LAW REFORM – AUSTRALIA

Business cuts a deal on workplace rules

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Original article by Jennifer Hewett
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 2 : 15-Jun-23

The Australian Resources & Energy Employer Association still opposes the proposed ‘same job, same pay’ laws for labour hire workers. However, CEO Steve Knott says AREEA believes that the federal government will legislate the changes in some form, regardless of the widespread opposition. AREEA will therefore shift its focus to influencing how the policy is implemented. In contrast, AREEA had funded its own advertising campaign against the multi-employer bargaining provisions in the government’s first tranche of industrial relations reforms.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN RESOURCES AND ENERGY EMPLOYER ASSOCIATION

IR reforms will blast $13bn hole in economy

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Original article by Geoff Chambers
The Australian – Page: 1 & 5 : 14-Jun-23

Modelling undertaken by the Centre for International Economics highlights the potential impact of the federal government’s second tranche of industrial relations reforms on productivity in the mining sector. The modelling, which was commissioned by the Minerals Council of Australia, is based on a one per cent fall in productivity; it concludes that the restrictions on the mining sector and supply chains resulting from the reforms could potentially reduce economic activity by $13bn a year and reduce consumption in the mining sector by $6bn. MCA CEO Tania Constable says a one per cent hit to productivity is a "conservative estimate". The CIE also modelled several other scenarios.

CORPORATES
CENTRE FOR INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS, MINERALS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA

Same job, same pay IR reforms could hit public service

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Original article by Geoff Chambers, Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 31-May-23

The federal government continues to come under scrutiny over its proposed ‘same job, same pay’ policy for labour hire workers. Natalie James, the head of the Department of Employment & Workplace Relations, has told a senate estimates hearing that these laws are likely to cover the public sector. Analysis of AusTender contracts shows that the government has become a major user of labour hire firms, spending more than $1.2bn on such contracts since the federal election in May.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT AND WORKPLACE RELATIONS

BCA pushes against same job, same pay law

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 17-May-23

The Business Council of Australia contends that the federal government’s proposed ‘same job, same pay’ laws for labour hire firms are not necessary. The BCA has used its submission to a consultation paper on the reforms to argue that they could have unintended consequences, such as the increased use of casual labour and fewer enterprise agreements. The BCA also says the reforms should be restricted to traditional labour hire firms rather than including in-house ones such as BHP’s Operations Services division. The labour hire changes will be a key part of the government’s second tranche of industrial relations reforms.

CORPORATES
BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA

Labor considering tougher anti-money laundering laws

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Original article by Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 2 : 13-Apr-23

A Senate committee recommended a number of changes to Australia’s money-laundering laws in a report that was released prior to the 2022 federal election. A spokesman for Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus has indicated that the federal government is considering the report. Amongst other things, the committee has called for the implementation of the Tranche 2 reforms, which would broaden the nation’s anti-money laundering and counter terrorism financing laws to apply to the real estate, accounting and legal professions. Australia, the US and Canada are the only major developed countries whose money-laundering laws do not apply to these sectors.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT

Australia to consider European-style right to be forgotten privacy laws

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Original article by Paul Karp
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 19-Jan-23

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus says the federal government will pursue a major overhaul of the Privacy Act. He had stated in late 2022 that the legislation is not "fit-for-purpose" in the digital due to inaction by the former Coalition government. Amongst other things, potential reforms could include introducing a statutory tort of privacy, which would give people the right to seek damages for breaches of their privacy. The so-called ‘right to be forgotten’ could also be on Labor’s agenda; this would allow people to request companies to erase their personal data if it is no longer necessary for the purpose for which it was collected.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT

Defamation reforms: Australian media may not be liable for Facebook comments in future

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Original article by Amanda Meade
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 14-Dec-22

A proposed overhaul of Australia’s uniform defamation laws will include the addition of an "innocent dissemination defence". This would protect individuals and organisations that administer Facebook pages from being sued for defamation over comments that were posted by third parties. The proposed reforms follow a 2021 court ruling which found that media companies could be liable for defamatory comments posted on their Facebook pages by people who read or view their content. The Standing Council of Attorneys-General has given in-principle support to the reforms.

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FACEBOOK, AUSTRALIA. STANDING COUNCIL OF ATTORNEYS-GENERAL

Crossbench test for class action reform

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Original article by Adeshola Ore
The Australian – Page: 7 : 19-Oct-21

The federal government is expected to shortly introduce a bill to cap the proportion of class action payouts received by lawyers and litigation funders at 30 per cent. Shadow financial services minister Stephen Jones says Labor has yet to decide its position on the proposed fee cap. The government will require the support of at least three Senate crossbenchers if Labor and the Greens oppose the bill. One Nation leader Pauline Hanson supports the proposed reforms, but independent senator Rex Patrick contends that the bill should be subject to a Senate inquiry.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, ONE NATION PARTY

Reform ‘won’t fix defamation’

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Original article by Chris Merritt
The Australian – Page: 19 : 27-Jul-20

Minter Ellison partner Peter Bartlett has questioned whether the proposed new defence for public interest journalism will be effective. It is based on a British provision that requires a journalist to prove that they reasonably believed that the publication of a statement was in the public interest. Bartlett warns that if the new defence is interpreted in the same way as the British defence, it is likely to have a similar impact as the existing defence of statutory qualified privilege, which has not been successfully used by the media. The Council of Attorneys-General will approve a model defamation bill on 27 July.

CORPORATES
MINTER ELLISON, AUSTRALIA. COUNCIL OF ATTORNEY-GENERAL

Curb on mega-payouts to celebrities

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Original article by Chris Merritt
The Australian – Page: 2 : 24-Jul-20

A proposed national model law will be on the agenda of a Council of Attorneys-General meeting on 27 July. The national model laws includes changes to defamation laws, including replacing the existing defence of statutory qualified privilege for media companies with a new defence of public interest journalism. The model bill will also seek to address the rising cost of defamation payouts, amid a growing trend for judges to bypass existing caps on damages for causing harm to a person’s reputation.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. COUNCIL OF ATTORNEYS-GENERAL