The spring edition of our Above Board update covers need-to-know developments in corporate governance and board practice for the quarter.
There is a significant movement towards embedding the concept of nature positive into Federal and State environmental legislation. This raises the questions: why is nature positive a focus for...
The Federal Government has this week released a Voluntary AI Safety Standard and a consultation paper on ‘Safe and responsible AI in Australia’ for introducing mandatory guardrails for AI in high...
On Friday, Treasury released a consultation paper outlining its proposed merger notification thresholds, as part of the upcoming overhaul of Australia’s merger law regime.
The Federal Government has released its response to the independent review of the changes to the continuous disclosure laws.
In a cruel twist of irony, two of NSW’s premier minerals projects, approved by the NSW Government within just days of one another, have been nullified on the same day through two separate decisions.
The right to disconnect, a new definition of employee/employer, casual employment, unfair contract terms and regulated workers – these changes are now in force (as of 26 August). While the second...
The High Court has found in favour of the ACCC in an important proceeding raising fundamental issues concerning the scope of the systemic unconscionable conduct prohibition and the principles...
The Victorian Court of Appeal has entrenched as law a broad meaning of “associated transactions” in its recent decision involving Oliver Hume Property Funds and the Commissioner of State Revenue.
The recent public hearings from the 2024 Independent Inquiry into The Star Entertainment Group conducted by Adam Bell SC have brought to the forefront the issue of corporate culture and, in...
The Treasurer has now released draft legislation for the new Australian merger control regime, which will come into effect on 1 January 2026, subject to the legislation’s passage through Parliament.
Employers and other persons conducting businesses or undertakings (PCBUs) in NSW have – since 1 October 2022 – been required to include psychosocial hazards in their assessment of workplace hazards...
The Federal Court last week handed down its decision in Australian Securities and Investments Commission v Firstmac Limited [2024] FCA 737. ASIC was successful in its claim that Firstmac Limited...
Usually who serves on the board of a listed company is a matter for the company itself and others, including the courts, only rarely intervene. That’s why the Takeovers Panel’s order requiring...
The Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia has dismissed an application made by Optus for leave to appeal the first instance decision by Justice Beach. In this article, we consider the key...
Regulators are grappling with the challenges posed by AI, and where to strike the regulatory balance. Submissions to the Australian Senate Committee tasked to consider AI reveal some of the key...
The recent decision of the Federal Court in relation to proceedings brought by ASIC against iSignthis Limited and its former Managing Director and CEO, Mr Nickolas Karantzis highlights that a...
The Full Federal Court has handed down its much-anticipated decision in PepsiCo, Inc v Commissioner of Taxation [2024] FCAFC 86, overturning the decision of the Federal Court.
Under changes to the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (which were part of the Closing Loopholes amendments) enterprise agreements voted on by employees on or after 1 July 2024 must include a term regarding...
The goal of uniformity for Australian defamation law is set to fall short again as a majority of jurisdictions fail to meet their own timeline for the proposed model Stage 2 defamation law reforms.
Welcome to Digital Bytes, our latest quarterly update on current developments in cyber, privacy and data governance.
In two recent class actions by shareholders against Commonwealth Bank of Australia Limited, the Federal Court was asked whether, and if so when, CBA should have disclosed that its non-compliance...
Welcome to the Winter edition of Above Board – our quarterly roundup of key developments in governance for board members and their advisers.
As the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) notes in its recently released Not-for-Profit Governance Principles (Third Edition) (Principles), there are approximately 600,000 not-for...