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RACING AUSTRALIA ANNUAL REPORT 2016
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3. TRAINER & OWNER REFORMS
To modernise industry practices, Racing Australia
is introducing new reforms to standardise the
arrangements between owners and trainers, and also
agreements between co-owners. These new measures
will be known as the Trainer and Owner Reforms (TOR).
Racing Australia believes that many trainers/owners and
co-owners operate informally and don’t have access
to a document setting out where they stand. This leads
to numerous misunderstandings and disputes to the
detriment of the industry. There has long been a need
for standard documents which state the rights and
obligations of trainers and owners and co-owners.
The TOR will provide greater clarity and certainty
between owners and trainers as well as between
co-owners.
The new TOR will be provided for by the Australian
Rules of Racing and commence on 1 March 2017.
There are three key features to the TOR:
(a) Standard Training Agreement (STA)
The set of standard contractual terms to apply to all
owners and trainers will be known as the “Standard
Training Agreement” (the STA).
The STA will be compulsory for owners and trainers.
However, to preserve flexibility in relation to the
contractual arrangements between trainers and owners,
the STA can be varied so long as certain terms are not
excluded or limited. The terms that cannot be varied will
be defined in the Australian Rules of Racing.
The STA will expressly impose some basic requirements
on trainers. For example, trainers will be required to set
out in a document called a “Fees Notice” the training
fees and disbursements the trainer plans to charge.
A Fees Notice will need to be issued within 14 days of a
trainer being appointed by an owner. The STA will also
require that trainers meet basic standards for caring for
and training a horse, and to report to the owner from
time to time about the welfare and progress of a horse.
The STA will formalise services many trainers already
provide their owners.
The STA is specifically designed to facilitate and
encourage trainers getting paid training fees and
disbursements promptly by owners.
Principal Racing Authorities (PRAs) will have powers
under the Rules of Racing to facilitate payment to
trainers (including powers to reject the registration of an
interest in a horse where fees are due and payable to a
trainer, to freeze prizemoney, and to direct payment of
prizemoney to trainers in some circumstances).
(b) Training Disputes Tribunal (TDT)
Of course safeguards are built into the STA, including
that an owner may dispute an invoice by serving a
“Dispute Notice”. Once a Dispute Notice is lodged, a
trainer and owner will each have the right to elect an
independent tribunal convened and arranged by each
PRA called a Training Disputes Tribunal (TDT).
The TDT will determine disputes in relation to fees and
disbursements for training services. Those hearings will
take place in a practical and informal forum so that if
there is a dispute, it can be brought to a head promptly.
The TDT process will fairly balance the rights and
interests of both trainers and owners.
(c) Co-owners Agreement (COA)
The Co-owners Agreement (COA) will apply to multiple
ownerships except for co-owners who have acquired
shares in a horse offered by a promoter approved by
a PRA and licenced under the Corporations Act (Cth)
and/or offered pursuant to an ASIC instrument or Class
Order in relation to shares in horses.
If groups of owners already have in place separate
contracts or deeds governing their venture, they can
agree for them to operate side by side with the COA,
as long as they do not conflict with and/or are not
inconsistent with the COA.
Co-owners will also be able to add to or vary the COA
(except that they cannot exclude or limit a requirement
of the rules of racing).