vLex Australia

The COVID-19 Emergency Response (Commercial Leases No.2) Regulations 2020 (the Regulations) in South Australia have recently been extended to apply for an additional period commencing on 1 October 2020 and expiring on 3 January 2021. (See Article)

In Brief - The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has commenced proceedings against cycling wholesaler B & K Holdings (QLD) Pty Ltd, trading as FE Sports (FE Sports), alleging that it engaged in resale price maintenance (RPM). (See Article)

The High Court of Australia today refused an application for special leave to appeal the decision of Nouri v Australian Capital Territory [2020] ACTCA 1 (available on Austlii). The appeal and the leave application focused on causation issues. The transcript of the oral argument is not yet available on Austlii. (See Article)

Artificial intelligence (AI) is the ability of a computer to perform tasks in a way that simulates human intelligence – that is, to mimic the way humans would act, reason, learn or problem-solve. There is no universal definition of artificial intelligence. Generally, it is focused on developing machines and systems that can carry out tasks considered to require human intelligence. Two subsets of AI are “machine learning” and “deep learning” and, with the development of new neural network techniques and hardware, AI is often a synonym for “deep supervised machine learning”. (See Article)

As mentioned late last week, the High Court of Australia refused an application for special leave to appeal the decision of Nouri v Australian Capital Territory [2020] ACTCA 1 (available on Austlii). The transcript of the oral argument in the leave application is now available: Nouri & Anor v Australian Capital Territory [2020] HCATrans 167 (on Austlii).... (See Article)

In late September 2020, the federal government announced that it would be introducing changes to Australia’s Corporations Act (Act) and the most significant amendments to the corporate insolvency regimes in decades. The main objective is to help the small business sector deal with and overcome the economic, financial and trading challenges posed by the ongoing... (See Article)

In September 2020, the FMA released its Supervision Insights report. The report provides key findings arising from the FMA’s monitoring activity and provides examples and expectations for monitored entities. The FMA’s review was designed to identify deficiencies and breaches, rather than highlight good practices – and accordingly the report focuses on adverse findings. The report notes that while a large part of the industry is working hard to move towards the regulator’s expectations, problem areas remain – mostly as a result of a casual or careless approach to conduct and compliance. (See Article)

There has been no large increase in Australians washing their hands since this time in 2019, according to a survey. The Food Safety Information Council (FSIC) said as handwashing was a major component of a national campaign to reduce the risk of catching COVID-19, the lack of improvement was a “considerable surprise.” Research was conducted... (See Article)

Way back in 2018, I reported here on the plan by Australia-based company Legaler to create a blockchain-based legal charity to allow social justice legal cases to be supported through crowdfunding and matched with lawyers willing to handle them. Today that project, Legaler Aid, is officially launching, promising to connect litigants in social justice cases... (See Article)

During the better part of 2020, the federal government has injected an unprecedented level of stimulus into the Australian economy in an attempt to mitigate the economic impact of COVID-19. As a result, despite a significant contraction in the Australian economy, roughly half as many Australian companies are entering insolvency processes today compared with the same time last year. As that stimulus is wound back, it seems inevitable that the number of insolvencies will rise. In an attempt to address the anticipated rise in insolvencies, the federal government has announced a number of reforms intended to assist small businesses to restructure and has released draft legislation for comment (See Article)

Some welcome relief for the hospitality industry is on its way in the form of a 12 month pilot trial of outdoor dining as exempt development for pubs and bars in the City of Sydney, including fast track licensing approvals, and some long overdue reform to the Liquor Act that will: Replace the Three Strikes and declared premises provisions of the Act with an integrated demerit point system, End the CBD licence freeze, replacing it with cumulative impact assessments, Abolish restrictions on live entertainment, Allow for interim small bar authorisations, Regulate same day deliveries of alcohol. (See Article)

The Sydney Morning Herald has reported the passing of David Ipp QC, formerly a Judge of the Supreme Court of Western Australia, a Justice of the New South Wales Court of Appeal and a Commissioner of the NSW Independent Commission against Corruption. He was also of course the chair of the panel which produced the... (See Article)

Ten years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its landmark decision in Morrison v. National Australia Bank Ltd., which limited the extraterritorial application of the federal securities laws in order to prevent the United States from becoming “the Shangri-La of class-action litigation for lawyers representing those allegedly cheated in foreign securities markets.”[1]  In Morrison, the... (See Article)

In a year of epic events, it is difficult to see how any financial services reforms could be seen as truly significant. The removal of consumer responsible lending laws, though is significant, at least in relative terms.  (See Article)

