Mayer Brown (LexBlog Australia)

26 results for Mayer Brown (LexBlog Australia)

  • Australia Implements Changes to Permanent Residency Program

    As of November 25, 2023, Australia’s Department of Home Affairs is moving forward with key updates to the country’s permanent residency pathway for temporary skilled workers. Under the changes, announced earlier this year, all subclass 482 visa holders are eligible to apply for permanent residency. Previously, subclass 482 visa holders in short-term occupations were unable...

  • Australia Expands Eligibility for Permanent Residency

    Australia’s Department of Home Affairs has announced that all subclass 482 visa holders will be eligible to apply for permanent residency by the end of 2023. Currently, subclass 482 visa holders in short-term occupations are unable to seek permanent residency. The government will also allow short-term subclass 482 visa holders to renew their visas indefinitely,...

  • Australia Raises Income Threshold for Skilled Migrant Visas

    Effective July 1, 2023, the Australian government will raise the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold (TSMIT) from AUD $53,900 to AUD $70,000. The move is a response to the government’s independent “Review of the Migration System,” which recently recommended actions for updating Australia’s immigration system. Raising the TSMIT will affect eligibility for the Subclass 482...

  • Australia Considers Major Immigration Updates

    The Australian government is in the early stages of examining major changes to the country’s immigration system. According to statements by Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil, the government has engaged a team of experts to conduct a comprehensive review designed to ensure the country’s immigration system “serves Australia’s national interests and complements the skills and...

  • New Allegations in World-first Lawsuit Over Clean Energy and Zero Emissions Claims

    On 25 August, 2022, the Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility (“ACCR”) expanded its case against the Australian gas company, Santos Ltd. (“Santos”), with new and more detailed allegations around greenwashing. Last year, ACCR filed a consumer protection lawsuit with the Federal Court of Australia regarding certain misleading or deceptive statements Santos made relating to its...

  • New Allegations in World-first Lawsuit Over Clean Energy and Zero Emissions Claims

    On 25 August, 2022, the Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility (“ACCR”) expanded its case against the Australian gas company, Santos Ltd. (“Santos”), with new and more detailed allegations around greenwashing. Last year, ACCR filed a consumer protection lawsuit with the Federal Court of Australia regarding certain misleading or deceptive statements Santos made relating to its...

  • Australia’s Financial Services Council issues new guidelines on climate risk disclosure for asset managers

    On 3 August 2022, Australia’s Financial Services Council (“FSC“) published FSC Guidance Note No 44 Climate Risk Disclosure in Investment Management (“Guidance Note”) to provide a set of common baseline expectations for the investment management industry’s approach with respect to net-zero commitments, disclosure of climate-friendly investment features and climate change risk reporting.  The...

  • Expanded Government Processing Times for Australian Visas

    Australia’s Department of Home Affairs (DHA) is experiencing longer-than-usual processing times for key employment-based visa categories, according to data released by the government. Specifically, expanded processing times have been recorded for the Subclass 482 Temporary Skill Shortage visa and the Subclass 400 Temporary Work (Short Stay Specialist) visa. The expanded processing times come amid

  • Hydrogen in Australia – The States of Play

    In May we published a legal update on the recent Australian federal election (here) and what a new Labor government may mean for the renewables industry in Australia. The note highlighted that no specific legislation was planned for hydrogen. Australia’s states have been more active in trying to jump on the hydrogen bandwagon. In our...

  • Australia Creates New Pathway to Permanent Residence for Some Skilled Workers

    Effective March 18, 2022, the Australian government implemented a set of changes that have opened a new pathway to permanent residency for skilled workers who have been living and working in Australia during the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, the Australian government will allow Subclass 482 visa holders in the short-term stream to access permanent residency through...

  • Australian States Drop Quarantine and Isolation Requirements

    As Australia continues to reopen from the COVID-19 pandemic, Australian states have begun to lift quarantine and isolation requirements on fully vaccinated international and interstate arrivals. Previously, travelers entering any given Australia state from abroad or from another Australian state were subject to local quarantine and isolation requirements. However, at present, no Australian state...

  • Australia Plans to Reopen to All Fully Vaccinated Visa Holders, Including Visitors

    Effective February 21, 2022, the Australian government will reopen the country’s borders to all fully vaccinated visa holders. The government’s announcement means that, for the first time in nearly two years, fully vaccinated tourists, business travelers, and others will be allowed to enter Australia without first receiving a travel exemption. The easing of entry restrictions...

  • Australia Eases Border Restrictions for Eligible Visa Holders

    Effective December 15, 2021, the Australian government will allow fully vaccinated travelers in eligible visa categories to travel to and from Australia without needing to apply for a travel exemption. The government had previously planned to ease travel restrictions beginning December 1, but postponed those plans because of the identification of the omicron variant. In...

