cheaper goods and services.
- Create a wellness Hall of Fame - publicly celebrate your people’s success when participating in wellness programs to show employer support and to increase the culture within your organisation.
- Celebrate Health and Safety - Ensure that you have a regular OHS Audit performed to make sure you are providing a safe workplace for your people. Look at the feasibility of stand/sit desks for example, as part of on overall office ergonomic strategy.
- Coordinate and financially support health programs such as yearly flu injections etc.
- Healthy snacks - having healthy eating options such as fruit bowels in lunchrooms readily available and employer subsidised goes a long way to show that you genuinely are concerned about the health of your people.
- Other initiatives can include boot camps, walking programs, team challenges, health checkups, wellbeing webinars, education, walking meetings, personal development and numerous others.
I have only just touched on a number of these ideas to give you some food for thought, I will be conducting a webinar later this year of this issues so please express your interest to attend.
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Community Management Solutions can assist you in the development of a wellness program and we are just a phone call away. Part 3 and the final part of this article will deal with how to establish and design a program, so I will prepare that for our next newsletter.
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Since our last Newsletter we have hosted two Webinars.
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Kevin Prendergast our CEO, recently hosted a Webinar on Recruitment.
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We thank you for all the terrific feedback that we received from our members in relation to the recruitment webinar. For those who missed out then please access the link below.
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In addition to the presentation our members sent in a number of key and pertinent questions for the webinar which included questions on how to conduct an interview, how to score an interview, the purpose and value of behavioural interviewing, employee referral schemes, how to create eye-catching advertisements, the importance of telephone screening interviews, how to measure employee cultural fit, the relevance and importance of reference checking, how to decide on suitability, and the importance of transferable skills.
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All these questions were answered in detail at the end of the webinar so if you are interested in those responses then please refer to the webinar.
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A reminder please that Recruitment is a time exhaustive endeavour and that we offer a very cost-effective option to meet all or part of your recruitment needs. Please see HERE about our Recruitment Services on offer.
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The second Webinar we hosted was on Workplace Health and Safety and Rehabilitation and presented by Brian Abrahams our WHS Consultant.
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This webinar covered the Health and Safety Act, Employer obligations, hazards and risks in the workplace all with many other topics. Click HERE to have a read of the popular Frequently Asked Questions Brian was able to answer.
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You can find these webinars along with all the other webinars we've hosted on our Website, in the Member Resources.
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As always if you have any questions or have any topics of interest for future webinars please get in contact on
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07 3852 5177 or email info@cmsolutions.org.au
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Advertisement - Industry Partner
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Creating Brighter Futures
Are you passionate about education? Do you have an idea that you think could make a real difference? We award 6 scholarships of $5,000 to NGS Super members each year, helping them maximise their contribution to the sector and foster their professional development.
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Entries for this year’s Scholarship Awards open on 1 July and close on 31 August, so if you have an idea for a project or program that you think offers something special to education, get your application ready. All NGS Super members — whether teachers, management or support staff — are eligible to enter.
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This year, you can apply within our General, Sustainability or Navigating life category — visit our website for details on each, and tips for writing a strong application.
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NGS Super helpline can be contacted on 1300 133 177 Monday to Friday, 8am–8pm (AEST/AEDT).
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One of our HR Consultants, Pat has drawn up an article about Payroll Audits and why they are needed. Have a read of the article below to find out more.
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You can read the article HERE
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If you need assistance with a HR/IR Payroll Audit you can contact the CMSolutions Team.
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Welcome to our new movie review column where we will be reviewing new movies, this month we are reviewing Top Gun Maverick
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Ageless Tom Cruise stars and excels in this latest blockbuster sequel to the original Top Gun. Get ready for two hours plus of thrills and excitement as Tom once again reprises the character of Captain Pete Maverick an anti hero who has trouble with authority but always comes through when the chips are down to save the day. Reference to the old theme songs takes centre stage in a thrilling introduction and the movie only gets better from there with superb acting performances from Tom in particular but well aided by a vibrant and highly skilled supporting cast. The real time flight aeronautics are the highlight of the production and have never been bettered and the story is full of drama and life lessons which combine to form a wonderful experience to enjoy on the big screen. Our score 5 out of 5 don’t miss it!
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Changes to Super Guarantee
From 1st July 2022
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Part 1. $450 Month Superannuation Threshold Abolished (for most employees except for those under 18, see below)
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From 1st July 2022 employers must pay super Guarantee on every dollar earnt, including the first $450. Treasury Laws Amendment (Enhancing Superannuation Outcomes For Australian and Helping Australian Businesses Invest) Bill 2021 – Parliament Australia)
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Previously, employers did not need to pay SG if the employee did not earn $450 per month.
