More B2B Compliance from 1 July 2021 – New $100,000 Threshold for Consumer Guarantee
More B2B Compliance from 1 July 2021 – New $100,000 Threshold for Consumer Guarantee The definition of a business consumer under the Australian Consumer Law just keeps expanding. In late 2016, small businesses became business consumers under the ACL so they could get ACL unfair contract terms relief when signing standard form contracts – […]
Your Intellectual Property rights were less protected from 13 September 2019!
Your Intellectual Property rights were less protected from 13 September 2019! Australian corporations might once have entered intellectual property license agreements and registered trademarks without being overly concerned with competition compliance. This relaxed attitude was supported by the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (the CCA) that provided a “safe haven” for such transactions, at least […]
What a Waste: Small Business Unfair Contracts
ACCC v JJ Richards & Sons Pty Ltd [2017] FCA 1224 In early 2016 we reported on the planned start of the new small business unfair contracts regime under the Australian Consumer Law click here. The unfair business contracts regime started in November 2016. It has taken less than 12 months for a court to […]
New Obligations: Mandatory Data Breach Notification Laws
Just when you thought discovering a data breach within your organisation was already a headache – such as a lost company computer or an employee disclosing unauthorised information – from 22 February 2018 this could become a migraine as you are now obliged to notify the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) and any […]
New EU Data Protection Laws – GDPR
Since 25 May 2018, Australian businesses which distribute goods and services to persons in the EU are now bound by strict data protection laws which are more onerous than Australian Privacy Principles. Under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), personal data can only be processed if there is consent by the individual, or if there […]
10 Times the Fines, 10 Times the Hassle: The Fair Work Amendment Bill 2017
Franchisors and Parent Companies Feeling Vulnerable to Super Fines The Fair Work Amendment (Protecting Vulnerable Workers) Bill 2017, is designed to protect vulnerable workers from exploitation by employers. The Bill is expected to pass through the Senate without much trouble. It is the Coalition’s response to the systematic underpayment of workers by franchisees in the […]
Change of Trustee Concession Rules
When the trustee of your trust retires, or you appoint a new trustee, you usually only pay nominal stamp duty of $50. The Chief Commission of Stamp Duties looks at the transfer of property carefully to check that the transfer is not really giving someone new the benefit of the property. The old rules required […]
Can I share a lawyer’s trade secret? How NOT to enforce post-employment restraints!
Even when employers have introduced restraints that prevent employees from working in competition, those restraints may not stand up. In this NSW case, the court said that the non-compete restraint only stopped the employee from working for a competitor in the part of the business in which they had worked. Keep reading to find out […]
Mandatory Data Breach Notification Law – What you need to know
Are you a business with an annual turnover of over $3 million AUD or do you provide health, child care or education services or trade in personal information? If you are, then you should get ready now for the new Data Breach Notification Laws that will be effective next year. You are an APP Entity […]
Protection for Small Businesses against Unfair Contract Terms from November 2016
From 12 November 2016 the unfair contracts provisions of the consumer law will be extended to cover standard form contracts involving small businesses. The Treasury Legislation Amendment (Small Business and Unfair Contract Terms) Act 2015 recognises the disparity in bargaining power between small businesses and their larger cousins and extends to them the protections currently […]