News

No money for Jams: a warning to asset-based lenders from the High Court of Australia
In Stubbings v Jams 2 Pty Ltd [2022] HCA 6, the High Court of Australia unanimously allowed an appeal from a judgment of the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of …

ASIC issues ultimate ‘challenge’ to influencers
On Monday ASIC released an Information Sheet (Info 269) aimed squarely at putting social media influencers, and those who use them to market their financial products and services, on notice that their …

Government signs off on electronic signatures
Since 2020 we have provided updates on the temporary changes to the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth)(the Act) brought in to support Australian businesses during the COVID pandemic, including permitting the electronic execution …

ESG Litigation – The availability of the Public Examination Power to pursue ESG Claims
A recent decision by the High Court of Australia in Walton v ACN 004 410 833 Limited (formerly Arrium Limited) (in liquidation) [2022] HCA 3 (Walton) has significant implications for ESG litigation …

Landlords – do you need to know your tenants’ vaccination status?
What are the mandates? As the number of cases of COVID-19 are rising, so are the list of mandates handed down by the Western Australian Government. Based on the latest health advice, …

Better Advice Act: In force but what happens now?
As the clock struck midnight on 31 December 2021 few of us turned our mind to the fact that the Better Advice Act (the Act) had just come into force. The Act …

CATCH ME IF YOU CAN: Is service of a Bankruptcy Notice by email still valid service?
From 1 April 2021, the Bankruptcy Regulations 1996 (Cth) (Former Regulations) were replaced by the Bankruptcy Regulations 2021 (Cth) (Bankruptcy Regulations). Whilst the various amendments introduced by the new Bankruptcy Regulations have …

Proxy Adviser Regulations ‘Fryed’ In The Senate
Josh Frydenberg’s recent changes to the regulation of proxy advice have come to an abrupt end. Just 3 days after they came into effect (on 7 February 2022), the regulations—which were passed …

Contractor or employee? The High Court has changed the law that makes the distinction
On 9 February the High Court of Australia delivered its judgments in Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union v Personnel Contracting Pty Ltd [2022] HCA 1 (CFMMEU v Personnel Contracting) and …

The new .au domain name regime launches on 24 March 2022. Sorry to break the bad news, trade mark owners
Domain name registrars understandably like selling new stock to existing customers, reluctant or otherwise. And so we have the introduction of .au “direct” domain names – for example, bennettandco.au. This development is …