Two recent decisions - Hornsby Shire Council v Commonwealth; and Landcom v Commissioner of Taxation - have rejected constitutional challenges to the notional goods and services tax (GST) voluntarily paid by the Commonwealth, states, local councils and statutory authorities. ...

Existing emitters under the Safeguard Mechanism will face their first major compliance milestone. In this Insight, we outline the key components of the emissions-intensity determination and explain what compliance entities for existing facilities need to be considering now. ...

In this Insight, we summarise the key provisions of state and territory Human Rights Acts and consider when (and to whom) they apply. As these acts are now in force in the ACT, Victoria and Queensland, we also consider what a similar instrument could look like in other states and territories. ...

A mandatory climate disclosure will commence for the first cohort of reporting entities from 2024-2025, and firms up details on the overall architecture of a reporting regime which is now expected to cover around 20,000 Australian organisations. ...

With Australia's revamped baseline-and-credit carbon trading scheme, the Safeguard Mechanism (starting on 1 July 2023), many of Australia's large emitters—and their investors, financiers and customers—are grappling with how to comply with the scheme and manage carbon risk. ...

The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) has released guidance clarifying its expectations in relation to a bank, or other intermediary, pre-hedging derivative exposures.   ...

We outline the key aspects of the Australian Sanctions Regime, the practical issues that corporations may encounter when implementing and managing their sanctions compliance frameworks, as well as some recent case studies to illustrate how the regime can apply. ...

This Insight sets out practical tips on achieving best practice communications between principals and superintendents in order to avoid any perception of bias, and summarises recent case law on the consequences of failing to heed this guidance. ...

Just as the summer holidays began at the end of 2023, Justice Jackman of the Federal Court handed down judgment in ASIC v Zurich Australia Limited. ...

For nearly a decade, a United Nations working group has been debating and negotiating the scope and content of a proposed binding treaty on business and human rights. If agreed and ratified, the treaty will represent a major leap forward in the regulation of business human rights. ...