Racing Australia has introduced Trainer and Owner Reforms to standardise the arrangements and provide greater clarity and certainty of the arrangements between owners, trainers and between co-owners.
The Standard Training Agreement will formalise services many trainers already provide their owners, and is designed to facilitate trainers getting paid training fees and disbursements promptly. The STA will be compulsory, but can be varied as long as certain terms that will be defined in the Australian Rules of Racing are not excluded or limited. If a trainer and owner have a separate agreement as of Mar. 1, 2017 they can agree in writing for that agreement to continue, but if there is any conflict or inconsistency between the STA and that agreement, the STA will prevail.
Training Disputes Tribunals will be put into place to 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.
The Co-owners Agreement will provide standard documents which state the rights and obligations of trainers and owners and co-owners. 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. Again, the COA will prevail to the extent of the conflict or inconsistency. 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.
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