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08 July 2020
Significant changes in effect in Queensland for resource authorities holders and large scale mining leases
Update: On 7 September 2020 key provisions of the Mineral and Energy Resources and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2020 (Qld) ( the Amendment Act ) commenced. Resource authority holders should be aware that the changes introduced through the Amendment Act now apply to all direct transfers, change...
29 June 2020
COVID-19: Pressure Points: The Global Impact on the Mining Industry
The COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented humanitarian and economic crisis. The mining industry has sought to respond quickly to protect the health of its employees and its communities. These steps are in response to (and often ahead of) emergency measures and lockdowns implemented by governments...
05 June 2020
Declarations extended for CQCN, Queensland Rail and DBCT services
The Queensland Treasurer and Minister for Infrastructure and Planning on 31 May 2020 declared Central Queensland Coal Network services ( CQCN services ), parts of the Queensland Rail service ( QR service ) and Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal services ( DBCT services ) as services under sections 84-87...
26 May 2020
Australian Federal Government eases continuous disclosure rules
Yesterday, the Australian Federal Government modified the continuous disclosure provisions of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) ( Corporations Act ) in an effort to provide temporary relief to companies and officers for a six month period from today.
22 May 2020
COVID-19: Initial responses of certain African countries (Africa)
More than 2 months after the WHO declared the novel coronavirus a pandemic on 11 March 2020, the epicentre of the outbreak has shifted from Asia, where it first appeared in late 2019, to the USA, which still has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths. While initial fears were focused on...
09 April 2020
Exploring Opportunities: Managing competition issues whilst allowing businesses to collaborate (Australia)
The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a rush of applications to the ACCC seeking to authorise coordination as between competitors which might otherwise contravene provisions of the Competition and Consumer Act ( CCA ) .
03 April 2020
COVID-19: People: Temporary amendments to Modern Awards concerning leave entitlements (Australia)
The Fair Work Commission ( FWC ) announced that it proposes to temporarily vary 103 modern awards to: provide all employees (including full-time, part-time and casual employees) with a new entitlement of up to 2 weeks’ unpaid pandemic leave; and provide for employees, by agreement with their...
20 March 2020
COVID-19: Pressure Points: Measures adopted by the Spanish Government for the energy sector (Spain)
In recent days the Spanish Government has approved a series of provisions to tackle the crisis caused by the COVID-19 outbreak. Those provisions adopt a set of measures that have differing impact on a number of business sectors.
18 March 2020
COVID-19: Governance: Plan now to manage environmental compliance during the crisis (Australia)
Australian companies should plan now to ensure environmental compliance as the COVID-19 pandemic unfolds. This is particularly the case for licensed facilities and businesses with the potential for material environmental impacts or other obligations in respect of emission, discharges and waste...
03 March 2020
Directors walking tightrope on ESG disclosure
In the context of BlackRock’s climate ‘epiphany’ last month, as well as clear indications from significant fund managers such as Sir Christopher Hohn’s TCI Funds Management that they will be taking more overtly activist steps to catalyse climate action in future, listed company boards have never...
18 February 2020
Covid-19: Governance: Insurance losses and considerations for policyholders (Australia)
The various restrictions being put in place to contain the spread of COVID-19 are causing significant disruption to supply chain logistics for businesses all over the world. Many Australian policyholders are asking: can the adverse financial consequences of the interruption be claimed on insurance...
30 January 2020
Unfolding privacy class actions in Australia
Claimants in Australia face a number of challenges to successfully bringing a privacy class action, including the absence of a clear cause of action and difficulties in quantifying loss. Despite the challenges, on 9 December 2019, the Supreme Court of NSW in Evans v Health Administration...
29 January 2020
Is US government inaction on climate change a breach of the constitution?
A United States court has recently been asked to consider whether the federal government’s inaction in relation to climate change breaches the United States constitution. The court (by a majority of two to one) reluctantly found that they did not have jurisdiction to order the government to redress...
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20 November 2020
Award simplification – We’d like to do it, but we just can’t work out how
The Prime Minister in his address to the National Press Club on 26 May 2020 identified that the current industrial relations system was not ‘fit-for-purpose’. His solution was to get everyone ‘back in the room.’ By everyone, it turns out he meant the ‘IR Club’ – its back in business – employer...
19 November 2020
Australian Employment, Industrial Relations and Safety Podcasts
Join our experts as they discuss and share their views on the latest developments we are seeing in the employment, industrial relations and workplace healthy and safety space covering areas such as underpayment compliance, annualised salary provisions, industrial manslaughter laws and what key...
19 November 2020
Update on Covid-19 Business Interruption Insurance: A Further Win for Australian Policyholders
Policyholders have won the first of a number of Australian test cases about insurance cover for Covid-19 related business interruption losses. In a 5-0 decision, the NSW Court of Appeal held that an exclusion in the infectious diseases extension for quarantinable diseases notified under the “...
18 November 2020
Can We Talk of an Arbitration Culture in Asia? - online conference
The Center on International Commercial Arbitration at the American University Washington College of Law invites you to this online conference, at which Arbitration practitioners will debate the culture of arbitration in Asia and the challenges that lie ahead in the region. 18th November 2020 9:00...
18 November 2020
Australian Employment, Industrial Relations and Safety Webinars
In case you missed it, you can access our previous Employment & IR briefing and Safety Leadership Series webinars below. Join our expert briefings for the latest developments we are seeing in the employment, industrial relations and workplace healthy and safety space. In these short sessions,...
18 November 2020
UK Government announces plan for a Green Industrial Revolution
Today the Prime Minister Boris Johnson has set out the Government’s ten point plan for what it is calling the green industrial revolution. This is part of the blueprint for the UK to meet the legally-binding target to produce net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
17 November 2020
The post-Covid workplace: IR Reform
Announcements will shortly be made about changes to the Fair Work Act. They will have wide ranging impacts on all workplaces throughout Australia. In May 2020 the Prime Minister described the reforms as necessary to enable the Australian economy to rebuild from the Covid-19 recession. Shortly...
17 November 2020
Pressure Points: Timely amendments to UAE Bankruptcy Law introduced to cover emergency situations
On 24 October 2020, the UAE Cabinet announced its decision to amend Federal Law No. 9 of 2016 (the “Bankruptcy Law”) by adding certain provisions to allow for business continuity during emergency situations, including pandemics and natural disasters. This is a timely amendment to the Bankruptcy Law...
17 November 2020
Future Cities Series: The role of green taxes in fighting climate change
The reduction in consumption and depressed economies resulting from the pandemic will necessarily lead to reduced tax revenue this year and in subsequent years. Against this back-drop, how will governments balance a desire to pursue a green agenda with the need to address budget deficits and...
16 November 2020
Australia joins the world’s largest free-trade trade bloc
The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership ( RCEP ) was signed on Sunday 15 November 2020 , after eight years of deliberations. The RCEP is considered by some accounts the world’s largest “free-trade” agreement, representing almost 30 per cent of global GDP and 30 per cent of the world's...
16 November 2020
World’s largest “free-trade” agreement signed
The world’s largest “free-trade” agreement, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) was signed on Sunday 15 November 2020, after eight years of deliberations, constituting a landmark statement in favour of free-trade and multilateralism by the new Indo-Pacific trading bloc and...
16 November 2020
Class actions reform in France: necessary, but debatable
A proposed law on a new set of rules for class actions in France was presented to the French National Assembly on 15 September 2020. In developing the proposal, Assembly representatives took the following clear failure as their starting point: only 21 class actions, including 14 consumer cases,...