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Now, some workers will receive super contributions from their employers for the first time.
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So ensure you update your Payroll software in regards to this matter.
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Employees Aged Under 18 & Paying Superannuation
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For most employees, Australian businesses are required to pay an employee super on top of that person’s wage if the employee earns more than $450 (before taxes) in a calendar month.
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If an employer has employees who are under 18 years of age, then the employee must also work more than 30 hours per week to qualify for their Super contributions.
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You must pay super for an employee ages 18 years if they:
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- Are under 18 years of age and
- Are paid $450 or more before tax in salary and wages in a calendar month and
- Work more than 30 hours a week and
- Are not exempt under another exemption criteria
Part 2. The superannuation guarantee is currently set at 10%, as of 1st July 2022 the rate increases to 10.5%.
So any payroll paid on or after 1st July 2022, Super will need to be paid at the 10.5% rate.
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If you have any questions, contact CMSolutions for assistance on 07 3852 5177.
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Fair Work Commission Wage Increases
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The Fair Work Commission has handed down its 2022 wage decision and determined that the appropriate increase for Award covered employees is 4.6% to apply from the first full pay period commencing on or after 1 July. We are currently revising our pay schedules and will make them available within the next week or so (certainly prior to 1 July).
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Please remember that this increase will not impact on employers who are covered by a current Enterprise Agreement unless the rates of pay in the Enterprise Agreement fall below the Award rate.
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Employees of P&C's are covered by the State Industrial Relations Act 2016 and not the Federal Legislation. The Fair Work Decision only applies to the Federal Fair Work Act 2009. P&C Employees will be receiving a wage increase in September in line with the Annual Wage Review conducted by the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission.
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If you have any questions regarding the wage increases please call our HR Hotline for assistance.
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Websites and Digital Marketing
Low Cost Website and marketing solutions for our members. Another way CMSolutions membership pays for itself.
All CMSolutions members enjoy mates rates on website development, hosting, website fixes and tech support, SEO and social media support (up to 50% savings). Our digital partners are NuvoCreative.com.au, WPconx.com, and Viseo.com.au.
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CMSolutions has partnered with Nuvo Creative to deliver simple affordable online solutions for our members. Nuvo Creative will write, design, code and publish your organisation’s website. Rates for websites start from $999 plus GST. Find our more HERE
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Attention Members - "10,000 Steps"
Please note that as part of our desire to support your employee wellness programs, we are coordinating a 10,000 step program for all of our members.
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Kevin and Trisha will be the coordinators for the program.
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This will allow us to run a tournament for all of our members which has some very cool prizes for the winners.
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Why should you participate?
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Regular physical activity is a proven way to prevent chronic diseases as well as improve mood, concentration and emotionally health.
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The 10,000 step program is a FREE fun and easy way for individuals, workplaces, teams and communities to increase participation in physical activities.
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We will have the full details on how to participate in our next newsletter
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Please register for our next webinar on Wednesday the 20th of July at 11am, the topic this month will be on Investigations.
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This can be a minefield to negotiate, and it is vitally important that our members are fully informed on how to properly conduct an investigation and how to avoid any actions that may hinder the credibility of the investigation.
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I have over thirty years of experience in conducting investigations and I am a licensed investigator through the Office of Fair Trading. I have extensive experience in investigating criminal matters, employment issues, allegations pertaining to sexual harassment, workplace bullying, discrimination, code of conduct, insurance, child protection and numerous other areas. Let me share this information with our members so that they may feel more confident when having those difficult conversations.
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There are many benefits from conducting a workplace investigation ensuring that the facts of the matter are properly investigated which leads to an evidence based conclusion. Early intervention is extremely important to address and correct inappropriate conduct at work.
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If you have any specific questions that you would like answered during the webinar then please send in those in advance, kevinp@cmsolutions.org.au
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Advertisement - Industry Partner
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Charity Size Threshold Changes
This article is about the ACNC lessening the reporting burden for charities, key changes for large to medium charities and the Annual Information due dates.
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Click HERE to view the Article
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Update your committee details here
to ensure you don't miss our correspondence
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Welcome Aboard!
A sincere welcome and thank you to our three new Board Members on our Community Management Solutions Board.
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All three have attended our latest Board Meeting and have made extremely valuable contributions and we greatly appreciate them spending their valuable time to add expertise to our already dedicated and energised Board.
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Welcome to James, Georgina and Christine.
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Find out more about our Board Members HERE!
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CMSolutions are advocates for Mental Health and have partnered with Acacia EAP to ensure our members can access a service to support their staff.
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| For more information, call 1300 364 273 and mention you are a CMSolutions Member. |
| Other Resources Available: |
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