Articles

Price caps and mandatory codes of conduct to be imposed on the domestic gas market

On 9 December 2022, the Commonwealth Government released exposure drafts of its proposed Competition and Consumer Amendment (Gas Market) Bill 2022 (Cth) (Exposure Bill) and Competition and Consumer...

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Major reforms on the horizon for Australia’s national environmental laws

Last week, the federal Government announced the most comprehensive set of proposed reforms to Australia’s national environmental laws since the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation...

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Getting ready for the Secure Jobs, Better Pay Changes

The Government is moving quickly on its workplace and diversity reform agenda by introducing the Secure Jobs, Better Pay Bill 2022 (the Bill). The Bill, which significantly amends the Fair Work Act...

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Massive increase in financial penalties for breaches of competition and consumer laws

On November 10 2022, the maximum financial penalties for breaching Australia’s competition and consumer laws increased significantly - in some cases by five times the previous levels.

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Lady Justice Statue
The Government passes legislation to overhaul the unfair contract terms regime

The Government has passed legislation amending the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) to strengthen the unfair contract term (UCT) regime.

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What you need to know about Australia’s privacy reforms

In the wake of the recent Optus and Medibank data breaches, the Government has confirmed its commitment to privacy and data security reform by proposing tougher penalties for serious or repeated...

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Once more unto the breach, dear licensees – ASIC identifies room for improvement in breach reporting

On 27 October 2022, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission released Report 740 Insights from the reportable situations regime: October 2021 to June 2022.

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Court finds arrangements that include a trustee's income distribution decisions are Part IVA schemes

A single judge of the Federal Court has upheld a decision of the Commissioner of Taxation (Commissioner) to apply the general anti-avoidance rule, Part IVA, to arrangements that include the income...

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The death of the employee share option? And a new complexity regarding the on-sale of shares

From 1 October, we expect to see significant changes in the way that companies offer equity to their Australian personnel. For many businesses, new rules in the Corporations Act significantly...

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Scissors.
Defamation case dismissed in first application of the new serious harm test

Proceedings involving a one-to-one Facebook Messenger allegation of stolen scissors have been cut short by her Honour Judith Gibson DCJ in the first test of the serious harm element since it was...

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Privacy and cyber security imperatives – reactions to and lessons from the Optus data breach

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Natural gas burner
Commonwealth enters new Heads of Agreement to safeguard Australia’s east coast domestic gas market

In July 2017, the Commonwealth Government implemented the Australian Domestic Gas Security Mechanism (ADGSM) to ensure that there is a sufficient supply of natural gas to meet Australia’s domestic...

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Barossa Project paused due to Federal Court setting aside NOPSEMA decision

On 21 September 2022, Justice Bromberg of the Federal Court handed down his decision in Tipakalippa v National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (No 2) [2022] FCA...

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Gunning for it: Peak Indebtedness in the spotlight

In significant news for the insolvency industry, the High Court will hear the long-awaited Gunns Group preference claim appeal in Bryant & Ors v Badenoch Integrated Logging (A10/2022) on 18 October...

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Examinees cannot “fish” in Babcock & Brown’s pond

On 18 August 2022 Justice Markovic of the Federal Court dismissed the application of a litigation funder and its director (the Applicants) for access to the confidential affidavit in support of...

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Jobs and Skills Summit – Key Proposed Outcomes

The Jobs and Skills Summit held in Canberra last week proposed a long list of reforms and other actions categorised as “immediate actions”, “areas for further work” and “complementary existing...

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Landmark High Court win in Google v Defteros

We are delighted with the recent High Court outcome our client, Google LLC (Google), in a long-fought and significant battle in a defamation claim concerning search engine results.

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ATO Decision Impact Statement regarding Aurizon: clear objective evidence is important

On 25 August 2022, the Commissioner issued his decision impact statement in relation to Aurizon Holdings Limited v Commissioner of Taxation [2022] FCA 368 (Aurizon).

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ACCC: Current practices of gas producers and LNG exporters may breach competition law

Against the backdrop of the deepening gas supply crisis on the east coast of Australia, in its 13th Gas Inquiry Interim Report of July 2022 (July 2022 Report), the ACCC has issued a stern warning...

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Consultation begins on Australia's first offshore wind energy zones, located off the Gippsland coast

On 5 August 2022, the Federal Minister for Climate Change and Energy (Minister), Chris Bowen, declared six proposed areas in Australian Commonwealth waters off Gippsland in Victoria for offshore...

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Federal environmental approvals for coal and gas projects under the spotlight

The Environment Council of Central Queensland via its legal representatives, Environmental Justice Australia (EJA), has recently requested that the federal Minister for the Environment revisit...

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State and Territory budgets snap shot – key business announcements

With the ACT releasing its budget on 2 August 2022, every Australian state and territory has now handed down its budget for the 2022/23 financial year. We outline below some of the key business...

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Labor introduces first IR changes

Labor Government has introduced to parliament legislation amending the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) to provide an annual, non-accumulating, entitlement to 10 days’ paid family and domestic violence...

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Regulators get tough on claims of Legal Professional Privilege

Following a number of recent cases in which parties have incorrectly claimed legal professional privilege (LPP) over documents to be produced for regulatory proceedings or investigations, and...

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