SOLO Together

Practice backup register

Relief and Backup Code

Before any relief, locum or emergency backup arrangement starts, the principal and the relief practitioner both sign this Code, together with a short written relief agreement between the two of them. Its purpose is simple: your clients stay yours, whatever happens. Breaching this Code is a breach of the SOLO Together Member Code.

This Code is signed as a deed. In this Code, the principal is the practitioner whose clients are being looked after, and the relief practitioner is the colleague looking after them.

  1. No poaching

    The relief practitioner must not solicit or accept any of the principal's clients, during the relief period or for 36 months afterwards, directly or through anyone else, including their staff, family or another business. Any approach from a client is referred straight back to the principal. This does not prevent a sale or transfer of clients that the principal agrees to in writing, for example through the Practice Exchange.

  2. Clients go back

    When the relief ends, all clients, files, records, passwords and correspondence are handed back to the principal, and no copies are kept. If the principal cannot return, clients are transitioned according to the principal's written succession instructions.

  3. Confidentiality and privacy

    The relief practitioner accesses only what the task needs, and follows the TPB Code's confidentiality duty, the Privacy Act and the TFN Rule. All access and actions are logged and handed over.

  4. Client consent

    Clients are told about the backup arrangement in the principal's engagement letter, and can choose a different practitioner.

  5. Stay within licence and insurance

    Relief work is done only within the relief practitioner's own registration or licence (TPB, AFSL or credit licence), and is covered by their own PI insurance.

  6. Fees agreed in advance

    Fees are agreed in writing between the two practitioners only. The association never sets or recommends relief fees.

  7. Conflicts declared

    Any conflict of interest is disclosed, and the relief practitioner steps aside if conflicted.

  8. Legal consequences of a breach

    Both practitioners sign this Code as a deed, so the principal can enforce it directly in court. If clients are solicited or taken on in breach of it, the principal can seek an injunction to stop it, damages or an account of the fees earned from those clients, agreed liquidated damages (for example, the fees the principal billed each affected client in the previous 12 months), and their legal costs. A breach may also be reported to the Tax Practitioners Board, ASIC or the relevant professional body.

  9. Enforcement by the association

    The Membership and Ethics committee investigates any complaint. Sanctions range up to suspension or expulsion and removal from the backup register, in addition to the principal's own legal remedies.

Signing

Both practitioners sign and date this Code before the arrangement starts and keep a copy. You can print this page to sign it.

Principal: name, registration number, signature, date

Relief practitioner: name, registration number, signature, date

Back to the backup register

This Code and the relief agreement template are drafts and will be reviewed by a lawyer before launch, including whether the 36-month period is reasonable. The signed deed will include fallback periods of 24 and 12 months in case a court finds 36 months too long. The Code sits alongside, and does not replace, each practitioner's own legal and professional obligations.