Queenslands Department for Housing and Public Works has released details of fundamental amendments to the Building and Construction Industry Payments Act proposed to come into effect this year Partner Dan Young and Overseas Practitioner Andrew Middleton report on the key reforms proposed and their ...

After two years three rounds of public consultation and one aborted attempt Federal Parliament looks likely to pass legislation amending the rules governing when the Australian Taxation Office is required to refund excess GST to a taxpayer ...

Some Indonesian business sectors are closed to foreign investment while others are subject to foreign ownership limits There have been some changes to theseforeign investment restrictions under Indonesias widely anticipated revisedNegative Investment List which became effective on 24 April The ...

In this issue we look at an unsuccessful challenge to the enforcement of foreign arbitral awards in the Federal Court of Australia recent changes to the arbitration rules of the Institute of Arbitrators and Mediators Australia the International Centre for Dispute Resolution and the London Court of ...

In a unanimous decision the Full Federal Court has confirmed that genetic materials in their isolated form remain patentable in Australia The decision related to an appeal from an earlier Federal Court decision in which it was found isolated nucleic acids to be a manner of manufacture as required by ...

Parties involved in large-scale commercial transactions with non-lawyer third-party advisers need to be aware that communications with these advisers will rarely be protected by legal professional privilege following a recent Federal Court decision ...

The Federal Court has recently ruled that there is no requirement for a public benevolent institution to provide direct relief to people in need Its interpretation of the expression public benevolent institution theoretically has the potential to expand eligibility well beyond traditionally accepted ...

The Land Sales and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2014, which will streamline the sale of property in Queensland, was passed by the Queensland Parliament yesterday. Partner Alister Fitzgerald provi ...

In Lend Lease Development Pty Ltd v Commissioner of State Revenue, the Victorian Court of Appeal decided that certain 'development contributions' made by a purchaser to a vendor did not form part of the consideration that 'moved' the transfer of land to the purchaser. ...

One of the more interesting possibilities raised in the Interim Report of David Murrays Financial System Inquiry is the introduction of product suitability requirements as a complement to the current disclosure regime The Interim Report presents a case for change but does not set out in detail what ...