On 31 August 2020, the Australian Law Reform Commission's Final Report on Corporate Criminal Responsibility was tabled in Parliament. The Final Report makes significant recommendations for reform of corporate criminal responsibility in Australia, including reforms limiting the use of the criminal law as a regulatory tool, clarifying criminal attribution methods, enhancing sentencing powers and procedures for corporate offenders, expanding the liability of directors and senior managers for corporate wrongdoing and creating new offences for failure to prevent certain transnational crimes. The Final Report is published at a time of increased focus on corporate wrongdoing in Australia, reflec (See Article)

*This information is accurate as of Thursday 1 October and is subject to change as this situation evolves. Welcome to our updated guide to industry collaborations approved by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Please see full Guide below for more information. (See Article)

The Australian Treasurer, Mr Frydenberg MP, has delivered the 2020-21 Federal Budget. The Treasurer opened his speech by announcing that this Budget is “all about jobs” and there will be no new taxes. There may be no new taxes but the budget includes an assortment of tax measures to stimulate the economy. There is something for everyone: tax cuts for low and middle income earners, big businesses will qualify for small business concessions, granny flats will be exempt -- even Ken Henry has not been forgotten. (See Article)

The Australian Government’s budget, released on 6 October 2020, concedes that an economic decline will be hard to avoid over the remainder of this year, reflecting the impacts of the lockdown necessary to combat COVID-19. Real GDP is expected to fall by one and a half percent in 2020-21. The economy is then projected to turnaround and achieve growth of four and three-quarter percent in 2021-221. Please see full Publication below for more information. (See Article)

Recent changes in consumer behaviour due to the COVID-19 pandemic mean that few businesses can afford to ignore the internet, and the opportunities for efficiencies and scale that it offers.  Operating a business online presents tremendous opportunities for growth by opening up new geographical markets, however it also creates new challenges for businesses in ensuring that their key intellectual property assets, which are made available online, are adequately protected. So how can businesses manage their intellectual property, and ensure they are not infringing on the intellectual property rights of others, when trading online? (See Article)

Corporate Tax Residence - Consistent with the recommendations contained in the Board of Taxation report to the Government on reforming the corporate residency test, the Government has announced that the law will be amended such that the corporate residency test again reflects the law as it was applied prior to the 2016 High Court decision in Bywater Investments Ltd v Commissioner of Taxation. (See Article)

On September 1, the cybersecurity authorities of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States issued a joint advisory highlighting technical approaches to uncovering malicious cyberactivity, with suggested mitigation practices. One suggestion is to analyze data in various ways to identify normal traffic patterns, so that anomalous activity is more easily identified.... (See Article)

A resource has been added Australian and New Zealand Maritime Law Journal (from the number 21-1, June 2006)

The Federal Government has announced its largest insolvency reform package in over 30 years, which includes a simplified formal debt restructuring process for eligible small businesses... (See Article)

The Australian Government announced two new restructuring and insolvency processes for small businesses (having liabilities of less than AU$1 million). (See Article)

It has been ten years since the U.S. Supreme Court issued its landmark opinion in Morrison v. National Australia Bank, in which the Court clarified that the U.S. securities laws applies only to securities transactions that take place in the United States, either on an exchange or otherwise. While the decision has had a significant... (See Article)

It’s not every day that SEPPs make headline news, let alone threaten the stability of the NSW Government. So it was with interest that we followed the political controversy that unfolded this month surrounding the recent State Environmental Planning Policy (Koala Habitat Protection) 2019 (the Koala SEPP). (See Article)

The NSW Parliament passed the Design and Building Practitioners Act 2020 (NSW) (the Act) on 11 June 2020 as part of series of reforms to laws impacting the construction industry following recent high-profile incidents of building defects across Sydney. (See Article)

Reforms to the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) (Act) are just around the corner, and after two years of extensive stakeholder consultation, the Government has finally proposed a limited liability scheme for use of orphan works. The proposed reforms were announced by Hon Paul Fletcher MP, Minister for Communications, Cyber Safety and the Arts, on 13 August 2020. (See Article)

Research by scientists in Australia could help open up new possibilities to treat enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) infections. University of New South Wales (UNSW) microbiologists discovered a molecular pathway that controls Shiga toxin production. The findings were published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). EHEC is a foodborne pathogen that releases Shiga toxins during... (See Article)

The Residential Apartment Buildings (Compliance & Enforcement Powers) Act 2020 (NSW) (RAB Act) came into force on 1 September 2020. The RAB Act is part of the NSW Government's commitment to arm the Building Commissioner and relevant government departments with a suite of comprehensive powers against non-compliant developers and to identify serious defects in residential apartment buildings. (See Article)