Federal laws imposing a three-year minimum expiry date on gift cards sold in Australia came into effect last week, but certain state laws relating to gift cards also remain. This Insight explains the key principles businesses need to know about, and includes a quick guide to how the laws compare. ...

The Australian Law Reform Commission released for consultation today a set of proposals aimed at overhauling the federal corporate criminal responsibility regime. This comes in the wake of criticisms that the current system is ineffective in preventing, deterring and prosecuting serious corporate crime. Whilst the reforms offer a clearer, consistent and more rational framework for addressing corporate misconduct in Australia, some elements (such as the adoption of a general 'associate' model for criminal attribution) will no doubt raise concern given their capacity to significantly extend corporate liability. We examine some of the key proposals and their likely impact. Partner Christopher Kerrigan and Senior Overseas Practitioner Cindy McNair report. ...

With talk of wage theft becoming a criminal offence, this month's Senate approval of a wage and superannuation theft inquiry, and the increasing number of large employers being named and shamed for underpayments, there has never been a more important time for employers to check they are meeting their obligations – including compliance with modern awards. ...

In this update we summarise the progress of new and existing rule change requests across October 2019 and take a closer look at the AER's Financial Reporting Guideline for light regulation pipelines. ...

In a trail-blazing and world-leading move, the ACCC has commenced proceedings against Google, alleging that it engaged in misleading conduct, and made false or misleading representations to consumers about how and when it collects, keeps and uses their personal information in relation to location data. It is the first case brought globally to probe Google's approach to location data collection, and is likely to increase the focus on consumer awareness of data use in digital markets. ...

Allens is accelerating its efforts in legal product development with the launch of an expanded Legal Product Lab and the appointment of Penelope Barr to head up the Lab. The investment is in respon ...

Conditions of development consent regulating scope 3 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions outside Australia will be prohibited under proposed legislation introduced into the NSW Parliament. The draft legislation forms part of a package of measures announced by the Deputy Premier to provide certainty for mining investment, which includes continuing the previously announced review of the Independent Planning Commission (IPC). ...

The busy run experienced by private equity managers in Australia in the last couple of years slowed down considerably in 2019. As a result, having raised record sized funds, private equity managers will be under considerable pressure from their institutional investors to start deploying more capital ...

In a development that is especially relevant to property developers and financial institutions, draft legislation to introduce a Papua New Guinea strata title scheme has been released. ...

Following Papua New Guinea's accession to the United Nations Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (read our Insight on PNG's accession to the New York Convention he ...