Latest publications
First round of amendments to the Privacy Act introduced into Parliament
On 23 May 2012, the Commonwealth Government introduced its legislation to implement the first stage of its reforms to Australia’s privacy laws. The Privacy Amendment (Enhancing Privacy Protection) Bill was introduced into Parliament after a lengthy consultation and review process, by the Australian Law Reform Commission, the government and a number of…
First steps to reform Australian privacy laws
Recently, on 24 June 2010, the Federal Cabinet Secretary, Senator the Honourable Joe Ludwig, released exposure draft legislation that Government proposes in order to implement its first stage response to reform privacy law in Australia. This is the first formal step by the Government to implement the recommendations of the…
Footy Wars Continue: Optus’ win reversed by Full Federal Court
Footy Wars Continue: Optus’ win reversed by Full Federal Court In our previous article, “Optus Wins Most Recent Footy Wars”, we looked at the Federal Court’s decision permitting Optus to offer its users “near-live” broadcasts of sporting events, without having to pay licence fees to the rights holders, under the “time-shifting”…
iiNet may have prevailed in copyright infringement case, but ISPs should beware
In Brief After much deliberation, the iiNet matter has been laid to rest with the High Court upholding the Full Federal Court decision that iiNet is not liable for the copyright infringing actions of its customers. Ultimately, the case turned on what it meant to “authorise” conduct in breach of section…
Still haven’t found what I’m looking for… Teething Problems with the PPSR
More than three months after the go-live, significant problems persist with the reliability of the Personal Property Securities Register (PPSR). Migrated pre-PPSA registered security interests The Registrar of the PPSR confirmed early on that a large number of errors and omissions occurred in the migration of data from ASIC and State & Territory…
Changes to credit reporting
In Brief On 2 May 2012, the Commonwealth Attorney-General, Nicola Roxon, announced that proposed amendments to the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) will be introduced during the winter session of Federal Parliament. The proposed amendments will include changes to the way in which credit reporting operates in Australia. The proposed changes to credit reporting…
Health & Safety Representatives: introduction to the workplace
In Brief Following on from our earlier article regarding the new Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW) (WHS Act), this article addresses the introduction of the Health & Safety Representative (‘HSR’) and how this impacts employers. HSR Roles & Functions Employers have an express duty to consult workers on WHS issues. HSRs represent…
Google AdWords on Trial: ACCC establishes misleading or deceptive conduct
In Brief In what is likely to be heralded as a landmark decision for Australia’s consumer watchdog, the Federal Court of Australia has found that using Google AdWords to trade on a competitor’s business or reputation is not only a breach by the advertiser of the Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth) (TPA) (now…
Convergence Review: Update
On 30 April 2012, the Federal Government’s report on its Convergence Review was released. The report aims to develop technologically neutral legislation and policy to meet trends and rapid changes in technology in the communications and broadcasting sectors such as social media, and television and radio services delivered over the internet…
iiNet may have prevailed in copyright infringement case, but ISPs should beware
In Brief After much deliberation, the iiNet matter has been laid to rest with the High Court upholding the Full Federal Court decision that iiNet is not liable for the copyright infringing actions of its customers. Ultimately, the case turned on what it meant to “authorise” conduct in breach of section…