  • Australia Postpones Relaxation of Entry Restrictions for Visa Holders

    On November 29, 2021, the Australian government announced that it would delay its plan to reopen the country to fully vaccinated visa holders in light of the identification of the omicron variant of the coronavirus. The delay is effective through at least December 15, 2021, and applies to students, skilled workers, and those carrying humanitarian,...

  • Australia Loosens Travel Restrictions for 482 Visa Holders

    Effective December 1, 2021, the Australian government will allow fully vaccinated travelers holding a Subclass 482 – Temporary Skills Shortage visa to travel to Australia without applying for a travel exemption. The announcement follows the loosening of travel restrictions for Australian citizens and permanent residents and marks a significant step in the country’s reopening of...

  • Business and Human Rights – Reinforcing Modern Slavery Reporting – Lessons from Australia

    On 1 January 2019, the Modern Slavery Act 2018 (Cth) (MSA 2018) came into force in Australia. The MSA 2018 requires entities based or operating in Australia with an annual consolidated revenue of more than 100 million AUS dollars to report annually on the risks of modern slavery in their operations and supply chains, and...

  • Australia Looks to Ease Travel Restrictions in November

    On October 1, 2021, the Australian government announced that it expects to begin lifting pandemic-related travel restrictions for fully vaccinated Australian citizens and permanent residents as soon as November. Australia’s move follows the U.S. government’s announcement on September 20 that it would replace its current international travel bans with a new set of vaccination and...

  • World-first Lawsuit Over Clean Energy and Zero Emissions Claims

    On August 25, 2021, the Environmental Defenders Office (EDO), acting on behalf of the Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility (ACCR), filed a consumer protection lawsuit with the Federal Court of Australia in respect of certain ESG related statements made in a gas company’s 2020 Annual Report (the Report). This is the first lawsuit in the...

  • COVID-19 Outbreaks Cause Border Closures and New Travel Restrictions Across Australia

    In response to COVID-19 outbreaks, some Australian states and territories have enacted new restrictions and closed their borders. These restrictions include mandatory quarantines, COVID-19 tests, and the completion of either declaration or registration forms. Australia has remained closed to international travelers, unless you are an Australia citizen, resident, immediate family member, or meet a

  • COVID-19 Outbreaks Cause Border Closures and New Travel Restrictions Across Australia

    In response to COVID-19 outbreaks, some Australian states and territories have enacted new restrictions and closed their borders. These restrictions include mandatory quarantines, COVID-19 tests, and the completion of either declaration or registration forms. Australia has remained closed to international travelers, unless you are an Australia citizen, resident, immediate family member, or meet a

  • Decrease in Australia’s Incoming Passenger Cap

    The limit on the number of international arrivals coming into Australia via commercial flights, the so-called “passenger cap”, will be halved from July 14 due to concerns around the Delta variant of Covid-19.  The new cap will be 3,035 international arrivals per week, and each major airport will be subject to these caps: Sydney: 1,505...

  • Australia Joins the List of Countries Requiring Negative COVID-19 Test

    Several countries around the globe have imposed COVID-19 testing as part of their pre-travel requirements.  In line with these measures, Australia has joined the list of countries requiring COVID-19 testing, with the Department of Home Affairs in Australia announcing new measures.  Commencing on January 22, 2021, anyone traveling or transiting through Australia must provide evidence...

  • Australia Joins the List of Countries Requiring Negative COVID-19 Test

    Several countries around the globe have imposed COVID-19 testing as part of their pre-travel requirements.  In line with these measures, Australia has joined the list of countries requiring COVID-19 testing, with the Department of Home Affairs in Australia announcing new measures.  Commencing on January 22, 2021, anyone traveling or transiting through Australia must provide evidence...

  • Extraterritoriality Decision

    In 2010, the US Supreme Court in Morrison v. National Australia Bank established a new standard, a transactional test, for determining the extraterritorial application of Section 10(b), which replaced the prior conduct-and-effects test.  Following the Morrison decision, Dodd-Frank Act Section 929P(b) provided US courts with jurisdiction in cases brought by the SEC or the US...

  • Application of the Morrison Case to Unsponsored ADRs

    The Ninth Circuit recently decided a case, Automotive Industries Pension Trust Fund v. Toshiba Corp., in which the Circuit court considered the application of the Supreme Court’s territoriality standard in the Morrison v. National Australia Bank Ltd. case.  The court considered whether purchasers of Toshiba unsponsored ADRs on the over-the-counter market were precluded from bringing...

  • Recycling Infrastructure Assets to Spur Infrastructure Investment

    The Trump Administration has the admirable goal of encouraging infrastructure investment.  One policy it may want to consider is promoting the recycling of existing municipal infrastructure assets.  This policy was developed in Australia and has been successful there. Recycling infrastructure assets does not refer to re-using concrete blocks.  Rather, it is a vernacular term that...

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