Articles

Long-awaited employee share scheme reforms become law

The long-awaited changes to the Corporations Act’s disclosure rules and related requirements for employee share schemes have become law.

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Labor Government’s Workplace Relations and Diversity Agenda: What business needs to know

With the Australian Labor Party forming a majority government, it’s important for business to reflect on the ALP election commitments regarding diversity and workplace relations reform and consider...

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Anything you say (to the ACCC) can be used against you (many years later) in court

The Federal Court recently held that submissions and internal documents provided by a party to the ACCC to support or oppose a transaction pursuant to the ACCC’s informal clearance process could be...

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How to treat an angry tweet – Appeal Court downs Dutton

The Full Court of the Federal Court has allowed an appeal, setting aside a judgment entered in favour of the Hon. Peter Dutton MP in which it had found that a ‘tweet’ conveyed the defamatory...

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Federal Election 2022 – Workplace Relations Reform Agendas of Coalition and ALP

With the 2022 federal election this week, we summarise key workplace relations policies put forward by the major parties and implications for employers. The Liberal-National Coalition (Coalition)...

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Winds of fortune: the tide turns in for Australia’s offshore wind industry

Australia’s new offshore electricity infrastructure legislative framework goes live on 2 June 2022. Regulations are close to being finalised and Victoria is the first state to announce a large...

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To the Brink and Back: In the matter of Merchant Overseas Logistics Pty Ltd [2022] VSC 154

In a recent Supreme Court of Victoria decision in which we acted for the successful liquidators, the Court made various orders to enable the company to complete an ultra-efficient, streamlined...

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Court grants 40% Group Costs Order: impact of cost sharing between lawyers and funder

Bogan v The Estate of Peter John Smedley (Deceased) [2022] VSC 201 On 26 April 2022, John Dixon J delivered judgment in the Arrium class action holding that a group costs order (GCO) at 40...

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Mandatory vaccination and other updates (VIC)

The beginning of 2022 has given rise to a number of developments in employment law, particularly in the mandatory vaccination space. In this update, we deal with recent changes to the Victorian...

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Ambitious attempts to perfect the imperfectable

The recent Federal Court decision in Diversa Pty Ltd v Taiping Trustees Limited has highlighted some important risks faced by secured parties who don’t pay attention to the details when perfecting...

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Why are Australian sanctions now the topic of the day?

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a range of democratic nations including Australia, have been quick to impose sanctions on Russia, its president and his assumed associates.

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Litigation in a pandemic – where have all the cases gone?

In recent years, commercial litigators have become accustomed to delays in interlocutory steps and adjournments of hearings and trials as the courts have responded to the COVID-19 pandemic and...

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It’s not worth the Moola – a cartel agreement on the use of keyword search terms

The New Zealand High Court recently held that competitors who agreed on keyword search terms for online search advertising engaged in cartel conduct in breach of competition law.

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Gavel on a desk
Insights from the Federal Court’s latest decision on LPP

We recently commented upon a heavily redacted version of Moshinsky J’s judgment in Commissioner of Taxation v PricewaterhouseCoopers [2022] FCA 278 (PwC case).

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April Australian Energy & Resources Market Update

Our update covers mining, oil and gas, electricity and renewable energy.

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The ATO ramps up its recovery of existing and anticipated tax debts

Central to the Australian taxation system is the concept of self-assessment. Voluntary compliance for the payment of tax related liabilities is strong with Australian Tax Office (ATO) data...

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Windmill on a farm
Further on noise, nuisance, compliance and letters of comfort

The decision in Noel Uren and John Zakula v Bald Hills Wind Farm Pty Ltd [2022] VSC 145 confirms that compliance with the conditions of an approval does not necessarily mean that a project...

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Higher penalties for breaches of the Franchising Code

We detail the higher penalties for breaches of the Franchising Code

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Australia’s revamped offshore oil & gas laws go live

Australia’s offshore oil and gas laws were amended in September 2021, and key changes went live on 2 March 2022. A new change of control test will make oil and gas M&A in Australia more complex...

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LPP “Smorgasbord” wars: Commissioner not entitled to all taxpayer’s documents

Moshinsky J handed down (in part) the highly anticipated decision: Commissioner of Taxation v Pricewaterhouse Coopers [2022] FCA 278, finding that only a portion of the respondent’s documents over...

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A duty to prevent: Human rights & environmental due diligence may be the norm following EU Directive

On 23 February 2022 the European Union (EU) released its long-anticipated draft EU Directive on Corporate Sustainable Due Diligence, also known as the mandatory human rights and environmental due...

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Gunns Reloaded: High Court grants special leave

The Full Court of the High Court (Keane and Gleeson JJ) has today granted Daniel Bryant and Craig Crosbie of PwC, in their capacity as the Liquidators of the Gunns Group, special leave to appeal...

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A duty no more: Full Court rejects EPBC Act duty towards children in landmark appeal judgment

On 15 March 2022 the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia handed down its eagerly anticipated appeal judgment in the Sharma case. Allsop CJ, Beach and Wheelahan JJ separately found that the...

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Curly Worley – Continuous Disclosure and Earnings Guidance in the Full Federal Court

Continuous disclosure remains topical: on Friday the Full Federal Court handed down its decision in Crowley v Worley [2022] FCAFC 33. Against the run of recent cases, the applicant/appellant had a...

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