Our legal experts will keep you up to date on all relevant and current developments.
In Holman Webb’s April 2020 article Drone (UAV) Laws: Focused on Safety or Keeping Australia Back?, we discussed the strict regulations surrounding the use of drones (aka Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, or ‘UAVs’) within Australia. That article considered the impact of these regulations on Australia’s advancement with respect to UAV technology, especially within the agricultural and medical industries.
Since April 2020, the regulations have increased.
The highly-anticipated changes to the Franchising Code of Conduct are now in force.
These changes follow a parliamentary inquiry into the Code, which began in 2018. The inquiry saw many franchisees explain how their franchised business failed, and the consequences on their lives. It also exposed questionable business strategies by some franchisors, and has directly led to at least one enforcement action by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
It is important for both franchisors and franchisees to understand that significant changes to the Code are now in force – many of which involve imposing civil penalties for breach.
This article contains a summary of five core areas that have seen significant change.
On 10 August 2021 both Houses of Parliament passed the Treasury Laws Amendment (2021 Measures No 1) Bill 2021, enabling companies to sign and execute documents, hold meetings, provide notices relating to meetings and keep minutes using electronic means or other alternative technologies, until the end of March 2022.
The Act will formally take effect once it receives Royal assent.
On 21 June 2021, Shadow Assistant Minister for Cyber Security, Tim Watts introduced the private members Ransomware Payments Bill 2021 (Cth) into Parliament. The Bill would require the Commonwealth Government and big businesses to report ransomware payments to the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC).
The Bill was introduced in response to the 200% increase in reported ransomware attacks on Australian organisations - including prominent incidents affecting companies such as JBS Foods and Nine Entertainment.
The 16 July 2021 decision in LNCP002 Pty Limited v Akcin [2021] NSWSC 848 has highlighted the obligations of lenders and financiers to act fairly and in good faith with respect to borrowers in mortgage lending, and to do what they have promised to do.
In a recent article, Holman Webb highlighted the importance of the Essential Eight mitigation strategies recommended by the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) which, if implemented, minimises the chance of an organisation falling victim to a cyber-attack.
With this in mind, we thought it timely to remind readers of the importance of staff training and cyber-security vigilance.
On 1 January 2019, the Modern Slavery Act 2018 (Cth) commenced, heralding a new statutory modern slavery reporting requirement for larger companies operating in Australia.
The Modern Slavery Act requires entities either based or operating in Australia, which have an annual consolidated revenue of more than $100 million, to report annually on the risks of modern slavery in their operations and supply chains, as well as actions being taken to address those risks.
Other entities based, or operating, in Australia may report voluntarily.
Holman Webb is pleased to announce six promotions across our Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane offices – effective 1 July 2021.
Holman Webb Lawyers is proud to relay that the firm has been listed as a finalist in two categories in the Lawyers Weekly Australian Law Awards 2021:
Click through for more information on this year's finalists, and upcoming winner announcements.
Readers will recall from an article Holman Webb published back in 2018 that the Australian Cybersecurity Centre recommended eight best-practice mitigation strategies (the 'Essential Eight') that organisations should implement as a baseline defence against targeted cyber intrusions, ransomware and malicious insiders.
These strategies may seem relatively straightforward to those working within the IT industry, but the failure of organisations to implement the strategies (including government instrumentalities) has moved the Australian government to consider mandating the implementation of the Essential Eight controls, and requiring all public service entities to implement them forthwith.