The Government announced a simplification to Australia’s consumer credit regulatory regime, which has been widely reported as a ‘wind back’ or ‘axing’ of the responsible lending obligations (RLOs) under the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 (Cth) (Credit Act). Learn more from our experts.

Cities are always changing, but with 71% of our population now living in major cities,1 there is an increasing focus on how our cities will emerge from the pandemic and how we can provide the greatest social and economic benefits for all Australians. Hear more from our experts.

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Draft FIRB reforms released; ASIC Corporate Plan for 2020-24; RG5 and RG254; High Court sides with employers and clarifies personal/carer’s leave entitlements; ACCC releases ninth interim gas inquiry report; extension of temporary COVID-19 continuous disclosure and insolvency relief measures

The Commonwealth government announced a package of reforms directed at streamlining insolvency processes for small business. Our analysis on the issue from our insolvency and restructuring experts.

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The Full Bench of the Fair Work Commission (FWCFB) has confirmed that a breach of a critical safety procedure can be grounds for dismissal, even where there is no actual risk of injury to any person as a result of the breach.

The temporary amendments that were introduced to the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (Act) in relation to JobKeeper enabling directions will be extended until 28 March 2021, by a bill proposed by the Federal Government that has now been passed by Parliament.

The Federal Court has recently confirmed the ability of the Fair Work Ombudsman to require employers to hand over documents created before vulnerable worker legislation came into force.

Recent decisions of the Fair Work Commission provide valuable insights for employers considering standing down their employees to ensure the ongoing viability of their business during COVID-19. This Insight considers cases arising out of decisions to reduce employees’ working hours to zero.

An update on developments in the modern slavery compliance space, with a focus on emerging trends in activism, legislative reform and litigation, and the impacts of COVID-19.

Continued coordination in response to the COVID-19 pandemic; int’l agreement for regulators to cooperate on cross-border investigations; Oscar Wylee penalised $3.5m; Pfizer’s Upjohn merger cleared with Mylan; ACCC examines competition in mobile apps market; and new Energy Tech Consumer Code

The Federal Court has made declarations that two superannuation fund trustees contravened ss912A(1)(a) (efficient, honest and fair obligation) and 1041H (misleading or deceptive conduct) of the Corporations Act, and s12DA (misleading or deceptive conduct) of the ASIC Act.

The Fair Work Commission has ordered the reinstatement of an employee who was terminated for sending racist messages to a work WhatsApp group, on the grounds that his dismissal was unfair.

We examine the key amendments introduced by the Retail Leases Amendment Bill 2019 (Vic); and outline steps that both landlords and tenants should take in response.

In March 2019, the COAG Energy Council requested that the Energy Security Board (ESB) consider whether any changes were required to the core National Electricity Market (NEM) framework in order to facilitate the technological shift towards a lower emissions electricity system.

The Federal Court has refused an application by class action applicants seeking access to the respondents’ insurance policies. Unlike other recent decisions, in this case access was sought by relying upon the general powers under the Corporations Act for a shareholder to inspect the company’s books

Recent complaints show how NGOs and civil society groups are using UN-level human rights grievance mechanisms as a growing part of their toolkit to influence corporate behaviour and seek remedy for allegedly affected parties.

Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, the offshore wind industry in Japan recently achieved several significant milestones. Read the latest report from Allens’ global partner, Linklaters.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, ASIC has provided relief reminiscent of the GFC to allow hardship withdrawals from frozen funds.  The COVID-19 version of hardship-relief goes further than its GFC predecessor in many respects. We provide an overview of the issue.